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Behind the Moon - a Substack column about John Williams: A Composer's Life


Maestro

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6 hours ago, Meredith McKay said:

@Maestro No mention of JW scoring the DreamWorks Moon?

 

Yavin 4 is technically a moon as well.

 

 

Does this count?

 

 

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3 hours ago, Maestro said:

Hey gang—

 

I wanted to share with you my new Substack, Behind the Moon, which will delve behind the scenes of my upcoming biography. Today's inaugural post goes into much more detail:
https://behindthemoon.substack.com/p/welcome-behind-the-moon

 

It's a free newsletter, basically, that may end up spawning a companion podcast and other media. (But if you want to throw a couple bucks into the hat every month, I would be very grateful!)

 

I'll keep posting any big book updates here on the forum, but my Substack will be the main hub for announcements and exclusive treasures from here through September 2nd and beyond. (Oxford University Press recently moved the publication date by one day, to avoid the American Labor Day holiday.)

 

And no, this is not an April Fool's Day prank!

 

Tim


Thank you, Tim.

 

I also find it a little sad that you had to say this is not an April Fool’s Day prank. C’est la Vie.

 

I just read the first post. This is so incredible and I can’t wait for more. I think I may subscribe for $5 a month, too.

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1 hour ago, Tom said:

Does this count?

 

 


Nah, it was shot day for night. That's the sun. I think. lol

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19 hours ago, Mr. Hooper said:


Nah, it was shot day for night. That's the sun. I think. lol

Maybe this makes the joke more obvious.

 

Under the Moon.  

 

 

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I think it was an important moment of self-acceptance. We all have a great deal of fear about exposing some new vulnerability, but once we do so, life returns to normal.  I would bet he will be out and about fairly consistently now.  

 

Whether he is up for trans-Atlantic flights might be a different matter, but here's to hoping.  

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On 2/4/2025 at 12:56 PM, Tom said:

Maybe this makes the joke more obvious.

 

Under the Moon.  

 

 


I've known about this scene forever, but I'm ashamed to say (as a 'Jaws' fan) that I've never seen it before now.

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8 hours ago, Mr. Hooper said:


I've known about this scene forever, but I'm ashamed to say (as a 'Jaws' fan) that I've never seen it before now.

Although I find 1941 to be consistently unfunny, this is a great mood setter for the movie.  It is even the same actress.  The joke, too, is funny that even in the early 40s someone from another country would know they have arrived in Hollywood on no other evidence than the presence of a naked woman.  

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I like that this post reveals and acknowledges that Williams himself does have some of the misgivings shared by this forum about exposing what kind of shape he's been in and that's valid, but that it doesn't matter cause the love for him is so palpable. 

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HOLY CLIFFHANGER, BATMAN!

 

In all seriousness though, this is a great companion leading up to the book!  Every week, I get more excited to get my hands on it!

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Nice write up.  Remember, though, its only an obsession if you don't get paid; otherwise, it is a strong, determined, and commendable work-ethic.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for sharing this stories! It's great to be able to appreciate what goes into such an undertaking.

@Maestro, maybe this is a question for the other thread about your book, but did you get a sense of Williams' relation to movies as a youngster? In concerts he usually tells how much he loved going "to the pictures" and watch the great stars like Flynn or Bette Davis and how swordfights or love scenes used to have the best music, but did you get more from him on this topic? And do you know by any chance if he got to see Disney's Fantasia back in the day when it came out? I have a feeling that somehow that movie is (both in style and musical taste) close to his ethos.

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5 hours ago, Maestro said:

 

The funny thing about the world's most famous movie composer is that... he never really cared about movies. He would go to the theater occasionally with his sister in Flushing, and with his Air Force pals in the service, but movies just never meant very much to him. Now, I kept running across statements he made about particular films (The Quiet Man, MGM musicals, etc.), which shows that he did go, and was paying attention—but he always really downplays his interest in movies in general.

 

 

Did he ever mention what the last movie he saw was or the most recent?

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18 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

The Quiet Man is boring.


Yeah, boring a hole into the fabric of film history as one of the greatest romantic comedy ethno-Valentines ever committed to celluloid!

 

“Feeny, get my book! Write down this name: Bollemanneke. Now…put a line through it. Ha! And that for him!”

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4 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

I don't need women handing husbands sticks to beat them with in my movies.

Is that your definition of "Boring"?

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2 minutes ago, Jesse said:

Is that your definition of "Boring"?

 

Boring, like Jurassic Shark's posts? ;)

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"...I came to Amblin armed with my laptop and printouts of articles and photos of a mysterious ancestor."

 

CAN WE GET THIS BOOK already?!?

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