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[Closed] Now Playing XXXIX

General Discussions » Now Playing XXXIX (Posts 2821 to 2850 of 4198)

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  1. Well, one thing he managed to quit in last years, but in the period somehow between Titanic and Windtalkers, though Enemy at the Gates hinted at it already, but the issue happened also earlier show two problems I have with Horner as a film composer:

    First one is the fact that he does the over the top thing you just mentioned. I found the ending of A Beautiful Mind barely watchable mostly due to the score, which was otherwise very good, if a tad heavy in the darker parts.

    The other thing that not many people (except Christian Clemmensen in respective reviews) is that Horner overuses his main themes. In The Perfect Storm it actually pretty much made me laugh.

    One thing Horner learnt recently with notable exceptions thrown in all around the 1980s (In Country) and 1990s (To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, House of Cards) is that I have issue with his approach to emotional intensity. Horner tends to start on a rather high note and keep with that note (namely yet again - The Perfect Storm, huge bits of A Beautiful Mind, his war scores aren't really subtle with his use of the sense of dread, though I am one of the people who actually find Enemy at the Gates underrate) till the end when he turns completely over the top.

    Recently, something that must have definitely started around House of Sand and Fog, he learnt to build intensity. In fact if you look at the "new" structure of the Horner score (starting with The Four Feathers, then Windtalkers, Avatar is built similarly, The Missing too), he doesn't even start with stating the main theme in the first cue of the movie, which he would do before (Braveheart, Apollo 13, Legends of the Fall, Glory...). Horner basically learnt to be restrained. A classic example here is the underrated House of Sand and Fog (which I remember you rather disliked when it was released back in 2003), which sadly - in the movie - does turn rather over the top in the movie in the end, but the director did take the blame for it and I take his argumentation here. Horner evolved into a better film composer.

    The evolution of a composer is a very interesting thing, maybe I should write an article about it, using three examples - John Williams, James Horner and Hans Zimmer.
    http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website
  2. N: Le Fille Du Puisatier - Alexandre Desplat

    Really beautiful, so Desplat-esque. Too bad it's short, and the has cues with Core 'ngato are mixed with mono and stereo recordings.
  3. "Ain't You Tired (End Title)", The Help - Thomas Newman

    It's so great to have Newman back.
    •  
      CommentAuthorBobdH
    • CommentTimeAug 20th 2011
    Kevin Scarlet wrote
    "Ain't You Tired (End Title)", The Help - Thomas Newman

    It's so great to have Newman back.


    How's the score? What's it like?
  5. PawelStroinski wrote
    Recently, something that must have definitely started around House of Sand and Fog, he learnt to build intensity. In fact if you look at the "new" structure of the Horner score (starting with The Four Feathers, then Windtalkers, Avatar is built similarly, The Missing too), he doesn't even start with stating the main theme in the first cue of the movie, which he would do before (Braveheart, Apollo 13, Legends of the Fall, Glory...). Horner basically learnt to be restrained. A classic example here is the underrated House of Sand and Fog (which I remember you rather disliked when it was released back in 2003), which sadly - in the movie - does turn rather over the top in the movie in the end, but the director did take the blame for it and I take his argumentation here. Horner evolved into a better film composer.


    There are a couple of his scores predating HoSaF that I think fit your building of intensity idea just as well. FIELD OF DREAMS, for example, doesn't really give you that main theme in all of it's glory until the very end of the film - and it's an extremely effective emotional coda, both in the film and on CD. THE SPITFIRE GRILL is another example. While the music at the beginning may not be much less intense than at the end, that first theme is almost replaced by a (better, imo) theme that doesn't even show up until halfway through the score. And again, the finale track is by far the best part of that album.

    I'm not disagreeing with your point that building intensity is an effective way to score a film. I like that approach to film scoring very much (and I think Thomas Newman is wonderful at it). I do think, though, that Horner has scored films that way in each phase of his career.

    Speaking of T. Newman, I had no idea he was scoring THE HELP! I'm very interested to hear what he did for that.
    •  
      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeAug 20th 2011
    Conan the Barbarian - Tyler Bates

    The reaction to this has been very unfair. It's as if people decided it would be awful before they heard it based on past indiscretions of its composer. It's not awful. In the Gladiator style (in fact sometimes amusingly so - not hard to spot the temp-track, but there's no Titus/300 stuff going on) and by no means at the low end of scores written in that style. I can't imagine I'll listen to it very often, but it passes the time.
    http://www.movie-wave.net | http://facebook.com/moviewave
    •  
      CommentAuthorplindboe
    • CommentTimeAug 20th 2011
    PawelStroinski wrote
    Harry Gregson-Williams - The Magic of Marciano

    Pretty little score, something completely unexpected from the composer, known mostly for his better or worse (often worse) blockbuster scores.


    This has one of my favourite Gregson-Williams themes. Bloody marvelous!

    Peter smile
  8. Just had a listen to ten random tracks:

    http://reelmusic.wordpress.com/2011/08/ … gust-2011/

    Listening to them reminded me that there's never much mention of scores such as Supernova or Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn. They are really quite good. So too are scores such as Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West.
    The views expressed in this post are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of maintitles.net, or for that matter, anyone else. http://www.racksandtags.com/falkirkbairn
    •  
      CommentAuthorMarselus
    • CommentTimeAug 20th 2011
    plindboe wrote
    PawelStroinski wrote
    Harry Gregson-Williams - The Magic of Marciano

    Pretty little score, something completely unexpected from the composer, known mostly for his better or worse (often worse) blockbuster scores.


    This has one of my favourite Gregson-Williams themes. Bloody marvelous!

    Peter smile


    I agree.
    Anything with an orchestra or with a choir....at some point will reach you
  10. Patrick Doyle - Rise of the Planet of the Apes

    Not a bad score, by any means. The generally modern influences (ostinati and whatnot) are there, but this seems to be more in Doyle's realm than Thor for sure. I'm in my first listen.
    http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website
    •  
      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeAug 20th 2011
    NP: Wind - Basil Poledouris

    A magical journey. One of Poledouris' finest scores! An inspired mix of organic orchestral music and electronics! Brilliant!

    -Erik-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
    •  
      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeAug 20th 2011
    NP: A River Runs Through It - Mark Isham

    Absolutely gorgeous. Lush, lyrical, relaxing, heartwarming... a wonderful score!

    -Erik-
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
    •  
      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeAug 20th 2011
    Squanto - Joel McNeely

    The type of score that made me fall in love with film music. It's not his best (it's not in Iron Will class), but so hugely entertaining despite being at times almost comically derivative of Williams.
    http://www.movie-wave.net | http://facebook.com/moviewave
    •  
      CommentAuthorMartijn
    • CommentTimeAug 21st 2011
    Southall wrote
    Conan the Barbarian - Tyler Bates

    The reaction to this has been very unfair. It's as if people decided it would be awful before they heard it based on past indiscretions of its composer. It's not awful. In the Gladiator style (in fact sometimes amusingly so - not hard to spot the temp-track, but there's no Titus/300 stuff going on) and by no means at the low end of scores written in that style. I can't imagine I'll listen to it very often, but it passes the time.


    With all due respect, but that's bollix: yeah, it had a predecessor that it could not possibly contend with, but Bates isn't even trying to manage something even slightly enjoyable. It's the same old faxed-in soundscaping-with-oriental-slant we've heard a zillion times over.

    If an opportunity arises for a composer to deliver something epic, and he doesn't even *try*, any unhappy reactions are completely fair, to my mind. Whether it's the composer's fault or the director's or the producer's fault, I really don't care. It's a shit score. Poor in every single aspect.
    'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn
    •  
      CommentAuthorErik Woods
    • CommentTimeAug 21st 2011
    yeah
    host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS!
  16. I think the biggest problem is that the score doesn't even have a theme, let alone a decent one. Even if you are kind enough for Bates to forget about the Poledouris masterpiece for a while, Bates doesn't give it any theme, no coherent anything to stick together. It's hardly even music!
    http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website
  17. BobdH wrote
    Kevin Scarlet wrote
    "Ain't You Tired (End Title)", The Help - Thomas Newman

    It's so great to have Newman back.


    How's the score? What's it like?

    I've only listened to that one piece but it's pretty traditional Newman. I saw the film last night and the score worked pretty well throughout.
  18. PawelStroinski wrote
    I think the biggest problem is that the score doesn't even have a theme, let alone a decent one. Even if you are kind enough for Bates to forget about the Poledouris masterpiece for a while, Bates doesn't give it any theme, no coherent anything to stick together. It's hardly even music!


    According to Bates's note, he wrote several themes.
  19. So, I just came back from seeing X-Men: First Class (awesome movie!) and the score was definitely very prominent throughout. Too bad it sounded so generic and sometimes anachronistic (Electric guitar for Magneto? Seriously?). I'll never understand why it was decided that superhero movies shouldn't have memorable themes...
  20. First Class had two memorable themes. The one for the X-Men (played in First Class, X-Training and Sub Lift) and the other one for Magneto (played in Pain And Anger, Frankestein's Monster and Magneto). ABout the electric guitar, well, the characters we're younger than in the other films, and it takes in the 60, so it makes sense.
    •  
      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeAug 21st 2011
    yonythemoony wrote
    PawelStroinski wrote
    I think the biggest problem is that the score doesn't even have a theme, let alone a decent one. Even if you are kind enough for Bates to forget about the Poledouris masterpiece for a while, Bates doesn't give it any theme, no coherent anything to stick together. It's hardly even music!


    According to Bates's note, he wrote several themes.


    He did. They're not very memorable, but this is 2011 and that just wouldn't the done thing.
    http://www.movie-wave.net | http://facebook.com/moviewave
  22. They're not memorable at all, they are just a bunch of blasted chords. This score is really... incoherent. There is nothing binding the work together.
    http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website
  23. James Newton Howard - Defiance

    Very good score, restrained with great themes, good atmosphere. I'm revisiting an old friend, really. I love the violin soli.
    http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website
    •  
      CommentAuthorThor
    • CommentTimeAug 21st 2011
    NP: LAND OF THE GIANTS (John Williams)

    You'll have to be in the mood for his Irwin Allen stuff, in all its melodramatic sturm und drang. But the compositional techniques are something to get lost in if you take it in. Dated, yes, but what a great playing ground to go all-out avantgarde! Slightly more accesible than LOST IN SPACE, though.
    I am extremely serious.
  25. John Powell - Bolt

    First listen actually, save for the songs. Listening to the promo, the score is actually quite good! Great thematic material. The electronic action from the beginning is a bit jarring, but when orchestra kicks in, it's... good.
    http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website
    •  
      CommentAuthorSouthall
    • CommentTimeAug 21st 2011
    The Golden Child - John Barry

    Brilliant in parts, but I have to say it drags quite a bit, quite often. Had an album been released at the time it would probably have been 45 minutes long and superb. (Haven't tried the Colombier disc or the bonus disc yet.)
    http://www.movie-wave.net | http://facebook.com/moviewave
  27. Hans Zimmer - The Thin Red Line

    Everybody knows what I think of it and what I feel about it. My favourite all-time score. And for me no Now Playing thread is full without me mentioning the score smile
    http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website
  28. PawelStroinski wrote
    John Powell - Bolt

    First listen actually, save for the songs. Listening to the promo, the score is actually quite good! Great thematic material. The electronic action from the beginning is a bit jarring, but when orchestra kicks in, it's... good.


    You need to listen the Academy Promo, it's not the complete score, but several of the cues which we're edited in the release, are in their original form.
  29. NP: El Rey De La Granja - Ángel Illarramendi


    Excelent score, with a wonderful main theme played in electric guitar and strings.
  30. yonythemoony wrote
    PawelStroinski wrote
    John Powell - Bolt

    First listen actually, save for the songs. Listening to the promo, the score is actually quite good! Great thematic material. The electronic action from the beginning is a bit jarring, but when orchestra kicks in, it's... good.


    You need to listen the Academy Promo, it's not the complete score, but several of the cues which we're edited in the release, are in their original form.


    That was the one I was listening to, I think.

    Hans Zimmer - Black Hawk Down

    One of the most original scores in the history of film music. What Hans did there with the soloists, improvisation and his usage of the theme is just brilliant.

    It works wonders in the film, too.
    http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website

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