[Closed] Now Playing XLVI

...and we're on the march.

Best of the album, I think.

It's not a trumpet! It's a shofar battle horn!

That's cool...but it still sounds annoying.

I do think that there's a sentimentality sometimes associated with John Williams and awards. Obviously he is still able to compose scores that are worthy of recognition (e.g., Lincoln) but I can't help wonder about nominations for scores like The Book Thief. It's an average score in my book.

There's something primitive and primeval about it, it works and I love it. Horner uses something of a similar effect for the Klingons in Star Trek III.

Wrong thread. Maybe wrong place altogether for this. (Music you made yourself.)

There are days on which I listen to no music at all. Is that the same with you too?

I like its use a lot more in this cue, especially how Goldsmith allows the shofar to be "overtaken" by the more traditional brass. At least the thing doesnt twitter about for a solid minute like in Rosenman's cue...

NP: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Well, I've finally seen and heard the thing. The film is, I think, a notable step up from An Unexpected Journey; they seem to have found the right tone and pace this time, with less of the awkward tonal shifts between brooding/foreboding and lighthearted adventure that the first one suffered. Smaug was an awesome menace, easily the coolest-looking (and sounding) movie dragon I've ever seen. The scene with the dwarves trying to draw him off at the very end end, as well as the barrel escape earlier on, both are great swashbuckling fun without being as stupidly preposterous as the Goblin-town sequence from the previous movie. The spider scene, on the other hand, is legitimately intense and scary. The one thing I really could have done without is the Kili-Legolas-Tauriel love triangle. I mean...yikes. How did that slice of bad fanfiction make it into the final script? And why does everything need love triangles these days??

Oh, also, what the hell was Stephen Fry doing in that movie? I didn't know he was in it and it was a huge WTF moment for me. I was just waiting for him to start bleating.

The score...Well, it's a Howard Shore Middle-earth score, with all of the detail, scope, thematic intelligence etc. that that entails. And in what I feel has been a pretty lukewarm year it does indeed stand head and shoulders above the competition. But with the Misty Mountains theme - the first one's best feature - completely AWOL for some reason, this score moreso than any of its predecessors lacks a core. The most prominent theme, I'd say is Smaug's - and the last thirty minutes do some amazing things with that theme, courtesy of some chilling and effectively-used gamelan - and there's a new theme for Tauriel that's quite prominent in some of the action cues. But neither of those themes are enough to really anchor an entire score, sadly. And some of the smaller themes from the first one have disappeared as well. Bilbo's theme is sadly gone, as is Gandalf's little motif (with one exception) and Radagast's outlandish fiddle-and-spoon-percussion stuff. On the flipside, there are no hair-tearing-out moments of thematic inappropriateness, or notable cues missing from the album, the way there were last time, and that if nothing else is a huge relief.

My complaints aside, I still find it a thrilling and engrossing listen (yes...ALL of it; it may not always be 100% entertaining but it is certainly never less than interesting) and it's sure to take a few more listens to really come to grips with it. A couple of action cues immediately stand out as highlights: "Flies and Spiders," "The Forest River" (this may be the most frantic and fast-paced cue Shore has penned yet!), "The Hunters" and "My Armor is Iron" in particular. "Beyond the Forest" is an excellent suite of sorts for some of the new Elf-related themes, as well. It's the least of Shore's scores for this universe, and the first one that I wouldn't give a full five-star rating to, but it is still an excellent, excellent score. When it comes to the music, this franchise need bow to no other.

We're recording a Soundcast episode about this film and score tomorrow and I'll be writing a fuller review of the latter after that, so keep a weather eye on Tracksounds for those in the near future.

Lukewarm year? Pfffft! Shore's score isn't even close to being the best fantasy adventure score of the year. What have you been listening to this year? Or better yet what haven't you been listening to?

-Erik-

Why not? Its a mid-trilogy film, thus stereotypically darker, and Smaug's theme is perfectly appropriate as a main theme in that context. Did we expect something as lyrical as the Imperial March for a CG dragon, in the 21st century where grimdark monochrome is the be-all and end-all of coolness? And I challenge everyone to name one theme composed for an American film this year that was as simultaneously beautiful, long-lined, and versatile as both a love theme and an action theme as Tauriel's theme. If you know of one, please share. Most composers don't even bother anymore to use their love themes as action themes and vice versa. So when someone does, and said theme is actually melodically pleasing, its scoregasmic. Plain and simple.

I meant, I wanted to know what other fantasy adventure scores are better. I wasn't even aware there had been many fantasy adventure films this year outside of the comic book stuff.

I'll easily take Ottman's Jack The Giant Slayer over Shore's score. It's in my top 10 of the year actually. I'll even take the cliched ridden Thor 2 over Shore's. At least that four chord theme is... well, obvious! While The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones dies a slow and painful death during it's last quarter the first half or so is quite good... better themes, too. This Is The End is a comedy but it's rooted in the fantasy adventure genre and features a magnificent, gothic score by Henry Jackman. I love Elfman's John Powellesque Epic. Yeah I'll take all of those over Smaug.

-Erik-

Huh? A few weeks ago you were saying Shore's score was in your top 10 and a huge improvement over An Unexpected Journey!

And Thor 2? Really?