Nicolai P. Zwar
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Got your watching plan sorted out?
I have chips, I have beer, I’m all set for tonight. In any case, yeah, I try to see as many games as I can schedule.
THE BETSY is quite dancelike; the Main Theme is a waltz, and the waltz weaves itself through the score.
When I first heard the news about “Anthony Head”, I misread it first as “Anthony Heald”! The latter is fortunately still with us. In any case, may Anthony Head rest in peace.
Sounds a bit like Goldsmith’s PLANET OF THE APES condensed to an espresso. Incidentally both compositions are from 1968. Suffice to say, I absolutely love it.
I haven’t seen IDIOCRACY, but it always seemed to me as if that’s a good setup for SNL sketches, but not necessarily a good plot premise for a feature film. I’ve seen clips of the movie which are indeed quite funny, but unsure whether the movie can sustain that at feature length. I might watch it one day.
Unrelated to IDIOCRACY and as far as historical accuracy is concerned:
While he shepherded All the President’s Men, did anyone tell Robert Redford, “You know what would make this event more interesting? A high speed car chase with some gunplay,” or “What if Carl Bernstein were Carol Bernstein? Then we can have romance and get the ladies in, or even some sex and get the kids in.
Knowing Hollywood, that’s not even unlikely, though fortunately better things prevailed.
I even get the cases where it’s almost necessary to change something to get the main idea across.
I think what bothers me is avoiding even the attempt.
You make some good points and I can understand your argument. On the one hand. On the other hand, I understand that movies are movies and not documentaries, and if I want to learn about history, movies aren’t the best place.
I think it’s great when movies strive for historical accuracy and are still gripping (PATTON is a very good example), on the other hand, movies like GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL or MY DARLING CLEMENTINE portray fairly recent events in history with total disregard for how they actually happened, changing places, character motivations, historic background, etc., yet they are considered classics. (Later movies like Kasdan’s WYATT EARP were far more accurate in their portrayal of the events in Tombstone.)
So yeah, I know BRAVEHEART is not “real” history, it’s basically a medieval knight fantasy, but it’s a sweeping epic tale and I take it as that. But I also think it’s great there are folks out there ready to jump at such films and point out if there are grave historical inaccuracies, so these films are not to be taken at face value.
But let’s get rid of that “best Spielberg film since the 90s” hypberbole I’ve seen online. That’s not true. It is simply a good quality yarn.
Whoa, best since the 90s? I haven’t even heard that kind of hyperbole. Spielberg did some great work post 90s, like MINORITY REPORT, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, WAR OF TH WORLDS.. and more… so why should DISCLOSURE DAY be better than any of these?
I didn’t like READY PLAYER ONE, I found that to be Spielberg’s weakest film by far, but other than that, I like the movies he did this century. So I suppose I’ll enjoy DISCLOSURE DAY too… I hope so in any case. Music very much in line with stuff like A.I., MINORITY REPORT, WAR OF THE WORLDS, MUNICH? Well, good then, that’s right up my Williams Alley. 🙂As far as specialty soundtrack releases go, Jerry Goldsmith is one of the biggest sellers there is, which is why the labels like Varèse Sarabande, Intrada, La-La Land, Quartet etc. keep releasing and re-releasing and remastering Jerry Goldsmith releases.
John Williams is an even bigger seller though (I’d guess), mostly because he composed music for many big time box office hits and beloved franchises, like STAR WARS, JURASSIC PARK, HARRY POTTER, INDIANA JONES, and, and…Jerry could when he wanted to, like in Star Trek, he just didn’t want to all that often. A
Not sure what you mean by that… you don’t find Jerry Goldsmith’s music accessible? I am wondering, because I have a very different reaction to the music. In fact, even more avant-garde scores like PLANET OF THE APES I find musically fully coherent and very accessible. PLANET OF THE APES is one of the most accessible serial scores I know.
Sparse, concentrated Horner score. Instead of grand orchestral gestures, it’s fewer notes, fewer instruments… piano, percussion, chimes… every note counts. It’s quite intense really, it’s distilled music.
Like there is the right clothing for each weather condition the music I listen to has to resonate with my current state of mind.
Yes, good point. Nice analogy with the clothing. It’s the same for me.
I did not mean to make this particularly controversial. When I say music rings “true”, it is just a way to say “I like it” with more pathos.
On the other hand, however, the distinction between “emotional” and “cerebral” is not a qualitative one. There is of course “good” music that is either or both.I would understant this as a more philosophical meta concept with any art. For example AI generated stuff is not “true” because it has “nothing to say”, it has no meaning, no personality.
Yes, that aligns with how I meant it.
What the heck is “untrue” music?
I am sure I wouldn’t know the difference if it bit me ìn the nose.Wouldn’t you though?
By “true” as far as pure music is concerned, I meant music that is honest, music that strives, music that refuses to hide behind effect or posture. Music that commits to an idea and follows it through, that doesn’t flatter the ear but earns its impact through necessity rather than ornament.
Now if you object that that’s all subjective and personal, you’re right, of course it is. Music is objectively neither “true” nor “untrue”, which is why I used it in quotation marks. It’s my personal reaction to music, it’s “true” if it rings “true” to me, and it’s “untrue” or phony if I find it kitsch or surface without substance, when orchestration, effects, or production are used to disguise weak material. Or when it’s generic, music with no specific identity.
It’s subjective. I’m not claiming music as such is objectively “true” or “untrue”.
I still like what I liked but I cannot listen to everything in the background while working.
I can’t listen to any music in the background while working. Unless it’s housework or something like that.
It’s for me the same in music, movies, literature, philosophy, politics… did I get more mellow with age? I don’t think so. Maybe I did? How could I gage it? Self assessment: I’d say no, I’m not more mellow. More mature, perhaps, more and more fine tuned and varied, but never more mellow. Art, music, movies, literature, philosophy, politics, is about truth… that is the only thing that matters. I can find that in a gentle nocturne or in a cacophony of abrasion, it only matters that it is “true”.
It’s a “blind buy” for me; I have not even listened to any pre-released tracks yet. I’ll listen to the score when it comes out, and then watch the movie one day
Dial of Destiny I have on CD, I remember what a mess that release tactic was… but I wanted that one on CD as I had all the other Indiana Jones scores on CD, so for that reason I decided to go the CD route there. Other than that, I don’t really “need” the CD, I don’t really play CDs anymore anyway, I’d just rip it and put in in the shelf anyway, so I’m going directly for the high-res download for Disclosure Day, which is for me the cheapest and most logical option anyway.
Qobuz has the DISCLOSURE DAY 24bit/96kHz album for pre-order for €10.49, so that’s the route I will take.
Like many others, I know Ifukube primarily through the Toho monster movies, primarily Godzilla by Inoshiro Honda (which I like a lot, though I never cared that much for the Godzilla franchise per se).
So it’s cool to have a first overview about Ifukube and maybe seek out some more of his stuff.Totally disagree. Okay, GLASS was so-so, but OLD was quite good, and KNOCK AT THE CABIN was friggin’ excellent! Wrote a review of that too, here (google-translated). My second favourite film of 2023.
Well, great you liked it. Good review, too. I might give KNOCK AT THE CABIN another shot one day, I was seeing it under less than ideal circumstances.
But ever Shyamalan movie is interesting enough to watch at least once to see what happens… it’s just not every Shyamalan movie is something I would want to watch again.
If it is some consolidation, I enjoy BRAVEHEART the movie but did not even get any anti-English resentment or hatred from the movie. I have the highest respect for the British history and culture even after seeing that movie. It was just one particular King even in the movie, so it’s not as if the movie had a blanket statement that “English are bad”.
it got worse in THE PATRIOT
Well, that was Emmerich. 🙂
I’m generally “pro” M. Night Shyamalan, he’s done some great movies and takes some risks, at least he tries some new things. However, he’s really done some awful duds as well, that tarnished his reputation. Unbreakable was my pick as favorite score of 2000. It’s a great score for an excellent movie, that’s a top pick.
I mean, on the plus side we have:
The Sixth Sense (1999)
The movie that started it all. Great movie, holds up super well. Works even if you already “know” the twist (which happened to be the case for me, even though I saw the movie when it originally came out.)Unbreakable (2000)
Great follow up. One of Shyamalan’s best.Signs (2002)
Pretty interesting… more like a Twilight Zone episode. Ending a bit weird, but it worked. Haven’t seen it since it came out. Maybe time for a re-watch.The Village (2004)
Far out premise, yes, some people may laugh at it, but it’s a beautifully done movie. One of Howard’s most beautiful scores, and the movie works for me.Lady in the Water (2006), The Happening (2008), The Last Airbender (2010) (didn’t see that one), After Earth (2013)
This is were it all comes apart… some of these movies make no sense at all. Lady in the Water, After Earth, they are just plain stupid. The premise doesn’t work, the resolution doesn’t work… Shyamalan is still a good director here, but an awful screenwriter. Didn’t see the last Airbender yet.The Visit (2015), Split (2016)
With these two movies, Shyamalan is back in form. The first one is a low budget, slow burning horror movie, and the second one was a terrific kidnapping drama, which — surprise, surprise, Shyamalan did what no one has done before: a stealth sequel. That’s the “real” Shyamalan twist here, that the movie turns out to be a sequel to UNBREAKABLE. I don’t think that’s ever been done before, to secretly make a sequel to a successful film and explicitly not market the movie as as such. Boss move!Glass (2019), Old (2021), Knock at the Cabin (2023)
This is where it gets bad again. GLASS was a disappointing letdown after UNBREAKABLE and SPLIT, OLD wasn’t very good either and had a lame resolution, and KNOCK AT THE CABIN was then totally bad beyond all hope.I haven’t seen Trap (2024), so not sure where that one falls.
I am very much looking forward to a new M. Night Shyamalan movie scores by James Newton Howard. I’ve seen James Newton Howard in concert a few years ago, and he spoke highly of Shyamalan and called him his “friend”, so there seemed to be no riff between the two, even though Howards had not scored any of his later movies.
And Horner’s Irish pipes.
As you said, it doesn’t matter. However, the Irish pipes were a logical decision and conscious choice, not a mistake. Irish pipes give the same basic sound sensibility as Scottish pipes, but are much better suited to be integrated within an orchestra. So that was not an fallacy but an obvious choice, as it gave Horner the coloring that he wanted without the problems of Scottish pipes within an orchestra setting/studio. Since Horner’s music was underscore anyway and not within the narrative, it didn’t matter what he used anyway.
Yes TÁR is a good movie, I thought of mentioning it, but then I thought of Lydia Tár primarily as a high-profile conductor in the movie, that’s where the focus was, but yes, she was also a composer.
As I noted, I’ve seen A.I. – Artificial Intelligence three times so far, once in its original theatrical run, once on DVD, once on Bluray. I do have my issues with the movie, but it’s also a tremendously interesting film. I wish I would be able to enjoy it more than I do.
It was a Stanley Kubrick project which Kubrick himself thought was more suitable for Spielberg. Spielberg took many things from Kubrick’s pre-production, so the idea of a Kubrick/Spielberg collaboration alone is fascinating. The concept of an “A.I.” child is an interesting one, though I wonder if it is really about “Artificial Intelligence” or rather “Artificial Emotions”, or “Programmed Emotions”, because that seems to be at the root of David’s struggle and problems… in any case, an interesting subject.
I think the setup of the movie is great, and the middle part has some of the best scenes Spielberg ever did, the scenes with Jude Law have a wonderful quality, a mix of hard science fiction and dreamlike fairy tale story telling. John Williams’ music is terrific. Yes, it obviously takes its starting points from John Adams and Philip Glass (some parts feel like almost quotes from Glass), but it’s still 100% Williams, he weaves the inspirations into a new whole, excellent score, one of his finest. (I was never happy with the original soundtrack album though, which really shortchanged Williams’ music.)
But the ending… sheesh… the ending of the film undermines so much. I don’t mind the idea of that ending, but the execution. If ever the rule “show, don’t tell” was heavy-handedly broken, it’s this. I remember the first time I saw the movie… I mean, there’s David, under the ocean in New York, before the Blue fairy statue from Coney Island… and then centuries pass by (I love those batteries these things have… Supertoys last all Summer long)… ice covers New York, and when David awakens, it’s a new world, humans are long gone, Mechas have far, far evolved and are now the dominating species… and for them, David is of course of enormous interest and value, since he springs from a time of their origin. So far so good… but then… then the talking starts… it’s Ben Kingsley’s voice, a great voice, and I really love to hear him narrate as the gentle super-Mecha, but the kind of cringy nonsense he is babbling tests my patience.
They love David, he’s so important for them, but he cannot become human, but they can reconstruct the Swinton family home from David’s memories… and then goes on, explaining they have learned to recreate humans from genetic materials, including apparently their souls, but only for one day (what kind of a weird cloning science program is that?), and once they have done this, they cannot do this ever again (WTF… why not?) and conveniently, Teddy has a strand of hair from Monica, so they can now do what they just told us they could do, and then David spends his happiest day with Monica, and as she falls asleep in the evening, Monica tells David that she has always loved him. David lies down next to her and closes his eyes as Teddy watches over them. That last image with Teddy watching is really sweet, but the entire scene before that is just awful.
I am willing to accept a lot in films, but not once did I buy anything that Ben Kingsley Mecha told David. And the movie really spreads this out and let’s the Ben Kingsley Mecha talk this nonsense for what seems like as long as David must have been under the ice. What is he saying? I mean, they can clone humans as grown adults (okay, weird, but an old sci-fi trope, so far I can go along), get the memories of these humans somewhere from outer space (what??), insert these memories into the grown clones (stop it, please!), but these clones live only for one day (say again??), and that entire procedure can only be done once(WTF??)? I really did not buy any of this… that is just suddenly a complete nonsensical magic explanation out of nowhere, it sounds completely insane. That’s so totally far fetched ridiculous, it would have been less magical fantasy if the Blue Fairy just had suddenly become real and made David a boy. That’s the issue I have with the ending, and it undermines a lot for me.
The ending fails because it strived for an emotional resolution the film’s own logic and terms didn’t earn and didn’t want.
But the rest of the movie is very good.
