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An excellent review. It's good to see that despite having mostly short cues, each has "a beginning, middle and end." Williams is such a narrative composer. His music always seems to take us through some sort of journey, after which we feel enriched or somehow better. Thanks again.
Can't say I agree that Williams is "such a narrative composer." He's more of a character composer, and that's as nicely as I can put it.
Dan
Said it before and I'll say it again, you just can't bring yourself to say something nice about the man, can you...?!
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Aye Thomas, Williams appears to have approached his album presentation differently this time out. There are no combined cues that you usually get (Learning To Read & The Snow Fight?...Journey To Himmel Street & The Departure Of Max?). It's not like him.
I need to play it some more to get past the references I keep hearing from Angela's Ashes, Presumed Innocent and A.I.
I don't think I'm ever gonna truly love it, but I appreciate any new Williams at this stage in the game.
I agree. I love Williams but this one is so so because of its strong ties to earlier scores. I will give it a few more listens however.
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Well Luc, there's nothing worse than seeing your chosen deity being outshone by a brighter light...or was it a coin toss? 
Good one, Kev!
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Wait, is literally everyone posting in this thread just talking about some movie? I only clicked on the thread because I was hoping to commiserate with the dozens of other poor souls who have lent books to John Williams, only to never see them again. He's been "borrowing" my copy of Against the Day for three years now, and I know there's no way he's actually trying to read it. I remember when he asked if he could take it for "just a few weeks," I even said to him, "Come on John Williams, you hated The Crying of Lot 49, and you got maybe 30 pages into Gravity's Rainbow before giving up. Maybe Pynchon just isn't your man." But he was deadset on this being the one that "clicked" with him, and three years later I'm sure it's still collecting dust on his shelf. "Book Thief" indeed, John Williams!
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Made it through the entire album yesterday, but barely.
Not an experience I'm likely to repeat. It's a routine score that comes to life only in fits and starts (most of them in the second half of the album), and the deft and characteristic touches are few and far between. The first few cues are especially weak and desultory. The suspense music on the whole is very thin, and the piano theme comes dangerously close to Richard Clayderman territory. It's not so much reminiscent of Angela's Ashes as it is of the rather boring Presumed Innocent. There is nothing fresh or original about it, but I did not expect that anyway.
The final, 7-minute cue (most likely the End Title) is by far the best, and there at least is some decent thematic development. It's certainly not worth getting the album.
For Williams completists only.
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Wrong. When released as an album, the music has to be able to stand on its own two feet, or else it should not be heard independently. I'll probably never see the movie, as is the case with hundreds of film scores before - some of which work well as MUSIC. THAT is the yardstick by which CD releases must be measured, or else there's no point releasing the score in the first place.
BTW: Have the "reviewers" who raved about this (judgement being called into question) seen the movie? Hardly possible, since it hasn't enjoyed a general release yet.
But POSITIVE reviews are always welcome by the fanboys, and NEVER called into question. No surprise there!
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Wrong. When released as an album, the music has to be able to stand on its own two feet, or else it should not be heard independently. I'll probably never see the movie, as is the case with hundreds of film scores before - some of which work well as MUSIC. THAT is the yardstick by which CD releases must be measured, or else there's no point releasing the score in the first place.
BTW: Have the "reviewers" who raved about this (judgement being called into question) seen the movie? Hardly possible, since it hasn't enjoyed a general release yet.
But POSITIVE reviews are always welcome by the fanboys, and NEVER called into question. No surprise there!
Wow! Such an assessment after one listen that you 'barely got through'! You must be some kind of wunderkind calling other people's judgement into question. But fair enough, it is only your review and your opinion. But then you haven't been positive since you joined the board 5 months ago.
By the way, I am a big fan of Williams but there are several scores of his that don't appeal to me. The Book Thief however I happen to like very much...poor me.
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>>>>>>But then you haven't been positive since you joined the board 5 months ago>>>>>
Agreed, OGM appears to be quite the Negative Egative
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Posted: |
Nov 18, 2013 - 11:12 AM
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By: |
John Mullin
(Member)
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Wrong. When released as an album, the music has to be able to stand on its own two feet, or else it should not be heard independently. I'll probably never see the movie, as is the case with hundreds of film scores before - some of which work well as MUSIC. THAT is the yardstick by which CD releases must be measured, or else there's no point releasing the score in the first place.
But you attacked the music itself for being "weak" and "desultory" (or "purposeless" for those of us who don't own a word-a-day calendar)... How can you possibly declare it that with any validity without understanding the context?
An example I can think of is from THE AVENGERS last year (a score that isn't popular here, I know)... When I listened to "They Called It," I thought it was 2:45 of basically nothing... a string bed that didn't really go anywhere. In the film, however, it plays under the death of a significant character and is surprisingly effective and moving. Now, I would argue that Silvestri scored that scene expertly... but it doesn't exactly make for the most dynamic listen on the CD. Does that mean that he did a poor job? Or the CD shouldn't have been released at all because it could not possibly be mistaken for a stand-alone concert work? I don't think either of those things are true.
Movie music does not exist for the purpose of "making a good album" - or at least it shouldn't. The reason John Williams got paid and the studio footed the bill for recording sessions with a big orchestra is to produce music that supports the movie. Whether it can be rearranged to make a good CD presentation is secondary. It's nice if it can, but that's not why it exists in the first place.
Again, it's fine that you don't like it, but just because you don't like it, it doesn't mean that it's crap or that it shouldn't have been released at all.
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You can tell this film sucks by the newspaper adverts.
Positive quotes from two obscure critics and the odious Richard Roeper are all they could drag up.
Even quote queen Peter Travers apparently couldn't say anything nice!
Hopefully, John Williams score floats above the film
bruce
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God, I hope I am not as cantankerous, hateful and just generally snarky when I'm old.....
Well said James. Screw the critics. I'm an old snarky bastard, and was reduced to a pile of jelly by the end. Even listening to this beyond beautiful score has the same effect on me. GO!
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OGM just sounds like another bitter JG worshipper who never quite got over the level of success JW has attained. Sad really.
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