Advertisement
The only thing I can think of that would annoy Kristy more than me posting about J.W. in this group (2nd post, no less) would be to talk up "Food Rocks" in this space. : )
Yeah, so Williams is a bit of a plagiarist and is very much a composer who likes to beat you over the head with notes (the word "bombastic" is usually floating around in any review of a film he's scored) but you have to admire his subtle works like "Schindler's List" or the sweet harmonica leads of "The Sugarland Express." Not to mention that he's written what are arguably the most famous themes in movie history: "Star Wars", "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" and "E.T.: The Extraterrestrial." Sure, he's done little or nothing of merit in recent years (The "Harry Potter" scores are rehashed bits of "Witches Of Eastwick", "Hook" and oh, why go on?) but the man has written some seriously wicked stuff.
And that's all I have to say. : )
Yeah, so Williams is a bit of a plagiarist and is very much a composer who likes to beat you over the head with notes (the word "bombastic" is usually floating around in any review of a film he's scored) but you have to admire his subtle works like "Schindler's List" or the sweet harmonica leads of "The Sugarland Express." Not to mention that he's written what are arguably the most famous themes in movie history: "Star Wars", "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" and "E.T.: The Extraterrestrial." Sure, he's done little or nothing of merit in recent years (The "Harry Potter" scores are rehashed bits of "Witches Of Eastwick", "Hook" and oh, why go on?) but the man has written some seriously wicked stuff.
And that's all I have to say. : )
posted by:
|
Orlando
|
Advertisement
Advertisement
-
Re: John Williams
Tue, October 21, 2003 - 2:38 PMHa-hah... ;o)
Okay, I admit... I don't hate EVERYTHING he's ever done. I actually enjoyed (and, in fact, own) "Hook", his Indy stuff, and most of "Schindler's List".
I guess I don't see the appeal. He's my "Moulin Rouge" of film score composers. I'd love to be enlightened, however... -
-
Re: John Williams
Tue, October 21, 2003 - 7:23 PMPut 'em up, put 'em up!
I'll fight you with one paw behind my back...
Seriously-- I command thee to go and listen to the Indy stuff, Close encounters, Star Wars, Hook and then Schindler's list.
Beautiful, lovely music that can stand alone or help to move the story points forward and supply that extra push over the emotional edge. Isn't that what film composition is all about?
While there are many incredible film composers out there, there is no denying the simple fact that Williams has a body of work most sublime.
:D
-
-
Re: John Williams
Sat, November 15, 2003 - 5:55 PMI am actually of the opinion that Williams' talent has been hobbled by the way films are made today. In general, there is much less time for him to create a score, and the overall quality will suffer.
If you look back at his career, some of his best work is music that people wouldn't neccesarily associate with him; if anybody is feeling adventurous, they may wish to rent Robert Altman's film "Images," which features a very interesting score. Williams collaborated with Stomu Yamash'ta, who would beat and scrape large metal sculptures to create bizarre sounds that reflected the protagonist's schizophrenia.
Furthermore, looking past his main themes one often finds some very interesting music that goes quite beyond the bombast that he's known for. "Superman" in particular is an operatic film score on a large scale, one that is very much about creating a soundscape for an American icon (I am, of course, referring only to the score for the first film, not the horrible Ken Thorne marching band re-arrangements for the second).
While I must admit that Williams is, indeed, guilty of some - er - borrowing (Hanson's second symphony in "E.T." Holst's "The Planets" in "Star Wars," etc), he is nowhere near as obnoxious with it as James Horner or Hans Zimmer. -
-
Re: John Williams
Thu, April 29, 2004 - 2:50 PMI second the comment about James Horner.
And I also agree that some of Williams' lesser-known work is much more interesting. Rosewood, for instance.
As for the borrowing...once again, composers have been plagiarizing themselves for time immemorial; it's a classical music tradition too! Though I have been seriously disappointed by his more recent output, especially the new Star Wars movies. I actually liked the score to Harry Potter a great deal, don't ask.
-
-
-
