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Howard Shore's vapid, overblown score for Lord of the Rings

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Author	Topic: Howard Shore's vapid, overblown score for Lord of the Rings

Dinko Standard Userer	Don't lynch me! He said it. quote: Who can remember anything out of Howard Shore's vapid, overblown score for Lord of the Rings? Who can forget Harold Arlen's for The Wizard of Oz?
posted 03-30-2004 02:49 PM PT (US)

HAL 2000 Standard Userer	Some of what he says smacks of curmudgeoning but what he says about the state of movies is pretty much spot on. I wouldn't say the Rings trilogy is the best target to make the point but it's hard to dispute his argument. Movies, indeed, have gotten bigger, louder, busier and dumber. And that seem to be just what the audience wants.
posted 03-30-2004 03:03 PM PT (US)

rkeaveney Standard Userer	It amazes me that someone can compare the memorability of any score versus THE WIZARD OF OZ, a perennial classic written in 19-frickin-39. Ryan
posted 03-30-2004 03:14 PM PT (US)

HAL 2000 Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by rkeaveney: It amazes me that someone can compare the memorability of any score versus THE WIZARD OF OZ, a perennial classic written in 19-frickin-39. Ryan Not to mention the fact that it's primarily the songs which are remembered. Added to this is that Wizard has the distinct advantage of having decades of time to prove its memorability since it's been an annual broadcast event for over 30 years. Not a fair comparison at all.
posted 03-30-2004 03:19 PM PT (US)

Hasta Standard Userer	"you end up with such over-computerised, incoherent drivel as the recent versions of Hulk"..... Crucify him!
posted 03-30-2004 03:39 PM PT (US)

franz_conrad Standard Userer	How do you say: 'I'm not going to even dignify this rant with a post' without posting? Ah... dilemma dilemme.
posted 03-30-2004 05:06 PM PT (US)

Lancelot Standard Userer	quote: The Wizard of Oz, like the Rings, is a fantasy-adventure plotted around a quest. It has Munchkins instead of Hobbits, an evil witch who lives in a castle, and even humanoid trees. Oh really, hmm, you think? Recurring symbols in literature? They teach mythology in New Zealand these days? As a professor of philosophy, you'd think he'd make the connection somewhere. The comfort is knowing that this self-important prude must be in the sad, narrow minority, and if he wants to seal himself up in a time capsule with a DVD of "The Wizard of Oz", well, happy f^&!$ng trails. I am consistantly miffed with the inability of people to accept that anything actually improves beyond the year 1963. I am only to conclude that, like Charles Foster Kane, what these people want most is their childhood (metaphorical or otherwise) back. This is the best explaination I have for people who are unimpressed with the progress of film and the accompanying music.
posted 03-30-2004 06:33 PM PT (US)

wilbur gray Non-Standard Userer	Wasn't Victor Young credited with the score of Wizard of Oz?Arlen composed the song melodies,on which admittedly the score was based.But to compare a primarily song score to a traditional underscore is a stupid thing to do.This guy teaches at Canterbury?And the dinos in Jurassic Park still look as good as they ever did,far from creaky.
posted 03-30-2004 06:49 PM PT (US)

Scorro Standard Userer	"Denis Dutton" OK, I give up. Who is this guy and what will he be remembered for in years to come? It's so damn easy to dismiss someone else's talent and accomplishment, especially for those whose main expertise is to produce drivel. "Denis Dutton teaches philosophy" Wow, I'm missing out on his profound classroom thoughts. "Take away the frenetic effects and there is not enough on screen to keep even a subnormal human mind alive." Yep, this guy is a philosopher, and deep as a thimble.
posted 03-30-2004 06:58 PM PT (US)

Mark Olivarez Standard Userer	quote: Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey showed special-effects models can be beautiful, and computer-generated effects entered film in a big way with the first Star Wars movie, accelerating with Jurassic Park and The Matrix I don't think this guy has any clue as to what he's talking about.
posted 03-30-2004 08:19 PM PT (US)

mlw Standard Userer	Lord of the Rings, now, in retrospect, does seem more shallow once the sound effects and amped-up PT Barnum wear off. It never has the balls to interpret or examine self-reflectively what any of it means, like an artistic production would assert itself against a previous work. Instead, with few minor changes, it tries to literally be the book. As if it, or the "fans" would not tolerate individual deviations from the expected. In fact, the internet gossip site people would be all upset if it was too different from the original. Satisfying fanboys' preconceptions is the ultimate aim of filmmaking now. The director probably would never imagine doing it differently than recreating the books point by point anyway. So it just tries really hard to satisfy, to the point of being fairly slavish. It sort of creates a high-end synonym for "pandering." So to me, that's pretty shallow. Not EVERYthing in the books is worth keeping around, necessarily. Better not ask too many questions, infidel! Literal-minded entertainment products may be conservative, but they are tending to be the mainstream taste of this period. I could have said all that better. Is there another kind of entertainment that just panders to a fixed set of expectations? Besides porn?
posted 03-31-2004 11:39 PM PT (US)

franz_conrad Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by mlw: I could have said all that better. Is there another kind of entertainment that just panders to a fixed set of expectations? Besides porn? Besides comics, women's magazines, television of every shape and size, contemporary art, pop music, classical music, arthouse cinema, New York Times bestsellers, Oscar announcers, inspired-by-soundtrack albums, liberal and conservative newspaper editorials, street buskers, reality TV (which doesn't quite come under televsion of every shape and size)... I can't think of a single form of entertainment that panders to expectations.
posted 04-01-2004 02:45 AM PT (US)

John Zimmer Standard Userer	As soon as the guy said the dino's in JP look "old and creaky" I stopped reading. Jz NP: The Last Samurai
posted 04-01-2004 05:11 AM PT (US)

Hector J. Guzman Standard Userer	Funny and right on. Loved the article.
posted 04-01-2004 09:13 AM PT (US)

mlw Standard Userer	quote: Originally posted by franz_conrad: <BLOCKQUOTE><font size=1 face=arial>quote:</font><HR size=1>Originally posted by mlw: [b]I could have said all that better. Is there another kind of entertainment that just panders to a fixed set of expectations? Besides porn?<HR size=1></BLOCKQUOTE> Besides comics, women's magazines, television of every shape and size, contemporary art, pop music, classical music, arthouse cinema, New York Times bestsellers, Oscar announcers, inspired-by-soundtrack albums, liberal and conservative newspaper editorials, street buskers, reality TV (which doesn't quite come under televsion of every shape and size)... I can't think of a single form of entertainment that panders to expectations.[/B] Hai! Wakarimasu!
posted 04-01-2004 12:45 PM PT (US)

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