A lush orchestration of a simplistic piece of music doesn't make the music more developed. Perhaps if you could share a YouTube link to a well-developed piece of Newman's Bond music that I may have overlooked I'll reconsider.
I don't think there would be much point in that, would there? You'd just say it wasn't.
Just because a piece of film music doesn't play what some would call a tune, it doesn't make it less 'developed'. Film music is often about creating a mood. Newman adds layers: hence 'depth'. I really wouldn't call it simplistic at all.
Even so, I'm not sure how something like 'Tennyson' doesn't satisfy the needs of a casual Bond music fan for a big thrilling tune.
His stuff just exudes class in a way that Arnold's doesn't quite, and for me that's what Bond should feel like, even if I do like some of Arnold's tunes just as well as everyone else.
A lush orchestration of a simplistic piece of music doesn't make the music more developed. Perhaps if you could share a YouTube link to a well-developed piece of Newman's Bond music that I may have overlooked I'll reconsider.
I don't think there would be much point in that, would there? You'd just say it wasn't.
Just because a piece of film music doesn't play what some would call a tune, it doesn't make it less 'developed'. Film music is often about creating a mood. Newman adds layers: hence 'depth'. I really wouldn't call it simplistic at all.
Don't worry, I don't want Lady Gaga to do a Bond song either, though I wouldn't mind if she sang a Bond theme.
Yikes!
I'm not looking for a tune, I'm looking for some development in the music. Newman's music generally goes nowhere. It's extremely repetitive and monotonous. It kills any mood he's attempting to create. Even Philip Glass develops his monotony.
Lady Gaga can sing, she just generally makes terrible music. Did you hear what she did with Tony Bennett?
Newman gave us plenty of hints of the Bond theme in Spectre, but it always sounded like he was afraid to use it. It was frustrating that he never went full on with it.
I'm struggling to remember it in Quantum of Solace...? There's a bit in the hotel room with Fields I think.
I'm not looking for a tune, I'm looking for some development in the music. Newman's music generally goes nowhere. It's extremely repetitive and monotonous. It kills any mood he's attempting to create. Even Philip Glass develops his monotony.
That's not true, no. Even something like Jellyfish builds tension over the course of its repeated layers. He adds and takes away layers of depth during most of his tracks: you can't say they're not developed, I'm sorry.
Lady Gaga can sing, she just generally makes terrible music. Did you hear what she did with Tony Bennett?
I did, but I can't even remember her voice. I wouldn't just want a purely competent singer for it though: you may as well get someone from the X Factor.
Newman gave us plenty of hints of the Bond theme in Spectre, but it always sounded like he was afraid to use it. It was frustrating that he never went full on with it.
I'm struggling to remember it in Quantum of Solace...? There's a bit in the hotel room with Fields I think.
I never said the QOS did a better job with the Bond theme.
I'm not looking for a tune, I'm looking for some development in the music. Newman's music generally goes nowhere. It's extremely repetitive and monotonous. It kills any mood he's attempting to create. Even Philip Glass develops his monotony.
That's not true, no. Even something like Jellyfish builds tension over the course of its repeated layers. He adds and takes away layers of depth during most of his tracks: you can't say they're not developed, I'm sorry.
Lady Gaga can sing, she just generally makes terrible music. Did you hear what she did with Tony Bennett?
I did, but I can't even remember her voice. I wouldn't just want a purely competent singer for it though: you may as well get someone from the X Factor.
Jellyfish has some good ideas in it. I think that I don't care for so much minimalism when it comes to Bond.
Most of the classic Bond themes from the 1960s and 1970s were the result of just a good singer performing a song that was written by the film's composer. I think we need that again to help tie the film's music together and create a strong musical identity for the film.
Newman wasn't a disaster. His Severine track in Skyfall is outstanding and really is evocative of John Barry's classic scores...and that's the highest praise you can get IMO. However, the rest of his Bond work is just ok and the action themes, save for the very brief horn cue during the DB5 reveal in SF, (which was a direct lift from Barry anyway) is pedestrian and not Bond worthy. Arnold is a very good, if not quite brilliant film composer but he works very well for Bond because he does an excellent job of carrying on music that reflects the distinct Barry style which I believe is a very important part of the Bond films. I'd like to see Arnold back for Bond 25.
Newman gave us plenty of hints of the Bond theme in Spectre, but it always sounded like he was afraid to use it. It was frustrating that he never went full on with it.
I'm struggling to remember it in Quantum of Solace...? There's a bit in the hotel room with Fields I think.
I never said the QOS did a better job with the Bond theme.
Well then why get Arnold back then if the amount of Bond theme is such an issue?
Jellyfish has some good ideas in it. I think that I don't care for so much minimalism when it comes to Bond.
I wouldn't exactly call his scores minimalist! They're full of percussion and electronics and orchestration and brass- as I said: many-layered. Have another listen to the PTS of Skyfall and tell me that's minimalist
Most of the classic Bond themes from the 1960s and 1970s were the result of just a good singer performing a song that was written by the film's composer. I think we need that again to help tie the film's music together and create a strong musical identity for the film.
Yes, but I don't know if many composers do song-writing as well nowadays. John Barry was John Barry: there's not many like him. And I don't think Arnold's songs were all that fantastic.
And the idea that Newman's scores didn't have a strong musical identity tying the film together I struggle with. I think you're mistaking one tune for an identity.
Newman wasn't a disaster. His Severine track in Skyfall is outstanding and really is evocative of John Barry's classic scores...and that's the highest praise you can get IMO. However, the rest of his Bond work is just ok and the action themes, save for the very brief horn cue during the DB5 reveal in SF, (which was a direct lift from Barry anyway) is pedestrian and not Bond worthy. Arnold is a very good, if not quite brilliant film composer but he works very well for Bond because he does an excellent job of carrying on music that reflects the distinct Barry style which I believe is a very important part of the Bond films. I'd like to see Arnold back for Bond 25.
It sounds like you just want the old stuff again. John Barry was superb, but he's not coming back. I don't want someone pretending to be him because they'll never be as good.
I hear what both of you are saying.
I do enjoy Newman's scores and I do listen to them a reasonable amount but they don't feel like a Bond film at all really. Madeline and Adrenaline and breadcrumbs are the exception but it feels like he made a very good but vanilla score for any action movie.
Sure, there was little of the Bond theme in CR and QOS but Arnold's soundtracks ooze something different to all the other action soundtracks. Something Bondian.
I think you can desire a Bondian soundtrack without being "stuck in the past".
Also I notice that discussion has been rather quiet on the fact that huge chunks of Skyfall was recycled for Spectre. And not in a let's do something different with it way. But a lazy, by the numbers method.
Having said that, the spectre soundtrack is probably my preference out of the two because at its best moments it feels like its own recognisable thing.
“The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning. "
-Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
My biggest issue with Newman is that Spectre’s score doesn’t do enough to differentiate itself from Skyfall’s. It left me with the impression that Newman (like Mendes) didn’t have anything meaningful to offer the series after Skyfall. Both Barry and Arnold had the ability to make each of their Bond scores familiar, yet distinct. Newman failed to achieve that with Spectre. That doesn’t mean he’s an inferior composer, it just means he’s not the right choice for Bond 25.
Sophisticated? Newman's music is quite simplistic and isn't developed. It's very thin.
It's not thin, no: you're just taking a word I used there The orchestration is very rich and well-developed and each piece builds rather nicely. They're very lush scores, just in a different way to how Barry did 'lush'.
Arnold can at least express an entire musical idea and do something with it.
One of these men has 14 Oscar nominations...
Hey, I'm not knocking Arnold: he's fun at what he does and I like the tunes too. But they're often a bit simple and straightforward. He wouldn't have done that lovely haunting tonal stuff for the arrival at Skyfall, for example: one of my favourite musical moments from the whole series. It really feels like something special and new.
I always have to remind myself that lots of Bond fans seem to think Lady Gaga is a superb, credible artist to do the song
The problem with trotting out Oscar glory as a mark of quality is it cuts both ways. Gaga just won one. Sam Smith won one for his bottom-tier Bond theme. Newman's Oscars mean nothing when comparing him to Arnold.
Newman did a decent enough Hans Zimmer impression for Mendes' Dark Knight Bond take. The problem is he did it twice. None of those cues were memorable enough to justify bringing back for Spectre. My favorite score moment in Skyfall is Newman weaving in the theme song as Bond floats up to the casino in Macau. The rest is all good-to-serviceable, I guess (the Istanbul opener was probably my nex favorite bit of scoring), but by Spectre it felt as if he (and Mendes) were out of ideas and enthusiasm.
CR and QoS both have a signature leitmotif, and in CR it almost as felt he was giving Craig his own personal Bond theme, similar to what Barry gave Lazenby in OHMSS and what Martin gave Moore in LALD. I'd love to see Arnold come back to send off Craig's Bond.
Sophisticated? Newman's music is quite simplistic and isn't developed. It's very thin.
It's not thin, no: you're just taking a word I used there The orchestration is very rich and well-developed and each piece builds rather nicely. They're very lush scores, just in a different way to how Barry did 'lush'.
Arnold can at least express an entire musical idea and do something with it.
One of these men has 14 Oscar nominations...
Hey, I'm not knocking Arnold: he's fun at what he does and I like the tunes too. But they're often a bit simple and straightforward. He wouldn't have done that lovely haunting tonal stuff for the arrival at Skyfall, for example: one of my favourite musical moments from the whole series. It really feels like something special and new.
I always have to remind myself that lots of Bond fans seem to think Lady Gaga is a superb, credible artist to do the song
The problem with trotting out Oscar glory as a mark of quality is it cuts both ways. Gaga just won one. Sam Smith won one for his bottom-tier Bond theme. Newman's Oscars mean nothing when comparing him to Arnold.
Newman did a decent enough Hans Zimmer impression for Mendes' Dark Knight Bond take. The problem is he did it twice. None of those cues were memorable enough to justify bringing back for Spectre. My favorite score moment in Skyfall is Newman weaving in the theme song as Bond floats up to the casino in Macau. The rest is all good-to-serviceable, I guess (the Istanbul opener was probably my nex favorite bit of scoring), but by Spectre it felt as if he (and Mendes) were out of ideas and enthusiasm.
CR and QoS both have a signature leitmotif, and in CR it almost as felt he was giving Craig his own personal Bond theme, similar to what Barry gave Lazenby in OHMSS and what Martin gave Moore in LALD. I'd love to see Arnold come back to send off Craig's Bond.
Couldnt have put it better myself HalfMonk HalfHitman. Spot on, In the older Bond's there is a unique style and sound to the music that you can instantly identify the film from the style of the score. That was lost IMO in Skyfall and Spectre as the scores had the same cues in certain scenes and felt like a lack of imagination. I too hope SO MUCH Arnold returns for Craig's (most likely) last outing, it would be a triumphant finish.
LALD, OHMSS and LTK were excellent scores and for me are up there with the best, CR has some great scores and i think Arnold contributed alot more than most people recognise in making CR the success it is.
Arnold all the way, hes like our modern John Barry -{
No one comes close to John Barry's Bond music. Some have small bits that are close. But in terms of complete score and how the music can make even a bad Bond movie enjoyable. No one can do what John Barry did on those movies. Part of the reason I enjoy Moonraker and that island part of The Man with the Golden Gun is because of the music.
I think the only person to come really close is the guy that did the music on Incredibles. But that was supposed to be a John Barry type score from what I remember.
The problem with trotting out Oscar glory as a mark of quality is it cuts both ways. Gaga just won one. Sam Smith won one for his bottom-tier Bond theme. Newman's Oscars mean nothing when comparing him to Arnold.
I'm happy to believe those people made the best song in the particular years they won: they aren't a lot of solid movie songs produced each year and lots of people like Sam Smith - that's why he's an international star. He must be doing something right.
But being nominated on fourteen separate occasions is a different matter: Newman is consistently making one of the top five or six scores as judged by his peers. You can't just dismiss that and claim he's nothing but an impressionist..
And if you want to compare to Arnold: he hasn't had a film scoring job in eight years.
Recently re-watching the documentaries on the filming of
The Bonds in the Bluray collection, and it's amazing how
Many problems so many Bond films had ) LALD and
TSWLM are just two examples of trouble hit films, but they
Both turned out great -{
"I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
Should we consider this picture of DC released yesterday as the first official image? From the film, not a BTS picture. https://www.instagram.com/p/BzWNJYrAtoS/
If so, it comes 5 days earlier than the first official images released for Spectre and Skyfall, which were released 71 days after production began.
Newman gave us plenty of hints of the Bond theme in Spectre, but it always sounded like he was afraid to use it. It was frustrating that he never went full on with it.
I absolutely agree, although I love Skyfall's score there are moments like in a 'the bloody shot' where Newman starts the theme but doesn't play the whole phrase and it is a bit frustrating. He seemed quite capable of delivering the bombast for it later on in the score but never fully commits.
Newman gave us plenty of hints of the Bond theme in Spectre, but it always sounded like he was afraid to use it. It was frustrating that he never went full on with it.
I absolutely agree, although I love Skyfall's score there are moments like in a 'the bloody shot' where Newman starts the theme but doesn't play the whole phrase and it is a bit frustrating. He seemed quite capable of delivering the bombast for it later on in the score but never fully commits.
So still way more Bond theme than Arnold was using.. so if the complaint is not enough Bond theme, why do people want Arnold back?
The problem with judging composers work is you have no idea how much of the music is them vs. how much of it was decisions being made by the director...
Guys, let's not confuse the issue, there is a difference between the main title theme song running through the film to the main Bond theme (Monty Norman/John Barry) appearing in the film.
I think what many of us would like to hear is the main title song theme woven into the soundtrack as John Barry and George Martin did so well and David Arnold has also done with his scores. Newman's score features hardly any of Adele and Sam Smith's title song. The Bond theme appearing at key moments is (or should be!) a given, whoever the composer.
Having the title theme song and Bond theme woven into the score gives the whole film more cohesion and identity. It's what sets the Bond films apart from your average action film. Newman was lacking in this area. I don't dislike the Skyfall and Spectre Soundtracks, some sequences are good and atmospheric, I just find them in the most part a bit bland, generic and forgettable.
I can remember and hum most of the John Barry soundtracks from memory. Likewise George Martin's LALD and many pieces of from David Arnold, but not Thomas Newman's I'm afraid.
Right, I think that’s what many of us mean by “the theme.” The title theme, not the Bond theme. Newman did fine with the Bond theme, IMO. That wasn’t the issue at all. I can’t recall a single chord of Adele’s or Smith’s music in the score for either Skyfall or Spectre. Both of those songs “sounded” like Bond themes, so why were they absent? Did Newman think he could do better? I haven’t the slightest. But it’s a weakness. When I think about some of my favorite scores (Thunderball, OHMSS, TLD, and CR come to mind), the title theme weaves them together.
Newman did a decent enough Hans Zimmer impression for Mendes' Dark Knight Bond take.
No, he didn’t. Please listen to some film scores, guys.
We do. We did. If the cores aren't connecting with audiences, that's a problem. This feels like that thing where my friends who play instruments tell me Rush is the best band in the world, because they're hearing it differently than a civilian. Newman's Skyfall score wasn't bad*, but Spectre revealed he was out of ideas for the series. A third Newman score is a bleak prospect.
And again, the Oscars are really rarely a metric of talent, but of popularity. To take them as any kind of standard means that roughly the same ten films in a given year have the bets actors, director, editor, costume design, etc. There was a dust-up a couple years ago where it was revealed the Oscar voters were often not watching the films they voted on. I just looked up Newman's nominations and it's a lot of vanilla awards bait. He's a journeyman.
*I do recall the big fanfare when Bond steps into the hallway in the opening shot eliciting laughs from the audience, but maybe that was Mendes' fault.
The problem with judging composers work is you have no idea how much of the music is them vs. how much of it was decisions being made by the director...
Yes I would like to know whose idea it was to make the Spectre score so similar to Skyfall in places: it almost doesn't feel like a composer's choice and I've always suspected it was something Newman was asked to do.
Guys, let's not confuse the issue, there is a difference between the main title theme song running through the film to the main Bond theme (Monty Norman/John Barry) appearing in the film.
I think what many of us would like to hear is the main title song theme woven into the soundtrack as John Barry and George Martin did so well and David Arnold has also done with his scores. Newman's score features hardly any of Adele and Sam Smith's title song. The Bond theme appearing at key moments is (or should be!) a given, whoever the composer.
Having the title theme song and Bond theme woven into the score gives the whole film more cohesion and identity.
I like that to happen too, but it's not essential (just see Die Another Day, TWINE, most of Quantum...) and the Newmans have plenty of cohesion and identity.
I can remember and hum most of the John Barry soundtracks from memory. Likewise George Martin's LALD and many pieces of from David Arnold, but not Thomas Newman's I'm afraid.
Right, I think that’s what many of us mean by “the theme.” The title theme, not the Bond theme. Newman did fine with the Bond theme, IMO. That wasn’t the issue at all. I can’t recall a single chord of Adele’s or Smith’s music in the score for either Skyfall or Spectre.
You know there are full and lush versions of each song in each film's score, yes? Only one for each, it's true, but they're bigger than the little hints of Another Way To Die we got the previous time.
The problem with judging composers work is you have no idea how much of the music is them vs. how much of it was decisions being made by the director...
Yes I would like to know whose idea it was to make the Spectre score so similar to Skyfall in places: it almost doesn't feel like a composer's choice and I've always suspected it was something Newman was asked to do.
I can 100% believe that. There were rumors that Mendes frayed a few working relationships on Bond (I'd heard gossip that was why editor Stuart Baird - the secret ingredient behind Casino Royale and Skyfall working as well as they did - didn't return for Spectre).
Newman did a decent enough Hans Zimmer impression for Mendes' Dark Knight Bond take.
No, he didn’t. Please listen to some film scores, guys.
We do. We did. If the cores aren't connecting with audiences, that's a problem. This feels like that thing where my friends who play instruments tell me Rush is the best band in the world, because they're hearing it differently than a civilian. Newman's Skyfall score wasn't bad, but Spectre revealed he was out of ideas for the series. A third Newman score is a bleak prospect.
There's definitely a strong Zimmer influence throughout a lot of Skyfall's score. An example being the moment Bond jumps on the elevator in Shanghai sounds almost exactly like the Dark Knight score.
And again, the Oscars are really rarely a metric of talent, but of popularity. To take them as any kind of standard means that roughly the same ten films in a given year have the bets actors, director, editor, costume design, etc. There was a dust-up a couple years ago where it was revealed the Oscar voters were often not watching the films they voted on. I just looked up Newman's nominations and it's a lot of vanilla awards bait. He's a journeyman.
Oh honestly. That's absolute nonsense. He's one of the top tier of composers around.
And as I said, if you don't want to take the Oscars as a metric of talent, then consider employment a metric of talent. What was the best film score Arnold did in the last five years?
Comments
I don't think there would be much point in that, would there?
Just because a piece of film music doesn't play what some would call a tune, it doesn't make it less 'developed'. Film music is often about creating a mood. Newman adds layers: hence 'depth'. I really wouldn't call it simplistic at all.
Even so, I'm not sure how something like 'Tennyson' doesn't satisfy the needs of a casual Bond music fan for a big thrilling tune.
His stuff just exudes class in a way that Arnold's doesn't quite, and for me that's what Bond should feel like, even if I do like some of Arnold's tunes just as well as everyone else.
Yikes!
I'm not looking for a tune, I'm looking for some development in the music. Newman's music generally goes nowhere. It's extremely repetitive and monotonous. It kills any mood he's attempting to create. Even Philip Glass develops his monotony.
Lady Gaga can sing, she just generally makes terrible music. Did you hear what she did with Tony Bennett?
I'm struggling to remember it in Quantum of Solace...? There's a bit in the hotel room with Fields I think.
That's not true, no. Even something like Jellyfish builds tension over the course of its repeated layers. He adds and takes away layers of depth during most of his tracks: you can't say they're not developed, I'm sorry.
I did, but I can't even remember her voice. I wouldn't just want a purely competent singer for it though: you may as well get someone from the X Factor.
I never said the QOS did a better job with the Bond theme.
Jellyfish has some good ideas in it. I think that I don't care for so much minimalism when it comes to Bond.
Most of the classic Bond themes from the 1960s and 1970s were the result of just a good singer performing a song that was written by the film's composer. I think we need that again to help tie the film's music together and create a strong musical identity for the film.
Well then why get Arnold back then if the amount of Bond theme is such an issue?
I wouldn't exactly call his scores minimalist!
Yes, but I don't know if many composers do song-writing as well nowadays. John Barry was John Barry: there's not many like him. And I don't think Arnold's songs were all that fantastic.
And the idea that Newman's scores didn't have a strong musical identity tying the film together I struggle with. I think you're mistaking one tune for an identity.
It sounds like you just want the old stuff again. John Barry was superb, but he's not coming back. I don't want someone pretending to be him because they'll never be as good.
I do enjoy Newman's scores and I do listen to them a reasonable amount but they don't feel like a Bond film at all really. Madeline and Adrenaline and breadcrumbs are the exception but it feels like he made a very good but vanilla score for any action movie.
Sure, there was little of the Bond theme in CR and QOS but Arnold's soundtracks ooze something different to all the other action soundtracks. Something Bondian.
I think you can desire a Bondian soundtrack without being "stuck in the past".
Also I notice that discussion has been rather quiet on the fact that huge chunks of Skyfall was recycled for Spectre. And not in a let's do something different with it way. But a lazy, by the numbers method.
Having said that, the spectre soundtrack is probably my preference out of the two because at its best moments it feels like its own recognisable thing.
-Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
The problem with trotting out Oscar glory as a mark of quality is it cuts both ways. Gaga just won one. Sam Smith won one for his bottom-tier Bond theme. Newman's Oscars mean nothing when comparing him to Arnold.
Newman did a decent enough Hans Zimmer impression for Mendes' Dark Knight Bond take. The problem is he did it twice. None of those cues were memorable enough to justify bringing back for Spectre. My favorite score moment in Skyfall is Newman weaving in the theme song as Bond floats up to the casino in Macau. The rest is all good-to-serviceable, I guess (the Istanbul opener was probably my nex favorite bit of scoring), but by Spectre it felt as if he (and Mendes) were out of ideas and enthusiasm.
CR and QoS both have a signature leitmotif, and in CR it almost as felt he was giving Craig his own personal Bond theme, similar to what Barry gave Lazenby in OHMSS and what Martin gave Moore in LALD. I'd love to see Arnold come back to send off Craig's Bond.
No, he didn’t. Please listen to some film scores, guys.
Couldnt have put it better myself HalfMonk HalfHitman. Spot on, In the older Bond's there is a unique style and sound to the music that you can instantly identify the film from the style of the score. That was lost IMO in Skyfall and Spectre as the scores had the same cues in certain scenes and felt like a lack of imagination. I too hope SO MUCH Arnold returns for Craig's (most likely) last outing, it would be a triumphant finish.
LALD, OHMSS and LTK were excellent scores and for me are up there with the best, CR has some great scores and i think Arnold contributed alot more than most people recognise in making CR the success it is.
Arnold all the way, hes like our modern John Barry -{
I think the only person to come really close is the guy that did the music on Incredibles. But that was supposed to be a John Barry type score from what I remember.
I'm happy to believe those people made the best song in the particular years they won: they aren't a lot of solid movie songs produced each year and lots of people like Sam Smith - that's why he's an international star. He must be doing something right.
But being nominated on fourteen separate occasions is a different matter: Newman is consistently making one of the top five or six scores as judged by his peers. You can't just dismiss that and claim he's nothing but an impressionist..
And if you want to compare to Arnold: he hasn't had a film scoring job in eight years.
Yeah, you liked the bit where he played the theme tune.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/shortcuts/2019/jul/01/is-25th-james-bond-film-most-cursed-production-of-all-time
The Bonds in the Bluray collection, and it's amazing how
Many problems so many Bond films had
TSWLM are just two examples of trouble hit films, but they
Both turned out great -{
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzWNJYrAtoS/
If so, it comes 5 days earlier than the first official images released for Spectre and Skyfall, which were released 71 days after production began.
So still way more Bond theme than Arnold was using.. so if the complaint is not enough Bond theme, why do people want Arnold back?
I think what many of us would like to hear is the main title song theme woven into the soundtrack as John Barry and George Martin did so well and David Arnold has also done with his scores. Newman's score features hardly any of Adele and Sam Smith's title song. The Bond theme appearing at key moments is (or should be!) a given, whoever the composer.
Having the title theme song and Bond theme woven into the score gives the whole film more cohesion and identity. It's what sets the Bond films apart from your average action film. Newman was lacking in this area. I don't dislike the Skyfall and Spectre Soundtracks, some sequences are good and atmospheric, I just find them in the most part a bit bland, generic and forgettable.
I can remember and hum most of the John Barry soundtracks from memory. Likewise George Martin's LALD and many pieces of from David Arnold, but not Thomas Newman's I'm afraid.
We do. We did. If the cores aren't connecting with audiences, that's a problem. This feels like that thing where my friends who play instruments tell me Rush is the best band in the world, because they're hearing it differently than a civilian. Newman's Skyfall score wasn't bad*, but Spectre revealed he was out of ideas for the series. A third Newman score is a bleak prospect.
And again, the Oscars are really rarely a metric of talent, but of popularity. To take them as any kind of standard means that roughly the same ten films in a given year have the bets actors, director, editor, costume design, etc. There was a dust-up a couple years ago where it was revealed the Oscar voters were often not watching the films they voted on. I just looked up Newman's nominations and it's a lot of vanilla awards bait. He's a journeyman.
*I do recall the big fanfare when Bond steps into the hallway in the opening shot eliciting laughs from the audience, but maybe that was Mendes' fault.
Yes I would like to know whose idea it was to make the Spectre score so similar to Skyfall in places: it almost doesn't feel like a composer's choice and I've always suspected it was something Newman was asked to do.
I'm not sure where the two have been confused?
I like that to happen too, but it's not essential (just see Die Another Day, TWINE, most of Quantum...) and the Newmans have plenty of cohesion and identity.
Well I can. Where does that get us?
You know there are full and lush versions of each song in each film's score, yes? Only one for each, it's true, but they're bigger than the little hints of Another Way To Die we got the previous time.
I can 100% believe that. There were rumors that Mendes frayed a few working relationships on Bond (I'd heard gossip that was why editor Stuart Baird - the secret ingredient behind Casino Royale and Skyfall working as well as they did - didn't return for Spectre).
If you think he sounds like Zimmer then I'm not sure you do.
Oh honestly. That's absolute nonsense. He's one of the top tier of composers around.
And as I said, if you don't want to take the Oscars as a metric of talent, then consider employment a metric of talent. What was the best film score Arnold did in the last five years?