You're right. If Williams selected 27' + end title suite for the CD, I suppose it's more or less what is in the film, or it's his choice to save us repetition and boredom. I'm perfectly OK with that.
So, over at JWFan.com, a member is point out the release is actually shorter -- the eleven-plus minute final cue is actually:
"The Decision and End Credits (11:35) = Presses Roll [01:34-03:28] + The Papers and the Presidents [00:00-01:35] + Ben's Living Room [00:00-2:43] + Wild About Harry [02:00-03:12] + Let's Publish [00:00-03:02] + Setting The Type [00:00-01:09] "
And edit job, so it's about twenty-seven minutes of score. This is the horror days of short LP's.
Justin, your sarcasm detector seems to be malfunctioning.
That post you quoted was in jest, a joke, not a serious post.
You're the one who speculated on the length of the score being perhaps short. Do you know for a fact it is?
No, I don't. But I'm also not rushing to complain about the length of the album before I have any idea of what the film is like or how much music may or may not be in it. Since the people who have actually seen the picture compare it to films like ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN and other 70s trillers - all movies with relatively short scores - it's not outside the realm of possibility that THE POST doesn't have a ton of music in it either. It doesn't seem like a 'wall-to-wall music' kind of a movie in any event.
And to be clear... my initial criticism wasn't that you were speculating. It was that you appeared to be griping about the album being so short before you've even heard it or have had a chance to form an opinion.
If there is less than 30 minutes of score in the film (which John rightly points out is par for the course in these types of films), I tend to find that 27 minutes of John Williams music is the equivalent of 5 to 10 years of another film composer's work.
If there is less than 30 minutes of score in the film (which John rightly points out is par for the course in these types of films), I tend to find that 27 minutes of John Williams music is the equivalent of 5 to 10 years of another film composer's work.
Just a few lines from a review which I stumbled upon and which make me hope for the best, even though I don't know the reviewer and don't know how much his judgement will align with mine.
The Post is an inspirational reminder of the importance of a free press while unabashedly making journalism look like the most awesome job ever — akin to what Raiders of the Lost Ark did for archaeology. The combination of the adventurous Spielbergian lens and a dynamite John Williams score jazzes up the most mundane newspaper conventions, from a copy editor striking words with a red pen to trucks rolling out with first editions. If only the same heroic anthems accompanied the writing of a movie review.
"One element that proves too predictable and ordinary is the score by the normally great longtime Spielberg collaborator John Williams. It's a rote-sounding job that frankly feels tossed off."
I WISH Spielberg had made his once planned film on the Chicago 10 instead of this. The Washington Post has , for most of its existence , been the house organ of the C.I.A.* Making them into some kind of champions of democracy is pretty offensive! Bruce
* sources; BROTHERS by David Talbot PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY by Mark Lane
Another review bit: Spielberg has crafted a solid piece of work that skillfully juggles both suspense and Big Ideas, and his team of collaborators delivers, from John Williams’ horn-heavy score (creating either tension or heroic awe, as needed) ......
Another review bit: Spielberg has crafted a solid piece of work that skillfully juggles both suspense and Big Ideas, and his team of collaborators delivers, from John Williams’ horn-heavy score (creating either tension or heroic awe, as needed) ......
I wonder if they mean brass or French horn, because, you know...
WTF with this "manipulative score" nonsense lately ?? Have any of these quasiCritics seen a Spielberg film? Have any of them has seen a film before the 00's? Is any of them not a millenial?
WTF with this "manipulative score" nonsense lately ?? Have any of these quasiCritics seen a Spielberg film? Have any of them has seen a film before the 00's? Is any of them not a millenial?
It´s a reflex, developed by a group of critics during the 90´s claiming film scores may never be noticed or they are manipulative and therefore bad.
What idiocy. Every detail of a work of art is conceived to produce a certain effect. And film scores are employed to manipulate the audience.
Sure, some scores try too hard - but then they fail to manipulate.
Williams and composers who create memorable melodies never failed to stir up my emotional response. In contrast, many of those composers who are celebrated by "that" kind of reviewers leave me cold.
I am happy and grateful that Spielberg offers Williams the possibility to create film scores that I can respond to.
I suppose there are gradations and good and bad manipulations. But I have always thought pretty much the entire purpose of a good film score is to manipulate the viewer.
To me it is more about the music being honest and true to the directorial vision. In the case of Spielberg that can often mean the music will be more sentimental and emotive because that's what Spielberg puts up there on the screen. Seems like Williams is often taking fire for essentially wedding his music to the vision of the movie which is what he should be doing. The criticism, if valid, ought to be directed at Spielberg.
I'm guessing if you put the music to The Post and played it over All the President's Men, a movie that will draw comparisons to The Post, than you can legitimately say that is manipulative music. But if history is any guide, The Post will have emotive music during the kind of emotive scenes that Spielberg is well know for. Looking forward to seeing this one.
WTF with this "manipulative score" nonsense lately ?? Have any of these quasiCritics seen a Spielberg film? Have any of them has seen a film before the 00's? Is any of them not a millenial?
No, because reviewers are morons, especially today's reviewers. And thanks to a bunch of idiot producers and directors, movie scores no longer actually do what they're supposed to do, i.e. support the film and its story, characters, and drama. So we get a lot of pad or colorless stuff or thumping music that all sounds the damn same because everything is temp-tracked with other scores. It's not that some of what's written today isn't enjoyable on some level, but almost none of it actually gets under the skin of the film and acts as another character or subtext or illumination of story. It's just there - occasionally pretty, or loud and bombastic, but all of a piece and all pretty much the same, depending on the genre.
John Williams doesn't know how to write those kinds of scores, so he continues to do what he knows is right for the film, its story, and its characters. Because - wait for it- he came up during a time when film music was actually film music that actually served a purpose rather than just being an element laid on after the fact. And "critics" find it manipulative because it isn't colorless, odorless, and pad or thumping. Well, sorry, buffoons, The Post is a terrific film from start to finish - Spielberg understands film and how to pace and tell a story and this he does perfectly in The Post. Of course it's not All the President's Men - that is a different film about different things. And Williams' score works perfectly in the film and does what all movie music should do, but mostly doesn't. It enhances the story and mood and characters. With journalism and a free press under constant barrage from the "person" in the White House, this film is not only timely but important. See it. I'm not sure how the score will play outside of the film, but I'd guess just fine. But in the film it's written for, it works wonderfully.
So, of what I've seen thus far this year, and it's not all that much, this, Wonderstruck, and The Shape of Water are, for me, the ones that have caught my fancy.
