AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON "Galactus-Sized Disappointment"

[AndyDursin]

LOL agreed

I'm guessing Whedon didn't like what Tyler came up with

[AndyDursin]

Not that I can even remember it, but Elfman claims he's using Silvestri's AVENGERS theme! lol

https://m.soundcloud.com/891-abc-adelaide/danny-elfman

[AndyDursin]

Kind of disappointed in the looks of this from the newest trailers -- another "let's destroy the world" spectacle with city after city being reduced to rubble a la MAN OF STEEL.

I'm sure the film will offer more pleasures than that...but I'm not sure this is going to require babysitting hiring to get out to see in theaters.

[AndyDursin]

Some people think this is fake -- it certainly looks real to me:

SPOILER if you care about it!

[Edmund Kattak]

I thought I read something a few weeks ago where Whedon said that there wasn't going to be a post-credits tease. If this is real, then maybe it was part of the "disinformation" blitz?

[AndyDursin]

I side on the disinformation side Ed. Looks too real to me to be fake...if it is then it's a heck of a fraud!

[jkholm]

If it is real, that saves me the time of sitting through the end-credits and listening to the score. Sad really because I used to love to sit through the end credits.

[AndyDursin]

I agree John.

I can't see how that's fake. It looks absolutely professional and right in sync with what Marvel would do. Someone is going to go to THAT trouble to assemble a good looking VFX shot, with voice overs, then throw Spanish subtitles on it, then shoot it with their phone? Even the way the credits work are right out of how Howard the Duck showed up at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy.

[AndyDursin]

Reviews are trickling out -- and they're not good. I actually am not shocked, either, given I felt the first was good but far from 'the greatest superhero movie evah!' as some declared it.

Now re-assessing hiring a babysitter!

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/avengers-age-u ... cs-1497736

[John Johnson]

What an arse. What can you expect from Channel 4.

[AndyDursin]

Don't blame Downey at all there. He's talked about this, his life isn't (or shouldn't be) on trial every time he sits down to do a press interview for a super hero movie. Sheessh.

[John Johnson]

By all accounts, he's a bit of a knob...

In January 2013, Guru-Murthy interviewed Quentin Tarantino, who was promoting his new film, Django Unchained. When he asked Tarantino to consider whether there is a link between film violence and real-life atrocities in America, especially in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Tarantino stated that his opinion on the matter was well-documented and then responded, "I refuse your question. I'm not your slave and you're not my master. You can't make me dance to your tune. I'm not a monkey." When Guru-Murthy tried to steer the conversation back towards the subject later in the interview, Tarantino continued, "It's none of your damn business what I think about that! … And I'm shutting [you] down.".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishnan_Guru-Murthy

[Edmund Kattak]

The score is a difficult listen at 79 minutes. Sure, "themes" pop up now and then, but today's "themes" are not the themes of 30 years ago - when they had a specific structure and flow.

Continuing to listen on...

[AndyDursin]

You're a better soldier than I am Ed!

Does it mention who scored what? Variety noted the only element of the score they thought stood out was Silvestri's theme which Elfman was brought into work on -- making you wonder why Silvestri didn't just score the film in the first place (though honestly I can't even remember the "theme" he wrote).

[Edmund Kattak]

You're a better soldier than I am Ed!

Does it mention who scored what? Variety noted the only element of the score they thought stood out was Silvestri's theme which Elfman was brought into work on -- making you wonder why Silvestri didn't just score the film in the first place (though honestly I can't even remember the "theme" he wrote).

It's got Tyler and Elfman interspersed. You can definitely tell who did what, as Elfman has a better handle on transitioning his action pieces and an overall more cohesive sound. Tyler's IRON MAN theme is sprinkled through out. I am halfway through the album and no Silvestri CAP theme. So far I have also heard brief quotes of Silvestri's first AVENGERS theme along with an interpolation of his "Helicarrier" music. Tyler's music is "loud" and doesn't give it a chance to breathe in the first half so far, while Elfman has a couple of more reflective pieces so far. Elfman clearly let's the music "breathe" and doesn't oversaturate the soundscape with constant playing from every section of the orchestra in a wall of noise. I thought it was interesting that Elfman even quoted Tyler's IRON MAN using a solo trumpt, which sounded nice, considering I hear Tyler use it mostly on French horms in mainly a major mode.Overall, this certainly could have been much much better with a single exceptionally competent composer (perhaps just Elfman alone from the start?). But the big question I have been asking lately

Do any of these composers actually know the difference between a theme, leitmotif, and motif? It seems like these "themes" are, at best flimsy and underdeveloped motifs, while at its worst sound like just plain bad musical bars concocted to quickly fill the void during these erratically conceived "ADD" action scenes. It's sad. I would argue that there may not be many filmmakers out there who understand the dynamics of how film music is supposed to function. Yeah, a majority of it deals with what they are looking to achieve, but I get the feeling that Tyler- who we know from one of the threads posted a while back took points on the back end in lieu of his usual fee - did not produce the music that he proclaimed was his plan of approach (or maybe he simply did and the end result just wasn't satisfactory to the producers). Now, couple that with a composer who either hasn't had a formal classical musical education or just does not have the mojo to produce that level of music. Whatever the case, why can't these guys stick to a simple formula and come up with one theme that sums up the picture and a secondary theme that can be molded and shaped when required. Is it too much to ask for? Remember when you'd listen to a score and it was crafted and structured in some way that it actually told the story of the movie musically (See EMPIRE STRIKES BACK). I don't know what the hell is going on here, from this score. I don't know what/how to feel when I hear it, as if someone injected me with lithium or something.

Inevitably, us old farts are going to channel Goldsmith, Williams, and sometimes Horner for comparisons in approach and style. Hell, what happened to Arnold, Fenton, and Shearmur these days? These guys have clearly demonstrated that they can write good thematic material for big orchestra. There have been comments made around the fanboy bogs (bog not blog!) out there that Kevin Feige was not thrilled with Silvestri's score for the first movie. I have no idea if that's true or not, but would make sense as to why he didn't come back for any other Marvel Studios stuff,

Probably the best thing going for that first AMAZING SPIDERMAN was Horner's score. He write a nice theme, but even that seemed a little undercooked by his standards. So the problem these days with film music are multiple, it would seem.