Good acting and good music
Aug. 22nd, 2009 04:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chaniYesterday evening S. and I went out for dinner and for a movie. We saw Tarantino 's Inglourious Basterds which I did like, as the great crazy uchronia it is, despite the fact that we arrived only 5 minutes before the showing and therefore ended in the first row (S. appreciated it for he has long legs but we were too close to the screen and to the speakers!). It is not a masterpiece but it is a good Tarantino.
Brad Pitt isn't bad (he's even hilarious in one scene but iI won't spoil it) and the rest of the cast is excellent (especially Michael Fassbender who played the unforgettable Bobby Sands in Hunger). Above all Christoph Waltz is impressive as Hans Landa and totally deserves his Cannes award. This is a fine actor and I'm glad that he shone in Tarantino's movie. I actually noticed him about 15 years ago in a TV movie, Le Roi des Derniers Jours (a German mini-series but the producer was French) that told the story of the Anabaptists, Münster's heretics. It was mostly based on History and on Marguerite Yourcenar's book L'Oeuvre au Noir . Waltz played Jan Bockelson and I remember that I found him extremely attractive and charismatic at the time. He is simply incredible in Inglourious Basterds and the film is worth seeing if only for his performance.
There were some flaws in the scenario but I enjoyed how it payed hommage to movies, through the "Operation Kino" plot, through a few characters (Diane Kruger's, Fassbender's and Daniel Brühl's), through making a Western in the middle of WWII (the opening scene but also all the Basterds arc) or by hinting at Clouzot's work several times (Le Corbeau, L'Assassin habite au 21). A few scenes are very well done and the score was very good. I loved how they mixed Beethoven's To Elise with pure Spaguetti-Western soundtrack in the opening scene.
Speaking of good stuff, I re-watched Caprica pilot and enjoyed it even more than the first time. It's partly due to the deep sadness the pilot conveys (what did you expect I'm a fan of Tom McRae!), both because it's a prequel and we know that Caprica is doomed while the characters are clueless, and because of the pilot arc and how the connection between the Adamas and the Graystones started. It is also due to the first-class acting from Eric Stoltz who found the perfect role in Daniel Graystone, and, to the score.
Bear McCreary composed a beautiful soundtrack indeed. It's spot-on and the pilot wouldn't be the same without it. Bear's music has really become a key element of the BSG world/mythology in its own right. However the score doesn't imitate the themes he composed for Battlestar Galactica. Here it is more "classical" and elegant, often haunting and melancholy, sometimes nagging like a persistent pain (it's all about grieving and longing) but never indulging in schmaltz. Bear plays around a main melody and intertwines various themes in a complex yet evident way. I have been listening to the soundtrack for hours now. Here's the last track, a sort of medley of the major themes.
Bear himself explains its structure: "The first sound you hear is Paul Cartwright’s solo fiddle playing the Tauron Theme. At 0:25, the chamber orchestra sneaks in playing the Graystone Theme. At 1:02, after the theme is fully stated, the low strings enter with an ominous version of the Graystone Ostinato. From there, a harp begins the Tauron Ostinato at 1:22. A solo flute introduces a full statement of the Tauron Theme, at 1:30, and the orchestra begins cascading variations of that melody and ostinato, building intensity. At 2:44, the strings and bassoons burst into an energetic version of the Daniel Ostinato that gradually fades out at the end of the track."
Bear McCreary actually explained in details how he worked on Caprica score on that wonderful blog of his. It's a fascinating read.
I really wonder what's in store for Amanda Graystone. We don't see much of her in the pilot and there's something mysterious about her that Bear's Amanda theme points out. She's supposed to become a key character in the series. There's a rift in that woman, and she may be concealing some secret. I've read speculations about Zoe not being Daniel's daughter after all which would be heartbreaking for poor Daniel(I can't help feeling more sympathy for him than for Joseph Adama in spite of his Frankenstein-like madness), especially after what he's done and given how proud he was of Zoe's skills (she was nothing short of a computer genius, he said about her) . It's indeed quite an anomaly for a red-haired man and a blond woman to spawn a brunette!
And I wonder how the Tauron company (Verges?) got that "artificial brain" Joseph had stolen for Daniel. According to Graystone it wasn't possible, the Tauron company was years behind his and I tend to think that it wasn't his arrogance talking there.
I also hope the series won't revolve too much around the Adama vs Graystone plot and will actually continue to explore the Daniel & Joseph relationship with enough ambiguity based on a shared sorrow and a common guilt. After all, they are both responsible for the making of the first CYLON even though Joseph backed off and rejected Daniel's "dirty science" eventually.
And I hope that Doctor Graystone won't know the same fate as doctor Baltar and won't turn into a "believer" eventually.
I know there's a long wait until the series begins in January but I look forward to watching it. As for those on my flist who weren't BSG fans but might consider watching its spin-off for James Marsters only, I strongly urge them to watch the pilot first.
Brad Pitt isn't bad (he's even hilarious in one scene but iI won't spoil it) and the rest of the cast is excellent (especially Michael Fassbender who played the unforgettable Bobby Sands in Hunger). Above all Christoph Waltz is impressive as Hans Landa and totally deserves his Cannes award. This is a fine actor and I'm glad that he shone in Tarantino's movie. I actually noticed him about 15 years ago in a TV movie, Le Roi des Derniers Jours (a German mini-series but the producer was French) that told the story of the Anabaptists, Münster's heretics. It was mostly based on History and on Marguerite Yourcenar's book L'Oeuvre au Noir . Waltz played Jan Bockelson and I remember that I found him extremely attractive and charismatic at the time. He is simply incredible in Inglourious Basterds and the film is worth seeing if only for his performance.
There were some flaws in the scenario but I enjoyed how it payed hommage to movies, through the "Operation Kino" plot, through a few characters (Diane Kruger's, Fassbender's and Daniel Brühl's), through making a Western in the middle of WWII (the opening scene but also all the Basterds arc) or by hinting at Clouzot's work several times (Le Corbeau, L'Assassin habite au 21). A few scenes are very well done and the score was very good. I loved how they mixed Beethoven's To Elise with pure Spaguetti-Western soundtrack in the opening scene.
Speaking of good stuff, I re-watched Caprica pilot and enjoyed it even more than the first time. It's partly due to the deep sadness the pilot conveys (what did you expect I'm a fan of Tom McRae!), both because it's a prequel and we know that Caprica is doomed while the characters are clueless, and because of the pilot arc and how the connection between the Adamas and the Graystones started. It is also due to the first-class acting from Eric Stoltz who found the perfect role in Daniel Graystone, and, to the score.
Bear McCreary composed a beautiful soundtrack indeed. It's spot-on and the pilot wouldn't be the same without it. Bear's music has really become a key element of the BSG world/mythology in its own right. However the score doesn't imitate the themes he composed for Battlestar Galactica. Here it is more "classical" and elegant, often haunting and melancholy, sometimes nagging like a persistent pain (it's all about grieving and longing) but never indulging in schmaltz. Bear plays around a main melody and intertwines various themes in a complex yet evident way. I have been listening to the soundtrack for hours now. Here's the last track, a sort of medley of the major themes.
Bear himself explains its structure: "The first sound you hear is Paul Cartwright’s solo fiddle playing the Tauron Theme. At 0:25, the chamber orchestra sneaks in playing the Graystone Theme. At 1:02, after the theme is fully stated, the low strings enter with an ominous version of the Graystone Ostinato. From there, a harp begins the Tauron Ostinato at 1:22. A solo flute introduces a full statement of the Tauron Theme, at 1:30, and the orchestra begins cascading variations of that melody and ostinato, building intensity. At 2:44, the strings and bassoons burst into an energetic version of the Daniel Ostinato that gradually fades out at the end of the track."
Bear McCreary actually explained in details how he worked on Caprica score on that wonderful blog of his. It's a fascinating read.
I really wonder what's in store for Amanda Graystone. We don't see much of her in the pilot and there's something mysterious about her that Bear's Amanda theme points out. She's supposed to become a key character in the series. There's a rift in that woman, and she may be concealing some secret. I've read speculations about Zoe not being Daniel's daughter after all which would be heartbreaking for poor Daniel(I can't help feeling more sympathy for him than for Joseph Adama in spite of his Frankenstein-like madness), especially after what he's done and given how proud he was of Zoe's skills (she was nothing short of a computer genius, he said about her) . It's indeed quite an anomaly for a red-haired man and a blond woman to spawn a brunette!
And I wonder how the Tauron company (Verges?) got that "artificial brain" Joseph had stolen for Daniel. According to Graystone it wasn't possible, the Tauron company was years behind his and I tend to think that it wasn't his arrogance talking there.
I also hope the series won't revolve too much around the Adama vs Graystone plot and will actually continue to explore the Daniel & Joseph relationship with enough ambiguity based on a shared sorrow and a common guilt. After all, they are both responsible for the making of the first CYLON even though Joseph backed off and rejected Daniel's "dirty science" eventually.
And I hope that Doctor Graystone won't know the same fate as doctor Baltar and won't turn into a "believer" eventually.
I know there's a long wait until the series begins in January but I look forward to watching it. As for those on my flist who weren't BSG fans but might consider watching its spin-off for James Marsters only, I strongly urge them to watch the pilot first.
