So, I just did a Twilight blogtrawl, and found out very exciting (for those few people who a) care about Twilight at all; b) care about it in a positive way) new - Howard Shore, of Lord of the Rings most deserved renown, will be scoring the third film of the series, Eclipse, due out July 2 of this year.
As someone who thought Shore's music really outshone the movies they were part of (but then, I have a somewhat dim view of some of those movies...Return of the King, I'm looking at you), I think Shore could really take the music in a good place. For one thing, I fully expect choral orchestrations (oh, yes, you heard it here first). I think it will be more similar to Alexandre Desplat's French romanticism approach to New Moon than Carter Burwell's urban, minimalist/rock scoring of Twilight (though I fully expect it to have nothing to do musically with its predecessors, as Desplat deliberately avoided influence, so I think Shore will). I just think Shore's style is more congruent with Desplat than Burwell - though he did do the dark (and deliberately ugly) scores for such films as Se7en. I think there will be a combination of the dark fantasy/horror of the type heard in the Shelob's Lair sequences of the Lord of the Rings sequence, especially given the more action/horror elements of the third installment. However, as Twilight remains at its sentimental heart a deeply mushy love story (not that it's bad, per se, at least in my opinion - but I must call a spade a spade, a sparkly vampire and sparkly vampire, and Twilight a mushy love story), I expect there will be scoring reminiscent of the Aragorn/Arwen scenes (though possibly with a bit less haunting choir - but I do expect that choir to show up somewhere!), or perhaps the rich neoromanticism of "Concerning Hobbits," "Many Meetings," "A Journey in the Dark," "The Breaking of the Fellowship," "The Uruk Hai," "The King of the Golden Hall," "Samwise the Brave," or "Hope and Memory." Things like a think texture of orchestral sound suddenly dropping out for a vocal or woodwind solo, deeply consonant harmonies, and a deft hand with wistful agitation.
Yes, I'm excited about it.
RL: While I'm glad to be done with Pinter for my C20 British Drama course (ugh, how I detest that man's writing and views), and enjoyed one of the readings for that class, I have to say that my C19 British Lit course reading leaves much to be desired. While I did get to read Hard Times for my paper last week (and oh, what a lovely book it is - hard to believe I hated Dickens just two years ago), I also had to read Vanity Fair and Waverley. Cold, bitter, irenic and ironic, acidulous, and cynical satire following hard upon the heels of deeply idiotic writing about romanticizing Scotland and sentimental "love" stories about women so shallow to say they're paper thin is to compliment them - such things are not why I signed up for the class. At least the history/context/philosophy is interesting, and discussions exciting (even if my prof is overly enamoured of cultural studies jargon, thinkers, and conceptulizations/models). But George Eliot (Mill on the Floss) and Dickens (though already read - however, I'll probably read North and South for my paper those weeks, since I'm already ahead) are at the end like a brilliant light at the end of a dim and dank tunnel.
I never thought I'd say this, however - reading Jane Eyre after our month of Thackery will be a relief. Though I'll be watching the film version from 2006 alongside - since I enjoy it more than the book. Who knows - I might actually like the book better this time through - it's been known to happen - see Austen and Dickens, both of whom I formerly despised.
I have to say, I'm actually rather excited about the new Jane Eyre film set to begin filming next month. After a rather dry year of films this year, it will hopefully come out next spring (for awards season). I don't think there's a lot I care about this year - sequels I'm not terribly interested in but will probably see anyway such as Iron Man and Toy Story, things with actors I like but really couldn't care less about the projects themselves. Even TV is looking a bit dry, with no news yet on what the big costume drama for BBC One in the fall will be (or even if they'll have one at all), and the only thing I know of coming out the Terry Pratchett adaptation (with Claire Foy - which is a double score, at least, but the only one this year that I know of) of Going Postal this Easter on Sky One (and who knows when that will come to the states - I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled on YouTube).
Oh, and I still have to watch Bright Star - which everyone, their sister, and my favorite sci-fi film/book review blog have seen and raved about.
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