New Professional Site

The time has come for me to have my own website for my professional work, so here it is:

http://www.aaronmbuckley.co.uk

As a result my blog will be moving there as well. However, I've made it easy as at the bottom you can subscribe via RSS or Email. Thanks for following and don't forget to follow me on twitter: @aaronmbuckley

Moving On

After running this blog for about 2 years now, I've decided to bring it to a close. I'm in my final year of university now and the work load is really piling on, so I'm focusing on my attention on that right now, and feel it is time to move on. I can say I've really enjoyed doing this blog though and would recommend blogging to anyone that is thinking about doing it. Do it because you want to, not because you have to.

You can still read my other blog on what I'm getting up to though and the different filming projects I'm working on here.

http://aaronbuckleyfilm.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading my blog, and I hope you've enjoyed it. And don't forget to follow me on twitter: @aaronmbuckley

Knight And Day

After watching the trailer to this film I was quite excited about seeing it. It's been quite a while since I've seen a film with Tom Cruise in and well I think he is an amazing actor, so was quite looking forward to it.

Having seen it now, I'm not that bothered by it. It's not a must rush out and see film, in fact you could go your whole life without seeing it and wouldn't make much difference. But if you're board then I'd say it does kill some time.

It wasn't a bad film, it just wasn't a great film, and didn't live up to my expectations at all. And it's been a while since I've been let down by my expectations of a film, after Avatar and Micmacs exceeded them by lightyears.

I did find the film lost the excitement about halfway through and I did actually find it quite boring for a while, but luckily it picked back up again before the end.

I think the reason I was disappointed with the film overall though was because I found that the trailer made the film out to be quick and witty and exciting. However, I found that all the funny lines from the funny scenes were in the trailer, which meant that a scene which I thought would only be 10 seconds long, was more like 10 minutes long and I simply found myself waiting for the punch line which I'd already heard, so had lost most of it's humour anyway.

Ultimately the film could have been half the length for that exact reason, and I think I would have enjoyed it much more. A half hour version would have been much more exciting.

Although I still don't think the ending would have been any stronger. I wouldn't call it weak, but... it wasn't amazing.

To conclude, if you've got nothing better to do then give it a shot, but otherwise wait for the DVD, if that.

Toy Story 3

15 years since the first Toy Story film. One of the reasons that these types of films need to be more than just kids films, because the kids (me) that go and see the first one at the cinema aren't kids when it comes to to see the third one. And it's a good thing that they're not just kids films.

Toy Story and Toy Story 2 are both great family films, and Toy Story 3 is no exception. It is just as good as the other two. And if you've enjoyed watching the other two then no doubt this is a must see for you.

I don't want to say much else about the film because frankly if you don't see this film then... well, you're missing out on something special.

However, Toy Story 3 is of course in 3D and whilst I didn't find that when I went to see Toy Story again when it was released in 3D that it was really worth watching in 3D, and thought the same of Toy Story 2 (apart from the opening video game sequence), I think that this film should definitely be seen in 3D.

Why? Well because 3D is the future of films. It can be denied no longer that one day, all films will be in 3D and that it has surpassed it's "gimmick" label, as far as I'm concerned. I didn't consciously notice the 3D, but I did feel that it added something to the film, and when I did the quick glasses on glasses off test, I saw that there wasn't really any loss in colour when I put the glasses on, which I've found with pretty much every other film.

You won't really lose anything if you see it in 2D, but I think that since this film was made as a 3D film, that it should be watched the way the creators intended.

But either way, watch it!

Inception (Soundtrack)

For me this score worked perfectly in the film, the only cue I didn't particularly like was the one from the end scene, but otherwise I would say I loved the music and it really helped to heighten the emotion.

Unfortunately though I didn't find it worked so well on it's own, and the music didn't impact me half the way it did when I was watching the film.

There aren't exactly any bad cues, but there aren't really any cues that really grabbed my attention either. "Mombasa" is perhaps the only track that caught my attention a little, and that was because it was much faster. However, it reminded me quite heavily of Zimmer's Mission: Impossible 2 score, so I felt I'd kind of heard it before.

I wouldn't rush out and buy the Inception Soundtrack, unless you really loved some of the slow tracks from the soundtrack to Quantum Of Solace, as it also reminds me of that. If you've seen the film then you can judge for yourself if you wish to buy it. Otherwise I'd check this out first. It's a half hour performance by Hans Zimmer and a 20 piece orchestra featuring guitarist Johnny Marr of the score from Inception, and sums up the soundtrack perfectly. Just click here to watch it.

Whether you're going to get the soundtrack or not, if you are interested in the music, or in Hans Zimmer's other works there is a great interview with him at ScoreNotes.

Inception

A film I was very much looking forward to seeing, and which I was expecting great things from. Unfortunately usually when my expectations are so high they aren't usually met, I was even a little disappointed with The Dark Knight. Avatar and Micmacs are the only films to have exceeded my expectations. However, I can now add Inception to that list as well. And I think this is by far better than The Dark Knight, which is still an excellent film.

I don't really want to give any of the story away as I feel if you go in like I did not really knowing anything about it then you get a greater experience, because you don't know what to expect.

I can tell you though that the film is excellent in every way. It is shot beautifully and has some incredible slow motion shots in it that make The Matrix look a little dated.

Hans Zimmer's score is perfectly fitting, perfect until the end scene, but maybe that music will grow on me.

It has such a great cast in it. Leonardo DiCaprio is amazing as ever, and is joined by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy to name just a few. All the cast are great in this film and whilst Ellen Page wouldn't have been my first choice for her part, she really was great.

With a very original story written by Christopher Nolan himself, this is a must see film, that is just incredible and completely blew my mind.

Two Steps From Hell - Invincible (Trailer Music)

This album is a little different from most other soundtracks and is a rarity which I encourage you to buy.

Trailer music is an important part of the movie industry as whilst some trailers do use music from the film, most trailers use trailer music due to the film score being unfinished at the time the trailers are released.

Whilst trailer music gets churned out at an alarming rate, it is generally impossible for you to get your hands on it, simply because it is not available to the general public and is for movie trailer use only.

However, luckily for us there are a few trailer music releases that have been made available to the general public.

The first one to my knowledge was the album Epicon. This contained some popular themes from the trailer music company Immediate Music. However, it was released under the name Globus, and also contained lyrics, which for me defeated the point of releasing a trailer music album.

Immediate Music did release another album to the public though not so long ago called Trailerhead, this time under the more understandable name of Immediate, and this time containing no lyrics.

This album Invincible is the first publicly available album from the trailer music company Two Steps From Hell.

No doubt you will recognise some of the music on this album, but won't know the names to the tracks so I've decided to do a track listing making reference to the trailers the music features in.

01. Freedom Fighters
featured in the trailer to Star Trek (trailer 3)

02. Heart Of Courage
featured in the trailer to The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader (trailer)

03. Master Of Shadows
featured in the trailer to 2012 (theatrical trailer)

04. Moving Mountains
featured in the trailer to Jumper (trailer 2) and The Twilight Saga: New Moon (trailer)

05. Am I Not Human?

06. Enigmatic Soul

07. Fire Nation

08. Black Blade
featured in the trailer to Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time (trailer)

09. Super Strength

10. Invincible

11. False King

12. Hypnotica

13. Fill My Heart

14. Protectors Of The Earth
featured in the trailer to Inkheart (trailer 2)

15. Velocitron

16. Undying Love

17. 1000 Ships Of The Underworld
featured in the trailer to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (trailer 2)

18. Tristan
featured in the trailer to Austrailia (trailer 2)

19. Breath Of Ran Gor

20. Infinite Legends

21. To Glory

22. After The Fall

All in all this album is outstanding and I would definitely recommend people buy it and in doing so also support the release of future trailer music albums.

Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time (Soundtrack)

I'm more of a John Powell fan (him being my favourite composer) than a Harry Gregson-Williams fan, however, I have to say I really loved this score.

From great sweeping strings that depict the landscape of the desert perfectly, not unlike the music from The Mummy, to very ethnic percussion filled action cues. As well as the obvious romantic cues, this soundtrack has something for everyone on it, and I couldn't find a bad track on it.

Or perhaps I could. All of the 18 tracks of score are great, however, the final track is a song performed by Alanis Morissette, which I definitely wouldn't call myself a fan of. It's not the worst song in the world. But on the first few listens I didn't really like it. Maybe it'll grow on my though.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Soundtrack) is definitely worth buying for anyone who loves film music.

Robin Hood (Soundtrack)

Marc Streitenfeld is the composer with whom Ridley Scott now works with on all his films. However, I've never actually heard any of his music before, separate from any film, and I've never actually seen any of the films he's scored either.

When I saw the film this film though the score is one thing that stuck out for me, and in a good way. Whilst there weren't exactly any major themes that I could pick out, there were definite sounds. The sound of the quick strings, a classic Remote Control style (for whom Marc previously worked with, and how he came to work with Ridley Scott), and the amazing sound of the Uilleann Pipes (or at least some other type of bagpipe!).

However, when I first came to listen to the soundtrack away from the film I didn't find it that great. Yes, there were a few really good tracks, but they all seemed to short amongst the rest of the music.

Luckily however, this soundtrack is a grower, and whilst Marc Streitenfeld might not use the Uilleann Pipes like Bear McCreary did in some of his action cues for Battlestar Galactica, he still manages to rock those pipes!

Robin Hood is definitely worth a listen.

Clash Of The Titans (Soundtrack)

Another great score from Remote Control Productions (previously known as Media Ventures), the music studio set up by Hans Zimmer. Ramin Djawadi who's previous scores include Iron Man as well as TV shows Prison Break and FlashForward, gives us a great score to this blockbuster movie.

This soundtrack starts off with a song performed by Tino Dico and is composed by Ramin Djawadi and Neil Davidge. Whilst my initial thoughts on the song weren't great, after a couple of listens it had grown on me quite a lot.

Neil Davidge also has one other track on the album, a 10 minute action cue. I believe Neil was brought it for his work with electronic music. Whilst I did like the cue, I didn't like it as much as Ramin's music which takes up the rest of the soundtrack.

Some great themes and very exciting string work makes for an action score not to miss. But the soundtrack is not entirely action tracks. There are a few slower and darker tracks as well as more emotional, and at times suspenseful.

If you liked Ramin's score to Iron Man then you're going to love this even more.

You can listen to an interview with Ramin Djawadi where he talks about his score to Clash Of The Titans here at ScoreNotes.com

http://scorenotes.com/interviews.html

Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time

Having played the original game a long time ago I'd pretty much forgotten everything about the story other than the whole dagger thing. Saying that though my friend told me that the movie doesn't really follow the same story as the game. So if you're a big fan of the first game then you might be a little disappointed there.

Another thing you might be a little disappointed with is how much the dagger gets used. It really isn't that much at all. On the other hand though, when the dagger is used the CGI is amazing.

Those are the only two problems I really had with the film (although the first wasn't really a problem for me), otherwise I found it very entertaining.

One thing we do see a lot of in the film is what I guess you would call some form of free running. In the game he was a very accrobatic person which is something I'm glad they've kept in the film.

A thoroughly entertaining family film, definitely see it if you liked The Mummy and The Mummy Returns.

Sex And The City 2

I've not seen any of the series or the first movie, but I did enjoy this one. As a guy I would say its definitely one for the girls and any guy who is a fan of the series or first film. But if you're a guy that's not a fan of either then this isn't exactly a must see. But if you do end up going to see it then don't worry because it is quite amusing.

My friend who is a massive fan of the series and film found this one a little disappointing because of the whole Aidan thing. Where as for me I just thought there were a few to many "movie" moments.

For example, Carrie leaves her passport somewhere unfortunately, and there really is no point, because it doesn't exactly hold them up when they leave, because they just go straight back to where she left it and it's there. So I think it could have been a bit shorter. Not that I got bored, just because there was a lot of unnecessary moments in the film.

Definitely a woman's film though, although I did find myself still laughing a little throughout which was good.

Robin Hood

Everyone knows the story of Robin Hood, but this film is basically a prequel to the normal Robin Hood story. I really enjoyed it and thought it was very good. My only major problem with it was the all of the cast were just too old.

People back then didn't live very long so it seems strange that Robin Hood would be peaking in at 46. The cast of Saving Private Ryan were younger and at a better age than this cast. However, if you look past this factor then the film is very good.

It's filmed amazingly and there is some great camera work in it which I really enjoyed. The music was great and even the end credits were amazing.

One thing I did find interesting though was that the end battle scene was basically the Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe version of the opening battle scene in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan with Tom Hanks. Not that that's a bad thing as it was still pretty cool. So if you like Saving Private Ryan then I'm sure you'll like Robin Hood.

A Nightmare On Elm Street

Now I've not seen the original but really anything has got to be better than this film. I really liked the opening credits, but as soon as they finished I thought well this film is shit. And after about 5 minutes I wanted to leave, it was that bad.

However, I did stay until the end. The film did slowly get better, but it's best wasn't really good enough for me and I still think it was really bad. I just wanted all the actors apart from Thomas Dekker to die because they just annoyed me so much.

Stay well clear of this one if I were you.

Pushing Daisies Season 2 Soundtrack Petition

"Pushing Daisies was a great show that ended long before it should have. There were many elements that made the show magical, one of those being the soundtrack. Jim Dooley won an Emmy award for the Pushing Daisies Season 1 Soundtrack, and the Season 2 Soundtrack hasn't even been released. Sign this petition to get the Pushing Daisies Season 2 Soundtrack released. The show is over but the music doesn't have to be..."

If you wish to sign the petition click here.

Hot Tub Time Machine

After seeing this my friends said that it was very funny. Well I didn't hear them laughing that much, and as a comedy I didn't find it that funny, but then I don't tend to find these sorts of comedies comical.

That said, I still enjoyed the film and there were some definite funny moments. A film that doesn't take much thinking and that you can just sit and watch.

Iron Man 2

I really enjoyed the first film, and when it ended with Tony Stark saying that, yes he was Iron Man, then I couldn't wait for the sequel.

However, whilst I did enjoy Iron Man 2 I didn't like it as much as the first one, simply because I new that Mickey Rourke was the villain of this film, and I felt as though as was waiting for the final show down between his character and Iron Man since the moment the film began, and I would have appreciated it if it happened a little sooner.

Not to say I didn't like the film though, as I did really like it. But it was missing something that Iron Man had, and I'm not sure what. Iron Man felt full of action, and Iron Man 2 was full of action and yet it didn't feel to me as though it was full of action.

Definitely go see the film though if you're into that sort of thing, it is quite entertaining and whilst not quite as comical as the first, still very funny.

There is one scene in the trailer though that I'm pretty sure isn't in the actual film, but perhaps I just wasn't paying attention. Pretty sure I was though.

And on an end note, the bit after the end credits isn't really worth watching unless you're a fan of marvel and know about The Avengers. I'm not and don't really know anything about The Avengers, so didn't really get it.

Green Zone (Soundtrack)

A definite Powell score and similar in style to the Bourne soundtracks and United 93, probably because they're by the same director and that is the style he is after. Whilst I didn't think it as good as the Bourne soundtracks, I did still think it was very good.

Heavy on the percussion and underlying electronics, with strings and brass that sound like United 93. Definitely wouldn't say this score is pieced together from Powell's other work though, as this is all new stuff and does sound different in it's own way.

Well worth it if you've like Powell's other work for Paul Greengrass, and if you like the modern Media Ventures/Remote Control Productions scores.

Alice In Wonderland (Score)

When I watched the film I quite like the music, however, I found that on the soundtrack the main theme in the film is hard to find as in the film I don't remember it having lyrics, which it does on the soundtrack.

As it happens I actually prefer the soundtrack version as in the film I feel the main theme sounded too close to one of the themes in Avatar. Unfortunately though "Alice's Theme" is really the only track on the soundtrack that I do like. The rest is quite average I found.

Not one of Elfman's best scores, but if you feel the need to buy it then do. But otherwise I'd just buy the first track off iTunes or something.

Clash Of The Titans

Before I start I must say that I saw this film in 2D.

Wow. I wasn't expecting much of this film when I went in. I thought it could go either way. But oh my God it is absolutely amazing.

The scenes with Haydes did it for me. I wouldn't have minded if these were the only scenes in the film, because they were visually stunning. At one point a load of soldiers get sucked into a big black cloud, and then all their armour gets spat back out again. And holy shit if looks good. So real. I kind of want to go and see the film again in 3D just for these scenes.

But Haydes wasn't the only good part of the film. Overall I really enjoyed the film and found it very entertaining. It was by no means perfect, but it did pretty good. I'd recommend this film to everyone. 3D or not though is your choice. I know I wished I'd seen it in 3D.

Kick-Ass

In many ways this film was Kick-Ass, Nicholas Cage I particularly liked in it, as in his last few films his acting has been quite poor. However, in this film he was very good.

The film is mostly aimed at teens, but I suspect adults would enjoy it too, as it kind of appeals to everyone, in a similar way to Spider-Man, only this film definitely isn't aimed at little kids, as it's quite graphic and does contain the c word, which some people may find offensive.

The film is excellently made and can't really be faulted in that regard, however, for me the story lacked a little something. I'm not sure what, but since I watched Avatar and Micmacs, both films which I consider to have the magic ingredient, I seem to compare everything to them. For me Kick-Ass isn't on the same level, although it is still a very good film, and as far as comic book films go, I did enjoy it more than a number of other mainstream adaptations.

I'd recommend it. Although not really for a mature audience. But that is just my opinion.

Shutter Island

At 138 minutes I was sceptical about going to see this film, because from the trailer it looked good, but it looked like it could have a lot of slow moments. But I'm glad I did go and see it. I didn't get bored once and the film held my attention throughout it's entirety.

I did guess the ending from watching the trailer, however, it didn't spoil the film for me because whilst the twist is kind of predictable, it's not predictable in the usual sense and there is an extra twist underneath the main twist, making it very clever.

It has some quite surreal moments throughout which I find are rare in mainstream films, but which I loved, and found really added to the freaky factor of the film, and some of it is very freaky. Watch it!

Micmacs (Soundtrack)

This has to be what I think is one of the most original sounding soundtracks there is. I don't think I've ever heard Traditional French / Trip-Hop / typewriter, straw sucking, swords, bullet, horns and ruler bending sounds blended together before, and it is done amazingly.

If you've seen the film then I don't really need to sell you on the soundtrack because you'll have heard it in the film and from that you will know if you want to buy it.

If you liked Yann Tiersen's music from the Amelie Soundtrack then you'll most likely love this too. It's even quirkier then Amelie and just sounds like pure fun.

The music I'm talking about is by composer Raphael Beau, someone I'd not heard of before, but am very interested in hearing more from. But the soundtrack also contains archived score composed by Max Steiner, but there are about twice as many original cues to archived cues. There are also a couple of French songs on the soundtrack, but I didn't find these anything special.

Unfortunately the soundtrack is only 36 minutes long. However, they are still worth the money to hear something so original and amazingly clever and fun.

Green Zone

I feel compelled to compare this film to The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum simply because they have the same director and actor in the main role. Whilst I didn't feel this film was as good as the Bourne films it was only because of the story.

Technically this film is flawless and the acting is amazing. If you like war films then this is a must because it is amazing. But if you're not too keen on them, then give it a miss, because it is war, war, war. Think Black Hawk Down, Paul Greengrass style.

Alice In Wonderland

Until I saw this film, Alice In Wonderland used to scare me. The original Disney cartoon scared the hell out of me and until I saw Tim Burton's version, it still did. Now I'm no longer afraid of Alice In Wonderland, which I guess is a good thing since it's not a horror film. But to me it always was.

Since it's been many years since I've watched the cartoon, I'd lost my familiarity with the story and so felt I came into this film quite unknowing when it came to the story. A story which takes a while to get going, too long in my opinion. I was expecting from the word go to be sucked into the world of Tim Buton. But the beginning was very ordinary and could have been made by anyone. It wasn't until Alice ran away and then followed the rabbit down the rabbit whole that I thought, now we're getting started.

But I think it was Danny Elfman's music that did this for me, more than the film. His music is amazing. However, one thing that slightly pulled me out of the film was when I heard Elfman's 7 note main theme and then realised seconds later that if you add one more note on the end then you get a theme from Avatar. It's the beginning of the track "Becoming One Of "The People" / Becoming One With Neytiri" from the Avatar Soundtrack. But once I'd worked out where I'd heard the theme before, I quickly got over it.

I watched it in 3D. Now after seeing Avatar in 3D I was expecting it to have raised the bar on 3D films, which it most definitely did. However, Alice In Wonderland drops it back down to it's original place. I'd have preferred to have watched it without the 3D as I didn't feel it added anything at all to the film. And in fact sometimes I had to take my glasses off to make sure it was in 3D and it wasn't blurry enough without them.

Alice In Wonderland is simply average. Not up to Tim Burton's usual standards I don't think. But if you're looking for something to do then it will definitely kill a few hours.

Micmacs

Micmacs A Tire-Larigot, as the films full french title is, is quite hard to translate into english, which I guess would be why it has simply been shortened to Micmacs. However, it seems to mean something along the lines of "carry on as much as you like". Although I got this off a forum, since the actual phrase is in french slang, so google translator can't handle it. That said, the what seem like posters for the film that appear throughout the film, make more sense now.

If you've seen any other film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (who is my favourite director), and loved it, then you are going to love this too. There has only been one film that has exceeded my expectations and that was Avatar. Now Micmacs can be added to that list. I think I cried about four times throughout the film, not because it was sad, as it is actually very funny, but because the film was everything that I wanted, and more. They were tears of pure happiness.

I went in knowing nothing about the storyline of the film, and this is what I would recommend to you. Simply go and see it. An absolute must.

Break Time

No post this week, as I've not really watched a lot of films lately.

The Lovely Bones

The new film from Peter Jackson, and you can definitely tell it's by Peter Jackson, just from the way it is shot.

I found the film pretty good. There were a few things I found annoying with it, but overall it was very good.

Mark Wahlberg, I think he's forgotten how to act properly, if you've seen The Happening, it was like that... again!

I found the first person narration from the little girl slightly annoying and didn't really like it as a story telling method, however, it's based on a book so I'm guessing that comes from the book.

The in between world though was out of this world. I want to live there, it was simply incredible and I would recommend this film just based on getting to see that.

The murderer was also very well cast and all of that kind of stuff was filmed amazingly.

I'd say it is worth watching. Not quite as amazing as I expected, but still worth watching.

Terminator: Revolution

The sequel to the comic book Terminator: Infinity, which takes place after Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines and ignores the Terminator Salvation timeline.

I wouldn't bother getting this unless you've read Terminator: Infinity as it probably won't make a lot of sense to you.

If you have read it, then this is definitely worth getting. It finishes off the story which was left on a cliffhanger at the end of Terminator: Infinity.

However, I didn't think it was as good as Terminator: Infinity and since you can't really read one with out the other, I would say that unless your a Terminator addict then give this a miss. But if you are a Terminator addict then to be honest I'm not sure you'll really like this any way.

The most annoying thing I found was that Kyle Reese had been adopted by John Connor and his wife Tara Connor (who is introduced in Terminator: Infinity). If you don't really care about this factor then by all means buy them both. But if like me this really annoyed you then definitely give it a miss.

United 93

This film is so real it is actually scary. It's got quite a slow start, but when you see the end you will completely forget about the beginning. The beginning is necessary to introduce the characters and situation and for you to build an emotional connection with what's going on. I cried for the last 10 minutes of the film and for like 20 minutes after it had finished. Not because it's sad, but because it's horrific. You feel like you are on the plane, which insights fear into you. But it's not the type of fear that comes with horror films. This is genuine fear, the type I imagine you would feel when you're life is about to be taken from you. This is the most real film I have ever seen and it has left the greatest impact on me. It's almost traumatic, which is why you must watch it. Because you have to witness what these passengers did. That they fought back against the 9/11 hijackers. The passengers of the plane are some of the most heroic people I know of. Rest In Peace.

Caprica [Pilot] (Soundtrack)

Something I find with all Bear McCreary soundtracks is that they're growers. On first listen they're great, but on repeat listening's they just get better and better.

This soundtrack contains the score for the pilot episode of Caprica which since the pilot has been made has picked up for a full season. However, I think the pilot has only just aired in the US, and will be followed by the rest of the season, so hopefully we'll get another soundtrack release for season 1 of Caprica, as the pilot soundtrack is very good.

It is different to Bear's score to Battlestar Galactica, but apparently the shows are very different so it makes sense to change the music. The music to Caprica is much more orchestral and pretty sure it doesn't contain that many enthic instruments. There are still a few percussion heavy tracks, which made for a welcome change among the orchestral tracks, and certainly remind one of the music for Battlestar Galactica.

With new characters there are plenty of new themes throughout. If I recall correctly there are two main themes, one for each family and then lots of other less dominant themes. And if you listen closely to one of the tracks you can hear a little tribute to one of the themes in Battlestar Galactica, something I thought was very clever.

If you've seen the pilot then you might find this interesting: Bear McCreary's Blog. He goes through the episode and details all the themes and much more. Although having not seen the episode I've only browsed through it.

If you've like any of Bear's other soundtracks, particularly Battlestar Galactica, then you simply must buy this one. And if you're a fan of the older generation of film music then I'd recommend it too. Although that's not to discourage those that are fans of more modern film music, as this blends the old style beautifully and makes it more modern.

And on a quick side note I'm going to be going back to just my Saturdays posts for a while, as I've a pretty hectic schedule at the moment.

Nine

I was expecting to love this film, or if not love the whole film at least love parts of it. Well I guess there were parts that I loved, but whilst with Chicago and Moulin Rouge I would watch the whole film just for The Cell Block Tango and Le Tango De Roxanne, I would definitely not watch Nine again for any part of it.

I just found it very boring. It was an interesting comment on the film industry if that's what your into, but I'm really not. I found even the dances weren't that great, because there weren't really any.

It's a very well made film, but I just found the story very boring. Some of the songs are okay, but only one of them really did it for me, the rest were average.

If you like the original Broadway musical then I'm sure you'll love the story and therefore love the film, but personally I'd recommend the soundtrack more than the film.

Avatar (Soundtrack)

I'm not the biggest James Horner fan, but I am a fan of the songs he composes (or are at least composed using his themes). Titanic, The Mask Of Zorro and Troy all have great songs at the end of them. "I See You" is the newest song from Avatar. Whilst on first listen I wasn't that impressed, on second listen I was, and now I love it.

I don't watch The X Factor because I don't like it, but Leona Lewis who was discovered via the show sure can sing. Whilst I don't like the songs she usually sings I definitely do like this one, and respect that she is a great singer. I would say this song is just as good as James Horner's other songs.

As for the rest of the score, I love it. I didn't listen to it until after I'd seen the film. (Even though I'd bought it before!) With the other scores of Horner's that I own there's usually a few tracks I like and particularly bits of tracks I love. The rest just seems like filler music.

Avatar is definitely not filler music. Every note is amazing, and there is not a single moment on the soundtrack that I dislike. Out of 14 tracks I found 12 of them to be outstanding. The other 2 were still very good, but didn't quite do it for me like the other tracks did.

It reminds me of Horner's Apocalypto score in regards to the tribal sound, but only much, much, much better.

The Avatar score is very much a James Horner one, as it is riddled with his little signature sounds, but it is also what I think is his best score. I would even say it is one of my favourite soundtracks of 2009 and possibly just in general.

Simply a must buy.

Avatar

I'm lost for words with this film, so I'm simply going to tell you about my experience when watching it.

I'd not been to an IMAX theatre before so it was a very exciting experience for me, I got some great seats which I'd booked a couple of months in advance and had to travel to London in order to see it on the biggest screen in the UK. I spent in total about £60 to go and see this film and it was worth every penny.

We watched the trailer for Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland before, which was also in 3D and I thought, "Wow! This is amazing, the screen is so massive. " But it wasn't really any different to any other 3D film I'd seen. And then Avatar started.

As soon as the film started I just started crying, and must have continued to cry for about 30 minutes. They were tears of complete happiness at the beauty of the film and how real it was.

I've seen 3D films before, but they never really looked 3D. The animated ones didn't really need to be in 3D because they practically looked and felt the same, and some of them I would have preferred to have watched in 2D. And the live action films just looked as though there were some actors stood in front of a green screen and on the green screen was the rest of the film. It didn't look like it flowed in terms of depth, more like it had layers.

Avatar flowed beautifully. I felt as though I could just put my arm inside the film, or that I could actually step inside it. In some way Avatar looked more 3D than real life, due I think simply to differences in the way our eyes work and the camera works.

After I stopped crying and noticing the 3D, I just sunk right into it. Pretty much everyone seems to think that when I say Avatar was amazing then I just talk about the 3D and the CGI, but I'm not. They are simply tools of the film maker to make the story more real. I loved the story. I thought it was like Pocahuntas meets The Matrix, and whilst it might not have been that original in terms of the story being told before, it was certainly original in the way it was told.

Now a days it's pretty impossible to come up with a brand new story, because they've all been told in some way or another. The last few months I've been falling more and more out of love with films. I used to love them, but then I realised that in 2009 I'd not really seen a film that I loved in every way. I'd seen good films, don't get me wrong, Harry Brown is an amazing film, but it's not the kind of film that made me think this is the film I've been waiting for, and to be honest it's been like this for me for the last few years. I was really looking forward to The Dark Knight last year, and then it came out and I thought, there were definitely amazing bits in it, but it also had quite boring parts, and what I thought was out of place comedy, and not the kind you laugh out loud to.

Avatar has reignited that love of film for me. When the Na'Vi faced genocide in the film and Jake (Sam Worthington) flew in to rescue them and stand with them, making his big speech, I was just filled with emotion. As soon as he flew in I started crying and as he walked up to make his speech I got this feeling inside that I've only ever felt once, and that was when I saw my grandfathers dead body lying in his coffin when I was about 14 or 15. I just felt completely overwhelmed and hollow. It doesn't sound like a particularly nice feeling and it wasn't. But that fact that a film could make me feel like this just astounded me. The feeling stayed there until Jake began his speech and then the feeling slowly turned to hope and I literally felt like the Na'Vi. As though I was fighting for my survival, and for the survival of my people.

The only film that has come close to this amount of emotion for me was United 93. The last 5 minutes of the film are so emotional and horrific that I was balling my eyes out, less with sadness and more with fear. It was after the film that I felt sad, and cried for what must have been 30 minutes after the film had finished.

But Avatar was so much more intense, I almost film like I couldn't handle it. And if I was the only one in the cinema then I probably wouldn't have been able to, and would have let myself go to my limit.

So you can see how this film is so much more than just a film to me. The reason I was taken to this emotional place was because I felt like part of the story. The music encouraged me to feel this way as well, and I get chills just from listening to the Avatar soundtrack. But whilst music might provide a lot of the emotion in films, I felt that with this film what pushed the emotion even further was the 3D and the CGI.

With all the great films I don't feel like I'm watching a film, I feel part of it. However, I still always know in the back of my mind that I'm watching a film. With Avatar I wasn't watching a film, and after the film finished I had to remind me that it was a film that I just watched and that it wasn't real, because throughout the film my mind was telling me that it was real and that I was witnessing real life. I left my body in the cinema and went to Pandora. For me the events in Avatar were real, and I was there to witness them.

Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (Soundtrack)

Another great soundtrack from John Powell. Whilst I prefer his score for Ice Age 2: The Meltdown this one is still just as good.

My only major problem is that the music has been split up into too many tracks. 32 of the 44 tracks are under 2 minutes, 22 are under 1 and a half minutes, 17 are under a minute, and 8 of them are under 30 seconds in length. It works fine if your listening to the soundtrack in order, but if you put it on shuffle then a lot of the tracks continue into the next track, and the one after forming one long cue that's been chopped and sliced up. This is quite noticeable on shuffle.

Other than that it's great. The old themes are back and the new themes are in. I'm less keen on the new themes then the old ones which is why I prefer Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, but if you're a John Powell fan then it's definitely worth a listen. His arrangements of "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" by Lou Rawls are just fantastic. It's worth getting it just for them.

The Box

The concept of this film is quite strange. A couple are given a box with a red button in it. If they push the red button then they will get a million dollars, however, someone in the world that they don't know will die.

I wondered whether or not the film would say the reason behind the box, and thankfully it did. However, the film got very, very strange. It reminded me of the film Knowing and to be honest because I'd seen it I was able to partly guess the reason behind the box about half way through. But it just went even stranger as it progressed.

When I say it went strange, I don't mean that it got majorly confusing (although it did a little), I just mean that it got quite freaky, and a little scary.

The film definitely has its bad moments though, as the beginning starts out a bit rubbish, but it progresses to become quite good, and really kind of enters the horror genre, but without the moments that make you jump, and without the gore. Because of this, as horror movies go I thought it was really good. It got more real as it went on and it wasn't just a quick scare and then move on, it held that fear and as the film went on, the fear just got more intense.

If you like horrors then I would give this a try. If you don't then give it a miss, because its quite freaky.