A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

(C) 2008 Silva America/Silva Screen Records On May 13, 2008, Silva America released The Indiana Jones Trilogy: New Recordings of the Classic Scores, a 16-track “sampler” of music composed by John Williams for the first three Indy movies – Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Dropped just five days before the Cannes premiere of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, this CD features the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus under the baton of conductor Nic Raine.  The album – which was originally issued in 2002 with the same musical content but with different cover art – is divided into three Suites, one for each film in the original trilogy. These suites are: Raiders of the Lost Ark Suite: 1.       The Raiders March 2.       The Map Room 3.       The Basket Game 4.       Marion’s Theme 5.       Airplane Fight 6.       The Ark Trek 7.       Raiders

Artwork by William Stout. (C) 1980, 1992 Varese Sarabande Records and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) On May 21, 1980, Varese Sarabande – a record label that specializes in movie/television soundtracks and classical music – dropped the long-play (LP) record and cassette versions of The Empire Strikes Back: Symphonic Suite from the Original Motion Picture Score. This album presented selections of composer John Williams’ music for Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, which had premiered in theaters just two days before. Performed by The National Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of conductor Charles Gerhardt, the one-disc record was intended to supplement – not compete with – the “official” two-record soundtrack released one month earlier by RSO Records. 12 years later, on May 26, 1992, Varese Sarabande re-issued The Empire Strikes Back: Symphonic Suite from the Original Motion Picture Score as a digitally-remastered compact disc (VSD 5353). Like its vinyl “parent,” the C

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) (AKA A.I. ) Written and Directed by: Steven Spielberg, based on Brian Aldiss’ short story Supertoys Last All Summer Long and a story treatment by Ian Wilson) Starring: Haley Joel Osment, Frances O’Connor, Sam Robards, William Hurt, Jude Law, Jake Thomas, Jack Angel, Robin Williams, Meryl Streep, Ben Kingsley On June 29, 2001, Warner Bros. Pictures released A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Steven Spielberg’s 20 th feature film as a director. Originally conceived as a project for and by Stanley Kubrick ( 2001: A Space Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket ) in the early 1970s but handed over to Spielberg after spending years in what Hollywood calls “Development Hell,” A.I. is a bittersweet meditation about our relationship with technology, the nature of love, and the perplexing question – can a programmed artificial intelligence become self-aware and experience emotion? Narrator: [narrating, with ocean waves crashing together] Th

Album cover from A.I.: Artificial Intelligence - Music from the Motion Picture. (C) 2001, 2018 Warner Sunset/Amazon LLC.  In 2001, Warner Sunset, the now-defunct record label that produced soundtrack albums for Warner Bros. movies, released A.I. Artificial Intelligence – Music from the Motion Picture. This was a 13-track collection of themes and cues composed and conducted by John Williams for Steven Spielberg’s eponymous science-fiction film. Performed by a Los Angeles-based studio orchestra and recorded at Sony Pictures Studios Royce Hall near Hollywood, the score features some of the orchestral themes, action cues, and two versions of the song For Always, which features lyrics by Cynthia Weil and a haunting melody by Maestro Williams. As is often the case with “original motion picture soundtrack albums,” the 2001 commercial release of A.I. Artificial Intelligence – Music from the Motion Picture does not present Williams’ complete score, which is almost two and

Album cover art by William Stout. (C) 1983 Varese Sarabande Records On May 25, 1983 – the sixth anniversary of the premiere of Star Wars (aka Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope ) – 20 th Century Fox released Star Wars – Episode VI: Return of the Jedi , the third chapter of George Lucas’s Star Wars Trilogy. Written by Lucas with Lawrence Kasdan and directed by Richard Marquand, Return of the Jedi chronicled the beginning of the end of the Galactic Empire at the Battle of Endor, the ascension of Luke Skywalker from Jedi trainee to the last of the Jedi Order, and the redemption of Darth Vader – Anakin Skywalker – whose love for his son was stronger than his loyalty to the evil Emperor Palpatine. Because Jedi marked the end of the Luke Skywalker/Darth Vader story arc and no other Star Wars films were planned for the immediate future, many people, including book publishers and record producers rushed to make merchandise with the “standalone” label The Star Wars Trilogy . In