Dear John Williams

I haven't written open letters for a long time, but there is a good reason to do it today.

Dear John Williams,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you! I'm very grateful that you were born 80 years ago, because I don't want even imagine what the cinematography would do without you.

I started watching films since I don't remember which age, but even then the melody, which I heard along with the visual part, was important for me. When I was a kid, I watched "Home Alone" every holiday season. Later I saw the first two adaptations of Harry Potter. I memorised both main themes so well that I'm humming them every Christmas for many years.

When I grew up and discovered more serious films, as "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", "Schindler's List", "Empire of the Sun", "Catch Me If You Can", "Memoirs of a Geisha", "Star Wars" trilogies. They opened me the brand new world and I enjoyed them very much. Along with the music. Yes, I want to thank you for writing such exceptional pieces for all those films, and for many others. Thanks to you I started wondering not only who the actors and directors are, and what about the plot is. I always check the line, where the name of the composer is written, hoping that you took part in creating it.

You can make every film better with your music. I watched many from your filmography and without your soundtracks they wouldn't be such great. Steven Spielberg and Chris Columbus definitely wouldn't be as popular as they are, if you didn't write the music for their films.

I hope your compositions will become timeless, and many generations will listen to them and wonder how a real person can make such magical tunes. And, of course, I wish you well and write more, because you have an incredible gift.

Have a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Sincerely,
an eternal movie and music fan.

Picture via Harry Potter fan zone

Oscar 2012 - All Nominees

The full list of the nominees of the 84th Annual Academy Awards was announced this morning by Jennifer Lawrence, who was nominated for her performance in "Winter's Bone" in 2011.

"Hugo" has 11 chances to get an award; "The Artist" has 10 nominations; "Moneyball" and "War Horse" were honored with 6; "The Descendants" and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" have 5 nominations each.

I'm going to see "The Artist" these days (it will be finally out in my country!), but I already know that I will hope it gets the Oscar in a month for Best Picture. My other predictions are selected with blue colour, but some nominations I left untouched, because I have no idea how they will choose winners for Film Editing, Best Documentary (I haven't watched none of them), Best Short Film or Sound Editing.

More about Oscar 2012!

Billy Crystal  is the Host, and the winners you will know on February 26.

The full list of nominees:

Best Picture
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"
"The Help"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"Moneyball"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")
Alexander Payne ("The Descendants")
Martin Scorsese ("Hugo")
Woody Allen ("Midnight in Paris")
Terrence Malick ("The Tree of Life")

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in "A Better Life"
George Clooney in "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"
Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt in "Moneyball"

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis in "The Help"
Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn"

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn"
Jonah Hill in "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte in "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"
Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain in "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer in "The Help"

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
"The Descendants" Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
"Hugo" Screenplay by John Logan
"The Ides of March" Screenplay by George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
"Moneyball" Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)
"The Artist" Written by Michel Hazanavicius
"Bridesmaids" Written by Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
"Margin Call" Written by J.C. Chandor
"Midnight in Paris" Written by Woody Allen
"A Separation" Written by Asghar Farhadi

Animated Feature Film
"A Cat in Paris"
"Chico and Rita"
"Kung Fu Panda 2"
"Puss in Boots"
"Rango"

Art Direction
"The Artist" Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
"Hugo" Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"Midnight in Paris" Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
"War Horse" Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography
"The Artist" Guillaume Schiffman
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Jeff Cronenweth
"Hugo" Robert Richardson
"The Tree of Life" Emmanuel Lubezki
"War Horse" Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design
"Anonymous" Lisy Christl
"The Artist" Mark Bridges
"Hugo" Sandy Powell
"Jane Eyre" Michael O'Connor
"W.E." Arianne Phillips

Best Documentary (Feature)
"Hell and Back Again" Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
"If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front" Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory" Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
"Pina" Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
"Undefeated" TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Best Documentary (Short Subject)
"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement" Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
"God Is the Bigger Elvis" Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
"Incident in New Baghdad" James Spione
"Saving Face" Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom" Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing
"The Artist" Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
"The Descendants" Kevin Tent
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"Hugo" Thelma Schoonmaker
"Moneyball" Christopher Tellefsen

Best Foreign Language Film
"Bullhead" Belgium
"Footnote" Israel
"In Darkness" Poland
"Monsieur Lazhar" Canada
"A Separation" Iran

Best Make-up
"Albert Nobbs" Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
"The Iron Lady" Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Best Original Score
"The Adventures of Tintin" John Williams
"The Artist" Ludovic Bource
"Hugo" Howard Shore
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Alberto Iglesias
"War Horse" John Williams

Best Original Song
"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio" from "Rio" Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Short Film (Animated)
"Dimanche/Sunday" Patrick Doyon
"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
"La Luna" Enrico Casarosa
"A Morning Stroll" Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
"Wild Life" Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Best Short Film (Live Action)
"Pentecost" Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
"Raju" Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
"The Shore" Terry George and Oorlagh George
"Time Freak" Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
"Tuba Atlantic" Hallvar Witzø

Best Sound Editing
"Drive" Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Ren Klyce
"Hugo" Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
"War Horse" Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Best Sound Mixing
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
"Hugo" Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
"Moneyball" Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
"War Horse" Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Best Visual Effects
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
"Hugo" Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
"Real Steel" Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) - Soundtrack

When Harry Potter series has changed its director for the first time, John Williams still remained being a music creator. At the third and the last time he wrote a beautiful soundtrack for this magical tale, which became more adult along with the story itself. John again used a choir to make a wonderful "Double Trouble". And I love how he interpreted "Hedwig's Theme" in the first and the last one compositions.

Release date - May 25, 2004

More about Harry Potter soundtracks!

1."Lumos! (Hedwig's Theme)" - 1:38



2."Aunt Marge's Waltz" - 2:15
3."The Knight Bus" - 2:52
4."Apparition on the Train" - 2:15
5."Double Trouble" - 1:37



6."Buckbeak's Flight" - 2:08
7."A Window to the Past" - 3:54
8."The Whomping Willow and the Snowball Fight" - 2:22
9."Secrets of the Castle" - 2:32
10."The Portrait Gallery" - 2:05
11."Hagrid the Professor" - 1:59
12."Monster Books and Boggarts!" - 2:26
13."Quidditch, Third Year" - 3:47



14."Lupin's Transformation and Chasing Scabbers" - 3:01
15."The Patronus Light" - 1:12
16."The Werewolf Scene" - 4:25
17."Saving Buckbeak" - 6:39
18."Forward to Time Past" - 2:33



19."The Dementors Converge" - 3:12



20."Finale" - 3:24



21."Mischief Managed!" - 12:10

"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (2002) - Soundtrack

As I was writing about the soundtrack of the first part, I said that director Chris Columbus enjoys working with a composer John Williams. After a huge success of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" it was very wise not to change the creators, so they made a good adaptation again. Music kept inside all magic and became more adult along with all characters. I don't think that this soundtrack is worse than first, but I like it less. Except for the moments, when the trio (or the duo) gets into a dangerous trouble again.

Release date - November 12, 2002.

The soundtrack was released in the other order from what we can hear in movie. Here is a full soundtrack list (with my favorite compositions):

1. "Prologue: Book II and The Escape from the Dursleys" - 3:31



2. "Fawkes the Phoenix" - 3:45
3. "The Chamber of Secrets" - 3:49
4. "Gilderoy Lockhart" - 2:05
5. "The Flying Car" - 4:08
6. "Knockturn Alley" - 1:47
7. "Introducing Colin" - 1:49
8. "The Dueling Club" - 4:08



9. "Dobby the House Elf" - 3:27
10. "The Spiders" - 4:32



11. "Moaning Myrtle" - 2:05
12. "Meeting Aragog" - 3:18



13. "Fawkes Is Reborn" - 3:19
14. "Meeting Tom Riddle" - 3:38



15. "Cornish Pixies" - 2:13
16. "Polyjuice Potion" - 3:52
17. "Cakes for Crabbe and Goyle" - 3:30
18. "Dueling the Basilisk" - 5:02
19. "Reunion of Friends" - 5:08 



20. "Harry's Wondrous World" - 5:02

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (2001) - Soundtrack

While we are waiting for the last premiere of the movie about the boy who lived, I want to write about not less important part of every story - the soundtrack. Music helped to create a magical atmosphere and made "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" a wonderful fairy-tale. It was created by talented and one of my favorite composers, John Williams. He has written music for many great movies, for example, "Home Alone", "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" (yes, he likes working with Chris Columbus, who is the director of first and second "Harry Potter"), "Schindler's List", "Saving Private Ryan", "The Patriot", "Catch Me if You Can" and others. And he always writes very powerful music, which makes movies perfectly finished. Especially, I love his Christmas tunes in family movies. 

As for this soundtrack, "Prologue" will be always the best composition for me. Why? It's simple. Because it is the beginning of great story, which I adore. 

Release date - October 30, 2001

The full soundtrack (with my favorites compositions):

1. "Prologue" 2:12



2. "Harry's Wondrous World" 5:21
3. "The Arrival of Baby Harry" 4:25
4. "Visit to the Zoo and Letters from Hogwarts" 3:23
5. "Diagon Alley and The Gringotts Vault" 4:06
6. "Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters and The Journey to Hogwarts" 3:14
7. "Entry into the Great Hall and The Banquet" 3:42



8. "Mr. Longbottom Flies" 3:35
9. "Hogwarts Forever! and The Moving Stairs" 3:47
10. "The Norwegian Ridgeback and A Change of Season" 2:47
11. "The Quidditch Match" 8:29
12. "Christmas At Hogwarts" 2:56



13. "The Invisibility Cloak and The Library Scene" 3:16
14. "Fluffy's Harp" 2:39
15. "In the Devil's Snare and The Flying Keys" 2:21
16. "The Chess Game" 3:49
17. "The Face of Voldemort" 6:10



18. "Leaving Hogwarts" 2:14



19. "Hedwig's Theme" 5:11

Christmas movies (part one)

I haven't written here in English for a long time and I really missed it. I know that my grammar is sometimes hard to understand, but I'm trying to get better in this. Why? Because I want to write good reviews (which would be not just interesting, but also understandable for people whose native language is English).

So today I'm going to tell you about great Christmas movies, which would raise your mood in such cold season and also would give you a feeling that holidays have come.

The first movie, which always associates with winter holidays, is "Home Alone". This movie was captured 20! years ago, but still is funny, interesting and great for family watching. A story about a boy who troubles two adult robbers was made by very talented Chris Columbus and John Hughes, with magical music written by John Williams.




The second part of little boy's adventures brings us to the Big Apple (where The Twin Towers stand still). Kevin gets many dad's credit cards and entertains himself as he can. And again Harry and Marv (now "sticky bandits") get in a big trouble. I think "Home Alone 2" isn't better then first, but there are also a bunch of funny moments, beautiful views of the City and great ending, which shows us that our friends and family are the best gifts for any holiday.

And if you are interested in my reviews, you can read it here.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!