Wait until you see this category’s Walrus!
Ah, there we go. Lynch is a god. How dare you.
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Coming in second for 7 points is @Rivaldo
Thomas Newman is easily in my top ten currently working composers. His haunting piano melodies are a genre unto themselves so much that you can tell it’s a Thomas Newman piece from the first note. Newman wrote several other iconic scores that you might recognize, among them almost every Sam Mendes movie from American Beauty to Skyfall and, of course, Revolutionary Road. His collaboration with Sam Mendes also connected him with Alan Ball, the screenwriter of American Beauty who would go on to co-create the HBO series Six Feet Under which has a theme that, as you might have guessed, was written by Thomas Newman.
This track is from the film adaptation of Revolutionary Road, a novel written by Richard Yates. He was a part of a small cadre of minimalist writers like Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver, and Tobias Wolf. He experienced but a small amount of success with Revolutionary Road, and he passed away before he could see the adaptation that brought Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet back together for a movie that was anything but a love story.
It’s a tragedy from the first scene, and just like the movie, the title theme is a tragedy from the first note. Among a collection of boundless fine work, this track is among Thomas Newman’s best.
It comes in second place for 7 points.
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Oh shit! Beginner’s luck incoming!
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rat turds!
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Coming in first place for 8 points is @jwax13
Have you ever heard sadness? You will hear it when you listen to this track. The haunting violin theme evokes every inch of grief and tears I’ve ever experienced. When the obo comes in, I know not just sadness, but despair. Utter and inescapable hopelessness. But halfway through the track—at about the 4:00 mark—something happens.
The drums kick in. The music becomes ponderous, not hopeless. The track has taken me on a journey so far, but one with no payoff. Yet when the drums come back at 6:40, I feel my courage again, and when the music pauses from 7:31 to 7:37 for a breath more tense than waiting for Brad Pitt to OPEN THE BOX—the music comes back as a roaring symphony and a celestial choir.
This track may as well be a religion experience. For that, it deserves to be our WALRUS for 8 points.
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Great reveal and write ups. Thanks!
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TY!
I will admit I am new enough to Walrus reveals that I was unprepared for the amount of time I put into these.
Would you prefer briefer/faster or more reveals like these?
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this was a blitzkrieg reveal… can’t get much faster lol
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I think he means in terms of how much downtime before the next reveal. Those were quite long write ups.
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oh yeah, no doubt
just as time permits, I’d say. Lots of work involved.
but I could go for a double-header this evening! errr
Damn, I was about to compliment your nuanced interpretation of Lost Highway.
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That’s a very nice explanation, but all sales are final.
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Dagnabbit, I missed this reveal!
Risky - Phenomenal writeups, damn. I guess with this category it’s hitting right up against your movie passion as well, so maybe it’s fun for you to add the extra colour. And I am sure it is appreciated. But from my perspective having run a Walrus before it is way more work than it seems and so briefer is totally fine by me. Really, I would advocate for whatever makes the experience more enjoyable for you. If that is more brief reveals to make this a sustainable exercise, then I am sure everyone here will be fine with it. But if you prefer the process of slowing it down and adding more detail, for me I would be fine with 1 reveal a week for example. However you prefer to roll, I will be grateful for the time put in.
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This is right. I meant prep time between reveal events.
That might be what is needed. I love digging into the entries for more than feels, especially when we can discuss weird connections between different movies or musicians.
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Agreed. I want to hit that pipe as often as you are willing to fill it, but you’re in charge here. Run it as you like.
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Just responding directly to this top quality reveal - Glad you enjoyed the piece (and cassette too). I have to say I feel pretty out of my depth for the first few categories, but this one was easy to choose as my nomination. I was very caught off-guard by how powerful the Logan movie was. The dark atmosphere throughout the movie was really built even more by their use of “Main Titles” at various junctures, (often just a small sample). There was some incredible acting in that movie as well, not least of which was the young Dafne Keen. I haven’t been that blown away by a young persons acting since Pierce Gagnon in Looper.
But I digress. Basically I had Main Titles stuck in my head for days after the movie and it still feels like a powerful piece to me even now.
Thanks for reviewing it and suggesting the 28 days score! That was enjoyable too.
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I feel like there needs to be some sort of support group for people who have run a Walrus. Though the shiny badge does help carry some of the baggage.
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