Music by John Williams movie review

MOVIE TITLE:    Music by John Williams

This tribute documentary is now playing in select theaters and on Disney+.

RATING:  PG

LENGTH:  1 hour 45 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE:  A!

SPONSOR of Today’s movie review:

The Music of John Williams: 40 Years of Film Music

Link:  https://amzn.to/4f5x441

IN A NUTSHELL:

Most people don’t like watching documentaries, but this is one you will want to!  If you’re a cinephile, you MUST watch this!  If you love music, you should watch this!  It’s wonderful to see such an incredibly talented man earn the praises and accolades of so many people who clearly adore him.  His scores are instantly recognizable and a huge part of the world’s movie memories.

He’s in his 90s and still appears so spry. It’s delightful to see him get a documentary about him before it’s a tribute after his death. I grew up with his musical scores.

The documentary was directed by Laurent Bouzereau.

THINGS I LIKED:

• What an incredible man John Williams is.  A true genius in our lifetime. He grew up surrounded by music in his family, served in the military, started out as a jazz guy, and found himself writing music for TV shows.  Most of us don’t know how he got his start scoring films.  It’s hard to believe the talented John Williams scored the TV show Giligan’s Island!  I used to watch that sitcom when I was a little girl.
• It’s fascinating to hear what his family members have said about him.
• He appears to be such a genuinely nice guy.
• He studied music composition his entire life.  You
• We get to watch some famous movie scenes with and without John Williams’ legendary scores, which is such a great illustration of the power of music.
• We learn about John William’s childhood and what influenced his musical style and journey.
• The list of celebs who are interviewed in the film is extremely impressive, including epic directors, famous actors, and esteemed musicians: Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, J.J. Abrams, Chris Columbus, George Lucas, Seth MacFarlane, Alan Silvestri, Chris Martin (Coldplay), Itzhak Perlman, Yo-yo Ma, Branford Marsalis, and on and on!
• An interesting point was made of how Maestro John Williams wrote music the hard way, the painstaking way where each note was thought up and written down by hand.  Nowadays, AI can create music in a practially a split second.
• Williams talks about the passing of his young wife and what a profound effect it had on his life.  He sweetly explained that he felt the presence of his wife over the years helping him with his music from the other side.
• It’s so great to hear John Williams talk about the various movies he scored that we have all fallen in love with over the decades.  I agreed with him 100% when he stated “Saving Private Ryan is one of the greatest, if not THE greatest WWII movie of all time.” 
• One thing that many people said in the documentary was how John Williams was able to capture the magic of wonder and childhood in so many of his blockbuster movie scores.  Amen!  Think of Harry Potter, Home Alone, and ET!  Equally as effective is his ability to evoke feelings of adventure and awe such as in Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars.
• Did you know that John Williams scored the Olympics?  Amazing, right?  His body of work over his career has been so diverse.
• John Williams has been nominated for 54 Oscars, which isn’t surprising, considering how brilliant his music is.  What did surprise me is that he only won 5 of them! 
• It’s so great to see Williams honored, but even more, this documentary is an opportunity for the world to say “thank you” to him for giving us so many unbelievably magical moments of music.
• What a wonderful way to fill a career and lifetime, surrounded by gorgeous music and talented coworkers.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

• Absolutely nothing.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

• Young kids might be bored, but older ones will learn a lot about some of their favorite movies if they do watch this!
• No profanity.  Nothing objectionable.
• Family friendly and magical

THEMES:

• The power of music
• Hard work
• Composition
• Vision
• Imagination
• Creativity
• The power of film as a medium of art

INTERESTING LINES:

• “Music was such a part of our family life.” – John Williams
• “I was filled with the love of music.” – John Williams
• “A lifetime isn’t enough for music.” – John Williams

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