tommynev Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 I really liked the Cavaliers, but I got sort of a funny feeling when they took off their hats (correct term?) for the protest bit. Maybe I'm overthinking it (likely), but it struck me as bizarre that 150 predominantly white and upper middle class males would have all that much to protest on a social level. Drum corps isn't just a bunch of spoiled white kids. A lot of them give up semesters in school to raise enough money just to be able to march. And there are plenty of members of every corps in DCI that are gay, or come from various ethnic backgrounds. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsband Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Cadets: I think there are so many design elements still missing that I still don't know what to think. About all I got was "yep the statues come to life" and clearly there's a lot more intent there. I think things like the guard costume change could have a large impact on "getting it". So it's still a wait and see game. Cavies: While I think it is their best "start" in a long time, I don't see the show being strong enough to vault them up (even to the middle). They might have hungry corps breathing down their neck at 9th (BAC, B Stars) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitedawn Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Drum corps isn't just a bunch of spoiled white kids. A lot of them give up semesters in school to raise enough money just to be able to march. Not to snake the other poster, but an observation: if you have the ability to make this choice, you're better off than the overwhelming majority of the world's citizens. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barigirl78 Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Maybe Adonis will be one of the stars of the reality show. Drama. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Sounds like a simplified version of Frankenstein to me, and frankly, Mary Shelley is not in the same ballpark as Shakespeare! Well, as concerns cinematic adaptations, there's a saying that the better the source material, the worse it translates to a different medium: "If it can be done, it's not worth doing; if it's worth doing, it can't be done." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 While the stage is not as intrusive as in 2014, I wasn't sure where I was supposed to be looking. Do you hone in on what is going on in the foreground, or focus on the drill and other stuff that is still continuing uninterrupted behind it? Will see if it is more obvious on the big screen. I mentioned before that one of Cadets' guard moves seemed to be inspired by the Reading Buccaneers' 2014 show, and while Bucs didn't have a stage, they did have a staging area in front of their pit, which I was always reminded of tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Some say Cavs were more sophisticated than Crossmen' with their "Protest" show. Wonder if Crossmen's version gave them the idea at first and a couple years of planning made it better... Right now the Cavs' show seems like their own "15 Seconds of Fame" (2012) mixed with Bones' "Protest" (2013) mixed with Bushwackers' "The Resistants" (2014)--in the last case particularly because of the Charlie Chaplin quotation from The Great Dictator. (But before that, Cavs used Chaplin's "Smile" from Modern Times in 2010--and they're the only American corps to play his music, I believe.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 As is the "Trio" (the second half of the ballad). And the rest of the music has been arranged to impart a sort of Morricone feeling to various degrees. OTOH the show is certainly not a traditional take on a Western theme. Last fall one of the best high school bands at Grand Nationals did a West Side Story show titled "Somewhere". They opened and closed with that tune, but three of their four other musical selections had no particular connection to WSS. Instead they played Holst's "Mars" to suggest conflict, Britten's "Young Person's Guide" to evoke youthful high spirits, Rota's "A Time for Us" (from the 1960s movie version of Romeo and Juliet) to convey love, and the finale from Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 represented inescapable fate. Combined with some fire-escape props and guard in the role of star-crossed lovers, and the intent was clear and the show highly effective. So I'm sure Crown can likewise deliver their theme with unexpected musical choices even more powerfully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Totally different feel from American westerns. One additional reason for the unusual flavor may be that Leone's Fistful of Dollars, the first spaghetti Western to make it big in the U.S., and the film that made Eastwood a star, was actually an unlicensed remake of a (far superior) samurai film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShouldveMarchedAgeOut Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 One additional reason for the unusual flavor may be that Leone's Fistful of Dollars, the first spaghetti Western to make it big in the U.S., and the film that made Eastwood a star, was actually an unlicensed remake of a (far superior) samurai film. Yep. Yojimbo, then Sanjuro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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