STAR WARS ROGUE ONE - December 16th

[John Johnson]

This film makes about as much sense as a big-budget Dr. No prequel which tells the story of how Felix Lighter came to Jamaica.

Nice one Paul.

[John Johnson]

Desplat out, Giacchino in.


http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-v ... ces-929387

[AndyDursin]

Can't wait. He did such a great job with Star Trek LOL

[Paul MacLean]

John, this is one of those announcements that ought to have been preceded with "I have good news and bad news".

I had a feeling this might happen. I just couldn't see Desplat's whimsical, airy-fairy style being able to carry a Star Wars movie.

Agreed Andy...although, at least Giacchino will provide something with a little more dramatic weight.

[BobaMike]

If Giacchino can reach back to his Medal of Honor scores (still the best things he's written), it'll be great. If it's Tomorrowland (with his Indy 3 ripoff theme), it'll be decent. If it's another score like Zootopia, God help us all.

[AndyDursin]

I liked those video game scores too but Medal of Honor was SO long ago now. I've personally given up on him and believe Giacchino is pretty much a hack. Which says everything about being an "a lister" in 2016. The guy is great at producing nondescript lightweight noise and little else. Less offensive than listening to Zimmerbots but in its own way just as responsible in lowering the bar of this art form.

His Star Trek theme is lousy and so were his scores.

[mkaroly]

His Star Trek theme is lousy and so were his scores.

Lol...I love the strong opinion on things! Keep bringing it!

I have the ST:ID score as well as his DotPOTA score. The former is really difficult to listen to - I hate his Klingon music...all pomp and no circumstance. I need to go back and listen to the DotPOTA score; I remember nothing from it.

[John Johnson]

I can't wait for the wacky track titles...lol

[AndyDursin]

His Star Trek theme is lousy and so were his scores.

Lol...I love the strong opinion on things! Keep bringing it!

Thanks Michael, it's about encouraging conversation and keeping things honest.

Though frankly, reading the other board, I often feel people are not honest and don't want to offend because they're a part of the industry (or think they are). The reality is things are dire for film music, but going over there, you'd think they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, thinking everything's gonna be alright.

[mkaroly]

The issue I have is that I feel that, at least with the American film industry, I have to lower my expectations of a film score to enjoy it, or admit that it sucks and move on. I get that everyone has different expectations and tastes, so fine. I have tried to like modern scores, even with lowered expectations. And the reality is I cannot outgrow Golden Age or Silver Age scoring sensibilities. I cannot outgrow John Williams (who I am sure younger people can't stand hearing about), Goldsmith, Korngold, Newman (Alfred and Thomas), Herrmann, Rozsa, Shore (I know a lot of people don't like him), etc. And I cannot, in good conscience, put MG, Desplat, and the rest on their level. They aren't even close (and Hans Zimmer insults my musical sensibilities to the point where I think he is the worst "composer" in the history of film scoring). I am just one person so what I think means nothing in the end, but after all is said and done I just cannot lower my personal standards where film score music is concerned. Therefore, I can't support modern "film score composers" by buying their product.

MG's score for STAR TREK and that main theme is awful to my ears - it goes nowhere, is uninspiring, and is just "lazy." It makes me feel nothing - I don't feel like I am going on a journey, and I don't feel like the music takes me on a journey along with the rest of the music. It's not there, and I can say the same thing for any number of other modern film scores I have heard. What's worse is that I don't even remember what I heard after I left the theater! Anyway, enough said!

[AndyDursin]

The problem I have always had with Giachinno's Star Trek theme is that it doesn't sound like Star Trek. In fact it sounds like a bland nondescript "genre theme" that couldve been used for any generic superhero score.

That and how awkwardly it transitioned into the Courage TV theme, which never made sense to me. Goldsmith, Horner, etc. never used much of the Courage theme and for Giachinno's theme to transition into a FULL statement of it was like nails on the chalkboard in the first ST Abrams film.

[Paul MacLean]

I cannot outgrow John Williams (who I am sure younger people can't stand hearing about), Goldsmith, Korngold, Newman (Alfred and Thomas), Herrmann, Rozsa, Shore (I know a lot of people don't like him), etc. And I cannot, in good conscience, put MG, Desplat, and the rest on their level. They aren't even close (and Hans Zimmer insults my musical sensibilities to the point where I think he is the worst "composer" in the history of film scoring).

I have to admit, I honestly do think Zimmer is talented in a certain area -- he's just not very eclectic and only right for a narrow range of genres. His style is better suited to modern subjects (particularly comedies) but not epics, pirate movies, westerns, etc.

I think of his dominance of modern film music as being as if Tangerine Dream dominated scoring in the 80s, and had done the music for, say, Back to the Future, Silverado or Aliens (or Legend! ). I'm sure many people would have eaten it up, but all those films of course only really come alive with theme-driven, orchestrally-conceived music (not aggressive rhythms and power chords).

I also fault Zimmer for being too much of a "yes man" and appeasing directors who think themes will "detract" from their film, as well as setting-up his "sweat shop" where scores are created by teams of people (who all write themeless scores in Zimmer's style).

And agreed on Giacchino. He certainly can ape the sound and style of John Williams...but he doesn't have Williams' faculty for creating a memorable theme.

[AndyDursin]

Paul's right, I totally agree Hans Zimmer is not the worst film composer alive...once upon a time he could be routinely counted on for writing actual THEMES that were pretty melodic and memorable. I even like his PIRATES themes -- the jaunty Jack Sparrow motif is "off-kilter" and just right -- but that's pretty much the last time he wrote any kind of score I wanted to listen to again. (And even then there were sections of those films that were grossly overscored).

What I blame him for is being pretty much solely responsible for how films are scored -- this "real time mickey mousing" that punctuates every breathing moment, that never lets a sequence sit and stand for a second, letting the audience judge for themselves how dramatic (or not) a sequence should be. What USED to be operatic in his scores has become overpowering -- and what's worse, he doesn't even write THEMES anymore. All those minutes scoring Nolan's Batman films, and what did we end up with but 6 hours of noise?

He certainly can ape the sound and style of John Williams...but he doesn't have Williams' faculty for creating a memorable theme.

In another era, IMO Giacchino would've been an orchestrator/arranger. NOT a composer. He may have all the technical skills, but he doesn't have the melodic gift, the ability to really craft a score of his own.

At any rate, at least he doesn't have to write another STAR TREK-quality main theme for STAR WARS.

[AndyDursin]

Giacchino's hiring just reinforces what I've written before too: Doesn't it also say something about where Hollywood is at, that JJ Abrams not only "reboots" STAR TREK, he reboots STAR WARS too. And Michael Giacchino scores everything?

The same several dozen actors, composers and directors seem to be involved with all the major projects. It's recycling du jour. I didn't see John Williams getting tapped to score STAR TREK in 1979 because Jerry Goldsmith was still around. Christopher Reeve didn't run off and star in another super-hero/similar genre project (unlike Chris Pine who seems to jump from one failed "Franchise Reboot" to another).

There was a capable pool of talent back then -- these days, it's like the same people repeatedly get hired over and over for the same KINDS of projects, resulting in a glut of similarly mediocre fare, and a lack of distinctive filmmaking voices.

[DavidBanner]

With high dollar franchise movies like this one, that's certainly the case.

OTOH, there are still plenty of lower budget movies that have a lot more originality and personality. They just don't get the wide audience that one of these insta-blockbusters will try to get. Movies like Whiplash, Room, Grand Budapest Hotel, Her, etc. And as we've noted, more and more filmmakers are turning to television production, as they can tell a wider canvas story without being limited to 2+ hours of explosions and CGI.