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Anyone else think Alexandre Desplat is the best composer currently working?


John

Anyone else think Alexandre Desplat is the best composer currently working?  

45 members have voted

  1. 1. Anyone else think Alexandre Desplat is the best composer currently working?



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4 hours ago, Bilbo said:

Consistent is absolutely the last word I’d use when describing Gia. 

 

Consistent is absolutely the last word I’d use when describing anyone working in a creative field, including composers.

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26 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

Consistent is absolutely the last word I’d use when describing anyone working in a creative field, including composers.

 

Why not? They're all professionals, dedicated to a chosen profession, and many establish a certain level of quality that can be expected with a given product. You like Martin Scorcese, Chen: when's the last time he's made a bad movie?

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Like Newton Howard, his workhorse mentality (and the changing requirements for FILM music) has its drawbacks, i. e. too many easy-to-write minimalist patterns and atmospheric filler that do not necessarily generate much musical interest. But ability-wise, i think he could do anything.

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I've never liked Desplat, sorry. For me, he's too much of a one-trick pony, relying on endless ostinati and not enough thematic width.

 

But there are exceptions, like THE PAINTED VEIL, L'ENNEMI INTIME, GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING etc., which I think are lovely.

 

But for as much as I'm critical towards him, I don't have the strong 'hate' relationship like I do to most of Michael Giacchino's music.

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Hubba-wha? It's possible to hate Mikey Giacchino? But he's so good! He's the next John Williams! Rogue One rescued Star Wars music! You just don't understand because his writing's too complex for your feeble ears.

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45 minutes ago, kaseykockroach said:

Hubba-wha? It's possible to hate Mikey Giacchino? But he's so good! He's the next John Williams! Rogue One rescued Star Wars music! You just don't understand because his writing's too complex for your feeble ears.

 

I don't hate the person MG (never met him, only his sister; he seems like a genuinely nice fellow), only 99% of his music.

 

Such strong words are not applicable to Desplat, however. Harsh criticism and general bafflement as to his popularity, perhaps, but not 'hate'.

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Yeah Zimmer is probably the only "old" master who could still by some stretch be said to be currently working.  None of the next generation have distinguished themselves on that level yet, not even Alexandre.  I am loathe to add to the chorus of Giacchino smack talk since I had such high hopes for him after Lost but the man needs a brush up on orchestration and recording for starters.  Desplat at least has a much firmer grasp of sonics.

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2 minutes ago, TGP said:

Yeah Zimmer is probably the only "old" master who could still by some stretch be said to be currently working.  None of the next generation have distinguished themselves on that level yet, not even Alexandre.

 

OLD?!:(

 

Man we need some new fresh blood, Hurwitz looking promising. Hopefully he can keep it up. 

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1 minute ago, TGP said:

He's good.

 

Very melodic as well. Which kinda weirded me out (in a good way), didn't expect someone like him to rise up nowadays. Said he doesn't get offered much, which is a shame. 

 

As for Desplat: I feel mostly indifferent to most of his work. There is the occasional track I really like but overall, ehh. Same goes for Giacchino. 

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Hurwitz is fine. But I don't know if he's really got the chops for climbing up to the higher echelons of film music.

 

As others have mentioned here, Desplat is one of the few stimulating and engaging artists working in film music today, so long as you steer him away from the usual oscar-bait costume dramas and big franchise flicks. He's usually most interesting outside of traditional idioms.

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56 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

I don't hate the person MG (never met him, only his sister; he seems like a genuinely nice fellow), only 99% of his music.

 

Such strong words are not applicable to Desplat, however. Harsh criticism and general bafflement as to his popularity, perhaps, but not 'hate'.

I was kidding. Hatred for Giacchino is amusingly cliche here.

 

Also, don't you mean Balfe-ment? :P 

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9 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

I don't!

 

Look, it’s ok for men of your age. Nothing to be ashamed of. 

 

I’ve just realized we’ve set this up for a thread locker of a post from Bespin. 

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1 hour ago, TGP said:

Yeah Zimmer is probably the only "old" master who could still by some stretch be said to be currently working.  None of the next generation have distinguished themselves on that level yet, not even Alexandre. 

 

He lacks about 40 assistants.

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I know most will disagree with me, but personally I don't really care for his music much. He's decent when it comes to softer pieces, but I don't care much for his heavier, more action-oriented music. I was extremely relieved when it was announced he wasn't going to score Rogue One. I honestly think his score wouldn't have been very good (probably more along the lines of the generic recent Marvel/DC scores)

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10 hours ago, TGP said:

Frankly there's probably plenty going on under the hood even with someone like Desplat that the precious eyes of JWFan should avert from.

 

That's why i only referred to 40. 

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35 minutes ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

 He's decent when it comes to softer pieces, but I don't care much for his heavier, more action-oriented music.

 

I agree, but then again, I don't care for big Hollywood action music. Desplat should do more offbeat movies, that's his forte.

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34 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

I agree, but then again, I don't care for big Hollywood action music. Desplat should do more offbeat movies, that's his forte. 

Yep, exactly. He wasn't right for something like Star Wars, but he's perfect for some of those more avant-garde films.

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1 hour ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

I know most will disagree with me, but personally I don't really care for his music much. He's decent when it comes to softer pieces, but I don't care much for his heavier, more action-oriented music. I was extremely relieved when it was announced he wasn't going to score Rogue One. I honestly think his score wouldn't have been very good (probably more along the lines of the generic recent Marvel/DC scores)

 

As I said back then, replacing Desplat with Giacchino on ROGUE ONE was like replacing ketchup with mustard on your breakfast cereal. Wrong either way. :)

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3 minutes ago, publicist said:

But since SW is not only action music i would have been very interested what he came up with thematically and idiomatically for the broader canvas. Certainly not those half-assed brass triplets and one-finger piano tunes.

Star Wars as a whole is not purely action, but Rogue One itself was certainly mostly action.

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5 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

I say it all the time! Most composers that produce the output of Desplat, McCreary, Neely, Balfe, etc. have established teams. 

 

Balfe can’t even read music so he’s definitely got a team 

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On 10/14/2018 at 8:21 PM, Nick Parker said:

Is it me or does almost all of Desplat's music sound "polite"? 

 

I find it a bit soulless myself. Technically proficient but impossible to engage with (for me at least).

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Those who hold such intensely bitter contempt for Giacchino's Rogue One remind me of Doby getting all irritable when there's a new dog around and starts pissing on everything to mark his territory due to feeling insecure. 

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