Entertainment Weekly's 50 Smartest People

[Trumpeteer 302]

It's a nice list ....

except for No. 48.

:cool:

[Jacob 0]

It's official. The apocalypse is upon us. Repent all ye sinners!!!

[Trent Hoyt 13]

If he can't read music how does he compose it?

[standbyfax 0]

"Composed the Brokeback score based on the script alone"

Is that meant to be a compliment.......

[Genius_Gone_Insane 5]

Wow, there are so many negative things I want to write here so I'll say nothing. Who put him on that list, anyway, Satan?

[Hitch 57]

I'm not on this list. I don't understand it!!!!

[Hlao-roo 389]

At first I thought it said, "WORTH NOTHING," because apparently that reflects the degree to which EW values literacy.

[Henry B 50]

Yeah, this article sucks. Santaolalla is neither the first film composer to do a guitar score nor the most effective one. I prefer Pat Metheny's Map of the World.

However, Santaolalla isn't the horrifyingly evil composer he's mad out to be. He's just mediocre and forgettable. It's pretty unsettling to observe the virulent hatred some here seem to have for him.

[Hitch 57]

....featuring a superlative performance from Sigourney "Will she ever take home the Oscar for Best Actress" Weaver.

[John Crichton 4]

However, Santaolalla isn't the horrifyingly evil composer he's mad out to be. He's just mediocre and forgettable.

Yup, if it wasn't for our friends at the Academy (not made up, apparently, of the smartest people in Hollywood) no one would even know his silly name.

Oh, and that article did get one thing right. He is the anti-John Williams.

[Red 75]

However, Santaolalla isn't the horrifyingly evil composer he's mad out to be. He's just mediocre and forgettable. It's pretty unsettling to observe the virulent hatred some here seem to have for him.

It's because he won the Oscar twice and beat Williams once. You know, since the Oscar for "Best Original Score" is really valuable and significant. :cool:

[Hitch 57]

Yep, tell that to Jan A.P. Kaczmarek. He's still trying to find his Oscar :cool:

[Hlao-roo 389]

However, Santaolalla isn't the horrifyingly evil composer he's mad out to be. He's just mediocre and forgettable.

Yup, if it wasn't for our friends at the Academy (not made up, apparently, of the smartest people in Hollywood) no one would even know his silly name.

As always, the kudos belong ultimately to the eminently charitable and self-debasing Music Branch.

[Richard Penna 3,696]

He can't read music.

Words desert me.

Just looking at that photo brings back very painful memories of that terrible night... when Salma Hayek walked on to present.

[indy4 155]

Anti-John Williams? They say that like it's a compliment!

[Quintus 5,399]

It's amazing, the sheer amount of times people miss the entire point of film scoring craft, on this board.

Be annoyed by the man as much as you like, or as much as it makes you feel better - the simple fact is Santaolalla's technically simplistic, even bland (to a certain ear) score to Brokeback moved people. Job well done. Accept it.

Anti-John Williams? They say that like it's a compliment!

That's because it IS a compliment, duh!

You're all a bunch of sad and bitter fools!

TGE: Glad that he is able to appreciate all sorts of film scoring technique and not just the kind that involves full orchestra and 'legit' composition.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

I think it's more the fact that the music moved a minority, and a minority that doesn't understand the aesthetics of film scoring.

I understand that the score for Brokeback was very effective for the film (though personally I thought it sounded like the music in a typical episode of South Park). But simple conventions of film scoring were not present - not because the composer deliberately chose not to use them, but because he's not even aware of them.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

personally I thought it sounded like the music in a typical episode of South Park

:cool:

Yeah, when I saw Brokeback Mountain, I wasn't even aware of who Gustavo Santaolalla was. Watching the movie, at one point the score actually drew me away from the film because it was so annoying and repetitive. After the movie was over, I didn't look into it, I didn't even remember it because it is so damn forgettable. Oscar-time comes, I still don't know his name, I don't even realize it was nominated. As the winner is announced, I expect a John Williams Memoirs (even though I would prefer a Munich), and when his name was read I was left literally mouth open. I couldn't believe this incredibly forgettable score beat a double JW nomination. I was sincerely angry about this for several months.

Then when I'm seeing Babel, the effing score gets to me again! It drew me from the film...AGAIN! A score is not supposed to draw your attention away from the film, it's supposed to capture the mood and hold your attention to it. Oscar-time comes again, and Babel is nominated, I know it's possible that it can win, but I expect The Queen or Notes On A Scandal (even though I think Pan's Labyrinth should have won), and then this little garbage comes in and steals another Oscar.

This man takes what doesn't belong to him, he isn't a composer, he can't even read music. Hans Zimmer is better than that.

EDIT: Damn filters. They need to be removed, I honestly don't think language was a problem on this forum, I need it to express my anger.

[Quintus 5,399]

I think it's more the fact that the music moved a minority, and a minority that doesn't understand the aesthetics of film scoring.

I disagree with your assumption that it was a minority that felt affected by the score. If you mean that since it was a small, and obviously controversial picture then only a relative minority actually saw it, I'd half agree with your guesswork. But that would still be besides the point, since regardless of Brokebacks audience figures, the vast majority of people who enjoyed the movie were clearly affected by it's score.

The fact that the average joe who did see it doesn't understand the aesthetics of film scoring is totally irrelevant and easily dismissed. Also and just to clarify - I'm not a fan of the Brokeback score and much prefer the likes of Munich and Memoirs as a listen, but that is not to say I can't appreciate a score like Brokeback - I can.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

I should have been more clear; the "minority" was more in the context of the "Oscar robbing" and the Academy that people are talking about. I'm sure a large percentage of the general public who saw the film would say that the music was nice, and worked. But that's not what dictates a quality score. If everyone in the world thought Attack of the Clones was a masterpiece of film I would not accept the fact, purely because my experience with film and what works and does not work cinematically would not agree.

It's clear that the Academy have lost all semblance of musicality in favor of "pop scoring" and what audiences listen to. Not what is truly compelling, enriching and artistic achievement.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

You think number 48 is the problem here? Check out numer 50.

I mean, I know there are more than 50 people in Hollywood.

[Quintus 5,399]

I'm sure a large percentage of the general public who saw the film would say that the music was nice, and worked. But that's not what dictates a quality score.

Oh but it is what dictates a quality score. Again, the point is strangely being missed by blind, almost rabid orchestration whores! It's institutionalised traditionalism! The whole point of, the purpose of film scoring is to serve the film in the best way possible and if it does that well, its a quality score, regardless of its style or technique. How can that possibly be disputed? The score to The Terminator is a freaking class exercise in low budget sci-fi scoring style and affect, but keep it the hell away from my headphones because that crude synth sounds absolutely horrible outside of the movie...

If everyone in the world thought Attack of the Clones was a masterpiece of film I would not accept the fact

Thankfully nobody in the world does think that, so that's also irrelevant.

[Morlock 11]

What do people want? he is one of the 50 smartest people in showbusiness. He's as bad as all that...yet STILL managed to win 2 oscars in row, and convince everyone that his scores are utter masterpieces? He deserves his spot.

Overall, very interesting list. I liked the inclusion of Emmanuel Lubezki and John Knoll.

[King Mark 3,631]

Don't get me started on a gustavo rant!

[gkgyver 1,646]

WORTH NOTING Composed the Brokeback score based on the script alone, and plays by ear. He can't read music.

And that truly makes him ... smart ...

[Hlao-roo 389]

He deserves his spot.

Not by the reasoning used in the article text. The uncorroborated assertion that he "altered Hollywood's aural landscape" is deeply questionable, at best.

[gkgyver 1,646]

If he really altered Hollywood's aural landscape, then that would be a big step down from the MV sound, and I didn't think that was actually possible.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I wish they'd just post the entire list so I don't have to progress through 50 web pages that take forever load up.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Same here. I stopped looking through after Angelina Jolie.

[indy4 155]

Jolie....50 smartest people??

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Apparently she is.

[gkgyver 1,646]

She was smart enough to marry Brad Pitt.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Are they officially married? I don't understand Hollywood. I don't want to know about your personal life, I don't care, just keep doing what you do well. For example, Tom Cruise is one of my favorite actors, and Mel Gibson is a fine actor/director.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Come on guys, it's Entertainment Weekly for heavens sake. It's probably aimed at the same people who watch the E channel.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Good point.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Well it's true. There's a massive dumb audience out there (those people who love to watch Keeping Up With The Kardassians, and America's Next Top Model) who think it's "so cool" that some people are able to win oscars without actually studying, devoting your life to learning a fine craft, or actually working for it. It really depresses me to see these blank, uninteresting, completely self-absorbed, and amazingly untalented young people roaming the face of the planet (mostly America it has to be said), and thinking they're god's gift and it's their right to receive the respect and admiration of others without actually having done anything to earn it. Apparently they are the "X" generation.

When I hear myself talking like this I realise I have become just like my parents. But DAMN, I'm sure kids of the 70s, 80s, and even 90s weren't this lazy, stupid, and arrogant!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

The 90's were awesome! I wish I lived in the 70's though.

[gkgyver 1,646]

Sadly, I have to agree there.

Watching today's teenies is like watching humanity evolving backwards into caves. In language, behaviour AND look. This generation fails to see that THEY are the reality, not television.

Dammit, I'm only 23 ... but not a bit afraid of opposing current state of humanity.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

This generation fails to see that THEY are the reality, not television.

Good point, and yet these mind-numbing reality shows that show off the so called "lives" of these cretins not only serve to perpetuate the idea that it's ok to live like that and think like that, but they also somehow legitimize such a closed-minded approach to life. I thought I'd seen it all, but yesterday it got worse. While sitting at the doctors office I caught a few minutes of a show which comprised of a panel of "experts" discussing what they'd seen that week on Keeping Up With the Kardassians etc. I mean they actually discussed it. It doesn't bother me that they had watched the drivel, but I find it staggering that they felt it was worth making a completely new program for the sole purpose of analyzing the idiotic antics the Kardassians had got up to. Mostly these antics seem to have involved going shoe-shopping, going to parties, and drunk-driving home afterwards. Discuss.

Unbelievable.

[indy4 155]

It really depresses me to see these blank, uninteresting, completely self-absorbed, and amazingly untalented young people roaming the face of the planet (mostly America it has to be said)

Poor George Washington must be turning in his grave right now!

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

proved you don't need a rousing horn section

What the eff!!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Who in this thread would like to apply for Hitch's casting sessions for his remake of Network?

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Oh but it is what dictates a quality score. Again, the point is strangely being missed by blind, almost rabid orchestration whores! It's institutionalised traditionalism! The whole point of, the purpose of film scoring is to serve the film in the best way possible and if it does that well, its a quality score, regardless of its style or technique. How can that possibly be disputed?

And that's where I disagree. A quality score goes above and beyond its intended purpose. That's why we're here, discussing them. That's why there are film score fans. For all those scores which spoke to us in a particular way, and give us chills when we listen to them. We discuss why we like them.

That's a quality score.

The score to The Terminator is a freaking class exercise in low budget sci-fi scoring style and affect, but keep it the hell away from my headphones because that crude synth sounds absolutely horrible outside of the movie...

That's what I would call a servicable score. A quality score would be able to effectively convey the subject matter while also appealing to one of our most basic human qualities - appreciation of music.

Thankfully nobody in the world does think that, so that's also irrelevant.

Haha, indeed. But not irrelevent. I don't agree with the most people who think Brokeback Mountain's score is good. I can't in good conscience listen to it with, say, "Confluence" and not prefer the latter.

That's not me being narrow-minded, that's me expressing my musicality and what is pleasing to my ears. In and out of film context.

[David Coscina 4]

I have to agree that this critic's assessment of why Santaollala is "smart" is totally fabricated. The only reason why he "applied" soothing guitar riffs to his film projects is due to the fact that he could NOT have scored those projects any other way. It's clearly stated he doesn't write or read music so he could not have written orchestral scores. So why is a man who is a music simpleton lauded as a genius by virtue of his limitations at the craft? Oh, because this article was written for Entertainment Weekly which has all of the critical and serious journalistic trappings of the National Enquirer IMO.

It's actually more indicative of the lack of intelligence of the journalist who wrote that inane article.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Yeah. John Williams is severely underrated in Hollywood!

[Ollie 1,059]

Say it ain't so, say it ain't so.

When I hear myself talking like this I realise I have become just like my parents. But DAMN, I'm sure kids of the 70s, 80s, and even 90s weren't this lazy, stupid, and arrogant!

Me too and yes kids today are spoiled and lazy.

[Luke Skywalker 1,796]

It's amazing, the sheer amount of times people miss the entire point of film scoring craft, on this board.

Be annoyed by the man as much as you like, or as much as it makes you feel better - the simple fact is Santaolalla's technically simplistic, even bland (to a certain ear) score to Brokeback moved people. Job well done. Accept it.

Was really the score the one that moved people... or where the images enough for that?

BTW, he did not win over one Williams' swasbuckling scores.

He won over Geisha and Munich, two rather intimate and 'soloist' scores. Definately Geisha was the best score of that year (it got almost all the other awards), and from Williams in years. Things like 'Chairman Waltz' are incomparable to Santaolalla's scores.

[Ollie 1,059]

I think most of us get the point of film scoring.

It's the quality of recent film scoring that we don't like. His score for Brokeback may have moved some people but it did nothing for me.

[Hlao-roo 389]

I think most of us get the point of film scoring.

It's the quality of recent film scoring that we don't like. His score for Brokeback may have moved some people but it did nothing for me.

Ah, but Mark, your "blind, almost rabid orchestration whore[ism]" is showing. If only you -- nay, if only all of us -- could appreciate film scores as well as the incomparable TheGreatEye...