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Lorne Balfe's BLACK WIDOW (2021)


Jay

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Damn. I was quite looking forward to what Desplat would bring to a Marvel film. Not a fan of Balfe. Oh well. Just another generic score in the generic Marvel Soundtrack Universe (with only a few exceptions)

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I'm having a hard time holding myself back here. Fuck. I am absolutely certain Desplat's Rogue One score would have been much better than Giacchino's mess (though I understand that replacement may have been for actual scheduling reasons), and I'm quite certain a BW score by him would be much better than something Balfe could cook up. I actually think Fallout is pretty decent, but Marvel are clearly going all in on the Mission Impossible copy here. Was hoping this movie might have a somewhat unique identity. 

 

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Hybrid from http://www.hans-zimmer.com/ on the matter:
 

Quote

Score is recorded already.

 

Quote

No idea but he was on it for a bit, I think.


So yeah, Desplat has seemingly been off it for quite a bit now. I wonder if it was even a mistake that his name ended up on the advertising. :( Then again, "for a bit" could just mean he took the entirety of last month to do it, knowing how quick he is.

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1 hour ago, HunterTech said:

Hybrid from http://www.hans-zimmer.com/ on the matter:
 

 


So yeah, Desplat has seemingly been off it for quite a bit now. I wonder if it was even a mistake that his name ended up on the advertising. :( Then again, "for a bit" could just mean he took the entirety of last month to do it, knowing how quick he is.

 

So that means the score was probably recorded before all the worldwide lockdowns, which means Balfe probably used an orchestra, instead of the "Lorne was hired to do a synth only score because the pandemic prevents scoring sessions to take place" theory we came up with.

 

I guess maybe someone at Marvel fell in love with Fallout being used at the temp track, and when Desplat came up with something entirely different, they decided to get the Fallout composer instead.

 

I actually think Fallout is a decent score, I certainly don't hate it. But, if that was the truth, is a little sad that this score is becoming so beloved amongst Hollywood producers, because it is basically The Dark Knight Rises with the M: I theme and some bongos.

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20 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

I actually think Fallout is a decent score, I certainly don't hate it. But, if that was the truth, is a little sad that this score is becoming so beloved amongst Hollywood producers, because it is basically The Dark Knight Rises with the M: I theme and some bongos.


^^^^^^
There's a reason I was fine with Zimmer getting the Bond gig, since I knew he wouldn't rehash so blatantly like Lorne recently has. People are allowed to like it, but it really pisses me off that out of everything recently, that is what apparently resonated with people the most. Really doesn't leave me with a good impression for the future of Hollywood scoring.

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43 minutes ago, Matt C said:

You'd figure with Silvestri getting kudos for Avengers Endgame would be a signal that Hollywood embraced more traditional orchestral scoring again. 

 

Sigh.

 

There's probably a faction of puhdoosahs in Hollywood who couldn't stand Silvestri's Avengers scores.

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Clearly the 3 new fully orchestral Star Wars scores didn't resonate with producers, either. It seems like orchestral scores are increasingly viewed as old fashioned, and very expensive (especially when recorded in LA). 

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I don't think this is about people disliking Silvestri's and Williams' scores. I guess it's more about the movies themselves.

 

Avengers was a big, sprawling epic, so it demanded a more old fashioned, traditional score. Black Widow, on the other hand, seems to be more of a spy thriller, and music for these kinds of movies these days is more Bourne and Fallout and less David Arnold.

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He could have done some nice Russian and Hungarian touches... ah, wait, I already got those from him in Grand Budapest. He'd have been directed to be bland and unnoticeable anyway.

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6 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

No, but I get the feeling that some here are determined to like his scores just because he wrote them. The theme is great, I'll admit that, but other than that? Generic unmemorable action cue after action cue.

 

Hey those were good!

 

 

Someone in some comments section said this:

 

"Clearly they decided it was too insensitive to have someone with Splat in their name score a Black Widow movie after the events of Endgame."

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I was hoping for something like Red Sparrow - JNH, which is basically a Black Widow movie itself. Orchestral cues sort of bookending, but lots of mildly interesting thriller textures in there as well. I think Desplat would knock something like that out of the park. 

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6 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

No, but I get the feeling that some here are determined to like his scores just because he wrote them. The theme is great, I'll admit that, but other than that? Generic unmemorable action cue after action cue.

 

I have to disagree.

 

None of the Silvestri Marvel scores are brilliant or anything, but it's a little reductive to say they're just generic action music.

 

There's a whole architecture of themes supporting the narrative throughout the four movies:

 

-The Avengers theme

-Thanos has two themes, both great and adequate to the character

-Infinity Stones theme

-Captain America's theme

-Steve and Peggy

-Tony and Pepper

-Sacrifice theme

-Endgame theme

 

Sure, there's a lot of boring, brooding suspense music in all of the scores. But there's also some great individual highlights and touching emotional music, mainly on Endgame and The First Avenger. Also, the action music may not be the most outstanding thing in the world, but Forge on Infinity War and Portals on Endgame were great cinematic moments on film and uplifting tracks to listen outside of it. Main on Ends from Endgame was my favorite film music composition from last year.

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3 minutes ago, Jules said:

I was hoping for something like Red Sparrow - JNH, which is basically a Black Widow movie itself. Orchestral cues sort of bookending, but lots of mildly interesting thriller textures in there as well. I think Desplat would knock something like that out of the park. 

 

I guess they felt Desplat was too arty, weird and European. Paradoxically, Balfe bases his scores on Zimmer's symphonic Euro pop style.

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7 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Portals

I finally listened just to this after everyone goes nuts for it. It's meh indistinguishable buildup and an Avengers statement virtually completely identical to the circling shot in the first one. If this is the big standout orchestral moment of 2019 for a lot of people... poor, poor industry!

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Desplat getting the boot is incredibly distressing to me. I was genuinely excited for this score. It was the only thing I expected would get me to buy a ticket to Black Widow. (Moot point these days, perhaps)

 

We have The French Dispatch to look forward to, at least...

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22 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

No, but I get the feeling that some here are determined to like his scores just because he wrote them. The theme is great, I'll admit that, but other than that? Generic unmemorable action cue after action cue.

 

These scores totally lack subtlety. You can have subtlety and refinement in movies like these, no matter how much action there is. 

 

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On 4/1/2020 at 4:40 PM, Edmilson said:

and music for these kinds of movies these days is more Bourne and Fallout and less David Arnold.


Except  Bourne realy is a great score imho. Fallout is a pastiche at best. 

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"Portals" was one of the best non-JW cues of last year! (And I've never watched an Avengers movie in my life, except for I think part of Ultron)

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  • 1 month later...
Quote

Marvel — a studio that has developed a slight reputation for firing geniuses — brought Desplat into the fold to compose the score for “Black Widow,” only to replace him with Lorne Balfe late into post-production. Desplat gave a clear “no comment” when it came to the finer points of what happened there (“I was attached to that movie, and then I was detached”)

 

https://www.indiewire.com/2020/05/alexandre-desplat-interview-black-widow-pinocchio-french-dispatch-1202232702/

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