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Michael Giacchino picked his top 5 film scores of all time


Lewya

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Michael Giacchino picked his top 5 film scores of all time:

 

1. Planet of the Apes - Jerry Goldsmith

 

"The score is by Jerry Goldsmith, and it is absolutely just one of my favorites. I remember seeing that as a kid and being blown away by how weird it was, how it didn’t sound like any other film score I had heard. It was just incredible, and I found him to be one of the most creative, interesting composers for film ever."

 

2. North by Northwest - Bernard Herrmann

 

"Of course, Bernard Herrmann is amazing, but North by Northwest is probably one of my favorites [of his]. He had a way with melody that was just incredible, and his action music was always wonderfully melodic. Sometimes, action music could just be in your face and pulsing along, but his was never like that. I think that the action music in North by Northwest is the epitome of really wonderful action writing. It had a sense of fun to it, and it had a wink to it. It didn’t take itself too seriously. It’s hard to not like everything that [Bernard] did because he was so brilliant, but that score, in particular, I love because I also loved the movie itself. I thought the marriage between the music and the movie was perfect."

 

3. Joker - Hildur Guðnadóttir

 

"I loved Hildur Guðnadóttir’s music for Joker. I thought it was so crazy and weird, and that seemed to fit perfectly. So much of what I love is from the past, so when something like that comes out and you hear it, you’re like, “Whoa, that’s weird. How did she think of that?” It really makes you rethink what you’re doing as well."

 

4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Jon Brion

 

"Jon Brion did that score. And I love that movie to begin with, but I remember the score just being so simple and emotional and beautiful. I often think about that one."

 

5. Arrival - Jóhann Jóhannsson

 

"Jóhann Jóhannsson’s score for Arrival is so cool. I find it very emotional, and I find it very creative and incredibly expansive."

 

https://aframe.oscars.org/lists/my-top-five-film-scores

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Wow, as a Giacchino fan, I find that both crushingly disappointing and utterly perplexing.  He doesn't sound like any of those scores to me, and I thought (think?!) of him as a champion of melodic tonality in the face of currents that favor the likes of Joker and Arrival.

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2 minutes ago, igger6 said:

Wow, as a Giacchino fan, I find that both crushingly disappointing and utterly perplexing.  He doesn't sound like any of those scores to me, and I thought (think?!) of him as a champion of melodic tonality in the face of currents that favor the likes of Joker and Arrival.

Haha

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Strange he didn't pick a Williams score.

51 minutes ago, gkgyver said:

What a bs PR thing to say. 

His agent told him "Listen, it's best if you stay on the Academy's good side, but include a classic composer or two to acknowledge the traditionalists!" 

*gun to head* *muffled voice* 'Say Joker, Mikey, that's all you gotta do. Say Joker.'

 

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3 hours ago, gkgyver said:

What a bs PR thing to say. 

His agent told him "Listen, it's best if you stay on the Academy's good side, but include a classic composer or two to acknowledge the traditionalists!" 

 

Hahaha, thanks, @gkgyver and @Arpy.  Good point.  That makes me feel better

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An interesting list!  It’s got one score I love, one score I dislike, and three I haven’t heard, but it’s definitely an interesting list!  More interesting than a list of all classics, or a list that ignores modern or nontraditional scores.

 

One of these days a composer is going to have the cojones to fill a list like this with their own scores.

4 hours ago, Bayesian said:

I gotta say, it was pretty dismaying to read how he described his top five scores. As an Oscar-winning film composer, I figured he was capable of articulating why he chose those scores as the top examples of his craft. I figured wrong:

 

"blown away by how weird it was"

"it was just incredible"

"melody that was just incredible"

"I love [that score] because I also loved the movie itself"

"I thought it was so crazy and weird"

"you hear it [and] you're like, 'Whoa, that's weird."

"I remember the score just being so simple and emotional and beautiful"

"Arrival is so cool. I find it very emotional, and I find it very creative and incredibly expansive."

 

A 13-year-old kid could have come up with more insightful or perceptive comments than this insipid nonsense, ffs. >smh<


First, I’m sure he knows his audience isn’t “the JWFAN elite,” but a bunch of normies reading a listicle on the Academy Awards website.  Second, is there something inherently invalid about reacting to music viscerally rather than academically?

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1 hour ago, mstrox said:

First, I’m sure he knows his audience isn’t “the JWFAN elite,” but a bunch of normies reading a listicle on the Academy Awards website.  Second, is there something inherently invalid about reacting to music viscerally rather than academically?

Gia is one of the highest profile ambassadors of his craft. Hence why he gets the opportunity to be asked to make lists like this—people want a peek inside his head. And when we get that peek... we get this airheaded bs.

 

Either this was his hot take on a really easy question he ought to have been ready to answer insightfully—which then speaks poorly about him as a composer or about his command of his mother tongue. Or he figures this is an adequate level of communication for Academy audiences in this day and age, which speaks poorly to... well, our whole society, I guess. Either way, if I’m a budding film composer and I read this from a shining light in the industry, I’d be pissed.

 

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2 hours ago, publicist said:

This is actually how american movie folk talks in audio commentaries. You immediately perk up when someone's saying somehting substantial.

That is why I generally prefer more technical commentaries from DP's, editors etc. Something where you actually learn something.

 

Karol

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14 hours ago, Arpy said:

Strange he didn't pick a Williams score.

*gun to head* *muffled voice* 'Say Joker, Mikey, that's all you gotta do. Say Joker.'

I believe it was a boaking accident. [beat] I have to go now.

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One of my recent favourites was Zemecki's Forrest Gumpmone where he goes into the morality and dangers of deepfakes among others. I think it was done for the DVD so before they or theit predecessors were widespread or even a thing or at least believable, and in the context of what they were doing with historical footage, but that just makes it more interesting that it's relevant again.

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1 hour ago, TheUlyssesian said:

Seriously a score that came out a year ago is one of the 3 greatest of all time? What suckers all the composers in history were. 

So what’s the requisite length of time a score needs to have existed in order to be considered the greatest of all time? Star Wars obviously couldn’t have been considered one in 1978 right?

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6 hours ago, crocodile said:

That is why I generally prefer more technical commentaries from DP's, editors etc. Something where you actually learn something.

 

Karol

 

Newman's last chat with Deakins on his podcast was a wonderful exception. He's actually quite excellent at speaking to his craft.

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1 hour ago, Koray Savas said:

So what’s the requisite length of time a score needs to have existed in order to be considered the greatest of all time? 

 

It's called test of time. It's literally in the description. 

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1 hour ago, gkgyver said:

It's called test of time. It's literally in the description. 

So the present time is not a valid point in time in the phrase “greatest of all time,” according to you. So, again, how long does a score need to exist, then?

 

All this phrasing is just semantics. Giacchino refers to these scores as favorites.

 

Everyone whining about someone else’s opinion just come across as dickheads. :mellow: 

 

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