John Powell - Don’t Worry Darling (2022)

[SilverTrumpet 638]

So who did Powell know that he signed on to score such a lousy film?

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

7 minutes ago, SilverTrumpet said:

So who did Powell know that he signed on to score such a lousy film?

 

I think he's a good friend of the director.

[HunterTech 987]

I mean, man's no stranger to scoring some serious stinkers, given he's got Gigli in his discography.

[Jay 37,323]

On 06/01/2022 at 5:52 PM, Jay said:

 

The producer of Don't Worry Darling, Roy Lee, was a co-producer on all three HTTYD films

 

[Edmilson 7,398]

1 hour ago, HunterTech said:

I mean, man's no stranger to scoring some serious stinkers, given he's got Gigli in his discography.

Don't forget Pluto Nash 

[Miz 139]

Like John Williams, he will give his all no matter the quality of the project.

But this is a work-horse score - it sounds very much like its fit for picture (and its repetitive nature suggests the film's beats are samey too) - but not interesting enough for repeated listens away.

 

I'm only one listen in, and I can hear craftsmanship throughout, but I could also describe this simply as Caroline Shaw's Partita for 8 Voices meets Mica Levi's Under the Skin meets Solo's Enfys Nest vocals.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

Just saw the film.

First off, I thought it was a genuinely solid film. It's not a masterpiece but I quite liked it. The underlying message of the film has been handled before in film, but I thought it was a cool new way.

Wilde's directing is solid, not especially great or anything. I feel like her first film, Booksmart, is much better.

Florence Pugh is stellar. She's in almost every scene and it's a treat to watch. She is soo good, that's actually a bit sad for a lot of the other actors who do a well job, because Pugh is just miles ahead of everyone. Olovia Wilde, Chris Pine and Gemma Chan all do good work.

Harry Styles is the weak link. He is not an actor. He had some ok moment, but when oppisite Pugh, it's just sad for him really. But he's not that much in the film.

 

Then Powell's music. It's works like bonkers in the film. The female voices are very chilling (+ they add another layer to the message in the film) and enhance a lot of scenes. It's quite frightening. The drums also made an impression. The score is heared quite at the front of the mix at some moments, so it really gets to shine and make an impact.

Victor Chase is the best cue of the album and is incredible in film. When 0:45 starts in the film, the effect is incredible. I had goosebumps everywhere.

 

It's not one of his masterpieces, but I feel it's quite sophisticated. I really like the score a lot more now that I've seen the film. 

[TSMefford 1,509]

Videos of John Powell working with vocalist Holly Sedillos on the score, utilizing some very interesting techniques!

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci_LC5-PW9p/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,429]

First a word about the movie. I was quite surprise by it, it's pretty well done with some very good sequence. Florence Pugh is probably the strongest point of the movie, she's terrific. I really enjoyed the 50's-60's look which gave some really colorful and impressive shots. The story was good and Wilde treated it well.

 

Now about Powell's score. The music fits the movie perfectly, it's twisted and kinda viceral. The Victor Chase simply rocks, it's probably the best musical moment I've seen this year in theaters.

[enderdrag64 624]

JKMS just posted some cue titles from this on Instagram

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjB2GdwOo5I/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[thestat 348]

Powell composed a score that fit the film. End of story

 

Sad that he is not using his talent eslewhere but this is not the space.

[Jay 37,323]

On 27/09/2022 at 10:30 PM, enderdrag64 said:

JKMS just posted some cue titles from this on Instagram

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjB2GdwOo5I/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

 

Larger version posted to Facebook

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/jkmslibrary/posts/pfbid0kNgJX7EcVos1n6kft4RmxwFs4e8xZ241LCvmsPwAvKT8u3E2vBdvqnMWn2zvDfnEl

[Jay 37,323]

On 26/09/2022 at 8:51 PM, TSMefford said:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci_LC5-PW9p/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

OK I think there's a pretty good chance a lot of people never clicked this because it was posted without any explanation whatsoever.... but let me provide the explanation now because I clicked it, and it's fascinating!

 

At the link are 4 different video clips of Holly Sedillos performing vocal work for the score.  In three of them, Powell is in the booth with her pushing his hands into her chest in order to modify the notes that she is singing.  In the fourth video Powell is not present, and instead she has her own hands over her mouth to almost completely stifle the notes herself

 

It's pretty interesting to see!

 

Holly provides her own explanation in the text at the link

 

"Many of the Don’t Worry Darling vocals were meant to represent a woman’s voice being stifled or manipulated by a man. I think I ultimately did all of the mouth covering and chest thumping myself because @johnj_powell is a feminist and pacifist who wouldn’t hit/squeeze me hard enough to get the sound right. (He did, however, persuade me to record before sunrise one morning, and had me huffing and puffing into a microphone until I was light-headed a couple times. 😋). It was a pleasure to share this experience with John and then to hear how he’d organized all the sounds while sitting in a theater with the rest of the creators. I was really proud to be a part of it, and hope you’ll get a chance to see it! It was @oliviawilde’s brilliant idea to use the women’s voices and I’m so grateful to her for having me on board."

[TSMefford 1,509]

11 hours ago, Jay said:

 

OK I think there's a pretty good chance a lot of people never clicked this because it was posted without any explanation whatsoever.... but let me provide the explanation now because I clicked it, and it's fascinating!

 

At the link are 4 different video clips of Holly Sedillos performing vocal work for the score.  In three of them, Powell is in the both with her pushing his hands into her chest in order to modify the notes that she is singing.  In the fourth video Powell is not present, and instead she has her own hands over her mouth to almost completely stifle the notes herself

 

It's pretty interesting to see!

 

Holly provides her own explanation in the text at the link

 

"Many of the Don’t Worry Darling vocals were meant to represent a woman’s voice being stifled or manipulated by a man. I think I ultimately did all of the mouth covering and chest thumping myself because @johnj_powell is a feminist and pacifist who wouldn’t hit/squeeze me hard enough to get the sound right. (He did, however, persuade me to record before sunrise one morning, and had me huffing and puffing into a microphone until I was light-headed a couple times. 😋). It was a pleasure to share this experience with John and then to hear how he’d organized all the sounds while sitting in a theater with the rest of the creators. I was really proud to be a part of it, and hope you’ll get a chance to see it! It was @oliviawilde’s brilliant idea to use the women’s voices and I’m so grateful to her for having me on board."

 

My apologies. I was hoping it would embed. I was in a bit of a rush at the time (unfortunately very common these days)

EDIT: Added some context to my original post.

 

Thanks for providing an explanation! I too think it's fascinating. I particularly enjoy the 4th clip where she puts her hands over her mouth. Just very cool, interesting, and effective. 

 

I feel like lesser composers would try to chop vocals into something like this, but there's something so instantly recognizable about what's happening.

[Jay 37,323]

This board used to automatically embed instagram and facebook posts if you just pasted the link in, but then something broke and they never fixed it

 

Yea, the one of her cupping her own mouth makes for some really interesting sounding vocals, and the ones where Powell is pushing on her chest was pretty strange to see!

[TSMefford 1,509]

26 minutes ago, Jay said:

This board used to automatically embed instagram and facebook posts if you just pasted the link in, but then something broke and they never fixed it

 

Yea, the one of her cupping her own mouth makes for some really interesting sounding vocals, and the ones where Powell is pushing on her chest was pretty strange to see!

 

Okay! So I'm not crazy then. Good to know.

 

Yes, the comments relating to that are rather humorous too.

 

[Edmilson 7,398]

Watching a Pitch Meeting for a movie that I'll never bother to watch (not even for John Powell's music) is TIGHT!

 

 

[Jay 37,323]

Physical CD edition featuring liner notes by Powell available to order from Mondo for $20

 

https://mondoshop.com/collections/all-music/products/dont-worry-darling-score-from-the-original-motion-picture-cd

 

[TolkienSS 405]

This is the movie made by the idiot who said one character was based on Jordan Peterson, who she called pseudo-intellectual hero to incels, right?

Yeah, fuck her and her movie.

[mstrox 6,647]

I can’t imagine even the incels would find that bozo intellectual 

[Knight of Ren 787]

I was finally able to watch the movie, and it certainly isn't the disaster many people made it out to be. It's quite interesting and entertaining, and while sometimes it feels like it fails to realize the potential it had in some moments, I think overall works for a pretty solid experience. I think it has some noticeable flaws here and there that stop it from being a better film, especially in relation to its excesively complicated plot, but Powell's score is definitely one of the best aspects of it. It's quite intelligent in how it uses women's voices, and it makes quite a chilling impact in many scenes, making them work better than the should by themselves. It's not an easy listen, but it's a perfect fit for the movie, and the Victory Chase cue is one of the most interesting and exciting action cues I have listened to in quite a long time! Definitely worth a watch at least once, and I hope Powell's score gets at least some recognition in the upcoming award season (altough the film's poor reception, and its controversy might stop it from being recognized at all)

 

[Anthony 572]

I've also just watched this and it was no way near as bad as the reviews suggested it was. It held my attention throughout and - although I was waiting for it to go off the rails - that point never really came.

 

Yes, it's a bit of a con that it's not actually the genre of film you think it is, but I was reasonably okay with it after that little bit of tonal whiplash. If you asked me "Did you like the film?", yes, I did. I'm glad I didn't Wikipedia the plot.

 

Spoiler

It's essentially Truman Show crossed with The Matrix crossed with Total Recall...dressed up as a psychological thriller.

 

Like on the album, Powell's score is incredibly understated. It's far easier to appreciate the intracies (or at least level of weirdness) of the score on the album. In the film especially, it's overshadowed by a great selection of jazz, swing and other period songs.

 

Victory Chase is the only cue of noticible volume, and it's always a thrill to hear new John Powell action music for a live-action picture. By far the highlight in the film and on the album.

 

Will I listen to the album more now I've seen the film? No, probably not. It's still bonkers and one of the least accessible things Powell has written, but at least it has originality in spades. Victory Chase might end up on my giant Powell playlist though.

 

The most interesting musical surprise to come out of this was hearing just a few short seconds of this song and going "hang on a minute!".

 

 

I'm not familiar with the history of this piece (I assume it's just an old piece of music now!), but I've been looking for it for years. It appears in an episode of Better Call Saul, and it's been the single piece of music from the show I've never been able to track down - until now. Shazam'ing it says it's by Junior Brown (who wrote another piece for the show) and I always took that a face vaue. I assumed it was written especially for the show and never released. However now I'm wondering whether he did a cover of it, or if it's nothing to do with him and there's been some kind of tagging mishap. Regardless, I'm stoked that I've finally found this piece!

[Jay 37,323]

Oh man, that's a classic piece of music that has been in tons of movies and shows for decades and decades

 

I guess you don't own the 12 Monkeys OST album!

[Anthony 572]

 I do not. I've never heard it before outside of Saul.

[Jay 37,323]

Quantum Leap is probably where I first heard it

 

[Anthony 572]

Genuine question about the film though:

 

Spoiler

What was with the plane? That was never explained.

 

Actually, after reading the Wikipedia page and reminding myself of all the mystery build up, this movie makes absolutely no sense. So many plotholes and unexplained questions.

 

A fun ride but dumb as hell as soon as you start to think about it even the tiniest bit. Less flashy weirdness and a plot that can't be picked to shreds is much needed.

[Jay 37,323]

On 07/10/2022 at 4:26 PM, Jay said:

Physical CD edition featuring liner notes by Powell available to order from Mondo for $20

 

https://mondoshop.com/collections/all-music/products/dont-worry-darling-score-from-the-original-motion-picture-cd

 

 

 

Did anybody here besides me order this?

 

I have not gotten a shipping notice and the item page still says its a pre-order.  Must have got stuck at the pressing plant behind Taylor Swift CDs or something

[Anthony 572]

I haven't ordered it yet, but for some reason I seem to remember - from Powell's Instagram maybe? - the physical release date was the twenty-something of November.

[crocodile 7,990]

12 hours ago, Jay said:

 

Did anybody here besides me order this?

 

I have not gotten a shipping notice and the item page still says its a pre-order.  Must have got stuck at the pressing plant behind Taylor Swift CDs or something

I ordered this and Rings of Power weeeeeeeks ago and still nothing.

 

Karol

[Jay 37,323]

Well we watched the movie Saturday night (it's on HBO Max now)

 

Holy cow, what a misfire of a movie.  Like, it's perfectly fine for the first 2 acts, building this mystery up with admittedly shameful Lynch ripoff suspense and wackiness, but really good acting from Pugh and Pine.  But then, all that build off would have only been worth it if the payoff/explanation and what happens in act 3 was really worth it, like extra special. But it was just stupid, nonsensical, meaningly, empty crap.  The filmmakers really thought they had something here but there's nothing, and its all so unsatisfying.  Big bummer for everyone involved.

 

... except for Powell.  Holy hell, his score is TERRIFIC in the film.  I mean, it's so good, I really think every Powell fan should see the movie just to see the score at work in it.  It's great!  And it's not just the big finale chase cue either, the score throughout the entire movie is really effective.  At times its super subtle, weaving in and out of the many source songs, but other times its really front and center.  My wife even commented on it, which is something that never happens for 95% of content we watch.

 

Really cool score I appreciate a LOT more now that I've seen the film.  I don't know if I'll necessarily listen to the OST album a huge amount of times or anything, but it's so good and interesting I honestly think it might be influential to other filmmakers out there.  I could see it showing up on temp tracks soon and directors wanting composers to imitate it.

[Holko 9,499]

4 hours ago, Jay said:

I honestly think it might be influential to other filmmakers out there.  I could see it showing up on temp tracks soon and directors wanting composers to imitate it.

Not the first time he did that! Honestly he should be more well known/higher rated in public consciousness.

[Anthony 572]

5 hours ago, Jay said:

But then, all that build off would have only been worth it if the payoff/explanation and what happens in act 3 was really worth it, like extra special. But it was just stupid, nonsensical, meaningly, empty crap.

 

Exactly. I can't imagine the film has ANY legs if you were to rewatch it. In all the weirdness, there are no hints or clues to anything. There's no mystery the viewer can attempt to piece together. The film spends the entire time going in one direction, then decides to go in a completely different direction in the final third...and thinks it's clever because of that? The ending just raises a hundred questions that undermine the rest of the movie. So dumb.

 

5 hours ago, Jay said:

... except for Powell.  Holy hell, his score is TERRIFIC in the film.  I mean, it's so good, I really think every Powell fan should see the movie just to see the score at work in it.  It's great!

 

I can't say I've listened to the whole album again (although I intend to), but Victory Chase has found it's way onto my Powell playlist.

[Jay 37,323]

Yea, it has to be even worse on a rewatch.  So much stuff that happens in the first 2 acts have no explanation at all.

 

Why were the eggs empty?  What were those earthquake-esque rumbles all about?  Why did the wall squish her against the glass ?  Why did an airplane fly overhead ?  Why is Pugh the only one realizing something is wrong?  How does the reveal that Olivia Wilde's character knew what was up as well make sense?

 

Once they explain

 

Spoiler

that's all basically just VR, it makes things make less sense, not more.  Like why would they have even programmed a plane into the code?  Why would the VR world be coded so if a male dies in it, he dies in real life?  How does that even actually work anyway?  Why and how did Olivia Wilde know what was up?  The first time Pugh reached the mirror and touched it, she should have woken up in the real world, so how did they wipe her memories again?  What was the footage of her seemingly getting electrocution therapy in the VR world all about?

 

Was each male who got into the program in their own separate VR world, or did they all share the same one?  What is the end game, how does each male afford the payments to enter the world every single day, and what happens as they start to age?

 

Why did Chris Pine's wife suddenly turn on him?  She was barely even a tertiary character, she had no development at all.  Since this is all his work, why would he code it so he would die in real life if he died in it?  

 

I thought Pugh was going to touch the mirror, wake up in the real world, and find Chris Pine and bring him to justice.  It was so unsatisfying that his wife killed him instead, and the movie ends before we get to see Pugh wake up in the real world.

 

Sheesh

 

The movie is just worse the more you think about it

[TSMefford 1,509]

Sheet Music Video from John Powell for 7M48-50 "Cul de Sac - Alice Drives Away - Chase Pt.1" and 7M51-52 "Chase Pt.2 - Alice & Jack" (aka "Victory Chase")

 

 

[Jay 37,323]

Anything here different than the OST album? 

 

https://www.wbawards.com/film/?film=dontworrydarling

[Jay 37,323]

The Mondo CD is on Amazon US now, though the knuckleheads there put the song compilation tracklist instead of the score tracklist in the product page

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0BH96K26W

 

Meanwhile the page for the song compilation album has no tracklist

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BH98ZXKL

 

Anyways, it says it's not releasing until January 27th, so maybe that's why my order direct from Mondo hasn't shipped yet...

[Anthony 572]

On 23/11/2022 at 1:18 PM, Jay said:

Anyways, it says it's not releasing until January 27th, so maybe that's why my order direct from Mondo hasn't shipped yet...

 

I was just asked by someone what I'd like for Christmas and was going to name this...never mind then. Tomorrow Never Dies it is!

[crocodile 7,990]

The description on the Mondo website changed from "expected to ship in November" to "Expected to ship in 3-5 business days". Fingers crossed.

 

Karol

[Jay 37,323]

Nice

[Anthony 572]

Has this shipped for anybody yet?

 

And is this available from anywhere other than Mondo? International shipping is more than the CD itself!

 

Oddly their "vinyl only shipping" option is cheaper - I would have thought a CD would have been even less hassle?

[Jay 37,323]

I bought it direct from Mondo, it hasn't shipped yet, and they auto selected the vinyl shipping option for me (I don't think I even had a choice) 

 

[Jay 37,323]

For whatever reason, they shipped me my LOTR album today, but not the other two.

 

I did notice that the project page says "Expected to ship in 3-5 business days" now

 

https://mondoshop.com/collections/all-music/products/dont-worry-darling-score-from-the-original-motion-picture-cd

 

And also, my order status page says this:

 

[crocodile 7,990]

Mine shipped, finally.

 

Karol

[Anthony 572]

Same!

[Jay 37,323]

Looks like mine shipped Monday, and is still in Texas as of today

[Jay 37,323]

Wow - Powell's DWD has actually made the academy shortlist of 15 scores they will select the final 5 nominees from!

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oscars-shortlists-95th-academy-awards-unveiled-1235285262/

 

It has no chance of making the final 5, but still nice to see it get recognized in this way!

[Jay 37,323]

On 21/12/2022 at 2:34 AM, crocodile said:

Mine shipped, finally.

 

Karol

 

On 21/12/2022 at 4:00 AM, Anthony said:

Same!

 

Have either of you actually received it yet?

The shipping updates I have gotten from DHL since it supposedly shipped a week ago are useless

 

[Anthony 572]

Not yet, I think it's still Stateside - maybe stuck with that weather? And then there are mail strikes over here too. I'm assuming it will show up some time in January.

[crocodile 7,990]

Nope, nothing yet. But then, I have yet to receive my LOTR, Intrada's Conan the Destroyer and my LLL batch. Everything is much slower this year. That's OK, at least it's something to look forward to in the new year.

 

Karol

[Jay 37,323]

Apparently DHL has delivered it to my town's post office, so I guess I'll have this tomorrow