'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' wins Score of the Year and Best Adventure Score at the IFMCA Awards

[Ricard 2,245]

Quote

FEBRUARY 22, 2024 — The International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) announces its list of winners for excellence in musical scoring in 2023, in the 2023 IFMCA Awards.
 

The award for Score of the Year goes to American composer John Williams, for his score for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the fifth film in the beloved action-adventure series starring Harrison Ford as the eponymous globetrotting archaeologist. The score also won the award for its genre, being named Best Score for an Action/Adventure film.
 

IFMCA member James Southall praised Dial of Destiny as “a nostalgic throwback to those great times of the past – a set of meticulously-composed new music by one of the greatest film composers we’ve ever had – an exhibition in skill and technique with the orchestra which is guaranteed to go beyond almost any other film music we hear this year.” IFMCA member Christian Clemmensen said that the score was “an especially gratifying treat and an immense pleasure to hear in the 2020’s… it continues to espouse the uniquely superior aspects of Williams’s writing from decades past”. Similarly, IFMCA member Anton Smit said the score was “a fantastic listening experience from start to finish… a masterpiece… one of the highlights of this final phase of John Williams’ career.”
 

This is John Williams’s fifth Score of the Year victory, having previously won for Memoirs of a Geisha in 2005, War Horse in 2011, Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. These wins also take Williams’s all-time IFMCA win tally to 21, not including those for archival releases of his older scores, making him the most-awarded composer in IFMCA history.

 

 

 

SCORE OF THE YEAR

• INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY, music by John Williams

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE FILM

• INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY, music by John Williams

Full list of winners

http://filmmusiccritics.org/2024/02/ifmca-award-winners-2023/

 

[Tom 4,661]

Excellent news.  It is nice to see Williams get such honors from people who actually focus on the craft itself.  

[Edmilson 7,466]

Judging by the competition, I'd say Williams's win was well deserved. Though I still want to listen to The Piper. Love CY in his "horrific" mode.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

         

[filmmusic 1,829]

I haven't listened to many 2023 releases but I assume the Williams score was indeed the best?

Because by Williams standards is in my bottom list of his output.

[Jay 37,369]

It makes no different in the slightest how this score compares to his other own works.

it's only about how it compares to other scores from this calendar year.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

I haven't listened to many 2023 releases but I assume the Williams score was indeed the best?

Because by Williams standards is in my bottom list of his output.

 

I enjoy Oppenheimer quite a bit more than DoD. It's way, way more original.

 

I agree with some of the other winners (drama film, and documentary) and DoD being best adventure score? Sure. Not score of the year though, sorry peeps.

[JTN 2,030]

1 hour ago, Ricard said:

 

 

SCORE OF THE YEAR

• INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY, music by John Williams

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE FILM

• INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY, music by John Williams

Full list of winners

http://filmmusiccritics.org/2024/02/ifmca-award-winners-2023/

 

Finally an award where the voters have good taste.

[Tom 4,661]

21 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

 

I enjoy Oppenheimer quite a bit more than DoD. It's way, way more original.

 

I agree with some of the other winners (drama film, and documentary) and DoD being best adventure score? Sure. Not score of the year though, sorry peeps.

 

22 hours ago, filmmusic said:

I haven't listened to many 2023 releases but I assume the Williams score was indeed the best?

Because by Williams standards is in my bottom list of his output.

Yeah, I remember my parent's 30th anniversary party.  You know, how people were coming up to them and telling them they would have preferred they married different people, and how there are other couples whose anniversary they would rather celebrate.  Great memories, great party.   

[Richard Penna 3,694]

Well, when Goransson wins the Oscar, you're free to comment on said win while some of us will be congratulating him. Works both ways  

[artguy360 1,843]

I would have given it to Joe Hisaishi for The Boy and the Heron which did win for animated film score, but I think also deserves overall score of the year.

[Tom 4,661]

1 hour ago, Richard Penna said:

Well, when Goransson wins the Oscar, you're free to comment on said win while some of us will be congratulating him. Works both ways  

I might complain about a Williams loss in a generic Oscar thread.  I would not crash a celebratory Goransson thread to air any complaints.  

[GerateWohl 4,370]

11 hours ago, Tom said:

It's way, way more original.

No, it's not.

[Tom 4,661]

Just to be clear, that is not my line.  

[Jay 37,369]

I really dislike when people attribute quotes to the wrong person.  we should be better than that.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

1 hour ago, Tom said:

Just to be clear, that is not my line.  

Oh yes. Sorry. Was not intentionally. I just marked the text and clicked "Quote". But it was from a quote in your post.

7 minutes ago, Jay said:

I really dislike when people attribute quotes to the wrong person.  we should be better than that.

Didn't want to hurt your feelings.

[Jay 37,369]

It's all good!

 

Easy mistake to make!

[Bellosh 3,419]

This is great!

 

I'm just so worried Dial is not a good enough film to get this man his 6th Oscar.

 

The academy would never.

 

Oppenheimer may be predicted to win. But guess what bruv? It doesn't have one lick of the Raiders March....the greatest theme in existence.

 

Do the right thing, Academy.

[Tom 4,661]

2 hours ago, Bellosh said:

Do the right thing, Academy.

I would say that the score should Whirl through Academ(e)y.  

 

Sometimes my writing is as clumsy as it is stupid.  

[Faleel 5,353]

51 minutes ago, Tom said:

I would say that the score should Whirl through Academ(e)y.

No loose wire jokes.

[Martinland 360]

On 23/02/2024 at 1:12 AM, Richard Penna said:

Goransson

*pffff*

[Bellosh 3,419]

I'm so confident he's gonna win I think the real question is what theme will be played as he walks to the stage.....Indy's or Helena's?

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

On 24/02/2024 at 2:46 AM, Bellosh said:

I'm just so worried Dial is not a good enough film to get this man his 6th Oscar.

 

No worries, it's a very good film!

[Edmilson 7,466]

Is Dial of Destiny a score that I personally like to listen more than Oppenheimer? Sure. Would I be said in the unlikely possibility of a victory? Yeah. But does that make LG's probable win at the Oscars undeserved? Nope.

 

In fact, I believe that Göransson's soon-to-be two Oscars were pretty good choices by the Academy considering their woeful track record over the last few years.

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

I don't get the hate for Görannson's Oppenheimer. I think it's a good score, and good music - for a modern score for a dialogue-heavy, action-light drama, there's refreshingly more to the music than just wallpaper sound design. One may dislike the approach Nolan and Göransson took (I don't), but at least it's a deliberate creative choice, and certainly not just Göransson's own. And therefore I'd say, yes, it's surely the more original of the two scores. Because wherever you may rank DoD among Williams's output - musically, even his lesser scores these days are miles ahead of almost everyone else working in this field these days. But original isn't an attribute I'd use to describe it.

[Erik Woods 555]

The biggest issue I have with Oppenheimer is that Görannson OVER scored it. If the film were better spotted and had less score—they really need to study Patton—I'd be more than happy to accept the accolades that it's receiving. Unfortunately, I felt that the score made the film worse—a film I didn't particular like but really disliked because of the music. The film is scored wall-to-wall with numerous dialogue sequences rendered inaudible because of the terrible mix of the music. Film music should never call negative attention to itself in context, and, IMO, that's what Görannson's score did.

 

-Erik-

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

12 hours ago, Erik Woods said:

The biggest issue I have with Oppenheimer is that Görannson OVER scored it. […] The film is scored wall-to-wall with numerous dialogue sequences rendered inaudible because of the terrible mix of the music.

 

That's what I was getting it. Surely that was deliberate, i.e. if the mix is "terrible" - I don't think it is - it's not terrible on a technical level but terrible on an artistic level. But I think the effect worked - at least it did for me.

 

Overall, I think it's one of the better Nolan scores.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

it's not terrible on a technical level but terrible on an artistic level.

 

That applies to way more scores than I think we give credit for. You can have a technically brilliant score that's unsuited to its film, or more often perhaps, overscores its film. All 3 Jurassics are a great example of films that have huge sequences without music (or dropped cues).

 

I haven't seen Oppenheimer and I may well agree in the future that all the dialogue scenes didn't need music, but it works on album. Whereas KotCS for example, works great in the film, but has bits that I think drag a bit on album (again, funnily enough, when people are just talking).

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Overall, I think it's one of the better Nolan scores.

 

I'm sorry to say Nolan didn't score this. He used a ghostwriter called Göransson.

[Marian Schedenig 8,200]

8 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

That applies to way more scores than I think we give credit for. You can have a technically brilliant score that's unsuited to its film, or more often perhaps, overscores its film. All 3 Jurassics are a great example of films that have huge sequences without music (or dropped cues).

 

I haven't seen Oppenheimer and I may well agree in the future that all the dialogue scenes didn't need music,

 

I'm sure many films are overscored mainly because that's just how they thought you do it. But Oppenheimer is deliberately overscored, i.e. the score's purpose clearly is to drown out the dialogue in some scenes. People may agree or disagree with that decision, but there's more to it than to just your average wall-to-wall blockbuster score (and at the same time, Göransson's score, overbearing as it may be, is comparatively restrained musically).

[GerateWohl 4,370]

17 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

I'm sure many films are overscored mainly because that's just how they thought you do it. But Oppenheimer is deliberately overscored, i.e. the score's purpose clearly is to drown out the dialogue in some scenes.

This wall-to-wall overscoring becomes especially painful when apart from a few highlights nothing particularly interesting is happening in the music.

 

That is why I consider this year's Williams' score superior to Göransson's.

[Edmilson 7,466]

12 hours ago, Erik Woods said:

The biggest issue I have with Oppenheimer is that Görannson OVER scored it. If the film were better spotted and had less score—they really need to study Patton—I'd be more than happy to accept the accolades that it's receiving. Unfortunately, I felt that the score made the film worse—a film I didn't particular like but really disliked because of the music. The film is scored wall-to-wall with numerous dialogue sequences rendered inaudible because of the terrible mix of the music. Film music should never call negative attention to itself in context, and, IMO, that's what Görannson's score did.

 

-Erik-

I agree that the movie is extremely overscored, with many sequences that should've been silence instead receiving some middling score. But I think that is more of a Nolan thing, who always loved to get too much music on his movies, even in his Zimmer days. It's like Dunkirk, where the score is almost omnipresent (though in that case it may not be as a bothersome because it was an action movie and not a "talky drama" like Oppenheimer). I imagine that if it was entirely up to LG, he wouldn't put that much music in scenes that didn't need it.

 

Too much music mixed way too loud is the Nolan style, which Villeneuve has been quite fond of as well.

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

On 22/2/2024 at 12:27 PM, Edmilson said:

Judging by the competition, I'd say Williams's win was well deserved. Though I still want to listen to The Piper. Love CY in his "horrific" mode.

 

You can hear three different excerpts from it in the IFMCA awards announcement video:

 

I'm glad Dial of Destiny and The Piper won their respective genre categories, but my score of the year was (quite unexpectedly, as I heard it at the very last minute) The Peasants, written by a total newcomer to film music who's primarily known as a rapper. This was not on my 2023 film music bingo card but WOW is it an incredible, unique, and memorable score... gorgeous melodies too. With apologies to Hisaishi/Boy and the Heron and Powell/Migration, both of which are fantastic, I think it's an even better animation score.

 

Yavar

[filmmusic 1,829]

Well, if you ask me about the score of the year, it's this one:

 

It plays like old school film music, actually more like classical music with large atonal parts and more extended harmony parts resembling Mahler (maybe?) or other composers (who???)..

Please give it a listen (I mean all of you jwfanners) , and tell me your thoughts in the appropriate thread. I would be really curious to know...

I was very surprised when I listened to it, about how good it is! There is no contest with any other film score of the year. 

I don't know how it plays to picture though...

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

On 22/02/2024 at 11:38 PM, Tom said:

 

Yeah, I remember my parent's 30th anniversary party.  You know, how people were coming up to them and telling them they would have preferred they married different people, and how there are other couples whose anniversary they would rather celebrate.  Great memories, great party.   

 

Brilliant. Williams won something and those two morons just don't like it. Here in the JWfan. "It's not the best by JW and Ludvig one is so much better". 

 

They are very serious to tell us they don't like DOD or any other JW's newer output. BUT WE DON'T CARE!!! 

 

Ban me and see you again in 2026

[Richard Penna 3,694]

10 hours ago, Joni Wiljami said:

Brilliant. Williams won something and those two morons just don't like it.

 

I personally don't care what names you call me (and others) because I know you're a passionate fan, and passion sometimes means we use words we don't really mean. Lord knows I've used wrong words in the past. But I suspect use of 'morons' won't make you any friends in the mod team.

 

Plus I did I say I thought best adventure score was a good win for DoD - it's a good score. I simply disagree that it's the best, most original and effective score of the year in this case. Appreciation/congratulation threads like this, while maintaining a positive spirit, don't completely exclude constructive criticism.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

Do we need an IFMCA disenchentment thread?

[Richard Penna 3,694]

Already got one of those... no shortage of telling the critics what we think in the main thread!

[Ollie 1,059]

I would gladly swap out any of nominated Oscar scores for Naoki Sato’s Godzilla Minus One.

 

Nice to see his score was recognized by the IFMCA.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

18 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

it's a good score. I simply disagree that it's the best,

But it is the best.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

1 hour ago, GerateWohl said:

But it is the best.

 

A very good score to a very good film. 

[GerateWohl 4,370]

41 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

A very good score to a very good film. 

I knew, that I can count on you.