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I Nominate Uncut Gems for Worst Score in Recent Memory

We walked out about half way through. Could not tolerate him, the sound, the non stop shouting and the general pointlessness of everything going on. I know some will say that the loud chaotic style was intentional and it’s supposed to be edgy, but it just didn’t work at all. The story was weak. The character development was non existent and there wasn’t a single character that was appealing in a positive of negative way whatsoever. It was just downright obnoxious through and through. I can’t say I remember the music with much detail except some at the beginning that sounded pretty bad and felt oddly out of place. The whole thing was also very very loud, but that’s the theatres fault. I don’t go to the theatre without earplugs these days which is sad because you can’t really enjoy the music and sound as intended when it’s blasting your face off and you have to plug your ears to protect them.

We did see Knives Out the following week and very much enjoyed it. If you like a fun who done it with twists and turns, check it out.
 
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Loud obnoxious, pointless movie with a loud, obnoxious score.

Curious though, being a writer in this genre yourself, was it a case of a bombastic and nuanceless score ruining the story, or a bombastic and nuanceless score simply being true to a bombastic and nuanceless script?
 
That's a shame. While I've never been a fan of Adam Sandler's movies, he always comes off as a really nice guy who's self-aware. I just want him to succeed again! And not in the monetary sense.
 
I just had a scan through the first 10 tracks or so, and I didn't spot anything particularly loud or obnoxious, just a synth score which sounded like a cross between stranger things and the social network? Do you mean it was mixed loud in the movie itself, or is it the style of music itself you didn't like?
 
Didn't see the movie but I like the score. I love all the creative moog one sounds. But yeah sounds more like a sci fi anime soundtrack like Akira or something
 
I have not heard the score isolated. I'm sure it's fine on it's own as standalone music. But it does nothing to enhance the movie and literally detracts from it.

I don't place much of the blame on the composer, who was probably doing what he was told, but on the directors and the mixing engineers who thought they were making a statement by mixing the music as loudly and obnoxiously as possible, to the point where it was almost impossible at times to hear the dialogue. I get the effect they were going for, but it was it was an ineffective and poor choice.

To my mind, movie music is meant to underscore the emotion of a scene, not blast the scene to smithereens.
 
My favorite original score of 2019, easily. Absolutely brilliant work by Lopatin. The way that score is weaved into the movie gave me 10/10 anxiety for the entire 2 hours. Safdie brothers are exceptionally gifted at creating tension, and hoping they keep collaborating with the same composer. If you haven't seen it, they also did Good Time, which also has a great score by Lopatin.

Curious though, being a writer in this genre yourself, was it a case of a bombastic and nuanceless score ruining the story, or a bombastic and nuanceless score simply being true to a bombastic and nuanceless script?

Intention of the score is make you very agitated. And it does it's job extremely well.

One of the best movies of 2019 for me. Up there with Parasite, which also has a phenomenal score.
 
I'm quite (nervously) looking forward to seeing this off the back of some stellar reviews. Importantly perhaps, many have commented that watching the film is like having a full-blown panic attack. I even heard of walkouts as it was too instense an experience. The general view also seems to be that this is only Adam Sandler's second strong performance, along with Punch Drunk Love.

I assume that everything about the film is cranked way up by deliberate intent, including the score. I usually don't get on with that style, but this has me curious enough to give it a shot.
 
I thought the movie was great and the score fit it well. It's not all loud the whole way through, and neither is the movie.
 
My favorite original score of 2019, easily. Absolutely brilliant work by Lopatin. The way that score is weaved into the movie gave me 10/10 anxiety for the entire 2 hours. Safdie brothers are exceptionally gifted at creating tension, and hoping they keep collaborating with the same composer.
It's amazing to me how different people can see a movie so differently. While the acting was fine, I thought this was one of the worst written and directed movies I've ever seen. Nearly everything in it was cranked all the way up to ten, lacking subtlety, nuance, and featuring a relentlessly uninteresting narrative and characters that were impossible to root for. If there was a point to be made in this movie, it was made with a sledgehammer. The music only added to that effect.

What happened at the end was telegraphed from the very first scene, which made me think, oh, okay, we're about to witness a slice of this guy's life that will ultimately amount to nothing. Similar stories have been told so much better in the past.

even heard of walkouts as it was too instense an experience.
I could be wrong, but I don't think that was the reason for the walkouts. I wanted to leave after the first twenty minutes because it was simply a horrible movie, but those I went with wanted to stay.
 
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Curious though, being a writer in this genre yourself, was it a case of a bombastic and nuanceless score ruining the story, or a bombastic and nuanceless score simply being true to a bombastic and nuanceless script?
Not sure piling on is a good creative choice.
 
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UNCUT GEMS is the most harrowing, unpleasant experience I've ever had at the movies. I was in a rage that I was sitting there putting up with it.

But after it was over I couldn't stop thinking about it. What were the filmmakers doing that stirred up so much anxiety in me? And was there a purpose to it or just some kind of anarchic pointless cacophony?

I'm going to try and write about why I came to admire the film in a general way without any spoilers, but if you're worried, you can stop here.

I have some pretty strong opinions about what I think a story should be. I like films that surprise me at the end with something that I didn't expect--but the surprise was something that in retrospect looked like the only possible ending. And I like films that teach me something I didn't know. Something to think about in the weeks and months after I saw it. For me, MIDSOMMAR and PARASITE are good recent examples.

So if a film is going to drag me through hell there better be a damned good reason for it.

And when I looked back at it I realized that there was a revelation about the Sandler character at the end that made me rethink everything I'd seen before. It was eye-opening, unexpected and totally true to everything he'd done before. I thought it was a serious and thought-provoking message. Particularly because of the frame device that the movie employs, which adds another level to its meaning.

So even though I hated watching it, it's now one of my favorite films of the year.

I doubt I'll ever watch it again, but I am going to watch some of the other Safdie brothers movies. I've heard that their other films have a similar effect on audiences, but I'm not scared, because I trust them as storytellers. I have confidence that whatever they put me through will be worth it.

If the soundtrack and the loud mix made you hate it--well I think that exactly what it was intended to do. Everything was working together--script, acting, camera framing and movement, editing, color, set design, and soundtrack--towards the goal of stirring you up emotionally way beyond your comfort level. I've heard a ton of people tell me they hate this film with a passion, but I've never heard anybody say they were bored or that they felt nothing.
 
Not sure I completely appreciate the ‘its suppose to be terribly horribly bombasticly anxiety inducing’ aesthetic theory .. but I do appreciate the different perspectives being shared.
 
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I don't care about the score at all really (same deal as Joker). Somehow I haven't seen Uncut Gems (anyone who skips this bc of Adam Sandler has never seen his performance in Punch Drunk Love) yet but Good Time was easily the my fav flick of 2017...complete with a loud, distorted, confusing near disaster of a score. The ending with the Iggy Pop song was brilliance. See in it a theater.

 
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