Happy 50th Birthday, Alexandre Desplat

Robert G here from Sketchy Details wishing a Happy Birthday to the most in demand film composer of our time.

Can you believe that Alexandre Desplat has scored 128 separate film and television projects since 1985? How about how a year hasn't gone by since 1991 where he didn't score at least three different TV or film productions? He has had quite the successful career in France and has started to work consistently in America in the past eight or so years.

Desplat has been nominated for Best Original Score four times at the Academy Awards: The Queen, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and The King's Speech. He's clearly doing something right to get the Music Branch's attention. His work is especially noticeable for not being the super flashy film scoring that demands attention. He does what needs to be done to set the right tone and lets the film be the focus.

Indeed, every year he lost the Oscar, he lost to a film with a far flashier or more pronounced score...

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Curio: Barton Fink, Portraits of the Artist

Alexa here. Michael's post on Barton Fink at 20, in conjunction with the recent Lebowski cast reunion, got me thinking about the effect of the cult status of each on movie-inspired art.  You can't browse tumblr without seeing a new Lebowski poster each week, but where is the Barton love from indie designers?  It seems ripe for visual interpretation, what with its stark visuals and, well, emphasis on wallpaper (something every graphic designer finds irresistible).  But maybe, as Michael noted, it's almost too elemental and abstract to cause a glut of fan creations à la Lebowski (with its marmot and toe and other what-have-yous). But I did a bit of digging and yes, the Barton love is out there. Here are some creations I particularly liked.

 

A limited edition poster with lovely detail by Brian Methe.

Poster by Kevin Dixon.Click for more, including Barton on wood...

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Juliette Lewis Goes to the Movies

Look.... it's Juliette Lewis snapped going to the movies in Hollywood.

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What movie do you think she was seeing?
 

Random Thought I Had While Watching 'Green Lantern':

Don't even get me started about all the sartorial fantasies I kept having involving Blake Lively...

Have you ever been so bored at a movie that your mind suddenly took you to such weird places?
 

True Blood 4.9 "Let's Get Out of Here"

Run Alcides, Run. This episode finally gives you weres and shifters some room to move. Take advantage of it.

Joe Mangianello as Alcides.

"Let's Get Out of Here"
But, alas, Alcides isn't fast enough. Bill snatches Sookie from his arms to rescue her from certain death in the pre-titles opening. [Editor's note: Certain death in television series means that tense space in time between the cliffhanger of the previous episode and the first three minutes of the current episode]. But his pre-credits run is telling; this episode is speedy and we'll dash through this post, too.

The run for your life plotting makes Antonia's next move extra distressing. She magically slams all the doors shut on the Moon Goddess Emporium, like she's Carrie White at the prom. Her former friends are now prisoners and coerced coven members. 

Is she planning to wipe them out once she's done with the vamps? CLICK FOR FULL POST.

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