Harry potter

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald – Review

Nov 28, 2018 – by David Conway

Dumbledore. Grindelwald. Lestrange. Flamel. Nagini.

The above is a disparate series of Wizarding World names and references. When you look at these names like this, you acknowledge that they are relevant to the Harry Potter franchise. You acknowledge they are important parts of its history. Do you care that I’ve written this random list of names though? No. Not particularly. That’s the feeling one gets from Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, a film so obsessed with attaching these titles to its characters that it forgets to make us care about them at all, believing their connection with other characters will hand-wave away all that tedious need for development.

“Though the film goes to great efforts to connect these threads together, there’s something wholly unengaging about the constant shifting between them, never getting enough time with an individual plot to invest in it”

Set in 1927, the film documents the rise of fascist wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp), and the attempts to stop him by magical zoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and friends, a quest assigned to them by Grindelwald’s ex-partner, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law). This is of course, when the film isn’t getting tangled in one of its many subplots that, regardless of being connected to this main storyline, often don’t convince us why we should be particularly bothered about them. These include the identity of extremely powerful magical creature Credence (Ezra Miller), an undercooked love triangle, and an absurdly convoluted trip into family histories. Though the film goes to great efforts to connect these threads together, there’s something wholly unengaging about the constant shifting between them, never getting enough time with an individual plot to invest in it.

It’s made all the more exhausting by the fact there are the seeds of engaging ideas in there. Grindelwald is a character that uses his ‘silver tongue’ to great advantage, and there are moments where watching him charm and seduce his followers starts to intrigue. But CUT. We’ve moved on from that just as it was getting interesting, and now we’re following Credence as he mopes around with Nagini (Claudia Kim, who is scandalously relegated to looking sad when Credence is sad), trying to find out his true identity. Miller as Credence is absolutely fantastic with what he is given, and works his hardest to make the character a vulnerable, real person. However, just as we’re beginning to get attached to this lost, confused young man – CUT. We’re off to Leta Lestrange (Zoe Kravitz) having an extended flashback about her Hogwarts days, as it’s just occurred to Rowling we don’t actually know anything about her and she’s going to be important soon.

What salvages the film from this messy, indecisive screenplay, is the wizarding world itself. Whilst I wasn’t exactly riveted by what was going on, the film was made a pleasant enough experience simply by the world it’s set in being so creative and charming. The parts when the audience I was with and I became most immersed in the film were the little touches, the secret doors and roads in Paris, the wonders of the moving archives at the ministry, and the eponymous magical creatures (I was a big fan of the baby Niffler). It’s a testament to the world Rowling has built that it can still enchant even when paired with lackluster material, and director Yates and his visual effects team deliver some really lovely little touches on the periphery, that make it feel like a full blooded world. It’s a place you want to spend time in, and the one thing this spin-off does take advantage of is the opportunity for world building.

Paired with this is that the majority of the cast are very likeable, and manage to bring pathos to even the most limited of screentime. Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein has a potentially emotional and moving subplot made unconvincing by the lack of time spent with it, but never lets that stop her from delivering the goods. By its climax, you’re almost sold on it, entirely thanks to her. Eddie Redmayne continues to impress as a leading man, being one of the few characters given space to breathe and grow, giving a typical ‘lovable outsider’ role a real spark that sets it above others. And Jude Law’s debut as Dumbledore is a subtle, convincing portrayal that leaves you with no doubt as to the man he will become. Much like the setting of the wizarding world, these characters create a pleasant atmosphere that makes the film more enjoyable than the narrative that drives them.

However, narrative is indeed what seems to drive Crimes of Grindelwald; it just has no idea which direction it’s driving in. There’s been arguments that Rowling is a novelist, and that this is set up for later installments where it will all pay off. For pay off to work though, you need to be invested in the action in the first place. We cared what happened to Harry, Ron and Hermoine because early films like Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets focused on them, took time to let us get to know them, instead of telling us they’re going to be important down the line so we should care about them. Just because we’re aware Nagini becomes Voldemort’s snake, doesn’t mean she’s excused from having a personality in this film. What redeems it is that I did want to spend more time with certain aspects of the plot with potential. So perhaps if Rowling whittles down on characters for Fantastic Beasts 3: The Secret Father of Hagrid’s Dog, or whatever it’s eventually called, the franchise can regain some of what made Potter special.

The Hate U Give – Review

Amandla Stenberg is stunning. As the film’s locus, she moves between two worlds – that of her friends, where her identity seems grounded – quite literally – by her obsession with the latest kicks, music, her friends – and Williamson Prep, where she is forced into a performative ‘whiteness.’ My only critique of the film would be the way in which the movement between these two worlds is handled, visually speaking. Starr’s school life is filtered through a cold haze; her ‘real’ life is warm and authentic. The intention is fair, but the result is one which highlights Starr’s performativity and serves to, quite literally, lighten her skin. It’s a little on the nose.

“In this role, Amandla is, quite simply, fantastic”

But this gripe aside, The Hate U Give shows with appropriate sensitivity the way in which such events as these can spiral out of control with such rapidity – and how the power of an individual’s voice can begin to repair the broken seams. In this role, Amandla is, quite simply, fantastic, with her movement between worlds, the increasing violence it begets, and her ultimate ability to restore a semblance of harmony moved through with remarkable skill. There is a crossover of these two worlds – Starr’s father compares Harry Potter houses to gangs, but it remains conceptual until Starr can unite it. The notion of vocality is rendered all the more powerful because it carries Amandla’s voice behind it; an ardent supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement lends the actress remarkable credibility in this role – not that she needs anything more than she delivers here.

The Hate U Give is a film, rather unsurprisingly, of binaries and separation – it is one which chooses not to focus on white perspectives of the movement, unless it is doing so in order to dismiss them. But it is in the performances that such binaries become more of a spectrum; Hate – with a capital H – can be given; but so can love – just look at the names of these characters.

What’s the hype? – Harry Potter

Let’s get this cleared up right off the bat: I do not hate fun. I’m not one of those people who hates on popular things to try and increase their edginess. You won’t find me writing a think-piece about why Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again signals the downfall of culture (if anything, it heightens it). But I am here to deliver a solemn message that must be delivered: the Harry Potter movies are overrated.

Whether it’s the earlier movies where Harry Potter gets three billion points for Gryffindor every time just for being Harry Potter, or the later movies where Ron’s always crying, the franchise as a whole is just fine. It’s fine. If the powers that be were to craft a 1001 Movies to Put on Your Netflix Watchlist and Maybe Watch Next Weekend but you Probably Never Will Before You Die list, all the Potters would be on there. In fact, if you run the numbers (and I have) it turns out that the most average, middle-of-the-road movie in the entire history of cinema is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

“But no, we’ve got to follow that miserable four-eyes around for 1,178 minutes”

My main gripe with the movies is that its eponymous hero, Harold Potter, is a pretty boring character to build a cultural empire upon. He’s plopped into the stream of The Chosen One, and over the course of the eight (eight!) films, drifts into the Estuary of Greatness. To round off this wet metaphor, throughout the franchise Harry Potter is mostly kept afloat by the deeds of more interesting minor characters – for example, that werewolf-man, whom the rest of the series should’ve been about. Wouldn’t that have been badass! But no, we’ve got to follow that miserable four-eyes around for 1,178 minutes.

Again, I must stress that I don’t dislike these films, I simply have total ambivalence towards them. I am quite frankly stunned at the iron-grip they hold on popular culture. Remember that movie Focus, with Will Smith and Margot Robbie? An absolutely standard movie. As forgettable as a ham sandwich. On the same level, one may say, as the majority of the Harry Potters. Now imagine if Focus held that same cultural weight as our boy HP. Imagine if everyone had Focus-themed scarves and did online tests to see which casino they’d be most suited to conning. Imagine if, ten years after Focus was released, its writer kept retroactively adding traits to characters which were not apparent in the film itself, and there’d be 60 clickbait articles about how Will Smith’s character in Focus is actually a Sagittarius. Wouldn’t that blow your mind? Wouldn’t you be compelled to write for Exeposé Online about how Focus is overrated? Now you understand my viewpoint. And you can’t argue against me because I’ve just awarded myself three billion points for writing this article.

Pretty Firehouse Lies

I’ve never been to this pub in my life”: A simple sentence with a crushing sentiment. When JK Rowling tweeted last week “if you want real fantasy go to an estate agent” in response to the legendary Firehouse being snapped up for £3-4 million by PLC, the legend of Rowling taking inspiration for the Leaky Cauldron from the Harry Potter franchise took its last sip of the emerald potion Horcrux (for non-fluent speakers, that means it was brutally crushed).

Twitter user, danielRD_15 voiced the nation’s sorrow, reacting with a crying face emoji accompanied with the phrase we were all thinking, it’s “all a lie”. Already dangerously close to never receiving our letter to Hogwarts, this story shatters our last illusion about university. Along with the fact we thought we would be organised, find the love of our lives and get value for £9,250, we now have to add this to our list.

The idea that Gandy Street is the inspiration for Diagon Alley is frankly, laughable

What many people forget about Exeter University, is that JK Rowling didn’t like it. So immediately, the urban legends that Exeter city inspired elements of Harry Pottery are weakened. Maybe it isn’t inspired by Exeter but it surely has to be partly inspired by England, its quaint fantasy and stereotyping of an English boarding school-system is irresistible even to the most pessimistic of us.

The only strong cases for JK taking major inspiration is in the mention of geography of Devon, the drama of Dartmoor, the uniquely named villages like “Budleigh Babbington” named (supposedly) after “Budleigh Salterton”, and Ottery St Catchpole must have been somehow taken from Ottery St Mary. The idea that Gandy Street is the inspiration for Diagon Alley is frankly, laughable. Gandy Street holds the magic of Sunday mornings and seaside holidays, with its quirky selection of chocolates and jewellers, but the most supernatural thing there is the astronomical prices of the products. Essentially, Gandy Street is just a narrow street, isn’t it?

I once visited the Washington Singer building purely hoping to bump into Moaning Myrtyle and was disappointed in what was essentially, a pair of slightly old tapes. Though I did spend an embarrassing amount of time searching for Slytherin iconography.

Personally, I think I always knew JK wasn’t taking inspo from the atmospheric gathering house, because there is no mention of the Leaky Cauldron pizzas. My first firehouse bite was the closest I’ve had to experiencing the magical and supernatural, and that is too prominent a fact to edge around in this debate.

We believed that JK was inspired by these locations because these places mean so much to us

What I think is quite magical about this story, is that it’s got traction. We wanted to believe with our hearts that someone as prolific as Rowling would honour and love the places dear to our hearts and immortalise them in writing. We believed that JK was inspired by these locations because these places mean so much to us. Just like Harry at Hogwarts and Rowling herself at Exeter, we are coming of age in these Leaky Cauldron’s of life, and we want these places that mean so much to us, to mean so much to the world too.

J.K. Rowling denies The Old Firehouse as inspiration for The Leaky Cauldron

JK Rowling has denied that The Leaky Cauldron was based on The Old Firehouse. It has been a long-standing urban myth that she used to frequent Firehouse. The pubs Ye Olde vibes, winding stairs and big oak tables definitely feel like somewhere Harry, Hermione and Ron would frequent. But, in a tweet this morning, J.K Rowling quoted a Devon Live article about the sale of Old Firehouse which stated:

and replied:

In reply to user @TheDanCash she also stated that…

Despite our hearts being broken by the denial of the student myth, the real question is – How did she survive being a student at Exeter without a Firehouse pizza?

The Firehouse sale is believed to be the biggest freehouse transaction in Devon for approximately £4 million.

Why all the book adaptations? It’s not needed

Harry Potter, Twilight, The Princess Bride. Arguably, all successful books and series in their own right, went on to become incredibly famous franchises and cult classic films. I know many people reading this article will undoubtably strike up Twilight as the unsavoury outlier in the list, however it raises an interesting question: Should successful books be made into successful film franchises?

From the perspective of the studio executive, yes, if a book has commercial, worldwide success, why shouldn’t it be made into an even more successful and accessible film? And yet, with the increase of book to screen adaptations, comes the increased chance of a film flop. Seen from the latest version of Alice in Wonderland to The Da Vinci Code, adaptations prove time and time again that books should remain in their original form.

This continued push for a quick fire turnaround of movie scripts may also suggest that perhaps the Hollywood industry is just pushed for good ideas. Reworking perfectly good classic novels with frankly trippy visuals and Johnny Depp’s most failed acting is not going to help. In fact, it loses the whole essence of the original books, sometimes adapting things purely for the audiences pleasure. Although this is not entirely terrible, it defeats the purpose of creating the film in the first place. The constant need for reinvention has clearly gone far beyond actresses and their botox. What happened to leaving good things good? The answer lies in the details.

“ We need films that challenge our expectations and completely bowl us over”

With extensive works such as Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon series, readers are transported to a different world in which history is completely reinvented. We are taken through a journey to find the Holy Grail and other artefacts with the knowledge of secret organisations and iconography spanning civilisations. That is not something that you can cover in two hours and twenty-nine minutes. Alternatively, take a film such as Gone Girl, which stuck so close to the original text, it was frankly boring for the readers. The producers even teased that the film would have an alternative ending — a complete and utter lie to lure fans of the book to the theatres.

2010’s Alice in Wonderland, peering down the rabbit hole

Some may say that the push for adaptations lies in profit; the audience is already there waiting. And studio heavyweights can take their time, sometimes reworking the script several times with several writers before it is deemed fit for the latest straight white actor to bring it to life (but that’s a whole other issue). This is most commonly seen with Marvel and DC Comics, who used a gigantic, inter-generational fanbase and now feed them a new comic every couple of years, of course whilst adapting it to fans’ requests.

This is the generation of film-making we have entered. The audience now holds the key to every successful film that will be made. And although this may seem a good thing, you have to ask yourself if this is what you actually need.

Personally, I want to watch a film that disappoints me. That leaves me with a lump in my throat and an annoyance as to why my ending was not the one I saw on screen. I want to watch a film that completely misleads and confuses me, all the time giving me great original storylines and characters that are accessible to everyone, and not just the many. I want films that engage with the issues of today, not remakes of films that were relevant 20 years ago. We need films that challenge our expectations and completely bowl us over with their brilliance. So next time you choose which film you’re going to watch in the cinema, don’t choose the one that will satisfy your Saturday night. Choose the one that will completely change your view on what films can actually do.

Album Review: The National – Sleep Well Beast

‘America’s Radiohead’ The National have brought forth their latest album Sleep Well Beast, meaning like many other delightful things such as Wonders of the World and the Harry Potter novels, their album discography now totals a glorious collection of seven. Frontman Matt Berninger, whose deep, baritone vocals at times parallel Ian Curtis and Ricky Wilson, has admitted to NME that he’s often ‘full of fear and self-loathing’, which consequently makes for an album rich with perspective and emotion.

Sleep Well Beast’s leading track ‘Nobody Else Will Be There’ creeps in with building instrumentals before slow piano notes are layered on top, a sequence so quintessentially representative of the group mere seconds into the record. Another heart wrenching ballad from the group who do it best, Berninger uses a metaphor of leaving a busy party to find somewhere quiet to talk to reflect the difficulty of finding time to talk in a relationship “not so tied together”. Its lyrics also briefly mention New York “getting cold again”, mirroring the group’s suitability to and choice to release their latest LP in Autumn.

Another heart wrenching ballad from the group who do it best

Producer and band member Aaron Dessner has spoken of the group’s choice of not rushing the album, ‘with members now living in five different cities’, a method which has paid off. Subsequent ‘Day I Die’, with its simple yet riling instrumentals maintain The National’s signature sound yet makes for fresh listening in 2017. Similarly, ‘Walk It Back’ preserve this with electro beats as a backdrop for Berninger’s vocals, which initially are not far off Jarvis Cocker.

Having performed at various campaign rally events for both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the band have made no secret of their political engagement. It’s hardly surprising to the listener, therefore, that ‘The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness’ is a politically charged piece of ‘an abstract portrait of the time we’re in’, according to an interview with Pitchfork.

the band have made no secret of their political engagement

Berninger’s wife co-wrote ‘Born to Beg’, a song about loving someone you feel is better than you; a potentially personal piece from the group’s frontman reiterated by its origin. ‘Turtleneck’ stands out from preceding numbers, instantly heard from the drumsticks counting the track in and its heavier instrumentals and rockier guitar structures, it could almost be mistaken for another group when isolated from Berninger’s vocals.

‘Empire Line’ once again sees the group dice with experimental instrumentals on a song about the Empire State train line running from New York City to Albany, New York, again with a metaphor about a stale relationship whose lyrics double up to describe a long journey, such as “I don’t think we’re getting anywhere any time soon”. Successive ‘I’ll Still Destroy You’ and ‘Guilty Party’ are yet again instantly recognisable as belonging to The National, with Berninger’s self-loathing lyrics juxtaposing the underlaying tinkly melodies.

Into the final few tracks on an album which slips by so smoothly, ‘Carin at the Liquor Store’ sees the group relax yet blend together to create one of the album’s softer numbers, before ‘Dark Side of the Gym’ sweeps in, an intimate purely love-ridden song positively proclaiming Berninger’s feelings. Referencing Leonard Cohen’s ‘Memories’ in its title, it could sign off the album well if it wasn’t for final title track ‘Sleep Well Beast’, the album’s longest track and perhaps its most progressive. Reflecting on the idea of their children and their innocence towards the world and almost hibernating away from everything; the last four years of the group crafting the record and hibernating themselves away are almost audible on the most experimental track on the album yet.

Dessner has explained that is was ‘important to genuinely explore new territory’, something Sleep Well Beast does well without losing any of the resonance created over the near two-decade existence of the group. Dessner has added that ‘the album feels complete to me’, with the latter no doubt the opinion of The National fans around the globe, who have eagerly waited for this record since 2013’s Trouble Will Find Me, and have not been disappointed.

Magic comes to Gandy Street

Friday 25^th August will witness the opening of a Harry Potter themed bar, The Cauldron Inn, on none other than Exeter’s Gandy Street, rumoured to be the inspiration for Diagon Alley. The bar, opened by the Exeter based Novelty Bar Company Ltd, will take over four floors and include themed rooms and an app which guests can use to earn badges that can be translated into discount vouchers. Whilst The Cauldron Inn is thought not to be a replica of The Leaky Cauldron, you can expect to see floating candles, brewing potions and books a plenty, all while being served by the resident witches and wizards. With a bank holiday weekend of events instore and interests already suitably piqued, you can certainly expect a magical experience from The Cauldron Inn.

Let’s Get Satirical: The danger of Harry Potter politics

Lots of Potter-loving children out there eagerly await the arrival of their 11^th birthday, upon which they hope a large bearded man will burst into their house, mutilate their cousin, and whisk them away to a school that would only pass an Ofsted inspection because the inspector would get murdered by a troll before they reported back. However, once that wondrous dream crumbles, the two circles of the Harry Potter/real life Venn diagram should really distance themselves from each other quite dramatically.

Image: Albus Dumbledoor/Wikipedia commons.

Apparently though, this is not the case for everyone, as some people reach voting age still deeply ingrained in the Harry Potter world, to the point where they scream ‘ten points to Gryffindor’ whenever they cum. On its own, there’s nothing wrong with this; people can like what they like. If it was up to me, modern politics would be a lot more like Guardians of the Galaxy, but I’m not expecting Star-Lord to start canvassing in the swing seats. In the same vein, people shouldn’t retreat from real-world politics in favour of fantasy ones, as a minority of Harry Potter fans (and fans of other franchises I imagine) appear to have done. Obviously, they don’t think Harry Potter is real. The issue seems to be that there is a reluctance to engage in actual politics and instead there is a projection of elements of a fictional wizarding world onto our real, disappointingly non-magic world.

‘dumbledoor’s army cannot stop the tories from defunding the nhs.’

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for things that have little bearing on the real world (trust me, I’m an English student) but please do not extend these things to matters that affect people’s lives. Dumbledore’s Army cannot stop the Tories from defunding the NHS. Theresa May is not going to be defeated by the power of friendship and/or Neville Longbottom. Granted, I highly doubt she’ll be defeated by Corbyn either, but it’s currently a two-horse race and he’s the opposition’s best hope.

This flawed, reality-neglecting mindset is often perpetuated by J.K. Rowling herself on Twitter. She routinely attacks Jeremy Corbyn whilst maintaining that her followers can metaphorically escape to Hogwarts. ‘The wand that would choose Corbyn is made from dark oak and poison root or some shit I don’t even know anymore,’ tweets J.K. Rowling, causing a million Harry Potter fans to pledge their votes to the Tories. ‘Dear dear dear, Remus Lupin would have done a far better job,’ she tuts as she tracks Labour’s falling poll numbers. ‘Ha, no I’m afraid not, unfortunately no spell could fix this,’ she says aloud to no one in particular. Of course, she’s entitled to her opinion, but she does want the Tories to lose, so isn’t voting Labour the best option to prevent serving an increasingly right-wing government a landslide victory?

It is a tough one though, isn’t it? Corbyn is a principled man who genuinely cares about people, but he’s got a crooked tie and looks like the personification of a sad wank, so he’s basically unelectable. Theresa May, on the other hand, has a morally questionable voting record and spurns refugee children, but her patronus is a weasel, and they’re pretty cute, so on balance, she probably wins out.

Corbyn isn’t a perfect leader, and hopefully he’ll step down when Labour lose, but perfect leaders don’t exist. If you spend your whole life waiting for some sort of Dumbledore-esque transcendental super-politician who knows the name of every single person in their constituency off by heart and trains blind-dogs in their spare time, then your whole life is exactly how long you will be waiting, because it will never happen. Just because you’re not madly in love with a candidate, don’t retreat to Hogwarts. Especially when it’s a two-horse race in which one of the horses wants to kick you in the gut and, whilst the other horse is a friendly chap, he only has three legs, and needs all the help he can get. And no, when the Corbyn-horse loses, he won’t get sent to Hagrid’s hut to live out his days with hippogriffs and dragons, he’s getting shotgunned in the face and turned into glue.

Best Film Scores to Soothe Study Stress

Midway through my A-Levels, I discovered that listening to the Lord of the Rings music helped me revise; three years later, I have a 200-track playlist, and I can tell you, there’s nothing like listening to the Pirates of the Caribbean theme to make your essay feel like it’s actually important. Following the Oscars last week, I had a look back through some of my favourite films and composers who have been put up for the ‘Best Original Score’ category over the years.

‘Up’ – Michael Giacchino

When it comes to picking the best film scores, Disney and Pixar ones are always a safe bet. From Finding Nemo to Ice Age 2 (just trust me on this one), they will carry you right back to your childhood and you’ll be crying over Nemo’s mum and Ellie the mammoth’s tragic backstory in no time. But the Academy Award-winning Up stands out as being almost visual. Giacchino uses lots of woodwind instruments to give the impression of flying and the main theme is filtered across different genres throughout the film. In every incarnation it is equally beautiful and equally reminiscent of the theme of childhood explored in the movie.

‘Cinema Paradiso’ – Ennio Morricone

While being a bit repetitive compared to other scores of his (such as the Oscar-winning The Hateful Eight) there is something incredibly special about Cinema Paradiso. It is a love story following its protagonist from childhood through to his mid-40s, and you can feel what age Toto is with every track. The earlier tracks are optimistic, with lilting waltzes; the ‘Love Theme’, which recurs fairly often, becomes slower and sadder as time passes, and for the final track, ‘For Elena’, a separate violin part has been added underneath the main love theme, reflecting the complications in their relationship. As the film is in Italian, at points it feels as if the music tells the story on its own.

‘Harry Potter’ –

John Williams, Patrick Doyle, Nicholas Hooper, Alexandre Desplat

I’m cheating here by putting this under a blanket term as each film has a completely different soundtrack, but whether it’s the iconic John Williams themes that we all know and love or the intricacies of Patrick Doyle’s beautiful Goblet of Fire score, you can’t go wrong. There’s a reason Williams has been nominated for over fifty Oscars and for those who grew up with the Harry Potter stories every track will bring your mind to a specific moment within them. Pro Tip: it’s perfect for staring out of train windows pretending you’re on the Hogwarts Express.

The Imitation Game – Alexandre Desplat

Alexandre Desplat is one of my favourite film composers of all time and credits such as The King’s Speech and The Danish Girl speak for themselves. But his score for The Imitation Game, which dramatises the life of Alan Turing, the genius who cracked the enigma code, is particularly clever. The quick, repetitive piano phrases mimic the workings of Turing’s mathematical mind, giving way to soaring strings to hint at his emotional side. It didn’t get the Oscar in 2014, but Desplat can’t have been too heartbroken since it lost to another of his own scores, The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Like Crazy – Dustin O’Halloran

Dustin O’Halloran, Oscar-nominated this year for Lion, is a composer I discovered four years ago and have been mildly obsessed with ever since. His piano-driven tracks are extremely soothing and romantic, perfect for Like Crazy, which is entirely based on a long-distance relationship. It has an improvised script, aiming to be as realistic and intimate as possible. The music is used sparingly, and so when it is his wistful tunes have an even greater emotional hit. His pieces are most often heard in scenes without speech, giving the feeling that the music is talking for them, and making for a very personal score.