The 2001 Multi-Category Filmtracks Awards:
The wide variety of awards below cover every aspect of film scoring and soundtrack CD production in the past year. Some of the categories are created yearly for pure fun, so don't take them too seriously. You'll find everything from an analysis of this year's best album and single cues to the award for "Best 'Let's Crank It Up and Irritate the Elderly Neighbors' Track" Enjoy!
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Best Score for a 2001 Television Film or Continuing Series:
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Winner:
The Mists of Avalon (Lee Holdridge)
-- In a stunning career comeback for Lee Holdridge, one of his TNT film scores finally hits the jackpot. The score's choral and orchestral intrigue, as well as its vast mix of female vocals, caused the album to sell at record numbers for the duration of the show's running on TV. George Fenton's The Blue Planet ran a distant second.
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Other Nominees:
Band of Brothers (Michael Kamen)
The Blue Planet (George Fenton)
The Mole (David Michael Frank)
Star Trek: Voyager (Jerry Goldsmith/Various)
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Best Song as Heard in a 2001 Film:
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Winner:
"Elephant Love Medley" from Moulin Rouge
-- An incredible combination of famous songs are woven together into this, the centerpiece of the film's love story. The seamless shift from theme to theme, allowing both characters to complete only one verse from each set of lyrics, is both memorable and unique in the history of film. John Williams' "For Always" is the strongest end credits song of the year.
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Other Nominees:
"For Always" from A.I. Artificial Intelligence
"I Will Remember You Still" from The Mists of Avalon
"Your Song" from Moulin Rouge
"One Day I'll Fly Away" from Moulin Rouge
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Winner:
Great Composers: Georges Delerue (Georges Delerue)
-- Combining the London Session performances of Delerue's romantically inclined scores into one neat and available package, Varèse Sarabande created one of better compilations in its lengthy history. Silva Screen continued its successful "Choral Classics" series and the concert album "Wings of a Film" was a delight for Hans Zimmer fans.
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Other Nominees:
Cinema Choral Classics III
The Film Music of Jerry Goldsmith
Hans Zimmer: The Wings of a Film
In Session: A Celebration
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Winner:
Ghosts of Mars (John Carpenter)
-- Carpenter's music is almost as bad as the film itself, and it translated into an equally intolerable album. In quantity, however, Trevor Rabin stunk up the year with American Outlaws and The One, making poor, synthesized music a staple of his career. For some reason, people still buy that noise on album. Meanwhile, Graeme Revell publically admitted some shame for Tomb Raider.
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Other Nominees:
American Outlaws (Trevor Rabin)
Joy Ride (Marco Beltrami)
The One (Trevor Rabin)
Tomb Raider (Graeme Revell)
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Winner:
John Williams
-- Completing A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and the "Call of the Champions" theme for the Olympics in a single year, Williams topped it all of with the maturation of several concert pieces. Definitely not slowed by age, Williams even began tackling the next Star Wars film before the year's end, making him the most prolific of them all. James Horner also completed three major scores.
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Other Nominees:
John Debney (The Princess Diaries, etc)
James Horner (A Beautiful Mind, etc)
Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings, etc)
Alan Silvestri (The Mummy Returns, etc)
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Most Overlooked 2001 Score:
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Winner:
From Hell (Trevor Jones)
-- The dark and brooding score for From Hell takes a long time to sink in for the listener, but once it does, you're hooked. The heavily gothic style of Jones' contribution to the film made for the most sinister score of the year. Lost in the Lord of the Rings hooplah was The Score by Howard Shore. Spy Game and The Tailor of Panama are guilty pleasures for many fans.
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Other Nominees:
Pavilion of Women (Conrad Pope)
The Score (Howard Shore)
Spy Game (Harry Gregson-Williams)
The Tailor of Panama (Shaun Davey)
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Most Disappointing or Unfortunate 2001 Score:
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Winner:
Pearl Harbor (Hans Zimmer)
-- The spectacular trailers for Pearl Harbor, using Zimmer's previous compositions, set up many fans for a monumental disappointment when the score turned out to be a gushy and inappropriate accompaniment for the historical event and its love story. Jerry Goldsmith suffered a disappointing year, and many of the summer blockbusters yielded unfortunate results as well.
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Other Nominees:
Along Came a Spider (Jerry Goldsmith)
Jurassic Park III (Don Davis)
Planet of the Apes (Danny Elfman)
Tomb Raider (Graeme Revell)
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Winner:
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (John Williams)
-- The love of a son for a mother produced the most memorable and touching love theme of the year. The music accompanying the final twenty minutes of A.I. was an emotional powerhouse. The unreleased Bridget Jones' Diary offers the opposite kind of romantic comedy work that Patrick Doyle is well known for.
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Other Nominees:
Bridget Jones' Diary (Patrick Doyle)
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Elliot Goldenthal)
The Mexican (Alan Silvestri)
Pearl Harbor (Hans Zimmer)
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Most Overlooked CD Release of 2001:
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Winner:
Battle Beyond the Stars/Humaniods from the Deep (James Horner)
- The long awaited early sci-fi score by James Horner is finally pressed onto a commercial CD. Almost equally triumphant is the new availability of The Black Stallion Returns on CD, featuring one of Delerue's best themes of all time. Vangelis' concert recording of Mythodea remains undiscovered by many fans.
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Other Nominees:
The Black Stallion Returns (Georges Delerue)
The Blue Planet (George Fenton)
Mythodea (Vangelis)
Robin & Marian (John Barry)
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Best "Let's Crank It Up and Irritate the Elderly Neighbors" Track of 2001:
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Winner:
"The Chess Game" from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (John Williams)
-- There's nothing like good timpani pounding to irritate the people living around you. For the kind of plaster-busting choral material that especially frightens the elderly, choose cues from From Hell, Mythodea, and the re-recording of The Lion in Winter. If you like rocking the apartment with vibrating bass, go with "Lady Marmalade" from Moulin Rouge.
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Other Nominees:
"The Compass and the Ruler"
from From Hell (Trevor Jones)
"The Lion in Winter"
from The Lion in Winter (Silva/Barry)
"Lady Marmalade"
from Moulin Rouge (Various)
"Overture"
from Mythodea (Vangelis)
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Best Parody Score of 2001:
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Winner:
The Mexican (Alan Silvestri)
-- Making fun of the very best that the Western genre has offered in decades past, Alan Silvestri's score for The Mexican could conceivably make a person burst out laughing. The best in the business at creating parody scores for kids remains John Debney, who put his skills to plenty of use last year. John Ottman's creativity never ceases as well.
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Other Nominees:
Bubble Boy (John Ottman)
Cats & Dogs (John Debney)
Monkeybone (Anne Dudley)
Spy Kids (Debney/Elfman/etc.)
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Slacking Parody Score of 2001:
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Winner:
Shrek (John Powell/Harry Gregson-Williams)
-- The parody work of the team that brought you Chicken Run is getting old faster than a three-week old head of lettuce in an Alabaman supermarket during July. Losing the edge they gained through the novel techniques used in Chicken Run, Shrek was an extremely popular work that led people down the same old path. Randy Newman isn't putting much effort into innovation these days either.
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Other Nominees:
Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (Basil Poledouris)
Domestic Disturbance (Mark Mancina)
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (James L. Venable)
Monsters, Inc. (Randy Newman)
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Most Effective Single Cue of 2001:
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Winner:
"The Search for the Blue Fairy" from A.I. Artificial Intelligence (John Williams)
-- The emotional power of Barbara Bonney's operatic performance as the mecha boy waits an eternity for his mother's love was unparalleled over the course of the year. Likewise, the most impressive scene in A Beautiful Mind is that during which Nash breaks a Russian code at the Pentagon, fueled seemingly by James Horner's frantic cue.
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Other Nominees:
"Cracking the Russian Codes"
from A Beautiful Mind (James Horner)
"The Blue Planet"
from The Blue Planet (George Fenton)
"The Breaking of the Fellowship"
from The Lord of the Rings (Howard Shore)
"Morgaine Grows Up"
from The Mists of Avalon (Lee Holdridge)
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Best Children's Score of 2001:
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Winner:
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (James Newton Howard)
-- The large scale orchestral score by James Newton Howard for Atlantis: The Lost Empire improves upon his work for Dinosaur and makes for a very strong album as well. Almost as inspiring, but containing some frightening cues, is John Williams' score for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
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Other Nominees:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (John Williams)
Spy Kids (Debney/Elfman/etc.)
When Good Ghouls Go Bad (Christopher Gordon)
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Best Score of 2001 to Listen to Late at Night:
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Winner:
Hannibal (Hans Zimmer)
-- Perhaps the most hauntingly creepy score and album in recent memory is Hannibal. The album's mingling of Sir Anthony Hopkins' wicked, though elegant performances with Hans Zimmer's flowing, choral score produces the perfect setting for a midnight fright. The handful of the year's other top suspense scores don't even come close to matching it.
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Other Nominees:
From Hell (Trevor Jones)
The Glass House (Christopher Young)
The Others (Alejandro Amenabar)
Shadow of the Vampire (Dan Jones)
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Most Productive Label of 2001:
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Winner:
Varèse Sarabande
-- The top four albums of the year, as voted by the fans at Filmtracks in the last two months, are all Varèse Sarabande products. These include The Mists of Avalon, Cleopatra, Aliens, and the 2-CD Delerue Compilation. Among the other labels, Sony and Decca remain the top labels for new, mainstream scores.
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Other Nominees:
Decca/Universal
Film Score Monthly
Silva Screen
Sony Classical
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Best Sound Quality for a Soundtrack Release of 2001:
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Winner:
Hannibal (Hans Zimmer)
-- Achievements in sound quality in the past year weren't particularly great, but there were a handful of albums that were mixed more cleanly than others. It's the preference of labels and engineers to continue the trend towards a more dampened, intimate sounding orchestra. If you're a fan of concert or live sound quality, then you'll have to remix your own albums and put them on CDr. The dialogue and music on the album of Hannibal were masterfully integrated.
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Other Nominees:
The Affair of the Necklace (David Newman)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (John Williams)
Blue Planet (George Fenton)
From Hell (Trevor Jones)
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Best Vocal Performance of 2001:
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Winner:
Ewan McGregor/Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge)
-- Both McGregor and Kidman had to be coached for
their performances, and they managed to pull it off with a crafty mixing
of the full orchestra, chorus, and a handful of tenors. The year was
dominated once again by wordless vocals of the female variety, and those
scores which chose to use female voices turned out to be some of the best and most popular of the year.
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Other Nominees:
Vivan Ellis/Moira Smiley The Affair of the Necklace
Barbara Bonney, A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Charlotte Church, A Beautiful Mind
Aeone, The Mists of Avalon
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Best Original Choral Cue of 2001:
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Winner:
"The Blue Planet" from The Blue Planet (George Fenton)
-- The only downside of the magnificent choral work in The Blue Planet is the fact that it only appears in one track. The title theme to the television series had the United Kingdom buzzing last year, and the BBC satisfied countless thousands of viewers by pressing a CD and performing the music live. A heavy choral approach was used in From Hell and Moulin Rouge.
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Other Nominees:
"The Compass and the Ruler"
from From Hell (Trevor Jones)
"The Burning Heart"
from Hannibal (Hans Zimmer)
"Finding Excalibur"
from The Mists of Avalon (Lee Holdridge)
"Death Scene/Satine's Theme"
from Moulin Rouge (Craig Armstrong)
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Best Cue of 2001 for Making You Want to Get Up and Shake Some Booty:
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Winner:
"The Vibrating Bed" from The Tailor of Panama (Shaun Davey)
-- If the "vibrating bed" guitar track from The Tailor of Panama doesn't make you want to get up and dance, then you've either got a lead butt or no sense of rhythm. Likewise, the Moulin Rouge songs have been known to make a few leave their seats as well.
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Other Nominees:
"The Pitch"
from Moulin Rouge (Various)
"Sparkling Diamonds"
from Moulin Rouge (Various)
"El Tango de Roxanne"
from Moulin Rouge (Various)
"Boat to Havana"
from Original Sin (Terence Blanchard)
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Worst Album Cover Art of 2001:
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Winner:
The Lord of the Rings (Reprise Records)
-- There's simply no excuse for pressing so many different covers and expecting fans to go out and purchase all of them. Such marketing scams are nearly as offensive as those ridiculous Enya trading cards. In a more traditional sense, the cover for Hannibal is damn ugly, while The Mole wins the award for the most boring. And GNP is never shy about putting a healthy-sized pair of sinister breasts on their covers...
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Other Nominees:
Black Scorpion (GNP Crescendo)
Hannibal (Decca)
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home (FSM)
The Mole (Varèse Sarabande)
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Best Album Cover Art of 2001:
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Winner:
Captain Corelli's Mandolin (Stephen Warbeck)
-- The best covers often feature the best movie poster artwork. The Captain Corelli's Mandolin poster is a hot item, as are all the variations on the Pearl Harbor artwork. The album for The Blue Planet has, as a bonus, a completely blue jewel case and a slick cover to go with it. The quirky favorite is The Dish... You gotta love those sheep!
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Other Nominees:
The Blue Planet (BBC)
The Dish (Varèse Sarabande)
The Musketeer (Decca)
Pearl Harbor (Hollywood Rec)
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The Most Blatant Rip-Off of a Cue in a 2001 Score:
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Winner:
"Escape from the Dragon" from Shrek (John Powell/Harry Gregson-Williams)
-- The entire score for Shrek lacks a true authenticity, but this most memorable chase track makes fans of David Arnold's James Bond scores shakes their heads. Powell and Gregson-Williams also blatantly rip off the Deep Blue Sea theme, among others. Meanwhile, James Horner continues to rip off, well, himself... and quite successfully!
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Other Nominees:
"A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics"
from A Beautiful Mind (James Horner)
"Domestic Disturbance"
from Domestic Disturbance (Mark Mancina)
"The Mexican/End Credits Medley"
from The Mexican (Alan Silvestri)
"Transformantion/The End"
from Shrek (John Powell/Harry Gregson-Williams)
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Most Overrated Score of 2001:
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Winner:
Pearl Harbor (Hans Zimmer)
-- Orgasmic fans lined the streets for the score. It's a pity that the score was so inappropriate for the film. Perhaps Zimmer should have released it as a concert work. The hype surrounding Shrek and Monsters, Inc proves that unoriginality pays off for some composers. As much as we love Chris Young, his The Shipping News was over-hyped. Yann Tiersen's cute Amelie is overrated by international fans.
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Other Nominees:
Amelie (Yann Tiersen)
Monsters, Inc. (Randy Newman)
The Shipping News (Christopher Young)
Shrek (John Powell/Harry Gregson-Williams)
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Most Underrated Score of 2001:
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Winner:
The Tailor of Panama (Shaun Davey)
-- "Todavia Cantamos" is well manipulated into this score, and given a ton of international flavour by Davey... just to wallow in obscurity. Like Pavilion of Women, this score suffered from the late-winter blues of 2001. In the midst of all the songs, Craig Armstrong's decent score for Moulin Rouge remains unknown. Among the giants of the summer, Howard's Atlantis faded too quickly.
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Other Nominees:
The Affair of the Necklace (David Newman)
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (James Newton Howard)
Moulin Rouge (Craig Armstrong)
Pavilion of Women (Conrad Pope)
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Best Opening Title Cue of 2001:
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Winner:
"The Blue Planet" from The Blue Planet (George Fenton)
-- Not many people expected such a massive presentation of sound from George Fenton, but the beauty of this enormous theme makes the show's album a must buy. A whole minute and a half of Horner's A Beautiful Mind score passes before the studio logos finish, putting his dancing, opening cue in the forefront.
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Other Nominees:
"A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics"
from A Beautiful Mind (James Horner)
"Dear Clarice"
from Hannibal (Hans Zimmer)
"Nature Boy/Satine's Theme"
from Moulin Rouge (Various/Craig Armstrong)
"Main Theme"
from Band of Brothers (Michael Kamen)
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Winner:
"The Breaking of the Fellowship" from The Lord of the Rings (Howard Shore)
-- At an otherwise depressing juncture in the story, Shore's score finishes with an upbeat reminder of the grandeur of the fantasy genre. Along with a full prouncement of theme, he sends our heroes off with all the hope the world by using strong percussion and vocal interludes. Goldsmith's tribute to 9/11 resembles an equally strong original finish to his The Last Castle score. Edmund Choi's climactic cue to The Dish offers a fantastic choral rhythm.
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Other Nominees:
"Running Through the Snow"
from Bridget Jones' Diary (Patrick Doyle)
"The Day the World Stood Still"
from The Dish (Edmund Choi)
"Adagio and Transfiguration"
from Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Elliot Goldenthal)
"September 11, 2001"
from The Last Castle (Jerry Goldsmith)
"Harry's Confession/End Titles/Todavia Cantamos"
from The Tailor of Panama (Shaun Davey)
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Best 2001 Re-Recording of an Original Score:
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Winner:
The Lion in Winter (John Barry)
-- The original recording of The Lion in Winter had incredible sound quality for a 1968 performance, but Silva uses its technology to attempt an even greater performance, and add several cues while at it. They also gave strong treatment to other John Barry scores of the same generation.
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Other Nominees:
The Last Valley (John Barry)
Mythodea (Vangelis)
Robin & Marian (John Barry)
The Three Worlds of Gulliver (Bernard Herrmann)
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Best 2001 Release of a Score Previously Unavailable on CD:
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Winner:
The Towering Inferno (John Williams)
-- By far the pinnacle of the Film Score Monthly series, the long-awaited release of The Towering Inferno filled an enormous void for the older generation of film score collectors. The painstaking detail of the release made for a highlight of the year. Also necessary additions to collections were Delerue's The Black Stallion Returns and Horner's Battle Beyond the Stars, the latter of which had been only a bootleg product for many years.
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Other Nominees:
Battle Beyond the Stars (James Horner)
The Black Stallion Returns (Georges Delerue)
Marie Ward (Elmer Bernstein)
Ruby Cairo (John Barry)
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Best Expanded Re-Issue of a Single Score in 2001:
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Winner:
Cleopatra (Alex North)
-- If you want to talk about magnificent treatment of a single score, look no further than the new album for Alex North's Cleopatra. While modern day fans may turn away from the diminished sound quality of recordings at that time, the score has been presented in the incredible fullness that all scores should be presented with. The list of top albums is heavy with Varèse Sarabande efforts.
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Other Nominees:
Aliens (James Horner)
The Final Conflict (Jerry Goldsmith)
More Music from Gladiator (Hans Zimmer)
The Omen (Jerry Goldsmith)
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The Best Commercially Unreleased Score of 2001:
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Winner:
Bridget Jones' Diary (Patrick Doyle)
-- Who can forget that romantic theme swell to its fullness while we watch Bridget run through the snowy streets of London in her underwear? Doyle's score was partially obscured by the extensive use of songs, but scenes like the country driving one offer some great Patrick Doyle ormance material. Only one track is commercially available. Rolfe Kent also is badly underrepresented on album this year.
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Other Nominees:
Behind Enemy Lines (Don Davis)
Legally Blonde (Rolfe Kent)
Moulin Rouge (Craig Armstrong)
Kate & Leopold (Rolfe Kent)
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The Worst Score as Heard in the Context of a 2001 Film:
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Winner:
Frank Herbert's Dune (Graeme Revell)
-- The year wasn't kind to Graeme Revell, whose score for the television production of Dune was rejected to nearly the same extent as William Hurt's non-existent acting. The score lacked all of the excitement and fantasy that Herbert's visions had. Hans Zimmer's scores didn't fare well in their films this year, with both Black Hawk Down and Pearl Harbor sticking out like sore thumbs.
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Other Nominees:
American Outlaws (Trevor Rabin)
Black Hawk Down (Hans Zimmer)
A Knight's Tale (Carter Burwell)
Pearl Harbor (Hans Zimmer)
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The Best "Composer to Watch Out For" in the Next Three Years:
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Winner:
Conrad Pope (Pavilion of Women)
-- Among the lesser known composers pumping out strong scores this past year were Conrad Pope. All of the nominees for this year's "look ot for this guy in the future" award have produced film scores for a few years now. But keep an eye on these five for great things in the next three years.
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Other Nominees:
Shaun Davey (The Tailor of Panama)
David Michael Frank (The Mole)
Christopher Gordon (When Good Ghouls Go Bad)
Kevin Kiner (Stargate SG-1)
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The Most Unnecessary 2001 Release:
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Winner:
Robocop: Prime Directives (Norman Orenstein)
-- Sometimes the strangest things get pressed onto a
commercial album. Usually, the really bad music makes it onto album because it's cheap. Such was the case with Robocop: Prime Directives, which sunk before it even hit the streets. If you want to know why some labels are in the financial pits, look no further than these five examples of wasted jewel cases.
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Other Nominees:
The Golden Bowl (Richard Robbins)
Joy Ride (Marco Beltrami)
Love and Treason (Basil Poledouris)
Original Sin (Terence Blanchard)
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Best Online Film Music Event of 2001:
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Winner:
The licensing organizations' decision not to sue film music sites
-- After threatening Filmtracks (and similar sites) with legal action, musicians' rights advocates BMI backed off of their demands that a fee be levied against the websites for each Real Audio sampling provided on the site. Filmtracks was prepared with a counter attack of bad press against the composers if they had decided to take it to the legal level.
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Other Nominees:
The fact that we're all still here.
The fact that used score CDs are easier than ever to find online.
Resumption of the Varèse Sarabande Club, this time online.
Rafael Martinez and his quest for the Bowflex score.
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The Brother in Crime
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
-- Even the year after its original release, the bluegrass and folk music for this film is still setting records. It's not often that a soundtrack of any kind wins the Grammy award for best album, but O Brother, Where Art Thou? did just that. The Carter Burwell score aside, the fictional band The Soggy Bottom Boys won the hearts of nearly everone who saw the film. It's case when the music played such a integral role in the film that the movie nearly transcended to the level of a musical. Its spirit and playfullness are undeniable. Even score fans need to appreciate this film and album... not to mention that the movie has the best scene of cow mutilation ever produced in history.
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The Sister in Crime
Moulin Rouge
-- Much like O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the musical aspect of Moulin Rouge has taken on a life of its own. Score fans may resent it because the amount of actual original score by Craig Armstrong is relatively small, but you reach a certain point in creativity when such a thing no longer matters. Nobody has ever done what Baz Luhrmann did for modern musicals, and its mere novelty is astounding. Armstrong's arrangments made all the difference in creating a monumental musical production that takes old songs and makes them into a sort of new original score of their own.
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