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Whereas the previous few years of top film scores were mostly written by composers or
productions based outside of America, 2010 is a return to the years when major Hollywood films
featured much of the best music to be heard. It is also, oddly, a year with several clear-cut
five-star scores but a disappointing lack of truly competitive four-star alternatives. The realm of
fantasy dominates in 2010, too, with the seven Filmtracks contenders for the top award all belonging
in that genre or its close relatives.
In the mainstream, there exists an intriguing battle between the enthusiasts of Alexandre Desplat and
Nine Inch Nails, the former busy as always and lending his services to high profile films in ways that
enthrall his typically more intellectual fanbase. The latter representes the influx of Trent Reznor
and Atticus Ross faithful into the soundtrack genre with The Social Network, a score praised
widely for being different despite proving the fallacy of "different" scores always equaling
"superior" scores. Lost in the hype generated by these two factions are the true winners of 2010,
composers mostly familiar to soundtrack collectors but often under-recognized in the blitz of
mainstream popularity contests.
Three composers tie for the lead in the nomination count with four apiece. John Powell, Danny Elfman,
and James Newton Howard all had strong years, as did Harry Gregson-Williams, who flew under the radar
but collects three nominations. Also with three, all in the "best cue" category, is Alexandre
Desplat. Rounding out the field with multiple nominations are David Arnold, Christopher Lennertz, and
Naoki Sato.
The favorites in this category for much of the year were Danny Elfman's Alice in
Wonderland and John Powell's How to Train Your Dragon, but the emergence late in December
of Naoki Sato's resounding modernization of the franchise sound for the first live-action Space
Battleship Yamato ultimately prevails over Elfman in a razor-thin decision. Sneaking into the
final slot is David Arnold, whose The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
remains a delight for fans of his seldom-heard fantasy mode. Arnold, Elfman, and James Newton Howard
have all been nominated multiple times for the top award in previous years at Filmtracks, but this is
the first such recognition for Powell and Sato.
The runner-up position for 2010 is a tie between newcomer Arnau Bataller's highly impressive opening
entry in the Spanish franchise of La Herencia Valdemar and Christopher Lennertz's continued
mastery of the parody genre in Vampires Suck, an arguably better score for its target franchise
than anything actually written for it. Rounding out the top ten are Daft Punk's hybrid debut score for
Tron: Legacy, Henry Jackman's dynamic Gulliver's Travels, and Harry Gregson-Williams's
surprisingly satisfying franchise extension in Shrek Forever After. If that's too much comedy
for you, then also competitive for a top ten position in 2010 is Armand Amar's striking Ao, le
Dernier Neandertal.
Several composers had standout years in 2010, filling this award field to its
capacity. Solid production during the summer from John Powell, culminating in an extremely enjoyable,
widely recognized score for How to Train Your Dragon, earns him the award, and Christopher
Lennertz's likewise robust production in the summer, albeit in lighter genres, yields a nomination for
the largely unheralded industry workhorse. Danny Elfman's solid trio of releases (despite the fact
that The Wolfman was actually written long before) and James Newton Howard's lesser trio both
kept them at the forefront. Harry Gregson-Williams' pair of guilty pleasures in the summer, Prince
of Persia: The Sands of Time and Shrek Forever After, well compensated for less memorable
scores later on. Omitted this year is Alexandre Desplat, whose quantity of music consistent with his
style is notable but whose quality seemed stuck in the three-star range despite memorable individual
highlights in the majority of his scores.
It's difficult to argue with the merit of "Alice's Theme" from Alice in
Wonderland, a return to the spirit of vintage Danny Elfman and one of the catchiest soundtrack
melodies to exist in years. Of many highlights is How to Train Your Dragon, the only score
represented by multiple cues this year. Otherwise, the field includes one cue from each of Filmtracks'
next ten top scores, including perhaps the biggest guilty pleasure of the year, "I'm a Killer," from
Vampires Suck. Howard's "Chase Across DC" from Salt is a strong contender from the
action genre this year as well.
For those seeking cues of intrigue from outside the usual Hollywood sphere, the highlights from Ao,
le Dernier Neandertal, Su Qi-Er (True Legend), and La Herencia Valdemar are all
worth the exploration, with several cues from the Arnau Bataller score competing for this category.
The same could be said of Henry Jackman's Gulliver's Travels, with two or three cues necessary
in any substantial compilation of the year's best film music. Finally, Alexandre Desplat proves once
again that he can frustrate some listeners by writing fantastic sequences in scores that otherwise
fail to connect; in this case, his three top scores of 2010 all have undisputed highlights regardless
of the difficulties that some do experience with the entirety of those scores.
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