Triple thread day, eh?

> Said every year, but still bears repeating: many thanks to Christian for
> hosting this interruption of the board’s usual fanboy silliness, whinging,
> trolling, and smut - and many thanks to Craig for coordinating this event
> and owning its not insignificant administrative responsibilities.

> 1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
> 2. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
> 4. The Boys in the Boat
> 8. The Boy and the Heron
> 9. American Fiction

> Composer of the year: Laura Karpman

Did you just copy my list and fudge the numbers a bit?

> 3. Life on Our Planet
> 5. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
> 6. Star Trek: Picard Season 3
> 7. Migration
> 10. The Flash

Yeah, never mind, we're good.

> ***** for picks 1 & 2. ****½ for 3-10. Karpman narrowly edges out
> Lorne Balfe, Kris Bowers, Stephen Barton, Gordy Haab, and John Powell in
> what was an unusually competitive field.

And someday Chris Young if the prophecy is to be believed!

> Comments on the top 10
> - It’s been a while since my favorite film from any given year also had my
> favorite score from that year - not since Return of the King! But
> perhaps that’s what you get when you basically take the subgenre that
> Daniel Pemberton once called “postmodern superhero scoring” and level up
> your game substantially.

I'm curious when was the last time I had that convergence.

*checks*
Huh, apparently it was 2020 (Da 5 Bloods). And then 2018 (Black Panther). And 2016 (Arrival, though I didn't rank the score #1 at the time). And then like none at all until we get back to LOTR.

> - I’m not sure whether to be more surprised that Brian Tyler’s best score
> to date came from a Nintendo movie or that Lorne Balfe’s best score (one
> finally surpassing his jubilant Home) came from an effects-based
> nature miniseries.

The more I think about it, it just makes sense to me that Tyler's best score came for a video game adaptation.

> - George Clooney should direct very square movies more often than once a
> decade, if only to get scores as good as The Monuments Men and
> The Boys in the Boat more frequently.

I watched The Ides of March last week. Wasn't very good, and I'm left wondering if Clooney will ever make a movie nearly as good as his debut was. (Which I think was something that got discussed during the Desplat binge a year ago.) But Desplat sure delivers with that main theme.

> - Migration turned into a sequel to The Call of the Wild in
> a way - many of us initially dismissed the work as being lesser owing to
> it not being the same caliber as Powell’s inimitable trilogy of
> HTTYD scores, and then later we looked at the work on its own
> merits and realized that Powell is still so freaking good at this that
> being a tier down still makes it one of the most technically accomplished
> and catchiest scores of the year. Folks have said things like, “My
> goodness, the craftsmanship!” when talking about John Williams still
> cranking out capable action/adventure material in 2023, but there’s just
> as much artistry and creativity in Powell’s work 25 years after he
> co-wrote Antz.

We'll see. Was not one I returned to much. Yet at least. Call of the Wild took a few months and no new scores for it to grow on me lol.

> Slotting behind Wallfisch’s cacophonous creation are Laura Karpman’s
> The Marvels and Gordy Haab’s Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of
> Storms, two other fine examples of controlled chaos. Also in
> contention was Ludwig Göransson’s cerebral, uneasy Oppenheimer, its
> place just outside my top 10 likely annoying both its fans and its ardent
> detractors.

No, that feels about right haha

> Oh, and there’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. At #20, it’s
> the lowest an Indy score has ranked in a year - lower even than both
> seasons of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles placed in their
> respective years. I can grumble about how much of the material not on the
> album is new recordings of old compositions, making it the only film score
> in the franchise that doesn’t benefit from expansion relative to the
> original album program - or grumble about the recycling from
> Minority Report. And that grumling is already on the board -
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=126023 . But we’re
> still left with over an hour of really good new John Williams music,
> something to be grateful for even with it being attached to an
> underwhelming film. Like I said earlier…my goodness, the craftsmanship.

Yeah, it's nice. It does occur to me that it somehow fell to the "good but I'm not going to bother ranking it" tier for me, which out of Williams recent output only the Fabelmans landed in.

> And while not a score, Jacob Shea’s The Arctic Suite (part of
> Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing’s Sony Classical album Arctic)
> was 1000% more interesting than anything he’s been allowed to write for
> nature documentaries.

👀 Will have to check it out.

>
>
> 2023 specialty releases
> It was a banner year for James Horner releases, though I doubt even the
> composer’s most ardent fans will give much acclaim to the new Humanoids
> of the Deep release or the unintentionally hilarious Deadly
> Blessing. Intrada’s 3CD Windtalkers release was impressively
> comprehensive though unlikely to change your impression of the score based
> on the original album program (I could say the same for the label’s
> expanded release of James Newton Howard’s Peter Pan). Gorky
> Park was an interesting discovery for me; challenging at times, but
> better than expected. Intrada’s Battle Beyond the Stars and La-La
> Land’s The Mask of Zorro both featured several notable new tracks,
> and you’d think that’d be enough to get the nod from me, but I’ll actually
> argue that a different Horner work (mentioned a little bit later in this
> post) benefited the most from expansion in 2023.

Completely missed all of these. Well, the only expansion I did buy last year was the Aaltio nature doc trilogy set.

> The music not on the original album from The Rock was nice to hear
> legitimately for a change. La-La Land’s Sabrina didn’t
> reveal a ton of new treasures from what remains a pleasant if minor work
> in John Williams’ legendary career, though its second disc featuring
> arrangements of old standards was a pleasant surprise. It was also a
> pleasant surprise to get a debut release of a Henry Mancini score with
> Moment to Moment, though listeners should be advised that there is
> a decent helping of suspense material which was never that great
> composer’s forte. Maurice Jarre’s Topaz is often easier to
> appreciate than enjoy, though that Barry Bond-style love theme is still
> worth seeking out.

> My favorite specialty releases were
> 6) Sony Classical’s Night After Night: Music from the movies of M.
> Night Shyamalan, a most elegant reinterpretation of James Newton
> Howard’s works from his most famed recurring filmmaking relationship.

> 5) Chandos’ new recording of highlights from Bernard Herrmann’s
> Wuthering Heights opera and the composer’s concert piece
> Echoes for string orchestra.

> 4) La-La Land’s Sneakers.

> 3) La-La Land’s Hook, finally addressing the issues with its
> earlier expansion and revealing new musical treasures - including
> more final battle material.

> 2) Intrada’s dynamic re-recording of two more Herrmann works: The Man
> Who Knew Too Much and On Dangerous Ground, the latter finally
> helping to give that great score the rich sound it deserves after the
> quality of its film recording was revealed to be sadly degraded with FSM’s
> earlier CD release.

> 1) Deutsche Grammophon’s album that was practically on repeat when it came
> out in what was a very busy work summer for me (much in the way Intrada’s
> Willow release was in 2022): A Symphonic Celebration: Music from
> the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki, which managed to overcome
> suspicions about redundancy by being among the most stupendously arranged,
> performed, and recorded albums Joe Hisaishi has ever produced.

The ones I've heard out of these are very good, but don't overlook Brosse and Brussels' Laurence Rosenthal compilation.

> Catch-up on 2022 - 39, the best being
> - Bullet Train -
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=122718

I'll call it a win

> - Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Uh...hm.

> 30 notable tracks, in no particular order
> - The exuberant duo of Super Mario Bros. Opus and Superstars
> from The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

> - The unique thrills of the opening battle material (Spider-Woman /
> Vulture Meets Culture / Spider-Man 2099 / Guggenheim
> Assemble) and the astonishing energy of Nueva York Train Chase
> from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

> - The ultra-cool Run It Suite and the escalating awesomeness of
> Training Montage from Creed III.

> - The nautical unleashing of the Titan theme in Leaving Spacedock
> and the spine-tingling use of legacy material in Make It So from
> Star Trek: Picard Season 3.

> - The dramatic Siege and the mournful finale Through
> Darkness from Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

> - Why have one finale from a galaxy far, far away when you can have two?
> Forever Forged in My Heart from the third season of The
> Mandalorian was just as moving.

> - The pastoral Han Harrier from Wild Isles.

Wow I agree with like all of these haha

> - The sweeping Return to West Qi from Creation of the Gods I:
> Kingdom of Storms.

> - The throwback joys of I Am Batman from The Flash.

> - The conclusive trio of Ask Me Why (Mahito’s Commitment), The
> Great Collapse, and The Last Smile from The Boy and the
> Heron.

> - The giddy Buying a Christmas Tree from Mog’s Christmas.

> - If I had to pick one track from the episodic albums for Life on Our
> Planet, it would probably be the booming take on the Dino B theme in
> Nesting Season.

> - The alternatingly soothing and rousing Hatzegopteryx Courtship
> from Prehistoric Planet Season 2.

> - The smooth Family Is, Monk Is from American Fiction.

> - The propulsive Poughkeepsie from The Boys in the Boat.

> - The explosive Bruce to the Rescue from Haunted Mansion.

> - The grand entwining of old and new in The Path from God of War
> Ragnarök: Valhalla.

> - The triumphant Will He Come? from The Gilded Age Season 2.

> - Murray Gold’s exciting theme for the Fifteenth Doctor from the new slate
> of Doctor Who specials.

> - I’m Just Ken.

And many if not all of these

> Just missing the cut: And We’re Off from Gran Turismo.

Ope, forgot to listen to that one.

> Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. is also probably in this tier
> based on hearing Hans Zimmer & David Fleming’s easygoing music in
> context. It’s surprising that anything involving Hans in this day and age
> didn’t get an album release - but even more so when you consider the
> recording sessions were featured in a 60 Minutes piece last year!
> Thankfully, some intrepid soul pulled a bit of it into a suite on YouTube
> - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyiVH5mYH5k

Oh, clutch, thanks for the link!

> ***½ (round down to 3) - Allelujah, Atatürk 1881-1919 Part
> 1, Baldur’s Gate 3, The Burial, Frieren: Beyond
> Journey's End, Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom, The Hunger
> Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, In Love and Deep
> Water, Killers of the Flower Moon, Landscape with Invisible
> Hand, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, Lessons in
> Chemistry, Little Rose 2 / The Secret of Little Rose /
> Różyczka 2, Loki Season 2, M3GAN, Meg 2: The
> Trench, Napoleon, Nimona, Nyad, PAW Patrol:
> The Mighty Movie, The Peasants / Chłopi, Planet of
> Lana, Princes of the Desert / Zodi & Tehu frères du désert,
> Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, Saltburn,
> Slotherhouse, and The Tenderness / La ternura.

Many of my favorites here lol

> Eh - The Mother and Ping Pong: The Triumph.

> Meh - The Legend & Butterfly.

Ooh, there's a hot take that I'm sure won't be surp--

> Oh bother - Citadel Season 1, Father & Soldier /
> Tirailleurs, Kazama Kimichika: Classroom Zero, The Last of
> Us Season 1, and The Offering.

I remember Tirailleurs. Actually, I remember not remembering it despite being a Desplat. Putting it in the same tier as the Offering is your most scorching take on here.

> Oh dear - Extraction 2, Luther: The Fallen Sun, and
> Retribution.

> With apologies to the following scores for which I felt watching the
> content was a necessary prerequisite to the album:
> - Musicals: Carmen, The Color Purple, and Wonka
> - Weird music for weird movie: Poor Things
> - Didn’t finish watching Star Wars Rebels yet: Ahsoka Season
> 1

> And apologies to the following “I can haz album?” works: In the Land of
> Saints and Sinners and The Piper
>
>
> Why no Nosferatu?
> It’s great - or at least what we’ve heard so far is - but it’s not an
> original score for a piece of content new to 2023, much in the same way
> that I don’t consider Philip Glass’ 1994 music for Cocteau’s 1946
> Beauty and the Beast a 1994 score or any of the various recent
> scores for The General as eligible to rank in the years composers
> had them performed.

"It's not out yet" is as good a reason that sidesteps the debate we're eventually going to have about this lol

>
>
> One other random thought
> We really aren’t ever getting that expanded Top Gun: Maverick
> album, eh?

LOL

Good stuff Jon