So over the course of the last year, I’ve been working on putting together a big write up of my Top 100 favourite scores from the century so far. It rapidly became 150, cause there were just too many gooders I wanted to bring to discuss. Then it became 200. This past week it essentially turned into 300 because I wanted to go back and re-listen to so many I hadn’t heard in years (or ones that were much ballyhooed but I either never got to or had forgotten about).

Frankly, there’s still so many I love and wish could make it, or ones I still want to re-listen to and find out what I think of them now, but….long story short, I finally had to put a cap in this sucker because as far as pointless, time-burning passion projects go, this damn thing has gone way too far (and that’s just with tiny little blurbs written for each score; I have no fucking clue how JBlough did his Media Ventures thing, which was like reading lengthy detailed chapters of a wonderful book. This shit ain’t gonna be like that hahaha).

Anyways, for me, these are the best 200 scores to come out in the last 21 years. Its hard to rank, because you gotta take how the score functions in context a little bit, how entertaining it is on album, how many times you’ve listened to it, etc. My personal preferences are sometimes a bit at odds with others around here, but I’m hoping if there’s something on this sucker you don’t recognize or haven’t heard of, try and giver a listen.

Few things to note before we start:

1) Yes, nostalgia absolutely plays a part in some of this. While I attest that movie music was inherently better (for what I personally like that is) in the first decade of this century than the second one, it also does help appreciating an album when I’ve heard a score fifty times since 2003 compared to something that just came out a few months ago. So especially once we reach the top 100, things get a little heavier-leaning towards stuff I’ve heard and loved dozens of times for ages. Just kinda is what it is.

2) Having said that….I tried as best as I possibly could to be SOMEWHAT objective. For example -- there’s only five Trevor Rabin scores mentioned in this list. That’s more than many would place on their own top 200’s, sure, but hopefully seems a bit light considering I'm this board’s resident Rabin Fanboy. That’s cause while many are ones I constantly return to and enjoy, I have to still be honest in that, for instance, The Patriot is certainly better written than National Treasure. So while a lot of these will stink to high heaven of weird personal biases, I still did my best to not be completely stubborn about a score I know to be flawed but dig anyway, hence why stuff like Life Before Her Eyes and X-Men and Michael Clayton didn’t quite make the final cut. Also, Final Cut didn’t either, ironically.

3) On the note of personal preferences, the other elephant in the room is that arguably, in these past two decades, there have been two composers more prevalent and praised around the Board as well as in the mainstream than any others, and for the most part, you won’t see their names in my final Top 200. As try as I might, I just can’t quite get into Michael Giacchino’s and Alexandre Desplat’s music. And trust me, those two are among the ones I’ve re-listened to the most this past month to see if anything would suddenly scream at me and slip in, if for no other reason than to give this list an air of prestige (hollow laaaaugh). But the closest Giacchino came was Jupiter Ascending (an excellent score that I just never really return to, hence it being in the Runner Up category). I thought Imitation Game and Godzilla would be my best Desplat chances, but alas, the former had more dull moments than I remembered (such a great theme though), and the latter works best within the film as opposed to a stand-alone album. However, literally just in the past hour, I have re-listened to one Desplat that is so much better than I remembered, and it made the top #185.

Ok, soooooo yeah. Here we go. It might seem weird, but I think I’ll post them in batches of 15. The odd reasoning is that while 10 makes more sense, it would also make these just go on forever (and could wind up dying like my poor IMDb Top 250 run down), and 20 just seems like too many scores for anyone to comment on per thread.

And if some poor twisted bastard, for some reason, is curious what the Runner Ups were, I’ll post them in a later comment. Almost 90 of the fuckers, man....I spent way too much time on this hahaha.

Anyhoo…..here we go with the first 15!

--------

#200– Love in the Time of Cholera by Antonio Pinto

Pinto is a tricky composer to love, mostly because almost all of his albums have 2-3 great cues on them and the rest is kinda meh. Cholera, in a way, is also in that category; much like Lord of War, which barely missed this list, Cholera has two cues in the beginning and two in the end that are just sublime pieces of melancholy, romantic guitar and electric violin works and the middle stuff is not as engaging. Yet I still re-listen to this sucker on an almost yearly basis, and I think it’s well worth checking out despite being talked about exactly zero times anywhere.

Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XeE0EDypTE

#199 – Monster by BT

Hey everyone, remember BT? Scored the first Fast and Furious flick, and that godawful “Jessica Biel in a bikini so we all have to go see it anyway” movie Stealth? Dude got stuck in a rut of electro-action scores pretty dang quickly, and critics ravaged ‘em (though Stealth is actually a more fun score than you might expect). Anyways, BT also did Monster, the Charlize Theron/Patty Jenkins drama, and he does it wonderfully – yes, for the murder scenes the dissonance reigns supreme, but much of the score is this wonderfully acoustic and surprisingly thematic modern romance work with a great use of guitars and pianos. An overlooked gem.

Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4RtaJYFPy0

#198 - Space Battleship Yamamoto by Naoki Sato

One of the first big “Clem Moments” since I started posting on this board was when he picked this Sato score for his top 5 of the year (actually, if memory serves he said it was THE best, beating HTTYD). Lots of Boarders were like what the hell is that, and all the others went YES THANK YOU. A rip-snorting adventure score that still sounds great 12 years later, and my (probably many others in North America, too) first introduction to Sato’s work. On that note; why the hell didn’t this guy get a call from Marvel at any freakin’ point?! This is exactly the kind of sound you’d think they’d go gaga over. We sure would.

Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlT-x0whCBY&list=PLFFE3AB114DFCB532&index=5

#197 – Flyboys by Trevor Rabin

And so begins the Rabin Train!!! Or “plane”, I guess, cause this was for terrible movie about dogfighter pilots in WWII. It’s one of those scores I always try and get people who don’t like Rabin to listen to, because other than some awesome power-anthems and entertaining action cues, much of this is a heroic and patriotic drama score with nary a synth to be found. The main theme is a fantastic flag-waver and even the more subdued stuff has more interesting stuff going on than the poor guy ever got credit for. Couple this with his other dramatic war score, The Great Raid, to hear how much range Rabin actually had.

Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCSZoBvoo9c&list=PLCCJ_xylQ4E0M7bs9uRJAgn8gqVmZPZvU

#196 – The Last Legion by Patrick Doyle

Sometimes we’re wrong and stupid, and with Last Legion I was very wrong and very stupid. Heard it once when it came out, shrugged, moved on, and didn’t return to it until a year or so ago and it blew my fucking mind. What a tremendous and exciting historical action epic, with lots of fun bombast and a very memorable main theme (by the way, in case you haven’t figured it out yet, “a very memorable main theme” is a comment you’re going to hear a lot in this series, cause it’s kinda what pumps my tires the most).

Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkyQyaS9rhg&list=PLA5zQ1xNekgqeVbpKGnVMWHqU5lRr75mY&index=3

#194 - Fateless by Ennio Morricone

Like some of my other fave composers like Nyman or Glass, Morricone is one you can often say his albums are “repetitive”, but unlike those two composers, few treat it as a bad thing. Which is a bit weird to me, but whatever. Fateless is repetitive in the sense it really only has like, two major thematic ideas, and most of the score repeats them in different (but beautiful) ways. But that’s just fine by me! It’s a damn good score and for me might be his last great one; still not sure why Hateful Eight achieved so much acclaim and adoration when I swear most of it wasn’t even new music written for that film.

Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrlmeMae34Q

#193 - Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian by Harry Gregson-Williams

Most prefer the third, some still adore the first, but for my money, it was Prince Caspian that rocks the Narnia socks and never ceases to shock my coc—ok, I’ll stop now. It has way more action than the other two, with lots of epic battle scenes and chase music, but still maintains thematic continuity from his own original work (more so, in my books, than Arnold did with the pretty overrated third score). I’ve loved this sucker since it first came out, and sure wouldn’t hate if he did more stuff like this.

Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFkplPc1jsA

#192 - Finding Neverland by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek

Gentle, lighter, whimsical drama’s aren’t usually the tea in my cup, which is probably why there’s only one Desplat on this list (ironically, it fits that description completely…I never said I was going to make much coherent sense in these things). Finding Neverland is also very much all of those words I first used, but it completely won me over from the very first listen for being so charming, beautiful, playful, and moving. The solo piano cues showcasing his great themes are the best tracks fo sho.

Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIV1wXUrv0I

#191 - Shattered Glass by Mychael Danna

First off; this is a lovely, woefully underrated movie that you can find on Amazon (as a DVD, boo) and that’s just about the only way you can find it. One of my favourite films ever and has a (shockingly) great performance by Hayden Christensen of all people. Considering the film is so forgotten about, I’m happily surprised the score is available on Spotify, and it sure won’t take up much of your time to giver a try – sucker is only about 23 minutes long. Normally that would be a huge ding for me, but it’s actually the perfect amount of music for the film, and the main themes Danna conjures up stick with you. If you like quirky dramatic scores by Thomas Newman, check this out immediately.

Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr0BCjQu2H0

#190 - Your Highness by Steve Jablonsky

Jablonsky gets shit on a lot. Frankly, his scores often deserve it, especially lately. But back in 2011, high off the first three Transformers scores (which are a lot of fun you weens), out popped Your Highness, and damned if it isn’t an absolute blast from start to finish. The action/adventure music plays everything straight, rarely winking at the audience (like the absolutely ridonkulous movie itself does). Plus, with his cue Isabel, he crafted the most flat-out gorgeous music of his career. Plus, every time I listen to this score, it makes me think of Natalie Portman in a thong. Win win.

Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwDGuS9ZriQ

#189 – Little Women by Alexandre Desplat

As mentioned in my opening…Desplat is not my jam. But this sucker, which I did enjoy quite a bit when it came out, being the first Desplat score to ever crack my top 10 of that year, is even better than I remembered and easily my favourite work from the man. What I enjoyed most is that unlike many of his other scores, Little Woman doesn’t ever really let up and breathe – up until the final few cues, it just keeps going and moving, prancing around like a beautiful, whimsical Philip Glass kind of thing. So there you go, the guy made my list. And before you even ask, Ahn -- no, I still haven’t seen this movie. Sawwwwry.

Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIscPC4VNsMlist=OLAK5uy_lceACkAVYHaLK3VJsHLE_lW7Fz1vtCM-o&index=7

#188 - Comet by Daniel Hart

Hart is rapidly becoming one of the most exciting composers working today, with a lot of his stuff getting routinely praised around here. Yet for some reason…almost everyone slept on this one, despite almost being my favourite of his. I know nothing of the flick; looks like some random indie rom-com. Hart’s music, though, is lovely, especially when centered around his main Comet theme that is uplifting, mellow, and perfectly “indie”.

Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8jNNZPGy44

#187 - The Quiet American by Craig Armstrong

A mournful, soulful dramatic thriller score with a big splash of Asian influences, Quiet American was also my first Craig Armstrong score, randomly rented from the Lethbridge library for no reason other than the cover looked nifty. Its still one I return to pretty often, especially if in an introspective mood cause this is a very atmospheric (but also very beautiful) work. Man, I wish this guy scored three films a year.

Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3H75Ab1OpQ

#186 - Cloud Atlas by Tom Tywker, Reinhold Heil, and Johnny Klimek

Almost ten years later and I’m still waiting for Clem’s scathing review (he mentioned in passing that the music was offensively bad, and damned if I would’ve loved to read 10 paragraphs explaining that more). The album has its faults, most clearly in leaving the studio sound effects in the best goddamn track, and some of the more atonal electronic bits can become grating. Yet just like the film itself, Cloud Atlas’ faults are part and parcel with the enjoyment of the entire thing, and the highlights (particularly the choral work and whenever the main theme is played) elevate the whole shebang to impressive heights.

Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB6k1O69UyU

-----

Welp, that's the start! Hopefully this doesn't become the most boring series ever but I just really fucking love music from the 00's (and ok, fine, lots from the 2010's too) and like talking about em. Plus, LISTS! Who doesn't love lists? Everyone who decides to not read or respond to these I guess...

Anyhoo, got any thoughts/comments/criticms about the 15 picks above?

> So over the course of the last year, I’ve been working on putting together
> a big write up of my Top 100 favourite scores from the century so far. It
> rapidly became 150, cause there were just too many gooders I wanted to
> bring to discuss. Then it became 200. This past week it essentially turned
> into 300 because I wanted to go back and re-listen to so many I hadn’t
> heard in years (or ones that were much ballyhooed but I either never got
> to or had forgotten about).

> Frankly, there’s still so many I love and wish could make it, or ones I
> still want to re-listen to and find out what I think of them now,
> but….long story short, I finally had to put a cap in this sucker because
> as far as pointless, time-burning passion projects go, this damn thing has
> gone way too far (and that’s just with tiny little blurbs written for each
> score; I have no fucking clue how JBlough did his Media Ventures thing,
> which was like reading lengthy detailed chapters of a wonderful book. This
> shit ain’t gonna be like that hahaha).

> Anyways, for me, these are the best 200 scores to come out in the last 21
> years. Its hard to rank, because you gotta take how the score functions in
> context a little bit, how entertaining it is on album, how many times
> you’ve listened to it, etc. My personal preferences are sometimes a bit at
> odds with others around here, but I’m hoping if there’s something on this
> sucker you don’t recognize or haven’t heard of, try and giver a listen.

I've been working on "Best of the 2000s (decade)" for a while now, but I haven't actually worked on it since I posted that short list a few months back. So I guess you might as well step up now when I'm not writing anything about music lol.

I'm not going to respond to this post yet, maybe this weekend (unless I get tired catching up on Jon's Zimmer posts), but I wanted to leave a comment and respond to your intro.

> Few things to note before we start:

> 1) Yes, nostalgia absolutely plays a part in some of this. While I attest
> that movie music was inherently better (for what I personally like that
> is) in the first decade of this century than the second one, it also does
> help appreciating an album when I’ve heard a score fifty times since 2003
> compared to something that just came out a few months ago.

Sweetie 2019 was 3 years ago, you've had plenty of time to appreciate the brilliance of Little Women and King of the Monsters.

> So especially
> once we reach the top 100, things get a little heavier-leaning towards
> stuff I’ve heard and loved dozens of times for ages. Just kinda is what it
> is.

> 2) Having said that….I tried as best as I possibly could to be SOMEWHAT
> objective. For example -- there’s only five Trevor Rabin scores mentioned
> in this list. That’s more than many would place on their own top 200’s,
> sure, but hopefully seems a bit light considering I'm this board’s
> resident Rabin Fanboy. That’s cause while many are ones I constantly
> return to and enjoy, I have to still be honest in that, for instance, The
> Patriot is certainly better written than National Treasure. So while a lot
> of these will stink to high heaven of weird personal biases, I still did
> my best to not be completely stubborn about a score I know to be flawed
> but dig anyway, hence why stuff like Life Before Her Eyes and X-Men and
> Michael Clayton didn’t quite make the final cut. Also, Final Cut didn’t
> either, ironically.

See if you included Michael Clayton I could've disparaged you as one of those IndieWire know-nothing snobs who only like scores to films that are widely acclaimed

> 3) On the note of personal preferences, the other elephant in the room is
> that arguably, in these past two decades, there have been two composers
> more prevalent and praised around the Board as well as in the mainstream
> than any others, and for the most part, you won’t see their names in my
> final Top 200. As try as I might, I just can’t quite get into Michael
> Giacchino’s and Alexandre Desplat’s music. And trust me, those two are
> among the ones I’ve re-listened to the most this past month to see if
> anything would suddenly scream at me and slip in, if for no other reason
> than to give this list an air of prestige (hollow laaaaugh).

So no David Julyan scores?

> But the
> closest Giacchino came was Jupiter Ascending (an excellent score that I
> just never really return to, hence it being in the Runner Up category). I
> thought Imitation Game and Godzilla would be my best Desplat chances, but
> alas, the former had more dull moments than I remembered (such a great
> theme though), and the latter works best within the film as opposed to a
> stand-alone album. However, literally just in the past hour, I have
> re-listened to one Desplat that is so much better than I remembered, and
> it made the top #185.

I'm gonna guess not Painted Veil?

> Ok, soooooo yeah. Here we go. It might seem weird, but I think I’ll post
> them in batches of 15. The odd reasoning is that while 10 makes more
> sense, it would also make these just go on forever (and could wind up
> dying like my poor IMDb Top 250 run down), and 20 just seems like too many
> scores for anyone to comment on per thread.

> And if some poor twisted bastard, for some reason, is curious what the
> Runner Ups were, I’ll post them in a later comment. Almost 90 of the
> fuckers, man....I spent way too much time on this hahaha.

So you're telling me you could've done a Top 300. Missed opportunity man.

> Anyhoo…..here we go with the first 15!

> --------

> #200– Love in the Time of Cholera by Antonio Pinto
> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XeE0EDypTE

Ooh, like that you're including cues! Maybe you should make a spotify or youtube playlist compiling them!

> #199 – Monster by BT
> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4RtaJYFPy0

> #198 - Space Battleship Yamamoto by Naoki Sato
> Best Cue:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlT-x0whCBY&list=PLFFE3AB114DFCB532&index=5

> #197 – Flyboys by Trevor Rabin
> Best Cue:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCSZoBvoo9c&list=PLCCJ_xylQ4E0M7bs9uRJAgn8gqVmZPZvU

> #196 – The Last Legion by Patrick Doyle
> Best Cue:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkyQyaS9rhg&list=PLA5zQ1xNekgqeVbpKGnVMWHqU5lRr75mY&index=3

> #194 - Fateless by Ennio Morricone
> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrlmeMae34Q

> #193 - Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian by Harry Gregson-Williams
>
> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFkplPc1jsA

> #192 - Finding Neverland by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIV1wXUrv0I

> #191 - Shattered Glass by Mychael Danna
> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr0BCjQu2H0

> #190 - Your Highness by Steve Jablonsky
> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwDGuS9ZriQ

> #189 – Little Women by Alexandre Desplat

> As mentioned in my opening…Desplat is not my jam. But this sucker, which I
> did enjoy quite a bit when it came out, being the first Desplat score to
> ever crack my top 10 of that year, is even better than I remembered and
> easily my favourite work from the man. What I enjoyed most is that unlike
> many of his other scores, Little Woman doesn’t ever really let up and
> breathe – up until the final few cues, it just keeps going and moving,
> prancing around like a beautiful, whimsical Philip Glass kind of thing. So
> there you go, the guy made my list. And before you even ask, Ahn -- no, I
> still haven’t seen this movie. Sawwwwry.

AHAHAHAHA YES, YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! This is what happens when I reply before reading!

But also, please get on that. Or just give up and read my article haha.
> Best Cue:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIscPC4VNsMlist=OLAK5uy_lceACkAVYHaLK3VJsHLE_lW7Fz1vtCM-o&index=7

Excellent choice.

> #188 - Comet by Daniel Hart
> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8jNNZPGy44

> #187 - The Quiet American by Craig Armstrong
> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3H75Ab1OpQ

> #186 - Cloud Atlas by Tom Tywker, Reinhold Heil, and Johnny Klimek
>
> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB6k1O69UyU

> -----

> Welp, that's the start! Hopefully this doesn't become the most boring
> series ever but I just really fucking love music from the 00's (and ok,
> fine, lots from the 2010's too) and like talking about em. Plus, LISTS!
> Who doesn't love lists? Everyone who decides to not read or respond to
> these I guess...

> Anyhoo, got any thoughts/comments/criticms about the 15 picks above?

Coming soon. Maybe.

> I've been working on 'Best of the 2000s (decade)' for a while now, but I
> haven't actually worked on it since I posted that short list a few months
> back. So I guess you might as well step up now when I'm not writing
> anything about music lol.

Yeah I remember writing down a couple from your list that I’d forgotten about and put it in my “listen to for my list” pile haha

> I'm not going to respond to this post yet, maybe this weekend (unless I
> get tired catching up on Jon's Zimmer posts), but I wanted to leave a
> comment and respond to your intro.

I’ve wanted to comment on just about every single entry of Jon’s Z-posts and always get bogged down and it rarely winds up happening. So I hear ya and appreciate the effort 😜

> Sweetie 2019 was 3 years ago, you've had plenty of time to appreciate the
> brilliance of Little Women and King of the Monsters.

And both are on here, so ba-boom!

> See if you included Michael Clayton I could've disparaged you as one of
> those IndieWire know-nothing snobs who only like scores to films that are
> widely acclaimed

It really is like THAT kind of score…except it’s also so much goddamn better and more interesting and thematic and no one else understands or agrees and why am I yelling right now?!

> So no David Julyan scores?

Da-dum tishhhhhhh

Yknow what though….now that I think about it, Insomnia is kinda close to my top 300. It’s really quite good. And Memento is too….shit, maybe I should’ve relistened to those too NO RILEY ITS DONE DAMMIT

> I'm gonna guess not Painted Veil?

Poo on Veil. Oh yeah.

> So you're telling me you could've done a Top 300. Missed opportunity man.

Clearly based off one days worth of responses I won’t even maintain interest in this for 200 picks, let alone 300 😆

> Ooh, like that you're including cues! Maybe you should make a spotify or
> youtube playlist compiling them!

Now there’s an idea! I also kinda wanna see what the view count is on those links before I post, and compare it to a week after, see if anyone actually buys into my raves and gives them a listen

> AHAHAHAHA YES, YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! This is what happens when I reply before
> reading!

> But also, please get on that. Or just give up and read my article haha.

Haha I’m afraid it might be one of “those” movies that I’m always somewhat interested in seeing but always put off.

> Excellent choice.

> Coming soon. Maybe.

I teeter on the anxious totter. Then again if you don’t have time…apparently I got quite. A few of these to reply to later so there you go. God I need a hobby.

> #190 - Your Highness by Steve Jablonsky

> Plus, with
> his cue Isabel, he crafted the most flat-out gorgeous music of his career.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwDGuS9ZriQ

Much though I'm a staunch defender of this score, I rarely return to this cue for some reason. Just not really a fan of Lisbeth Scott's vocals in the second half, which feel over-baked and poppy in a kind of Mariah Carey way that clashes with the beauty of the melody for me. And that's a shame, because that melody is really damn good and actually reminds me a whole lot, in the first half of the cue, of Basil Poledouris' Civilization theme from Conan the Barbarian. And it sure isn't that often that you can draw a direct link between a Jablonsky score and Conan the Barbarian, let me tell you.

> Much though I'm a staunch defender of this score, I rarely return to this
> cue for some reason. Just not really a fan of Lisbeth Scott's vocals in
> the second half, which feel over-baked and poppy in a kind of Mariah Carey
> way that clashes with the beauty of the melody for me. And that's a shame,
> because that melody is really damn good and actually reminds me a
> whole lot, in the first half of the cue, of Basil Poledouris' Civilization
> theme from Conan the Barbarian. And it sure isn't that often that
> you can draw a direct link between a Jablonsky score and Conan the
> Barbarian, let me tell you.

All of that is accurate but still all part of why I love it so much haha. I love how over the top poppy it gets. Made me think more of Dion than Carey but solid point.

> So over the course of the last year, I’ve been working on putting together
> a big write up of my Top 100 favourite scores from the century so far. It
> rapidly became 150, cause there were just too many gooders I wanted to
> bring to discuss. Then it became 200. This past week it essentially turned
> into 300 because I wanted to go back and re-listen to so many I hadn’t
> heard in years (or ones that were much ballyhooed but I either never got
> to or had forgotten about).

> Frankly, there’s still so many I love and wish could make it, or ones I
> still want to re-listen to and find out what I think of them now,
> but….long story short, I finally had to put a cap in this sucker because
> as far as pointless, time-burning passion projects go, this damn thing has
> gone way too far (and that’s just with tiny little blurbs written for each
> score; I have no fucking clue how JBlough did his Media Ventures thing,
> which was like reading lengthy detailed chapters of a wonderful book. This
> shit ain’t gonna be like that hahaha).

> Anyways, for me, these are the best 200 scores to come out in the last 21
> years. Its hard to rank, because you gotta take how the score functions in
> context a little bit, how entertaining it is on album, how many times
> you’ve listened to it, etc. My personal preferences are sometimes a bit at
> odds with others around here, but I’m hoping if there’s something on this
> sucker you don’t recognize or haven’t heard of, try and giver a listen.

> Few things to note before we start:

> 1) Yes, nostalgia absolutely plays a part in some of this. While I attest
> that movie music was inherently better (for what I personally like that
> is) in the first decade of this century than the second one, it also does
> help appreciating an album when I’ve heard a score fifty times since 2003
> compared to something that just came out a few months ago. So especially
> once we reach the top 100, things get a little heavier-leaning towards
> stuff I’ve heard and loved dozens of times for ages. Just kinda is what it
> is.

> 2) Having said that….I tried as best as I possibly could to be SOMEWHAT
> objective. For example -- there’s only five Trevor Rabin scores mentioned
> in this list. That’s more than many would place on their own top 200’s,
> sure, but hopefully seems a bit light considering I'm this board’s
> resident Rabin Fanboy. That’s cause while many are ones I constantly
> return to and enjoy, I have to still be honest in that, for instance, The
> Patriot is certainly better written than National Treasure. So while a lot
> of these will stink to high heaven of weird personal biases, I still did
> my best to not be completely stubborn about a score I know to be flawed
> but dig anyway, hence why stuff like Life Before Her Eyes and X-Men and
> Michael Clayton didn’t quite make the final cut. Also, Final Cut didn’t
> either, ironically.

Aww, I love X-Men, one Kamen's best.

> 3) On the note of personal preferences, the other elephant in the room is
> that arguably, in these past two decades, there have been two composers
> more prevalent and praised around the Board as well as in the mainstream
> than any others, and for the most part, you won’t see their names in my
> final Top 200. As try as I might, I just can’t quite get into Michael
> Giacchino’s and Alexandre Desplat’s music. And trust me, those two are
> among the ones I’ve re-listened to the most this past month to see if
> anything would suddenly scream at me and slip in, if for no other reason
> than to give this list an air of prestige (hollow laaaaugh). But the
> closest Giacchino came was Jupiter Ascending (an excellent score that I
> just never really return to, hence it being in the Runner Up category). I
> thought Imitation Game and Godzilla would be my best Desplat chances, but
> alas, the former had more dull moments than I remembered (such a great
> theme though), and the latter works best within the film as opposed to a
> stand-alone album. However, literally just in the past hour, I have
> re-listened to one Desplat that is so much better than I remembered, and
> it made the top #185.

> Ok, soooooo yeah. Here we go. It might seem weird, but I think I’ll post
> them in batches of 15. The odd reasoning is that while 10 makes more
> sense, it would also make these just go on forever (and could wind up
> dying like my poor IMDb Top 250 run down), and 20 just seems like too many
> scores for anyone to comment on per thread.

> And if some poor twisted bastard, for some reason, is curious what the
> Runner Ups were, I’ll post them in a later comment. Almost 90 of the
> fuckers, man....I spent way too much time on this hahaha.

> Anyhoo…..here we go with the first 15!

> --------

> #200– Love in the Time of Cholera by Antonio Pinto

> Pinto is a tricky composer to love, mostly because almost all of his
> albums have 2-3 great cues on them and the rest is kinda meh. Cholera, in
> a way, is also in that category; much like Lord of War, which barely
> missed this list, Cholera has two cues in the beginning and two in the end
> that are just sublime pieces of melancholy, romantic guitar and electric
> violin works and the middle stuff is not as engaging. Yet I still
> re-listen to this sucker on an almost yearly basis, and I think it’s well
> worth checking out despite being talked about exactly zero times anywhere.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XeE0EDypTE

> #199 – Monster by BT

> Hey everyone, remember BT? Scored the first Fast and Furious flick, and
> that godawful “Jessica Biel in a bikini so we all have to go see it
> anyway” movie Stealth? Dude got stuck in a rut of electro-action scores
> pretty dang quickly, and critics ravaged ‘em (though Stealth is actually a
> more fun score than you might expect). Anyways, BT also did Monster, the
> Charlize Theron/Patty Jenkins drama, and he does it wonderfully – yes, for
> the murder scenes the dissonance reigns supreme, but much of the score is
> this wonderfully acoustic and surprisingly thematic modern romance work
> with a great use of guitars and pianos. An overlooked gem.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4RtaJYFPy0

> #198 - Space Battleship Yamamoto by Naoki Sato

> One of the first big “Clem Moments” since I started posting on this board
> was when he picked this Sato score for his top 5 of the year (actually, if
> memory serves he said it was THE best, beating HTTYD). Lots of Boarders
> were like what the hell is that, and all the others went YES THANK YOU. A
> rip-snorting adventure score that still sounds great 12 years later, and
> my (probably many others in North America, too) first introduction to
> Sato’s work. On that note; why the hell didn’t this guy get a call from
> Marvel at any freakin’ point?! This is exactly the kind of sound you’d
> think they’d go gaga over. We sure would.

> Best Cue:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlT-x0whCBY&list=PLFFE3AB114DFCB532&index=5

> #197 – Flyboys by Trevor Rabin

> And so begins the Rabin Train!!! Or “plane”, I guess, cause this was for
> terrible movie about dogfighter pilots in WWII. It’s one of those scores I
> always try and get people who don’t like Rabin to listen to, because other
> than some awesome power-anthems and entertaining action cues, much of this
> is a heroic and patriotic drama score with nary a synth to be found. The
> main theme is a fantastic flag-waver and even the more subdued stuff has
> more interesting stuff going on than the poor guy ever got credit for.
> Couple this with his other dramatic war score, The Great Raid, to hear how
> much range Rabin actually had.

> Best Cue:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCSZoBvoo9c&list=PLCCJ_xylQ4E0M7bs9uRJAgn8gqVmZPZvU

> #196 – The Last Legion by Patrick Doyle

> Sometimes we’re wrong and stupid, and with Last Legion I was very wrong
> and very stupid. Heard it once when it came out, shrugged, moved on, and
> didn’t return to it until a year or so ago and it blew my fucking mind.
> What a tremendous and exciting historical action epic, with lots of fun
> bombast and a very memorable main theme (by the way, in case you haven’t
> figured it out yet, “a very memorable main theme” is a comment you’re
> going to hear a lot in this series, cause it’s kinda what pumps my tires
> the most).

> Best Cue:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkyQyaS9rhg&list=PLA5zQ1xNekgqeVbpKGnVMWHqU5lRr75mY&index=3

Absolutely love this one! It's in my top five for Doyle along with Cinderella, Harry Potter 4, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Murder on the Orient Express.

> #194 - Fateless by Ennio Morricone

> Like some of my other fave composers like Nyman or Glass, Morricone is one
> you can often say his albums are “repetitive”, but unlike those two
> composers, few treat it as a bad thing. Which is a bit weird to me, but
> whatever. Fateless is repetitive in the sense it really only has like, two
> major thematic ideas, and most of the score repeats them in different (but
> beautiful) ways. But that’s just fine by me! It’s a damn good score and
> for me might be his last great one; still not sure why Hateful Eight
> achieved so much acclaim and adoration when I swear most of it wasn’t even
> new music written for that film.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrlmeMae34Q

> #193 - Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian by Harry Gregson-Williams
>

> Most prefer the third, some still adore the first, but for my money, it
> was Prince Caspian that rocks the Narnia socks and never ceases to shock
> my coc—ok, I’ll stop now. It has way more action than the other two, with
> lots of epic battle scenes and chase music, but still maintains thematic
> continuity from his own original work (more so, in my books, than Arnold
> did with the pretty overrated third score). I’ve loved this sucker since
> it first came out, and sure wouldn’t hate if he did more stuff like this.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFkplPc1jsA

> #192 - Finding Neverland by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek

> Gentle, lighter, whimsical drama’s aren’t usually the tea in my cup, which
> is probably why there’s only one Desplat on this list (ironically, it fits
> that description completely…I never said I was going to make much coherent
> sense in these things). Finding Neverland is also very much all of those
> words I first used, but it completely won me over from the very first
> listen for being so charming, beautiful, playful, and moving. The solo
> piano cues showcasing his great themes are the best tracks fo sho.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIV1wXUrv0I

> #191 - Shattered Glass by Mychael Danna

> First off; this is a lovely, woefully underrated movie that you can find
> on Amazon (as a DVD, boo) and that’s just about the only way you can find
> it. One of my favourite films ever and has a (shockingly) great
> performance by Hayden Christensen of all people. Considering the film is
> so forgotten about, I’m happily surprised the score is available on
> Spotify, and it sure won’t take up much of your time to giver a try –
> sucker is only about 23 minutes long. Normally that would be a huge ding
> for me, but it’s actually the perfect amount of music for the film, and
> the main themes Danna conjures up stick with you. If you like quirky
> dramatic scores by Thomas Newman, check this out immediately.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr0BCjQu2H0

> #190 - Your Highness by Steve Jablonsky

> Jablonsky gets shit on a lot. Frankly, his scores often deserve it,
> especially lately. But back in 2011, high off the first three Transformers
> scores (which are a lot of fun you weens), out popped Your Highness, and
> damned if it isn’t an absolute blast from start to finish. The
> action/adventure music plays everything straight, rarely winking at the
> audience (like the absolutely ridonkulous movie itself does). Plus, with
> his cue Isabel, he crafted the most flat-out gorgeous music of his career.
> Plus, every time I listen to this score, it makes me think of Natalie
> Portman in a thong. Win win.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwDGuS9ZriQ

> #189 – Little Women by Alexandre Desplat

> As mentioned in my opening…Desplat is not my jam. But this sucker, which I
> did enjoy quite a bit when it came out, being the first Desplat score to
> ever crack my top 10 of that year, is even better than I remembered and
> easily my favourite work from the man. What I enjoyed most is that unlike
> many of his other scores, Little Woman doesn’t ever really let up and
> breathe – up until the final few cues, it just keeps going and moving,
> prancing around like a beautiful, whimsical Philip Glass kind of thing. So
> there you go, the guy made my list. And before you even ask, Ahn -- no, I
> still haven’t seen this movie. Sawwwwry.

> Best Cue:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIscPC4VNsMlist=OLAK5uy_lceACkAVYHaLK3VJsHLE_lW7Fz1vtCM-o&index=7

> #188 - Comet by Daniel Hart

> Hart is rapidly becoming one of the most exciting composers working today,
> with a lot of his stuff getting routinely praised around here. Yet for
> some reason…almost everyone slept on this one, despite almost being my
> favourite of his. I know nothing of the flick; looks like some random
> indie rom-com. Hart’s music, though, is lovely, especially when centered
> around his main Comet theme that is uplifting, mellow, and perfectly
> “indie”.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8jNNZPGy44

> #187 - The Quiet American by Craig Armstrong

> A mournful, soulful dramatic thriller score with a big splash of Asian
> influences, Quiet American was also my first Craig Armstrong score,
> randomly rented from the Lethbridge library for no reason other than the
> cover looked nifty. Its still one I return to pretty often, especially if
> in an introspective mood cause this is a very atmospheric (but also very
> beautiful) work. Man, I wish this guy scored three films a year.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3H75Ab1OpQ

> #186 - Cloud Atlas by Tom Tywker, Reinhold Heil, and Johnny Klimek
>

> Almost ten years later and I’m still waiting for Clem’s scathing review
> (he mentioned in passing that the music was offensively bad, and damned if
> I would’ve loved to read 10 paragraphs explaining that more). The album
> has its faults, most clearly in leaving the studio sound effects in the
> best goddamn track, and some of the more atonal electronic bits can become
> grating. Yet just like the film itself, Cloud Atlas’ faults are part and
> parcel with the enjoyment of the entire thing, and the highlights
> (particularly the choral work and whenever the main theme is played)
> elevate the whole shebang to impressive heights.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB6k1O69UyU

> -----

> Welp, that's the start! Hopefully this doesn't become the most boring
> series ever but I just really fucking love music from the 00's (and ok,
> fine, lots from the 2010's too) and like talking about em. Plus, LISTS!
> Who doesn't love lists? Everyone who decides to not read or respond to
> these I guess...

> Anyhoo, got any thoughts/comments/criticms about the 15 picks above?

> Aww, I love X-Men, one Kamen's best.

Agreed! In fact it might be my favourite of his. Just still didn’t quiiiiiite make it (it’s at like, #203)

> Absolutely love this one! It's in my top five for Doyle along with
> Cinderella, Harry Potter 4, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Murder on
> the Orient Express.

All but HP of those are in my #220-201. Damn.

> Agreed! In fact it might be my favourite of his. Just still didn’t
> quiiiiiite make it (it’s at like, #203)

Yes, I never did get the dislike for it.

> All but HP of those are in my #220-201. Damn.

Well, close enough.

> #190 - Your Highness by Steve Jablonsky

> Jablonsky gets shit on a lot. Frankly, his scores often deserve it,
> especially lately. But back in 2011, high off the first three Transformers
> scores (which are a lot of fun you weens), out popped Your Highness, and
> damned if it isn’t an absolute blast from start to finish. The
> action/adventure music plays everything straight, rarely winking at the
> audience (like the absolutely ridonkulous movie itself does). Plus, with
> his cue Isabel, he crafted the most flat-out gorgeous music of his career.
> Plus, every time I listen to this score, it makes me think of Natalie
> Portman in a thong. Win win.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwDGuS9ZriQ

Though he's still not a favorite, this was the first score that led me to think, 'maybe, I've had this Jablonsky cat pegged all wrong'. The opening credits cue (love that title sequence) is a nicely rousing piece and "Thadeous" is just delightful.

> Though he's still not a favorite, this was the first score that led me to
> think, 'maybe, I've had this Jablonsky cat pegged all wrong'. The opening
> credits cue (love that title sequence) is a nicely rousing piece and
> 'Thadeous' is just delightful.

Glad to hear that. The man is capable of some real winners - there's two more Jablonsky's coming up on my list.

Don’t have time to comment on each individually, but I added a ton of new stuff to my Spotify library!

> Don’t have time to comment on each individually, but I added a ton of new
> stuff to my Spotify library!

And that makes me happy indeed.

A passion project, to which I can relate! A fine beginning buddy. I will savor every installment.

All the best.

> A passion project, to which I can relate! A fine beginning buddy. I will
> savor every installment.

> All the best.

Thanks man!

> 3) On the note of personal preferences, the other elephant in the room is
> that arguably, in these past two decades, there have been two composers
> more prevalent and praised around the Board as well as in the mainstream
> than any others, and for the most part, you won’t see their names in my
> final Top 200. As try as I might, I just can’t quite get into Michael
> Giacchino’s and Alexandre Desplat’s music. And trust me, those two are
> among the ones I’ve re-listened to the most this past month to see if
> anything would suddenly scream at me and slip in, if for no other reason
> than to give this list an air of prestige (hollow laaaaugh). But the
> closest Giacchino came was Jupiter Ascending (an excellent score that I
> just never really return to, hence it being in the Runner Up category). I
> thought Imitation Game and Godzilla would be my best Desplat chances, but
> alas, the former had more dull moments than I remembered (such a great
> theme though), and the latter works best within the film as opposed to a
> stand-alone album. However, literally just in the past hour, I have
> re-listened to one Desplat that is so much better than I remembered, and
> it made the top #185.

Also true for me, and for a few other composers as well (Doyle and Beltrami come to mind). But that's what makes these individual lists fun to read!

> (and could wind up
> dying like my poor IMDb Top 250 run down)

I was enjoying that a lot, for what it's worth.

> #199 – Monster by BT

> Hey everyone, remember BT? Scored the first Fast and Furious flick, and
> that godawful “Jessica Biel in a bikini so we all have to go see it
> anyway” movie Stealth? Dude got stuck in a rut of electro-action scores
> pretty dang quickly, and critics ravaged ‘em (though Stealth is actually a
> more fun score than you might expect). Anyways, BT also did Monster, the
> Charlize Theron/Patty Jenkins drama, and he does it wonderfully – yes, for
> the murder scenes the dissonance reigns supreme, but much of the score is
> this wonderfully acoustic and surprisingly thematic modern romance work
> with a great use of guitars and pianos. An overlooked gem.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4RtaJYFPy0

I've never heard of this, but it sounds like more of the pop-style scoring I loved from Catch and Release, so psyched to check it out. This is one of my favorite cues in that style:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaFvt7DWLiw

> #198 - Space Battleship Yamamoto by Naoki Sato

> One of the first big “Clem Moments” since I started posting on this board
> was when he picked this Sato score for his top 5 of the year (actually, if
> memory serves he said it was THE best, beating HTTYD). Lots of Boarders
> were like what the hell is that, and all the others went YES THANK YOU. A
> rip-snorting adventure score that still sounds great 12 years later, and
> my (probably many others in North America, too) first introduction to
> Sato’s work.

Same, and unfortunately it's a high that he hasn't hit again. This would be MUCH higher on my list. Also, these write-ups are so positive that now I'm wondering how much more you can love your top 20!

> #197 – Flyboys by Trevor Rabin

> And so begins the Rabin Train!!! Or “plane”, I guess, cause this was for
> terrible movie about dogfighter pilots in WWII. It’s one of those scores I
> always try and get people who don’t like Rabin to listen to, because other
> than some awesome power-anthems and entertaining action cues, much of this
> is a heroic and patriotic drama score with nary a synth to be found. The
> main theme is a fantastic flag-waver and even the more subdued stuff has
> more interesting stuff going on than the poor guy ever got credit for.
> Couple this with his other dramatic war score, The Great Raid, to hear how
> much range Rabin actually had.

> Best Cue:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCSZoBvoo9c&list=PLCCJ_xylQ4E0M7bs9uRJAgn8gqVmZPZvU

I've been going on an undocumented Rabin odyssey thanks to you and Jon, in search of more stuff I love as much as the National Treasure theme. Adding this to the list.

> #193 - Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian by Harry Gregson-Williams
>

> Most prefer the third, some still adore the first, but for my money, it
> was Prince Caspian that rocks the Narnia socks and never ceases to shock
> my coc—ok, I’ll stop now. It has way more action than the other two, with
> lots of epic battle scenes and chase music, but still maintains thematic
> continuity from his own original work (more so, in my books, than Arnold
> did with the pretty overrated third score). I’ve loved this sucker since
> it first came out, and sure wouldn’t hate if he did more stuff like this.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFkplPc1jsA

#1 would be my pick, both HGWs would be near the top of my list, and the Arnold score would...not. Surprised only one made it here, and so low!

> #190 - Your Highness by Steve Jablonsky

> Jablonsky gets shit on a lot. Frankly, his scores often deserve it,
> especially lately. But back in 2011, high off the first three Transformers
> scores (which are a lot of fun you weens), out popped Your Highness, and
> damned if it isn’t an absolute blast from start to finish. The
> action/adventure music plays everything straight, rarely winking at the
> audience (like the absolutely ridonkulous movie itself does). Plus, with
> his cue Isabel, he crafted the most flat-out gorgeous music of his career.
> Plus, every time I listen to this score, it makes me think of Natalie
> Portman in a thong. Win win.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwDGuS9ZriQ

This completely fell off my radar, need to revisit.

> #186 - Cloud Atlas by Tom Tywker, Reinhold Heil, and Johnny Klimek
>

> Almost ten years later and I’m still waiting for Clem’s scathing review
> (he mentioned in passing that the music was offensively bad, and damned if
> I would’ve loved to read 10 paragraphs explaining that more). The album
> has its faults, most clearly in leaving the studio sound effects in the
> best goddamn track, and some of the more atonal electronic bits can become
> grating. Yet just like the film itself, Cloud Atlas’ faults are part and
> parcel with the enjoyment of the entire thing, and the highlights
> (particularly the choral work and whenever the main theme is played)
> elevate the whole shebang to impressive heights.

It's got some amazing highs, but the lows are distractingly low and feel like they should've led to less glowing praise. Part of that is the story setting the bar so high for the Sextet, which is meant to be this transcendent magnum opus and instead sounds like B-grade pop classical (although you're right, the theme gets used in beautiful ways elsewhere).

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB6k1O69UyU

Not this, one of the best cues of the century?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvJHbTx9h_k

> Also true for me, and for a few other composers as well (Doyle and
> Beltrami come to mind). But that's what makes these individual lists fun
> to read!

> I was enjoying that a lot, for what it's worth.

Thanks. I was too, because it gave me an excuse to watch or rewatch all the movies too. But now I barely even have time to listen to a score, let alone see a flick too, so that's kinda why it died. Might return to it sometime though, maybe when the kiddo is in dayhome more often.

> I've never heard of this, but it sounds like more of the pop-style scoring
> I loved from Catch and Release, so psyched to check it out. This is one of
> my favorite cues in that style:

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaFvt7DWLiw

Catch and Release is a lovely hidden gem I don't think anyone else has brought up haha, very nice! Lots of Monster is a lot darker and grittier than Catch but other cues line up quite nicely with it.

> Same, and unfortunately it's a high that he hasn't hit again. This would
> be MUCH higher on my list. Also, these write-ups are so positive that now
> I'm wondering how much more you can love your top 20!

It's almost weird being so positive and only talking about stuff I like....

> I've been going on an undocumented Rabin odyssey thanks to you and Jon, in
> search of more stuff I love as much as the National Treasure theme. Adding
> this to the list.

Ha! Awesome.

> #1 would be my pick, both HGWs would be near the top of my list, and the
> Arnold score would...not. Surprised only one made it here, and so low!

Tough competition.

> This completely fell off my radar, need to revisit.

> It's got some amazing highs, but the lows are distractingly low and feel
> like they should've led to less glowing praise. Part of that is the story
> setting the bar so high for the Sextet, which is meant to be this
> transcendent magnum opus and instead sounds like B-grade pop classical
> (although you're right, the theme gets used in beautiful ways elsewhere).

There are some low points for sure, but those highs are glorious. And I really didn't mind the "magnum opus" thing. They were kinda stuck in a corner, I mean even if Horner had written it, there would've been a lot of grumblings, "arrogant prick, it's not THAT good". Also, I don't think it was supposed to be this hugely wonderful transcendent thing either - rewatching the movie recently, it's actually completely forgotten about just a few decades later. The point is just that it's a small connective tissue between the stories, not that it's such a grand piece of music that it's well known and loved for all time.

> Not this, one of the best cues of the century?

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvJHbTx9h_k

Wait...what cue did I pick? Cause I think that one is my fave too haha, might've fucked that up.

> I have no fucking clue how JBlough did his Media Ventures thing, which was like reading lengthy detailed chapters of a wonderful book. This shit ain’t gonna be like that hahaha).

If it's any consolation, when I force-ranked my entire collection of 5-star scores a few years ago I didn't even bother with blurbs in my Scoreboard posts.

> But the closest Giacchino came was Jupiter Ascending

Well, it's my top Giacchino score, so I can't argue with that

> #198 - Space Battleship Yamamoto by Naoki Sato

> One of the first big “Clem Moments” since I started posting on this board was when he picked this Sato score for his top 5 of the year (actually, if memory serves he said it was THE best, beating HTTYD). Lots of Boarders were like what the hell is that, and all the others went YES THANK YOU. A rip-snorting adventure score that still sounds great 12 years later, and my (probably many others in North America, too) first introduction to Sato’s work. On that note; why the hell didn’t this guy get a call from Marvel at any freakin’ point?! This is exactly the kind of sound you’d think they’d go gaga over. We sure would.

Had that reaction to CC's review? Check. First Sato score? Check. Still great? Check.

> #197 – Flyboys by Trevor Rabin

I'll probably get that this week as I catch up on odds & ends before my next series of posts comes out. I did really enjoy discovering The Great Raid in the last week.

> #196 – The Last Legion by Patrick Doyle

Tons of fun. Trumps Eragon in my book.

> #194 - Fateless by Ennio Morricone

The repetition holds it back from greatness for me, but this is still a really good score and in my top 20 from that year.

> #192 - Finding Neverland by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek

I found this a bit insubstantial when it came out.

But I haven't listened to it in over a decade, so I couldn't give you any more of an opinion than that if I tried.

> #189 – Little Women by Alexandre Desplat

> And before you even ask, Ahn -- no, I still haven’t seen this movie. Sawwwwry.

That's a shame. It might be my favorite movie of the 2010s.

> #187 - The Quiet American by Craig Armstrong

The anachronisms still befudddle me, but this is still one cool-as-F album at times.

> #186 - Cloud Atlas by Tom Tywker, Reinhold Heil, and Johnny Klimek

No. Kill it with fire.

> I'll probably get that this week as I catch up on odds & ends before
> my next series of posts comes out. I did really enjoy discovering The
> Great Raid in the last week.

Very glad to hear that. Flyboys and Great Raid are both my go-to's when someone complains that all Rabin did was electronic MV action scores.

> That's a shame. It might be my favorite movie of the 2010s.

Wow. Wow wow wow.

> No. Kill it with fire.

Man, it's funny how people either like this one or REEEEEEALLY hate it.

> #199 – Monster by BT

> Hey everyone, remember BT? Scored the first Fast and Furious flick, and
> that godawful “Jessica Biel in a bikini so we all have to go see it
> anyway” movie Stealth? Dude got stuck in a rut of electro-action scores
> pretty dang quickly, and critics ravaged ‘em (though Stealth is actually a
> more fun score than you might expect). Anyways, BT also did Monster, the
> Charlize Theron/Patty Jenkins drama, and he does it wonderfully – yes, for
> the murder scenes the dissonance reigns supreme, but much of the score is
> this wonderfully acoustic and surprisingly thematic modern romance work
> with a great use of guitars and pianos. An overlooked gem.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4RtaJYFPy0

Big BT fan, really love this score. Shame he rarely scores films these days, luckily he seems to drop a new album or some other interesting project each year.

> #197 – Flyboys by Trevor Rabin

> And so begins the Rabin Train!!! Or “plane”, I guess, cause this was for
> terrible movie about dogfighter pilots in WWII. It’s one of those scores I
> always try and get people who don’t like Rabin to listen to, because other
> than some awesome power-anthems and entertaining action cues, much of this
> is a heroic and patriotic drama score with nary a synth to be found. The
> main theme is a fantastic flag-waver and even the more subdued stuff has
> more interesting stuff going on than the poor guy ever got credit for.
> Couple this with his other dramatic war score, The Great Raid, to hear how
> much range Rabin actually had.

> Best Cue:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCSZoBvoo9c&list=PLCCJ_xylQ4E0M7bs9uRJAgn8gqVmZPZvU

Haven't listened to this score in years so this made me revisit it. Enjoyed it as much as I did back then. Damn, I miss Rabin's sound in film music.

> #193 - Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian by Harry Gregson-Williams
>

> Most prefer the third, some still adore the first, but for my money, it
> was Prince Caspian that rocks the Narnia socks and never ceases to shock
> my coc—ok, I’ll stop now. It has way more action than the other two, with
> lots of epic battle scenes and chase music, but still maintains thematic
> continuity from his own original work (more so, in my books, than Arnold
> did with the pretty overrated third score). I’ve loved this sucker since
> it first came out, and sure wouldn’t hate if he did more stuff like this.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFkplPc1jsA

Great score, one of HGW's best. Would love to see it getting the expanded treatment.

> #192 - Finding Neverland by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek

> Gentle, lighter, whimsical drama’s aren’t usually the tea in my cup, which
> is probably why there’s only one Desplat on this list (ironically, it fits
> that description completely…I never said I was going to make much coherent
> sense in these things). Finding Neverland is also very much all of those
> words I first used, but it completely won me over from the very first
> listen for being so charming, beautiful, playful, and moving. The solo
> piano cues showcasing his great themes are the best tracks fo sho.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIV1wXUrv0I

I loved 4 of the 5 nominated scores that year, guess which one ended up winning the Oscar? Anyway, I never cared much for this one. Too whimsical for my taste.

> #191 - Shattered Glass by Mychael Danna

> First off; this is a lovely, woefully underrated movie that you can find
> on Amazon (as a DVD, boo) and that’s just about the only way you can find
> it. One of my favourite films ever and has a (shockingly) great
> performance by Hayden Christensen of all people. Considering the film is
> so forgotten about, I’m happily surprised the score is available on
> Spotify, and it sure won’t take up much of your time to giver a try –
> sucker is only about 23 minutes long. Normally that would be a huge ding
> for me, but it’s actually the perfect amount of music for the film, and
> the main themes Danna conjures up stick with you. If you like quirky
> dramatic scores by Thomas Newman, check this out immediately.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr0BCjQu2H0

Film is really excellent, can't remember the score

> #190 - Your Highness by Steve Jablonsky

> Jablonsky gets shit on a lot. Frankly, his scores often deserve it,
> especially lately. But back in 2011, high off the first three Transformers
> scores (which are a lot of fun you weens), out popped Your Highness, and
> damned if it isn’t an absolute blast from start to finish. The
> action/adventure music plays everything straight, rarely winking at the
> audience (like the absolutely ridonkulous movie itself does). Plus, with
> his cue Isabel, he crafted the most flat-out gorgeous music of his career.
> Plus, every time I listen to this score, it makes me think of Natalie
> Portman in a thong. Win win.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwDGuS9ZriQ

I love Jablonsky's music more than most. Yet this one never really did it for me. Maybe a revisit is in order

> #187 - The Quiet American by Craig Armstrong

> A mournful, soulful dramatic thriller score with a big splash of Asian
> influences, Quiet American was also my first Craig Armstrong score,
> randomly rented from the Lethbridge library for no reason other than the
> cover looked nifty. Its still one I return to pretty often, especially if
> in an introspective mood cause this is a very atmospheric (but also very
> beautiful) work. Man, I wish this guy scored three films a year.

> Best Cue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3H75Ab1OpQ

Great score for a great film

> Anyhoo, got any thoughts/comments/criticms about the 15 picks above?

Looking forward to the rest! I assume The Social Network will be in here as well

> Big BT fan, really love this score. Shame he rarely scores films these
> days, luckily he seems to drop a new album or some other interesting
> project each year.

Yeah that Metaverse thing he did last year was so goddamn awesome.

> Haven't listened to this score in years so this made me revisit it.
> Enjoyed it as much as I did back then. Damn, I miss Rabin's sound in film
> music.

A
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D

> I loved 4 of the 5 nominated scores that year, guess which one ended up
> winning the Oscar? Anyway, I never cared much for this one. Too whimsical
> for my taste.

Whimsy is usually antithetical to my tastes as well, but I dunno...this one just clicks in a really adorable, heart-tugging way.

> Looking forward to the rest! I assume The Social Network will be in here
> as well

Thanks bud! Annnnnd...nope, it didn't make the cut :P everyone seems to hate the sucker and I really don't, kinda love parts of it, but have only relistened to it maybe twice in the last 6-7 years. Plus I hate to say it, but my dislike for almost every further Reznor/Ross venture has soured me on the one I really did like.

Sadly, during your IMDB odyssey I was among those who read and didn't comment, mostly because I had little to add. I remember really enjoying your thoughts, as I do here!

Likewise, would be interested in seeing what Clemmensen dislikes about Cloud Atlas so much. It's one I enjoy for its parts more than the sum, but "All Boundaries are Conventions" and the end titles are transcendental.

> Sadly, during your IMDB odyssey I was among those who read and didn't
> comment, mostly because I had little to add. I remember really enjoying
> your thoughts, as I do here!

:P fair enough and appreciated.

> Likewise, would be interested in seeing what Clemmensen dislikes about
> Cloud Atlas so much. It's one I enjoy for its parts more than the sum, but
> 'All Boundaries are Conventions' and the end titles are transcendental.

Right?! Funny how so many of us really love so many cues and others just wanna burn the entire thing down to the ground.