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> How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) - *****

Repeat my 100-star freakout from HTTYD2. This is a very special movie to me, despite its flaws (the massive retooling late in development resulted in some obvious seams, but it's mostly a fitting send-off), because I saw it in theaters with my dad. He and I are both massive fans of the franchise, and of Powell's music for them.

This score is just... No words. In my mind, Powell and his team's work stand breast-to-breast with the all-time greats of film music (perhaps orchestral music EVAR), and in my most breathless moments, I would declare them to surpass Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Obviously not my ~professional~ opinion, but hey, I'm a fan

I think if I was told, gun to head, to pick a best score from this trilogy, I'd just cry lol. They're all amazing and have unique strengths. They really do form a complete symphony. HTTYD3's choral work is stunning, and Whitacre's contributions remind me that I *really* need to explore more of his stuff.

> Game of Thrones Season 8 (2019) - ****

Djawadi's music for this series is incredible. I mean, it's not that it's the best music composed for television or anything (though it holds its own), but as you said, how he went from being subdued and out of the way to commanding attention with his themes is incredible. You may or may not care for his style (I am the former), but his music commands respect. Iron Man couldn't seem farther away.

> Penguins (2019) - ****

Wonderful little score, and the Chicken Run rip came off as a cute easter egg. I don't remember a massive amount about this one, but it was a demonstration that he could still do this style. (Nature docs tend to bring out the best in composers.)

> Abominable (2019) - ***

I'd bump this up a star for the melodic emotional bits. A lot of this is sorta standard DW style, but he really taps into something beautiful at several key moments, summoning a haunting call (my words don't work so good this morning). The film's an underrated gem too, in my opinion.

> Catch-22 (2019) - ***½

Haven't heard, and from your description, it sounds really interesting. It's funny that they downplayed the difficulty of working together!

> Next time: “I always treat these books as steampunk.”

Again, no idea what this could be, but the quote makes me curious!

I'm looking forward to seeing what you pick and choose from the pandemic years, given that notability seemed to go out the window with theaters closing. (It feels profoundly wrong for 2020 to be treated as a historical study now...)