I always await for your post, and again you do not disappoint!
I need to revisit Migration and Super Mario Brothers, which just did not click.
All the best
> 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
> 3. Life on Our Planet
> 4. The Boys in the Boat
> 5. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
> 6. Star Trek: Picard Season 3
> 7. Migration
> 8. The Boy and the Heron
> 9. American Fiction
> 10. The Flash
> Composer of the year: Laura Karpman
> ***** 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.
> 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 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.
> - Life on Our Planet playlist and theme breakdown:
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=128693
> - 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.
> - Thanks to 1 unit of Stephen Barton (or rather two 0.5 units of Barton
> from different works) we got both the best Star Wars video game score ever
> and the best season of Star Trek television scoring since the 1960s.
> - 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.
> - Thoughts on Hisaishi’s score:
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=129765
> 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. 
> **** movie scores making my top 20 are the Creed III by Joseph
> Shirley (the best score of the spinoff series), the surprisingly emotive
> The Creator by Hans Zimmer & Steve Mazzaro, Alan Menken’s
> occasionally quite spectacular second take on The Little Mermaid,
> the drum-tastic Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One by
> Lorne Balfe and his team, and the charmingly rhythmic Still: A Michael
> J. Fox Movie by John Powell. From TV we get the outrageously funky
> Kaleidoscope by Dominic Lewis.
> 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.
> Just missing the top 20: the exciting Haunted Mansion by Kris
> Bowers and the irrepressibly delightful Mog’s Christmas by David
> Arnold.
> 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.
>
>
> 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.
> 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.
> I acknowledge it’s entirely possible that Quartet’s year-end material,
> namely the 2CD set of new Barry score recordings, may have impacted the
> above list, but I haven’t acquired any of those albums yet.
> Almost the same note as last year: If the full set of Rózsa Polydor
> recordings - maybe my sole remaining “holy grail” - gets released in 2024,
> it wins the year. Game over. It’s in the rulebook.
>
>
> The best older works I discovered in 2023
> 1. Yamato (2005) - Joe Hisaishi -
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=129038
> 2. A League of Their Own (1992) - Hans Zimmer
> 3. The Fall of Berlin (1950) - Dmitri Shostakovich
> 4. Life in Bloom / Michurin (1949) - Dmitri Shostakovich
> 5. Alive (1993) - James Newton Howard
> 6. MacArthur (1977) - Jerry Goldsmith
> 7. Becket (1964) - Laurence Rosenthal
> 8. A Scene at the Sea (1991) - Joe Hisaishi -
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=128498
> 9. King of the Wind (1990) - John Scott
> 10. K2 (1991) - Hans Zimmer
> 11. Black Rain (1989) - Hans Zimmer
> 12. Driving Miss Daisy (1989) - Hans Zimmer
> 13. Fools of Fortune (1990) - Hans Zimmer
> 14. M:I - Fallout (2018) - Lorne Balfe -
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=119482
> 15. Tolkien (2019) - Thomas Newman
> Not original scores, but still great discoveries
> - Korngold in Vienna (1949) - Max Schönherr: Austrian Radio
> Symphonic Orchestra
> - The General re-score (1987) - Carl Davis -
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=128929
> - Piano Stories II (1996) - Joe Hisaishi -
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=128645
> - Piano Stories III (1998) - Joe Hisaishi -
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=128712
> - World Dreams (2004) - Joe Hisaishi -
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=128929
> - The World of Hans Zimmer (2018) -
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=119665
> - Symphony #11 (2023 CSO album release) - Philip Glass
> This is the fourth straight year I’ve also decided to call out a score
> discovery that rated below 4.5 stars but provided at least one addictive
> track, with last year’s being the badass Guns from The
> Rundown and earlier entries being the energetic The Bad Guys / Hit
> Me / Car Trouble / Flying High from Looney Tunes: Back in
> Action and the groovy The Monks of St. Thomas Affair from
> The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Season 3. This year’s winner is Clear
> and Present Danger, a *** score (and how could it be anything but
> that, given how little time James Horner and Don Davis had to work on it)
> with an absolute banger of an action track in The Ambush.
> Full breakdown of 2023 discoveries:
> Newly heard scores (2021 or earlier) - 131
> - Part of MV/RC rundown - 61
> - Part of Hisaishi rundown - 23
> - Part of Thomas Newman rundown - 18
> - Others - 29 including 7 by Jerry Goldsmith, 5 by Horner, 2 by Delerue, 2
> by Elmer Bernstein, and 2 by Mancini
> Catch-up on 2022 - 39, the best being
> - Black Adam -
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=122926
> - Bullet Train -
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=122718
> - Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
> - Interview with the Vampire Season 1
> - Strange World -
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=122718
> - Top Gun: Maverick -
> https://www.filmtracks.com/scoreboard/forum.cgi?read=122685
> Non-score works by film composers - 34, with all but two being discoveries
> from my Hisaishi rundown
> Classical albums - 33
> Expanded releases of scores I’d already heard - 10, the best being
> mentioned above
> Compilation albums - 8, with most mentioned above, but I should give a
> callout to the three-part series of Shostakovich: Film Music CDs
> released in the 1980s under the baton of José Serebrier. Stellar stuff.
> Concert recordings - 2: Hisaishi’s 1992 Symphonic Best Selection
> and The World of Hans Zimmer
> Rerecording of score I’d already heard via its film recording - 1: On
> Dangerous Ground
> Film recording of score I’d already heard via a rerecording - 1:
> Godzilla (1954)
>
>
> 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.
> - 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.
> Just missing the cut: And We’re Off from Gran Turismo.
>
>
> The other 2023 scores I’ve heard to date
> **** top 30 - All the Light We Cannot See, Blue Whales: Return
> of the Giants, Foundation Season 2, God of War Ragnarök:
> Valhalla, Good Omens Season 2, Haunted Mansion, Mog’s
> Christmas, Prehistoric Planet Season 2, Succession
> Season 4, and Wild Isles.
> Other **** - Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, Eisspin The Oh So
> Terrible / Eisspin Der Sehr Schreckliche, Free / Libres, The
> Gilded Age Season 2, Mushka, The Pigeon Tunnel, What
> If…? Season 2, and The Wheel of Time Season 2.
> ***½ (round up to 4) - Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,
> Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora,
> Barbie, Blue Eye Samurai Season 1, Chevalier,
> Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Elemental,
> Forgotten Love / Znachor, The Last Repair Shop, Lupin
> Part 3, The Mandalorian Season 3, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2,
> One Piece Season 1, Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season
> 1, Peter Pan and Wendy, Rangers of the Lost Ring,
> Scavengers Reign Season 1, Society of the Snow, and
> Tetris.
> 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
> ***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.
> *** - Bunker, Dog Gone, Ferrari, Ghosted,
> Godzilla Minus One, Gran Turismo, The Great Escaper,
> The Hill, Miraculous - Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie,
> Origin, Planet Earth III, Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child
> of Fire, Road to Boston, Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken,
> Secret Invasion, Scarlet / L’envol, Shazam! Fury of the
> Gods, Shotgun Wedding, Supercell, and We Have a
> Ghost.
> Eh - The Mother and Ping Pong: The Triumph.
> Meh - The Legend & Butterfly.
> Oh bother - Citadel Season 1, Father & Soldier /
> Tirailleurs, Kazama Kimichika: Classroom Zero, The Last of
> Us Season 1, and The Offering.
> 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.
>
>
> One other random thought
> We really aren’t ever getting that expanded Top Gun: Maverick
> album, eh?
| 
Rather humorously both animated films but also two of the finest (scores) for the medium in 2023.
