Film Scores (2014)

[redhawk23]

Film Scores.

This isn't just a thread for awards talk although that is certainly welcome.

Movie music is in kind of weird phase right now I think. There isn't really a prevalence of easily hummable "ringtone ready" movie themes any more for the most part. (I think this is the major dropped ball of most of the Marvel films). On the other hand, I don't think the movie landscape is ultimately at a loss of quality music. It just tends to be of a different type than the easily recognizable John Williams music of the past.

All that said, I've heard some pretty good scores through out the year that served their purpose within the film but the only one that really comes to mind as being particularly notable is the score for Gone Girl from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

More than any other composers this year I feel their score really developed a lot of good themes throughout the film. The track titled "Consummation" which plays during a pivotal scene with Neil Patrick Harris (those who have the seen the movie know which) is outright terrifying and adds a lot of energy to a scene that was already intense. I saw people in my crowd literally gagging on their popcorn, and I think the music did a lot to sell the scene's impact.

So what do you all think: What have you liked, what are you still looking forward to, Is Everything Awesome?

 

[antsman41]

Sadly for all of the great films this year not too many scores have stood out to me. I'd say my top so far are;

Under The Skin
Only Lovers Left Alive
Enemy

Blue Ruin, In Your Eyes, The Double, The Rover, and Locke are also pretty good. While CA: The Winter Soldier was serviceable, but not bad or outstanding by any means.

While, there have been some great soundtracks this year;

The Grand Budapest Hotel
Boyhood
Guardians Of The Galaxy
What If
Palo Alto

*I'd say TV has had the best scores this year over any film; Utopia, The Leftovers, Max Richter is so talented), Glue, Fargo, and True Detective...

 

[TheNextNolan22]

Godzilla was a favorite of mine. For me, the best film score of the year so far goes to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' Gone Girl score while best soundtrack goes to Guardians of the Galaxy.





Oh and Everything Is Awesome just cuz.

 

[antsman41]

Godzilla was a favorite of mine. For me, the best film score of the year so far goes to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' Gone Girl score while best soundtrack goes to Guardians of the Galaxy.

Oh and Everything Is Awesome just cuz.

Gosh, I've been too busy for Gone Girl... need to get to that soon.

I really hope Zimmer can finally wow us since TDK. Inception was solid but a little more of the same from Batman... Maybe this space feel will bring some airy and playful vibe like the trailers have given us. I want more El Ten Eleven/The Album Leaf/Sigur Rós/Múm and a little less Explosions In The Sky/65DaysOfStatic, that he's been doing since 2008.

 

[Deserana]

Gone Girl and Guardians are the only 2 that have stood out to me.

 

[Quasimod0]

Out of the movies I've seen this year, the scores that I really enjoyed were:
Saving Mr. Banks ( saw it in theaters in January)
The Winter Soldier ( especially the Winter Soldier theme)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ( Spidey got a great new theme, and I really enjoyed Electro's "Paranoia" theme )
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (I always enjoy Giacchino's work)

 

[Deserana]

Oh yes and Amazing Spiderman 2. Doesn't work really within the film but the score on its own is great IMO. The movie was very disappointing though.

 

[Brother Jack]

I agree that film music has been in not the best shape in recent years. There's still good stuff out there every year but patented Zimmer-esque sound has dominated the industry to the point that many scores, especially for blockbusters, sound nearly identical. It's kind of a shame that it has supplanted the more traditional, orchestral scoring of years past, the John Williams era. But as I said there's good stuff to be found of a myriad of styles if you look for it.

Of the scores I've heard this year the ones that stood out to me were Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Gone Girl, both wildly different scores that fit their movies like a glove and were compelling listens on their own.

I'm really looking forward to what Zimmer does with Interstellar. If reports are to be believed he is going in a different direction than his standard "wall of sound" and I couldn't be happier. I love a lot of the guy's work but when even he says he's getting tired of his own sound you know it's time for everyone to do something different.

 

[flickchick85]

Godzilla was a favorite of mine. For me, the best film score of the year so far goes to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' Gone Girl score while best soundtrack goes to Guardians of the Galaxy.

I was about to make a post that said exactly these things, lol. Gone Girl and Godzilla have been the only standouts to me score-wise so far.

Kind of a weak year for scores, imo, but I have high hopes for Zimmer's Interstellar and James Newton Howard's Mockingjay - Part 1.

 

[redhawk23]

We'll see what Howard Shore brings to the table for the final Hobbit film. I really loved the Song of the Lonely Mountain theme from the first film and was really disappointed when it wasn't really carried over to the second film.

 

[Marvolo]

We'll see what Howard Shore brings to the table for the final Hobbit film. I really loved the Song of the Lonely Mountain theme from the first film and was really disappointed when it wasn't really carried over to the second film.

Shore didnt write the Misty Mountain Theme. The vocals the dwarves sing in Bag End (a reworking of Tolkien's own vocals) and the theme itself was written by David Long in collaboration with Plan 9, a New Zealand band that composed it. David Long is a New Zealander that has worked on all of Jackson's films and he wrote music for and helped with the sound design on all the LOTR films and AUJ. Neil Finn used Long's theme as the basis for the end credit's song. So Shore had very little to do with that theme, and word is that Shore wasnt a fan of the theme and didnt want to use it in DOS.

Its one of my favorite themes and imo Shore is being kind of foolish if he doesnt allow it to return in BTFA. Shore should have allowed it to evolve over the course of the three Hobbit films like he allowed the Gondor theme to evolve over the three LOTR films.

 

[Kane52630]

The Frame score by Jamin Winans is impeccable.








I guess if we're counting soundtracks as well then it's The Guest and Guardians of the Galaxy easily...

 

[ThePhantasm]

I haven't been impressed by many scores this year. Maleficent (James Newton Howard) and How to Train Your Dragon 2 (John Powell) were both quite good. Superhero film scores this year have been dismal, and Hans Zimmer's Interstellar score, while better than most of the rest of his work for the past decade, was still at the end of the day rather uninspired, I felt.

 

[antsman41]

I'm going to have to add;

Nightcrawler (5)
The One I Love (2)
Interstellar (3)
Gone Girl (7)

...to my other 3 favorites scores this year;

Under The Skin (1)
Only Lovers Left Alive (4)
Enemy (6)

Plus, the soundtrack to St. Vincent was beautiful. Murray singing along to Dylan was magical...

 

[Kane52630]

Joseph Trapanese's Raid 2 score is also one of my favorites of the year.

 

[psylockolussus]

I love the score of X-Men: Days of Future Past!

 

[ThePhantasm]

I thought it was Ottman's weakest X-Men score.

 

[CapedCrusader14]

Interstellar, Gone Girl and Whiplash are the standouts for me this year.

 

[SquareWatcher]

Michael Giacchino is going to have a huge year next year with Jupiter Ascending, Inside Out, Jurassic World and Tomorrowland. Some other scores I'm looking forward to are John Williams' Star Wars (obviously), Brian Tyler's Avengers and Dario Marianelli's Pan.

 

[dark_b]

Giacchino is doing scores for all those movies? niceeeeeee

 

[Deserana]

Interstellar's was brilliant, I've had the main theme in my head for days.

GOTG
Gone Girl
The Guest
are all also great