By Breanne Brennan 2019 yielded a plethora of interesting scores. Take a listen to my personal favorites from last year... Highly Commended 1917 (Thomas Newman) The Highwaymen (Thomas Newman) Judy (Gabriel Yared) Under the Silver Lake (Disasterpiece) Penguins (Harry Gregson-Williams) Ma famille et le loup (Stephen Warbeck) The Hustle (Anne Dudley) Top 10 Best of 2019 Scores 10. The Mustang (Jed Kurzel) If you liked the score for JOKER, then take a listen to Kurzel’s string-heavy, dissonant and moody work. It opens with one of my favorite music cues of the year “Horse Run,” and plays out with modern-day-Western-infused-walking-through-a-ghost-town-style motifs. 9. Ford v Ferrari (Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders) Okay, kiddos. Buckle up for this oh so slick and cool score that mirrors what’s onscreen. There’s pulse-racing percussion and just enough gentle guitar-twang to make you feel like you’re in the driver’s seat or gazing at an open horizon. 8. Downtown Abbey (John Lunn) It might not seem fair to put an adaptation of the lush television score on this list, but getting the big-screen treatment makes Lunn’s work feel much more grandiose and effective. I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit that the sweeping classical orchestrations of the main theme gave me “movie chills” when experiencing it in a darkened theater. 7. Tolkien (Thomas Newman) While it’s a score we’ve heard from the Newman catalog before, I’d argue that it’s one of the composer’s more “listenable” scores of 2019. It’s a fantasy-tinged score with faerie-like voices, low chorales, and Newman’s trademark delicate piano and string motifs that could almost serve as an alternate LOTR score. 6. Lucy in the Sky (Jeff Russo) Russo creates a blend of mysterious and awe-inspiring themes that make you feel like you’re floating in space alone or gazing at a stunning view of our planet. That being said, the score is not without its own feeling of discord, and there’s plenty of experimental, sometimes droning, styles that the composer weaves in, making this one of the more interesting scores of the year. 5. Bunuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles (Arturo Cardelus) Chances are you might not have heard of this international animated feature, but its score is one that simply deserves to be heard. The main theme is a determined, often heart-felt waltz that dances between tender piano and rich accordion countermelodies. 4. Little Women (Alexandre Desplat) It’s trademark Desplat, but is that ever really a bad thing? The composer crafts an emotional, playful, and often thoughtful score that meshes perfectly with the familial bonds between the onscreen characters. 3. A Hidden Life (James Newton Howard) JNH might be riffing on his gorgeous score for THE VILLAGE, but it’s nonetheless a beautiful work that’s apropos for a Terrence Malick-rumination on contentious objection. The piano and violin work here is gentle, often heartrendingly emotional, and gives us a sense of the fragility in the world of the film. 2. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (John Powell) More like, “How to Build Upon an Already Great Score.” The third DRAGON installment by Powell is even more glorious than its predecessors. With a majestic new waltz theme and epic orchestrations, this is a purely traditional film score to say the least, and it succeeds in all the right ways. 1. Star Wars – The Rise of Skywalker (John Williams) John Williams has always managed to create lush new melodies for each of his STAR WARS installments, but he caps off the latest trilogy with such elegance I almost want to weep with overwhelming nerd-joy. The sweeping “The Rise of Skywalker” theme might be one of the composer’s best of the last decade, and it is joined by a number of familiar, but transformed, character themes that make this the year’s best score.
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By Brett Blake
The biggest film awards of the year are going to be announced this weekend, so I’m back with Breanne Brennan to break down all the categories, handicap the various races, and highlight assorted snubs and general odd choices that were made in the nomination process! Below is a handy ballot of all the categories, courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes, so feel free to follow along with our discussion! |
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