Approaching Oscar season, I'd like to know... what are your favorite scores of the year?

Mine:
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - Gone Girl
Alexandre Desplat - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Justin Hurwitz & Tim Simonec - Whiplash
Hans Zimmer - Interstellar
Antonio Sanchez - Birdman
James Newton Howard - Nightcrawler

Honourable Mentions:
Alexandre Desplat - The Imitation Game*
Henry Jackman - Big Hero 6
James Newton Howard - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1
Steve Jablonsky - Transformers: Age of Extinction (despite the final film)

Still unheard:
J�hann J�hannsson - The Theory of Everything

Let's see the shriners' votes! :D

EDIT: Might've included this in the wrong section. Sorry for any inconvenience if that is so. Mods, enlighten the subject?



*apart from the main theme (which is great) and one or other cue, it's good, but not exceptional

Blazing Saddles
Bring Me the Head of Afredo Garcia
Chinatown
The Four Musketeers
Godfather Part II
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
Murder on the Orient Express
The Towering Inferno
Young Frankenstein

Out of curiosity, what is it you liked about Birdman? I thought it was horrible. An amateur junior-high garage band jam session

Out of curiosity, what is it you liked about Birdman? I thought it was horrible. An amateur junior-high garage band jam session

Birdman is a score that works alongside the film, and as a separate unit it only works for those who have seen it, and in that sense it matches perfectly... I understand why one would think it is amateurish, but the fact that it is far from perfect and kind of like a jam session, as you said, adds an extra spice to it. In my opinion.

And it's performed and written by a real percussionist who used different kinds of live drums and percussions, plus modifying some these. Compare it with the synth drum loops that infest RC's works and there's a difference.

And it's performed and written by a real percussionist who used different kinds of live drums and percussions, plus modifying some these. Compare it with the synth drum loops that infest RC's works and there's a difference.

True.
Though my favorite drum-centric score this year has got to be Whiplash.

I didn't see many films last year, but I was pretty impressed by John Ottman's Days of Future Past. Henry Jackman's The Winter Soldier and Big Hero 6 were good as well.

I did see Bridman, I hated it. And the "score" (if you can even call it that, I refuse to) was very distracting

I thought Powell's How to Train Your Dragon 2 was breathtaking :)

I did see Bridman, I hated it. And the "score" (if you can even call it that, I refuse to) was very distracting
I felt it complemented the film but that may just be me. :P

Definitely for me it is Hercules by Fernando Velazquez.

Well, there's already a thread like this in general discussion: Thread 180292

Anyway,
1. Grand Piano (Victor Reyes)
2. Inherent Vice (Jonny Greenwood)
3. Stonehearst Asylum (John Debney)
4. A Million Ways to Die in the West (Joel McNeely)
5. The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (Howard Shore)
6. Deep in the Darkness (Matthew Llewellyn)
7. Mr. Turner (Gary Yershon)
8. Into the Storm (Brian Tyler)
9. The Boxcar Children (Kenneth Burgomaster)
10. Jessabelle (Anton Sanko)
Honorable Mentions: The Judge (Thomas Newman), Noah (Clint Mansell), The Monuments Men (Alexandre Desplat), 22 Jump Street (Mark Mothersbaugh), Rosewater (Howard Shore), Birdman (Antonio Sanchez), Interstellar (Hans Zimmer), Whiplash (Justin Hurwitz), The Grand Budapest Hotel (Alexandre Desplat), McCanick (Johann Johannsson), Dead Within (Joshua Bradford, Clauton Worbeck)

In no particular order:

The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Divergent
Edge of Tomorrow
Fury
Godzilla
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Gone Girl
Guardians of the Galaxy
Hercules
Horns
How To Train Your Dragon 2
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Maleficent
A Million Ways to Die in the West
Need for Speed
Noah
Penguins of Madagascar
Pompeii
St. Vincent
The Theory of Everything
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Unbroken
Walking With Dinosaurs
X-Men Days of Future Past
300: Rise of an Empire

The Grand Budapest Hotel! I love the warm atmosphere of the score and the simple yet playful tunes. Ever since "Griet's Theme" from "Girl with a Pearl Earring" I loved Alexandre Desplat. GwaPE would have been a perfect Potter 7 score in my opinion, it has a rather magical touch; which, sadly, the real Potter 7 scores lack most of the time.

Also:
Interstellar
Gone Girl
The Imitation Game
The Boxtrolls
Maleficent
Noah
(Godzilla End Credits)

I must agree I do like The Theory of Everything despite the fact that it is an almost too Oscar-friendly score, it just fits perfectly with the Academy's preferences..

Horns (Rob a.k.a. Robin Coudert) - Initailly disappointed in this score after the nostalgic brilliance of Rob's score to Maniac, but ultimately Horns has had more repeat listens than any other score this past year.

A Million Ways To Die In The West (Joel McNeely) - I can't believe I actually consider a Joel McNeely score to be of any value, let alone of of the best of the year, but in a time where filmmusic has regressed into little more than background noise, McNeely's strong themes and classic scoring style really stood out, making the film itself almost bearable.

Hidden Kingdoms (Ben Foster) - Nature documentaries seem to be where its at for classic style scoring, and Ben Foster knocked this one right out of the park. If you haven't heard some of the amazing cues in this soundtrack... do yourself a favour and seek it out!

How To Train Your Dragon 2 (John Powell) - Wow... the first score was ok, but this is a real stand out. While not all cues have an impact on me, there were enough notable themes to get stuck in my head often. 'Hiccup's Gonne Be Chief' (from the FYC) alone has been on repeat play multiple times for me!

My Favorites:
1. Interstellar
2. The Imitation Game
3. The Theory of Everything

Also enjoyed themes from:
Amazing Spider-Man 2
Fury
Grand Budapest Hotel
Transformers: Age of Extinction
X-Men: Days of Future Past

Interstellar + Trailers
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything + Trailer
The Equalizer (Vengence)
Fury
Taken 3
The Grand Budapest Hotel

Calvary
Captain America II
This is The End (H. Jackman)
Penny Dreadful