BOT's Top 100 Film Scores Countdown (2021): Fast Five Edition (TOP 10 WEDNESDAY EVENING EST)

[4815162342]

4 hours ago, Jake Gittes said:

 

This music is not original to In the Mood for Love, people. (Galasso's is, but it's not his stuff that's played 40 times in the movie and is most associated with it.)

 

Thanks for letting me know.

 

I'm not familiar with the score

[4815162342]

I'm working late tonight so there won't be any postings today.

 

We'll resume our regularly scheduled broadcast on Tuesday evening.

[titanic2187]

11 hours ago, Jake Gittes said:

 

This music is not original to In the Mood for Love, people. (Galasso's is, but it's not his stuff that's played 40 times in the movie and is most associated with it.)

I excluded this, and Black Swam because the main theme that people refer and label the film with, weren't original or created to the film

[4815162342]

And we're back

 

 

 

70. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

 

Original Music by Howard Shore

 

 

264 Points

Top 5 Placements: 1

 

 

Prior Placements: 
2015- #8
2017- #11
2019- #42
 

 

 

After initially appearing extremely high, the middle child of the LOTR trilogy is in the midst of experiencing a rapid descent on the 100. The only member of the trilogy to not be nominated for a Score Oscar, there was some initial confusion as to whether it was even eligible, due to at the time the Academy introducing new rules for sequels with regards to Original Score. The movie introduces several new musical themes, most notably the theme for Rohan, which in its more somber or wistful recreations heavily features a Hardanger fiddle. The steep drop for Two Towers raises the question if other traditionally high placed films may suffer a similar fate.

[4815162342]

69. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

 

Original Music by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

 

 

278 Points

Top 5 Placements: 2

 

 

Prior Placements:
2015- #32
2017- #37
2019- #68
 

 

After a steep drop in 2019, the offbeat historical western starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck has stabilized its position. The moody and somber string-heavy score was composed by Australian musicians Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, who occasionally pivot from being rockers down under to composing gloomy and meditative film scores, mainly for Westerns or Western-inspired films. Cave and Ellis themselves played many of the instruments featured in the film's score, with Cave playing the piano or celesta, while Ellis played the violin, guitar, etc.

[4815162342]

68. Gladiator (2000)

 

Original Music by Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard

 

 

279 Points

Top 5 Placements: 1

 

 

Prior Placements:
2015- #43
2017- #30
2019- #23
 

 

For three consecutive lists, the Ridley Scott Roman epic was progressively pushing its way higher and higher, but now it has suddenly tumbled 45 places. Vocalist Lisa Gerrard was brought on to collaborate with Hans Zimmer after Ridley Scott's first choice, Israeli vocalist Ofra Haza passed away. Also at one point famous Italian singer Luciano Pavarotti was supposed to sing for the score, but he turned the opportunity down. The bombastic bursts of percussion and horns used in the film score take inspiration from many period musical pieces, and in fact in 2006 Hans Zimmer was sued by the Holst Foundation for allegedly infringing on the copyright for Gustav Holst's classic piece Mars: The Bringer of War.

[4815162342]

67. The Piano (1993)

 

Original Music by Michael Nyman

 

 

283 Points

Top 5 Placements: 1

 

 

Prior Placements:
2015- #87
 

 

After being absent from the 100 since 2015, the score for Jane Campion's romance once again makes it, at a higher position to boot. Nyman, a pianist known for his minimalist musical style, takes the reins of the film's score to deliver a work that is, unsurprisingly, piano-focused. The main theme for the score was based on a traditional Scottish melody titled "Gloomy Winter's Noo Awa". Nyman's piano work on the film has been covered numerous times, including on one occasion by a Finnish symphonic metal band. Nyman's work was nominated by numerous groups such as the Golden Globes and BAFTAs, but was not nominated for the Oscars.

Edited July 13, 2021 by 4815162342

[4815162342]

66. Touch of Evil (1958)

 

Original Music by Henry Mancini

 

 

283 Points

Top 10 Placements: 1

Vote Tiebreaker over The Piano
 

 

 

We have another brand new entrant into the Countdown alumni with Orson Welles' dark film noir set at the US-Mexican border. Narrowly winning a tiebreaker over The Piano, the film marks an appearance by Henry Mancini, whose work for The Pink Panther narrowly missed the 100. Mancini was chosen for the film without Welles' approval or consent, and only briefly met the director on set once, and by the time Mancini started to compose, Welles had been essentially exiled from the studio due to disputes over final cut. To reflect the border setting, Mancini incorporated elements of Latin music into the film score and into diegetic music.

[The Panda]

21 hours ago, 4815162342 said:

69. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

 

Original Music by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

 

 

278 Points

Top 5 Placements: 2

 

 

Prior Placements:
2015- #32
2017- #37
2019- #68
 

 

After a steep drop in 2019, the offbeat historical western starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck has stabilized its position. The moody and somber string-heavy score was composed by Australian musicians Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, who occasionally pivot from being rockers down under to composing gloomy and meditative film scores, mainly for Westerns or Western-inspired films. Cave and Ellis themselves played many of the instruments featured in the film's score, with Cave playing the piano or celesta, while Ellis played the violin, guitar, etc.

Great score but RIP at it being an all time low placement

[4815162342]

Next set of 5

 

 

 

65. Sunset Boulevard (1950)

 

Original Music by Franz Waxman

 

 

284 Points

Top 10 Placements: 1

 

 

Prior Placements:
2015- #96
2017- #92
2019- #64
 

 

After two appearances in the 90s, the acclaimed 1950 cutting take on Hollywood has settled into the mid-60s. German refugee Franz Waxman handled the score for the movie, and used distorted arrangements of popular music styles from the 1920s and 30s to reflect the fragile mind of fallen star Norma Desmond. His music for the character was also heavily inspired by tango music, to reflect another aspect of her character's fictional biography. Waxman's score was ranked #16 on AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores.

[4815162342]

64. Edward Scissorhands (1990)

 

Original Music by Danny Elfman

 

 

289 Points

 

 

Prior Placements:
2015- #72
2017- #54
2019- #50
 

 

After just barely cracking the top half of the countdown in 2019, Danny Elfman's work for one of Tim Burton's most acclaimed films has fallen back a decent bit. It was the fourth collaboration between Elfman and Burton, who would go on to many, many more films together. Elfman has gone on record citing his work for Edward Scissorhands as being among his favorites. The gothic fantasy music has gone on to be used in trailers for a number of films that share its core DNA, such as the Nightmare Before Christmas and A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was also one of 250 scores initially nominated by the AFI in 2005 for 100 Years of Film Scores.

[4815162342]

Hold on a second here.....I do believe....I think we have....yes we do. We have an actual tie.

 

 

62. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

 

Original Music by Nicholas Britell

 

 

290 Points

Top 5 Placements: 1

 

 

Prior Placements:
2019- #88

 

 

Jumping up 26 places from its 2019 debut is Nicholas Britell's work for Barry Jenkins' Harlem-set drama. Britell had previously worked with Jenkins on Moonlight and his work for Beale Street hits on a number of similar tones and moods. Britell's moving and passionate work received widespread critical acclaim, and was nominated at the Oscars, but lost to Black Panther. That film tied for 335th place in the Countdown.

 

 

 

 

62. Inside Out (2015)

 

Original Music by Michael Giacchino

 

 

290 Points

Top 5 Placements: 1

 

 

Prior Placements:
2017- #86
 

 

 

Tied with Beale Street is the acclaimed Pixar animation about the mind of a young girl, which has only appeared once before in 2017, but has risen a good amount from its spot there. Giacchino worked with the director Pete Docter, who has a musical background itself, to craft how the music would reflect the disparate character emotions and themes of the film. As part of this process, Giacchino composed a suite of music unconnected to the film to reflect his emotions at the time, to get inside the heads of the characters. The film's score received some recognition from critic groups, and contributed to Giacchino's Film Composer of the Year award from the World Soundtrack Academy.

[4815162342]

61. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

 

Original Music by Malcolm Arnold

 

 

294 Points

 

 

Prior Placements:
2015- #96

 

Another film that has been absent since 2015 (and which barely made it then) is David Lean's epic WW2 film about the construction and mission to destroy a railroad bridge in the jungles of now-Myanmar. Though the most memorable aspect of the film's music is "Colonel Bogey's March", that piece of music is not original to the movie. Malcolm Arnold has described working on the film as the worst job of his life, since he had ten days to write about 45 minutes of music. In spite of his miserable experience and rushed work schedule, Arnold walked away in the end with an Oscar and a Grammy, so it worked out well in the end for him.

[4815162342]

Next set of 5!

 

 

60. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)

 

Original Music by Phillip Glass

 

 

297 Points

Top 10 Placements: 1

 

 

We now have our penultimate wholly brand new film to make the countdown with Phillip Glass' work for Paul Schrader's examination of the life and work of Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima. Glass brings his same minimalist style to this film, with many repeated chords and note segments throughout the film score. A substantial amount of the film score was performed by the renowned string group The Kronos Quartet, and Glass devised the film score to be done in three different styles to reflect the three different aspects of the film. The black-and-white biographical flashbacks are accompanied by a string quartet, the "present-day" footage  is accompanied by a string orchestra and percussion, and the stylized scenes from Mishima's novels with a large symphonic orchestra,

[4815162342]

59. Interstellar (2014)

 

Original Music by Hans Zimmer

 

 

 

303 Points

 

Top 10 Placements: 2

Top 5 Placements: 1

 

 

Prior Placements:

2015- #22

2017- #51

2019- #57

 

 

It took a while, but Christopher Nolan has finally weighed in on the 100. His lengthy space odyssey has found a comfortable niche in the countdown over the past few entries. Nolan when reuniting with Zimmer for the project chose not to provide Zimmer with a script or any plot details for writing the film's music, but instead gave the composer a single page that told the story of a father leaving his child for work. From that, and from his agreement with Nolan to rely on a 1920s pipe organ as the core of the film's music, Zimmer went about crafting the score. The Telegraph when reviewing the film commented "With the vast sounds of a composer set loose on his grandest ever assignment. But it relies less on Straussian majesty à la 2001 than something rather more pointed". Zimmer's work would be nominated for an Oscar, but would lost to Top 100 contemporary The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Edited July 15, 2021 by 4815162342

[4815162342]

58. Forrest Gump (1994)

 

Original Music by Alan Silvestri

 

 

303 Points

Top 5 Placements: 1

Vote Tiebreaker over Interstellar

 

 

Prior Placements:
2015- #61
2017- #46
2019- #60

 

 

Winning the tiebreaker over Interstellar due to appearing on a couple more lists is Alan Silvestri's work for Tom Hanks' most (probably) famous character. Silvestri's work for the film originates with a mellow and wistful piano theme that plays over the main credits and sets the tone for the simple, but hopeful and kind-hearted protagonist stumbling through a rapidly changing world. The other primary theme slowly builds in the film before its first appearance in the famous "Run Forrest Run" scene. Silvestri's work was nominated for an Oscar, but would lose to Hans Zimmer's music for The Lion King (the first go-around). It was also one of the 250 films nominated for AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores.

[4815162342]

Okay, now this one is gonna cause some reactions

 

 

 

57. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

 

Original Music by Alan Silvestri

 

 

305 Points

 

 

 

The final wholly brand new film to the Top 100 is the Marvel behemoth that took the world by storm in 2019, conquering box office records all over, and being the culmination of Alan Silvestri's work for the franchise. Silvestri started work on the film's score in November 2018 and finished about four months later. Silvestri described his work on the film as the most versatile score in the MCU to date, given its broad diversity and shift in tones,  ranging from "thunderous percussion and powerful brass" for the action sequences to a more minimalist, jazz-inspired music for Ant-Man and the quantum realm. His track "Portals" has rapidly solidified itself as probably the iconic musical moment of the entire MCU.

[4815162342]

56. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

 

Original Music by Alexandre Desplat

 

 

307 Points

 

 

Prior Placements:
2015- #75
2017- #66
2019- #55
 

 

And the film that beat out Interstellar at the Oscars again manages to eke out a spot on the 100 a few places higher than its competitor. The music for the film is heavily inspired by Russian and Eastern European folk music and similar to prior list appearance Doctor Zhivago, heavily relies upon the balalaika (indeed, some parts of the score utilize a 50-man orchestra of French and Russian balalaika players). Six months of prep work and research by Wes Anderson and the film's music supervisor was done to hone and craft the vision for the film's score. Desplat has said that his exposure to Anderson's idiosyncrasies was integral for his articulating and crafting a film score featuring melodies and motifs for a wide array of characters.

[chasmmi]

Think I am still batting a solid three films that have made it onto this list so far. 

[The Panda]

This forum’s love of Silvestri…