Sunday Top Ten - Soundtracks by non-film composers

Although it can be proven that there are exceptions to the rule, a commonly accepted generality about the Academy is that its music branch is a highly insular clique, showing a persistent preference to established mainstays and often avoiding artists who don't work explicitly in the realms of film and television. But despite the fact that the music branch shies away from such composers, many filmmakers have welcomed their refreshing outsider take on movie music, especially so in the last decade. I thought I'd give a shout out to some of the finest film scores (yes, I'm including song scores as well) from musicians whose notoriety primarily stems from outside the relatively narrow niche of film scorers.

(Interesting side note: The Golden Globes are much more receptive to outsider musicians than AMPAS, having bestowed nine nominations upon the following ten scores compared to the Academy's two.)

IFMA winners!

Film Score of the Year: John Powell, How to Train Your Dragon
Composer of the Year: Alexandre Desplat
Best Score for an Animated Film: John Powell, How to Train Your Dragon
Best Score for a Drama Film: Alexandre Desplat, The King's Speech
Best Score for an Action/Adventure/Thriller Film: Alexandre Desplat, The Ghost Writer
Best Score for a Comedy Film: Pinar Toprak, The Lightkeepers.
Best Score to a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film: Daft Punk, TRON: Legacy
Best Score for a Documentary Film: Bruno Coulais, Oceans
Best Individual Composition: Danny Elfman, “Alice Theme” from Alice in Wonderland
Breakout Composer of the Year: Nuno Malo, Amalia

I have to say I like these winners. For the most part that is. I am a wee bit baffled as to how Danny Elfman's derivative "Alice" can be seen (or heard) as a more accomplished composition than John Powell's beautiful "Forbidden Friendship", but at least Powell took home the big prize for Best Film Score of the Year, a fitting consolation given that he stands little chance of winning the Oscar.

I'm thrilled to see Daft Punk get some due recognition for what is some of the year's most awesome music in TRON Legacy, and to see Alexandre Desplat actually win for his atmospheric Ghost Writer score, to go along with his expected win for King's Speech. It's looking like his year.

My Award nominations: Original Score

Best Original Score:

How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell):

Powell gives an enjoyable Celtic/Gaelic mash-up to the film, making great use of bagpipes, snare drums, & recorder. Has the most memorable melodies of the year.

Inception (Hans Zimmer):

Zimmer's layered, powerful score is right on target with all the emotional cues and bombastic action sequences. A wholly original, commanding, and effective work.

The Social Network (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross):

Reznor and Ross' dense atmospheric themes help to give the movie a unique aesthetic identity; soft spoken but agitated, with a somewhat hostile edge.

Tangled (Alan Menken):

Chalk it up to nostalgia, but Menken's score just managed to hit a soft spot with me, taking me back to the days of my childhood when he'd be producing an Oscar-winning score every two years.

TRON Legacy (Daft Punk):

Their musical stylings are a perfect fit for the cyber environments of TRON Legacy. They aptly combine synthesized beats with full-bodied orchestrations.

Just missed: The Ghost Writer, I Am Love, True Grit

Review - TRON Legacy

Watching TRON Legacy is like watching a pretty fireworks display that you promptly forget all about as soon as it's over. Can't say I'm surprised. It's hard enough to make a good sequel to a good movie, let alone to a movie that was never that good to begin with (by which I mean the original TRON from 1982). At least this updated continuation manages to eke by on its dazzling look and, especially, its awesome sound.

That's the only justification I can give to paying money for a ticket to this flashy but otherwise hallow light show. The first act is a whirlwind of nonsensical action, while the second act is nearly 50 minutes of stagnant exposition and stilted “character development” with little more than one fight scene to liven things up. Only the climactic third act has a solid pace, and it still suffers the rest of the atrocious screenplay's many foibles: it's full of logic holes, ear-splitting dialogue, and inconsistent characterization. The actors are none too convincing either, but I'd be surprised at anyone who could deliver such preposterous lines convincingly.

But on the big screen, with big sound, and with tricked-out 3D, it is quite something to behold. The effects are impressive (save for a not-quite-realistic CG model of the young Jeff Bridges), working nicely to accent the unique production and costume design. More than anything else though, this is one of the best sounding films of the year, boasting terrific sound effects and an outstanding musical score by Daft Punk (who earn a well-appointed cameo in one scene).

Oscar nods for Visual Effects and both Sound categories are probably coming, but I'm less optimistic about Original Score, given the music branch's staunch aversion to nontraditional scoring.

**1/2 out of ****