I’m a big fan of film scores, and every year or so I get a bee up my bonnet to share my favorite tracks from my collection. So! Here’s 2012’s list, handily divided according to the mood you might want to evoke. Enjoy!
FUN/JOY
- WALL-E — Thomas Newman (WALL-E)
- Forbidden Friendship — John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon)
- Dead Already — Thomas Newman (American Beauty)
- Discombobulate — Hans Zimmer (Sherlock Holmes)
- Possibility — Thomas Newman (Pay it Forward)
- First Date — Thomas Newman (WALL-E)
- To the Stars — Randy Edelman (Dragonheart)
ROMANTIC
- Juliette is Happy — Niall Byrne (Cairo Time)
- Your Hands are Cold — Jean-Yves Thibaudet (Pride & Prejudice)
- Latika’s Theme — AR Rahman/Suzanne D’Mello(Slumdog Millionaire)
- The Sacrifice — Michael Nyman (The Piano)
- Define Dancing — Thomas Newman (WALL-E)
- Lovers - Flower Garden — Kathleen Battle/Shigeru Umebayashi (House of Flying Daggers)
- Married Life — Michael Giacchino (Up)
- Together We Will Live Forever — Clint Mansell (The Fountain)
HAUNTING
- Iguazu — Gustavo Santaolalla (Babel/Deadwood)
- Anne Dreams of Her Childhood — Trevor Morris (The Tudors)
- Justin Calls Iris — Jeff Beal (Carnivale)
- Ghosts — Thomas Newman (Road to Perdition)
- While Waiting — Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
- Song for Jesse — Nick Cave/Warren Ellis (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)
- Pruit Igoe & Prophecies — The Philip Glass Ensemble (Watchmen)
- Revenge — James Horner (Legends of the Fall)
TRAGIC
- Life and Death — Michael Giacchino (Lost)
- Any Other Name — Thomas Newman (American Beauty)
- Tarr and Irina — Alberto Iglesias (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
- Ashokan Farewell — Jay Ungar/cover by Doc and The Lady (Ken Burns’ Civil War)
- His Name was Michael — Jeff Beal (Carnivale)
- More Prays — Trevor Morris (The Tudors)
- Valley of the Shadow — Thomas Newman (Little Women)
- Elysium — Hans Zimmer/Lisa Gerrard (Gladiator)
- Brooks Was Here — Thomas Newman (Shawshank Redemption)
- Syriana — Alexandre Desplat (Syriana)
MELLOW
- George Smiley — Alberto Iglesias (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
- The Ludlows — James Horner (Legends of the Fall)
- Theme for the Diving Bell and the Butterfly — Paul Cantelon (The Driving Bell and the Butterfly)
- Melville’s Grand Armada — Brian Keane (Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World)
- The Grey Havens — Howard Shore (Return of the King)
- We Don’t Have to Think Like That Anymore — Cliff Martinez (Solaris)
- The Artifact & The Living — Michael Andrews (Donnie Darko)
- Panoramic — Atticus Ross (The Book of Eli)
- Time — Hans Zimmer (Inception)
EXCITING
- Romani Holiday (Antonius Remix) — Hans Zimmer (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows)
- Chant — Hans Zimmer (Black Hawk Down)
- The Way of the Sword — Hans Zimmer (The Last Samurai)
- Agent of Chaos — Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard (The Dark Knight)
- Molossus — Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard (Batman Begins)
- Mombasa — Hans Zimmer (Inception)
- WALL-E’s Pod Adventure — Thomas Newman (WALL-E)
- Those We Don’t Speak Of — James Newton Howard (The Village)
- Psychological Recovery … 6 Months [2] — Hans Zimmer (Sherlock Holmes)
EPIC
- The End of All Things — Howard Shore (The Return of the King)
- Roll Tide — Hans Zimmer (Crimson Tide)
- Isengard Unleashed — Howard Shore (The Two Towers)
- Kaneda’s Death, Pt. 2 — John Murphy (Sunshine/Kick Ass)
- Death is the Road to Awe — Clint Mansell (The Fountain)
- The Battle of Kerak — Harry Gregson-Williams (Kingdom of Heaven)
- Mind Heist — Zack Hemsey (Inception Trailer)
- Helm’s Deep — Howard Shore (The Two Towers)
… AND ROLL CREDITS
- So Was Red — Thomas Newman (Shawshank Redemption)
- That Next Place — Thomas Newman (Meet Joe Black)
- Under the Stars — Hans Zimmer (The Lion King)
- The Great Work Begins — Thomas Newman (Angels in America)
- Road to Perdition — Thomas Newman (Road to Perdition)
- The Battle is Not Over — Jeff Beal (Carnivale)
- Now We Are Free — Hans Zimmer/Lisa Gerrard (Gladiator)
- The Return of the King — Howard Shore (The Return of the King)
- The Book of Kells — Bruno Coulais (Brendan and the Secret of Kells)
