(Archive) Lets Talk About My Copious Amount of Favourite Movies and Their Scores

*Reposted from my former blog*

Ah, yes the pivotal question to the film fanatic's ear 'what is your favourite film?’ This question is often replied to with a temperamental answer. We go through a multitude of stages when settling on a decent answer to a snap shot question. Stage one, favourite genre, which often ends in a spew of nonsense because you don't have a favourite genre as such. Stage two, the flicker; where your mind scans through as many films as it can. Stage three, settling for the first sane film to pop in your head.  

A serious fan would need a good week to work out their favourite film, flicking through their collection of films and critically analysing each one and then separating them in to categories of greatness. It's a long and tedious process that frankly I don't have the energy to go through.

For me, my favourite films are merely the ones that have had a profound effect on me or I will watch at any given moment. Through this way of thinking, it allows me to have a ridiculous number of favourite films without the hassle. All it needs is a decent score and it may qualify.  Also it makes this post longer – I mean longer. Seriously, watch out.

Lets start with my two favourite Disney films - Hercules and Mulan. Hercules gives a tale of a heroic man with selfish amenities at the beginning, it speaks volumes of where you belong and who you are - home is where the heart is. Alan Menken supplies our music, both vocal and instrumental. I adore the songs in this; especially Gospel Truth, Zero to Hero and a Star is Born. They are all so spritely and humourous, they have such personality. I'm actually quite the fan of Menken, possibly due to my musical loving side, but his work is somewhat cheesy at times - I dig that. However in Hercules besides the vocal songs he somehow creates a matured version of himself, the main themes having enormous structure and a hell of a stamp. Take for instance 'The Big Olive' its speed and stigatto violin and brass creating a beautiful aura of fun. Then you get 'a True Hero' a throbbing broken heart mystifying in to tale of heroism and lurve, repeating the melody from Go the Distance - effectively solidifying that Hercules is now a hero and has found his place. It's a gorgeous scene and score - I cry almost every time.

Mulan poses a different phase, the lyrical genius is beyond compare. 'Reflection', 'Honour to Us All', 'Make a Man out of You' and 'A Girl Worth Fighting For'. Each song is there to effectively tell us part of the story and letting us understand the characters. Jerry Goldsmith is our composer for this tale, a man often associated with more 'adult' films such as Air Force One and Alien - I definitely don't doubt his capabilities. Who could when faced with a wonderful score like Mulan’s? He purposefully took a style that encompasses oriental music, and it works so well. This can be seen in 'Blossoms' incredibly clearly, the use of drums and twangy guitar in a seemingly japanese scale making the connection. But beyond that you have my favourite transformation score 'Haircut' or 'Short Hair'. The use of synth contrasts greatly with the rest of the film, but the drum and introduction with the caller make it ever more powerful. Goldsmith shocked me with Mulan - a story with a strong heroine, admirable animation and charming styling.

Besides from the obvious Disney animation, I also love me some Pixar, Studio Ghilbi and Dreamworks. How to Train Your Dragon, The Incredibles and Up come under some of my top animations, all of which involve my favourite scores.

How to Train Your Dragon, of which the sequel I will be watching tomorrow is a fantastic spectacle of animation beauty with a fuzzy hearted centre. John Powell became my personal muse as he released his best ever score, and what I believe to be at least the best animated score in recent years. With Scottish folk accenting each corner, and deep chorus of 'ahhing' - every single piece is a delight and treasure. As well as being extremely memorable - 'Test Drive' proving this with prominent melodic violins testing the boundaries of excitement.

Both The Incredibles and Up are composed by Michael Giacchino - he won an Oscar for Up. The Incredibles works on the idea of family, trust and being different is good. The score reminiscences the Bond themes, it's treated is if it were a spy film with jazz like ideals. The highlight from this treat is definitely 'Kronos Revealed' an extremely dark and foreboding score. Up on the other hand is composed with a different idea in mind, focusing on swing and 50s music. Of course the film is memorable for its tear-jerking scene at the beginning, showing straight away grief and the importance of just doing something. The music that accompanies the scene really makes it all the harder to watch, each note resonates love and happines until it just slows down and molds in to one instrument, showing how well Giacchino can get a point across with simplicity

You're probably wondering why I've only discussed animation thus far. The reason being that animation is my favourite area of film.

So now we shall move to Tim Burton. I've always been an admirer of his style, even though I’m not a particularly dark person. As we all now Danny Elfman is Burton's top guy for his music. Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice are what I consider Burton's best. Edward Scissorhands is a humourous, dark story of an outcast. Elfman uses a style that consists of bells and glockenspiels like sounds, and a choir that harmonises with the music. It creates a utopian, magical setting. I can't help but notice how classical some of Elfman's composition is in this feature. It reminds me of the Sims at times.

We all have the film we love but find hard to justify why. That is what 'Beetlejuice' is to me. Whether I enjoy it due to the bizarre story, Winona Ryder’s character or whether I just generally find it amusing is unclear. The music however might be the first to be questioned. The excellently random and hilarious use of the Banana Boat Song and its counterpart is notable. However the actual score consists of the strangest and most bizarre sounds. It has a style that seems to encompass early film scores from the 30s, yet it has some many weird sounds. Whilst I do enjoy it, whether it’s actually a good score is questionable. There are few well justified cues and the whole thing is just a scramble. But for whatever reason it has charm.

How about some comedy huh? Strangely enough I’m not a big comedy person; my type of humour is not suited to the majority of comedies out there. Despite this I have a few that I consider to be excellent comedies; The Princess Bride, My Cousin Vinny, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Groundhog Day, A Fish Called Wanda, Fargo and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  Mark Knopfler’s score is one that sounds cheesy just like the film and it’s fabulous. The Grand Budapest Hotel hones a score by Alexandre Desplat, a hero by my ears. The score is full of character with a feel transporting to you to the past with excerpts of famous pieces and a variety of unique instruments. The film itself is full of appeal and makes you giggle constantly – its cinematography using three different aspects of lens and using a model for the hotel in some scenes. Groundhog Day is a self-proclaimed classic; it’s a sympathetically laugh-out loud film with a great level of character development. George Fenton’s musical ability is bloody bombastic here; each piece gives the scenes life and most of the time something else to laugh about.

Yah, Fargo is a film with a calm, pregnant, brainy investigator and the story centres on a coward, a few more cowards and a few stupid people. Although not classified as a comedy, the humour is ever present and it’s dark. Really dark. The fact that Carter Burwell does the music will forever make me snicker, the introduction ‘Fargo, North Dakota’ is a somewhat dreary track that serves as an device to say ‘yes, we’re doing a serious film definitely’. Throughout he has little cues that will get stuck in your head, which must say something surely.

If anyone knows me they will know that my knowledge of Henry Mancini is expansive, when you love scores and jazz as much as I do it only seems logical. Holly Golightly, is a giddy wee character with a great sense of style and this film is a joy to watch, a romantic comedy with Audrey Hepburn can never go amiss. Of course the signature Moon River is a beautiful theme but my highlights from Mancini’s score are ‘Something for Cat’, ‘Hub Caps and Tail Lights’ and ‘Shower of Paradise’. It’s the most relaxing and enjoyable score to listen to.

Action happens to me an area I enjoy, ranging from Westerns to Adventure. My collection includes the fantastic ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’, ‘the African Queen’, ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, ‘Thelma and Louise’ and ‘Goldfinger’. I often watch a good bit of Die Hard action but I feel as though they have little effect on. We all know about Ennio Morriccone’s themes from said western, one of the films that introduced me to what cinematography even is and what a wonderful score is. Would it be obvious is I were to say the best part is ‘The Ecstasy of Gold’? It is obvious? Haha, I don’t care.

Indiana Jones is one of those films that is just memorable, and that’s what makes it brilliant. A unique story, lovable characters and funny dialogue – that’s the recipe for success. The great John Williams blessed with motion picture with his music, which mostly rotates around the theme. Who could ever forget the score that you constantly mix up with Star Wars and Superman? Is it just me that does that…?

Thelma and Louise was a recent discovery, I watched it once on TV and then I was in complete awe. Ridley Scott is a man who knows how to create a great story, and he spared no expense with this buddy adventure film. The characters are likable and the story is a brave move, with strong feminism connotations. And strangely enough, Hans Zimmer is our composer. I think we forget that Zimmer wasn’t always a man who created symphonic, epic scores. It’s fitting modest guitar and bass drum fills out the beginning – which I think is called Part of Me, Part of You by Glenn Frey. It’s one of those soundtracks that work better in the film than it does along, although it is still an interesting listen.

GOLDFINGAAAR… He’s a man… Um sorry. Goldfinger is my go to Bond movie; this is mostly due to Oddjob. I could go on about how astonishing the Bond films are forever, and I’m almost completely certain you are aware of their brilliance. John Barry is the founder of the Bond’s trademark, its theme and style. It has the best theme – by the lovely Dame Shirley Bassey – out of the franchise. Without Barry’s intelligent jazz compromised tunes, we would have a strange perception of Bond films and they certainly would not be as good.

Now this is finally the last category, everything else – drama, Horror and Sci-fi. Dead Poets Society, Silence of the Lambs, Hugo, the Matrix, Alien, the Shining, 28 Days Later, To Kill a Mockingbird, Back to the Future, Gravity and A Streetcar named Desire are all a selection of magnificent motion pictures.

Dead Poet’s Society sadly has little of a score, yet I feel it’s necessary to wave this one about in your face. A film that makes you finally understand what writing and creation is. It’s stunning, granted the ended is a little bit of a ‘seriously?’ moment until you then start crying.

Now I said I don’t have a particular favourite film, yet Hugo seems to be the go to answer. It might be the only film I genuinely adore by Martin Scorsese. The use of camera angles and special effects is put in to a fantastic array of sequences and it’s a joy to simple look at. On top of that you get a multitude of characters that you understand and feel for, who you root for. It’s another one of those movies that is there to show you the importance of art, and whilst it is based on a book it’s doesn’t need to have the stamp of being an adaption – it’s that good. By the way Howard Shore is our composer for this treasure, again a simply magical soundtrack that just screams French as you pass by. I really think you should go and listen to ‘The Invention of Dreams’.

Music in films is a huge factor in how worthy the film is to me, but that isn’t my only area that I need to qualify. My favourite films cover a wide range, and I didn’t even try to mention the copious amount of trash and musicals that I also worship. The point being is that film for me isn’t subjective to style or genre – I will watch anything and if it’s a genuinely good film it will be put on the top of the pile.