Awards season is nearly upon us, and even here at Synchrotones I’ve been guilty of publishing my ‘favourites’ or ‘best of the year’ lists. However, opinions can change over time; and I find that some of my favourite scores are no longer my favourites.
Sometimes it’s quite surprising which scores end up having the longer shelf-life, or in other words… which ones I still frequently play after all this time. So I decided to revisit my Top 10s from 2015 onwards and re-rank them as to how I feel about those scores today.
First
to the Moon is a new documentary film that tells the amazing story of the Apollo 8 mission and the three men that crewed it. Through restored archival films from NASA, The National Archives, and the Astronaut’s own personal collections, this documentary takes you through time from the upbringing of each crew member and onward to present day. The score is by Alexander Bornstein, a protegee of Christopher Lennertz, so you know you should be in good hands.
Composer Amelia Warner has been presented with the International Film Music Critics Association Award for Breakthrough Composer of the Year by IFMCA members Johannes Ruckstuhl and, yours truly, Pete Simons. Warner was honoured for her enormously impressive mainstream debut work scoring the literary drama based on the life of the groundbreaking horror author Mary Shelley.
We had the pleasure of visiting Amelia at her home in the countryside, present her with the award and have a chat afterwards. Here is the interview Johannes and I conducted with her on behalf of the IFMCA.
Originally released for the first time as part of Varese Sarabande’s Little Box Of Horrors set, Richard Stone’s score for the 1988 cult-classic Pumpkinhead is now available on NoteForNote Music with new designs and and liner-notes by Edwin Wendler. The film, a bit of a create feature, was directed by Stan Winston and starred Lance Henrikson as a father who’s out for revenge on a group of teenagers who are responsible for the death of his son.
The Prosecutors offers an extraordinary insight into the work of prosecutors tackling an organised criminal gang flying drugs into prisons; and a shadowy network using children as slaves in UK nail bars. The original score sees composer Miguel d’Oliveira venturing into new territory, whilst still offering a few familiar elements.
