My Top Film Scores of 2018

            Now that we’ve taken care of the year’s worst, it’s time to get POSITIVE!  My overall Top Ten List will definitely be out by the end of the month, but before then, we return to one of my favorite topics in the world; music. 

            Music has always been crucial to the world of film, so when a film has a rocking score underneath it all, it makes the experience all the more sublime and enjoyable.  I am no expert in either music or sound design, so I can’t offer the most detailed and in-depth examination of these films.  I just know that these are the ones where I noticed and was affected by the music the most. 

8- Isle of Dogs (Alexandre Desplat)

            Isle of Dogs is by no means top-notch Wes Anderson, especially since the setting makes it a bit harder to ignore the more…racially-challenged…aspects of his filmmaking.  Despite its flaws, though, I couldn’t help but enjoy it, and a big part of that was an effectively thematic score by Alexandre Desplat, who has done a lot of great work for Wes Anderson before and continues his track record here. 

7- Das Schweigende Klassenzimmer (Christoph Kaiser and Julian Maas)

            A German film about the true story of a class of students in East Germany that, early in the Cold War, found out the hard way how easily authoritarian governments can misinterpret and twist the most innocent of actions into a conspiracy in need of harsh treatment.  The mixed use of the main theme touches on this repeatedly, starting as a soft, sweet melody that keeps sinking into a minor key to offer whispers and hints of the pains and torments to come.   

6- A Star Is Born (Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, and a host of collaborators)

            I do knock this film a lot- and no matter what, I stand by my assertion that it has zero business being anywhere near awards for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay, as sadly inevitable as those nominations likely are- but I will admit, there is a lot of good stuff in it.  Chief among them being, of course, the music.  Original soundtracks, as opposed to just original scores, came back in a big way this year, with a number of Lady Gaga's collaborated works for this movie leading the pack.  "Shallows" and "Always Remember Us This Way" are genuine powerhouses, and I even found myself really digging "Maybe It's Time."  Maybe I'd like Bradley Cooper better if he stuck to making country-rock albums.  I'm not nearly as high on "I'll Never Love Again," but it serves its purpose as the closing anthem.  For my money, these songs deserve to be remembered, even if most of the rest of film around them doesn't.

5- Searching (Torin Borrowdale)

            The opening of Up is so perfect, so profound, and became so instantly iconic, it's easy to forget that the film isn’t even a full decade old.  Since then there have been plenty of attempts, both serious and comical, to get that particular lightning to strike twice, but for my money no film has come as close as Searching. 

            In terms of substance, the opening sequence of the film almost entirely apes Up, insofar as we are treated to a tableau of videos and images that tell the story of a growing, loving family, until tragedy forever alters their lives, set to a relentlessly emotional and catchy theme track.  What makes Searching stand out, though, is that it solely uses screens- mostly a single laptop, though a few other phones, tablets, and TVs are thrown in on occasion- to tell a complete narrative.  The opening sequence uses this to serve as a fascinatingly effective nostalgia-trip through the (so far) brief history of user interfaces that everyone’s used. 

            As great as that opening is, though, the rest of the score is just as excellent, utilizing rhythm and sound combinations to create the pulsing climate fear, apprehension, and uncertainty that dogs John Cho as a father searching for his missing daughter using any means available.  Every track is worth a listen. 

4- Werk Ohne Autor (Max Richter)

            Max Richter has, so far, not gotten nearly enough attention as a film composer as he deserves- his work on Waltz with Bashir ranks as one of the best original scores of the century to date- and I can't help but feel that a part of that lies in the fact that he tends to work on independent and foreign-language films, meaning that way, way too many in the English-speaking world simply don't know that he exist.  Which is a crying shame, because in von Donnersmarck’s massive historical drama, he turns in some of his best work yet, including a main theme that somehow manages to pack all the wonder, all the magic, and all the awe of the creative process into just a few short minutes.  It touches that deep, subconscious part of the human soul driven to creativity that can never be fully conveyed with words to others; like this music, it can only be experienced, deeply, personally, and profoundly.  

3- Annihilation (Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow)

            Alex Garland followed up Ex Machina in a big way with Annihilation, the thought-provoking, endlessly fascinating sci-fi movie no one saw, and Salisbury and Barrow came back as well with another score precisely tuned to enhance each and every scene of the movie.  The culmination of both the film and score in the final sequence of events at the lighthouse was, for me, one of the most visually and audibly arresting moments I experience all year; it’s still stuck in my head. 

2- Black Panther (Ludwig Görransson)

            Black Panther is one of the year’s most monumental cinematic achievements, and the film’s score is a huge part of that, creating its own auditory journey to match T’Challa’s.  Listen though it and hear how the main themes repeat and alter according to the rises and falls of the fortunes of our heroes.  Hear the sheer celebratory joy in Baaba Maal’s voice in one of the opening tracks when the ship returns home, and the world is introduced to Wakanda for the very first time.  Note the threatening, sinister undertones in Killmonger’s theme.  The variations in the music are every bit as colorful and lush as the film’s color pallet. 

            There’s so much here to pick out and enjoy, but my personal favorite has to be Okoye’s theme during her fight scenes in the casino and during the final clash; it’s fitting that one of the film’s standout women would get her own kickass theme to boot.  The fact that even side characters get their own parts of the music is just one of many testaments to the film’s amazing attention to detail.  Not to mention that there is an entire supplemental soundtrack led by Kendrick Lamar; although only part of that is in the film itself, it is a great hip-hop album and works as a perfect companion piece to the movie. 

1- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Daniel Pemberton)

            And finally, we’re here; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, my absolute favorite score AND soundtrack of the year. 

            Brought to us by relative newcomer Daniel Pemberton, this score jumps right out with an opening that sets the vibe for the loud, colorful, and vibrantly fun adventure we’re about to experience.  That opening track is followed by “Visions Brooklyn 1, 2, 3,” easily the single catchiest track I’ve heard all year.  And it’s all uphill from there.  Though Kingpin is the main villain, for reasons I won’t spoil here it’s fitting that the Prowler gets an especially threatening theme of his own, a real pulse-pounder that forced me to the edge of my seat during my first viewing. 

            Like Black Panther, this film also has a companion soundtrack, but one that’s used to much better effect within the film itself.  Post Malone’s “Sunflower” is central to our introduction to Miles; the song is a clear favorite of his, one he sings along to with gusto, but doesn’t quite know the words to.  It’s a perfect example of how attention to such small, real details can take an already-great film and elevate to the level of a genuine masterpiece of filmmaking. 

            “Elevate” also deserves mention, as it is the perfect sendoff for the film as the credits start to roll.  My top prize for Best Song Use, though, is “What’s Up, Danger,” the downbeat of which basically functions as the film’s final mic drop.  It is in that moment that Miles takes control of his powers, set to a sequence of stunning visual beauty. 

            In short, Spider-Man was one of the year’s best films in no small part because it boasted the best music of them all.  So…what’s up, 2019?  Whatcha got? 

-Noah Franc