NOT EVEN NOMINATED, PART FIFTEEN

By Scott Bettencourt

FORREST GUMP - Alan Silvestri
INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE - Elliot Goldenthal
THE LION KING - Hans Zimmer (the winner)
LITTLE WOMEN - Thomas Newman
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION - Thomas Newman

LEGENDS OF THE FALL - James Horner

This adaptation of a Jim Harrison novella was a long delayed dream project for director Edward Zwick, and the similarly long post-production period boded ill for the film, which actually turned out to be a surprise (if modest) hit, helped by the burgeoning stardom of Brad Pitt as the son of patriarch Anthony Hopkins in a story spanning the early 20th century. The film was beautifully shot (John Toll won the first of his two consecutive Oscars for his work) but the emphasis on righteous vengeance made it a disappointing followup to Zwick's previous war film, the genuinely moving Glory. Horner's score was one of his most satisfying works of the decade, lush and melodic with passages pleasingly reminiscent of John Barry's late period, and the film's DVD features an isolated score track. (Legends of the Fall received 3 Oscar nominations)

MAVERICK - Randy Newman

Butch Cassidy's Oscar winning screenwriter William Goldman returned to the lighthearted Western with this lavish adaptation of the classic TV series, but though the film was a pleasant time-filler Goldman's talents were wasted on director Richard Donner, whose unfortunate tendency toward on-set improvisation ("I love the chaos of it," he once remarked) is a screenwriter's nightmare, and lengthy ad-libbed scenes resulted in an overlong film and the loss of a major subplot including Linda Hunt's entire performance. The trailers featured one of the all-time great Western themes, Jerome Moross' The Big Country, and Randy Newman's score had plenty of energy and charm though the composer later complained about the director's insistence on "funny" music. Many months after the film's release, a score album was finally produced, and the film also featured an inevitable original Newman song, "Ride, Gambler, Ride." (1 Oscar nomination)

NELL - Mark Isham

The clout she'd earned from her Oscar winning performance in the smash hit Silence of the Lambs allowed Jodie Foster to produce and star in this earnest drama about a backwoods girl who speaks a language all her own. Foster's performance was skilled as ever and the film, directed by Michael Apted, was expertly crafted, but the story suffered from civilization-bad/nature-good phoniness, not helped by scenes like the one where scientist Liam Neeson appears naked before Foster to rid her of her fear of men. Mark Isham's score followed in the folk tradition of his Oscar nominated A River Runs Through It and was one of his strongest works, feeling authentic to the setting and providing sufficient drama while avoiding sentimental cliches. (1 Oscar nomination)

NOBODY'S FOOL - Howard Shore

Though Kramer vs. Kramer was writer-director Robert Benton's biggest hit, earning five major Oscars, Nobody's Fool was his finest film, a charming adaptation of Richard Russo's novel. Paul Newman gave one of his greatest, most effortless performances in the lead, heading a first rate cast including Jessica Tandy, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Melanie Griffith and Bruce Willis. Shore's score, slightly reminiscent of his music for Prelude to a Kiss, is one of his warmest works, genuinely sweet without being cloying, and beautifully evoking the small town New England setting with memorable melodies and offbeat orchestrations. Benton, Russo and Newman later reunited with the modern noir Twilight, scored by Elmer Bernstein. (2 Oscar nominations)

THE PAPER - Randy Newman

With two scores in 1994, Newman almost threatened to become prolific. This comedy-drama about a New York newspaper was one of Ron Howard's most enjoyable and unpretentious films, though it climaxed with the kind of sappy childbirth sequence one would have hoped he'd gotten out of his system with Parenthood. The first-rate cast includes Michael Keaton, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Marisa Tomei, Randy Quaid, Jason Alexander, Spalding Gray, Catherine O'Hara, and Jason Robards, and Newman's snappy score featured pleasing echoes of Elmer Bernstein (though as a portrait of Manhattan journalism it's no Sweet Smell of Success) and an Oscar nominated original song, "Make Up Your Mind," performed of course by the composer. (1 Oscar nomination)

COBB - Elliot Goldenthal

Elliot Goldenthal received this scoring assignment before his Oscar nominated replacement score for Interview With the Vampire made him bankable, and this baseball biopic from Ron Shelton had an atypically prominent score for this director's work (the superb Bull Durham, for example, had barely any scoring). Audiences expecting a traditional biography were probably unpleasantly surprised by Shelton's approach to the Ty Cobb story, focusing on a brief section of his later years and his working relationship with a journalist. Goldenthal's music was unusually bold for a 90s studio project, the composer basing parts of his score on Southern spirituals, providing an emotionally evocative main theme as well as exciting action music for the scenes of Cobb's reckless driving. It was one of the bravest and most truly striking scores of the year, and was a strong omen of Goldenthal's consistently inventive work in the decade since.

ED WOOD - Howard Shore

The clout Tim Burton had earned from directing five consecutive hits (plus his production The Nightmare Before Christmas) allowed him to direct this stylish, hilarious and genuinely touching biopic on the reviled 50s B-movie director (though the film's original studio balked at his insistence in shooting in black-and-white, and the film was finally made at Disney/Touchstone). For the only time in his career thus far, he worked without composer Danny Elfman -- one theory has it that Burton was upset at Elfman getting so much credit for the success of his films, and wanted to show he could make a movie without him. Ed Wood turned out to be his first boxoffice flop yet also his finest film, winning much deserved Oscars for Martin Landau's unforgettable performance as Bela Lugosi and Rick Baker's subtle makeup work, and the rest of the cast (Johnny Depp, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones, Lisa Marie, Mike Starr, Juliet Landau and Bill Murray) was similarly adept. Though Howard Shore's music occasionally pushes the film into excessive campiness (especially when Depp lusts after his wife's angora sweater), his score is marvelously inventive with a bongo-and-theremin main title and an especially adroit and oddly moving use of the original theme for Wood's Glen or Glenda. The Hollywood Records CD is a worthy purchase, though annoyingly it includes Jeffrey Jones' Criswell narration over the prologue music -- dialogue is always the bane of the soundtrack collector, even dialogue from a favorite film.

RUDYARD KIPLING'S THE JUNGLE BOOK - Basil Poledouris

During his peak period of the 1980s and early 90s, Basil Poledouris at times seemed like the closest thing we had to a modern day Miklos Rozsa, with his old-fashioned, full-bodied approach of romance and adventure. This Stephen Sommers remake of the Kipling classic (whose most famous film version featured one of Rozsa's pivotal early scores) was originally to be scored by Jerry Goldsmith, but the inevitable scheduling conflicts came up (ironically, Jungle Book was released with a Judge Dredd trailer scored by Goldsmith, who had to leave THAT project for yet another scheduling conflict) and Poledouris got the job. Though at times Poledouris' music suffers from a Mickey Mouse-ish, stop-start quality that occasionally afflicted his work during this period, his Jungle Book is one of his strongest and least heralded scores, with first rate melodies and an especially memorable main theme. The only problem with the Milan score CD is that it isn't even longer.

THE SPECIALIST - John Barry

Alexandra Soros' script for this modern noir had been around long enough that its title was nearly appropriated for Warner Bros.' Americanization of Nikita (they eventually settled on Point of No Return), but it finally reached the screen with the delightfully campy pairing of Sharon Stone as the woman out to avenge the death of her family by mobsters and Sylvester Stallone as the explosives expert she seduces to help her. The film is trashy fun, helped enormously by James Woods' typically hilarious and magnetic performance as Stallone's nemesis (there were rumors that Stallone had the film reshot because preview audiences liked Woods more than him), but the film's most genuinely satisfying element is John Barry's music, the closest thing he wrote to a James Bond score since his final Bond, The Living Daylights, in 1987. The mixture of elegant suspense and a seductive love theme ("Did You Call Me") makes it one of the most listenable scores of the year if not the decade, and blessedly the song CD (which included two Barry cuts) was followed by a lengthy score album.

WYATT EARP - James Newton Howard

The late 80s/early 90s saw a brief resurgence in the Western, and though there were only a few boxoffice hits there were several memorable Western scores, including Basil Poledouris' Lonesome Dove and Quigley Down Under, John Barry's Dances With Wolves, Alan Silvestri's Back to the Future Part III and Young Guns II, and Bruce Broughton's Tombstone. Lawrence Kasdan's expensive, epic biopic on Wyatt Earp helped to kill the genre yet again, with its confusing, meandering storyline and awkward structure - after three hours of unsatisfying storytelling, the final scenes jump ahead many years just to set up an unnecessary flashback. However, James Newton Howard, scoring his second film for Kasdan, wrote a lush, lengthy and satisfying score, his first epic work, featuring a terrific main theme which soon after became more widely heard as the trailer music for Nell.

STARGATE was only the second feature score written by David Arnold but put him securely on the Hollywood map. The score was an instant favorite with film music fans, and though his music at times tended to overemphasize bombast, his main theme has only grown more satisfying in the intervening years and is one of his strongest melodies.

Richard Rodney Bennett wrote a lovely and discreet score for the Best Picture nominee FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, but each edition of the soundtrack emphasized the songs and relegated the score to a dialogue-laden suite.

For one of his first projects away from director Spike Lee, Terence Blanchard wrote a disappointingly dull score for the dreary legal thriller TRIAL BY JURY, whose premise was reused the following year for The Juror. Otherwise he was typecast in African-American projects, scoring the Harlem gangster story SUGAR HILL; one of Lee's weakest films, CROOKLYN; and the coming-of-age story THE INKWELL.

Bruce Broughton took the assignment of scoring John Hughes' dreadful slapstick comedy BABY'S DAY OUT after Jerry Goldsmith had to leave due to a scheduling conflict and his music showed effortless charm, though it probably helped that he actually liked the film (and even admitted it, shockingly enough). He also scored Hughes' needless remake of MIRACLE ON 34th STREET and provided his usual orchestral warmth, though in the context of the film the score at times seemed to be trying too hard to make everything feel magical. He scored the Leonard Nimoy-directed comedy HOLY MATRIMONY starring Patricia Arquette and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but the film never even received an L.A. release.

Carter Burwell wrote a charming score for the romantic comedy IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU, with an especially agreeable main theme, but the soundtrack featured only two of his cues, emphasizing the inevitable romantic standards that defined romantic comedy soundtracks after Sleepless in Seattle. His score for the beautifully mounted but uneven Coen Brothers comedy THE HUDSUCKER PROXY was one of his most satisfying, matching the stunning visuals with a full-bodied score incorporating (credited) pieces by Khachaturian. He also scored the comedy AIRHEADS, starring the offbeat trio of Brendan Fraser, Adam Sandler and Steve Buscemi.

George S. Clinton wrote a fresh suspense score for the ex-wife-from-hell thriller MOTHER'S BOYS, but Varese Sarabande ultimately cancelled its announced soundtrack album. He also scored the computer-age horror film BRAINSCAN.

Bill Conti returned to familiar territory with THE NEXT KARATE KID, reunited with Rocky director John G. Avildsen for the rodeo drama 8 SECONDS, and scored the disappointing Albert Brooks vehicle THE SCOUT.

Michael Convertino wrote an unusually satisfying and accessible score for the smash hit THE SANTA CLAUSE, mixing impressive delicacy with a lush sound (and the help of John Williams' orchestrator John Neufeld), and scored two other mainstream comedies, GUARDING TESS and MILK MONEY.

Stewart Copeland provided a disappointingly dull score for the visually striking Easter Island epic, RAPA NUI, and scored the improbable psychological thriller SILENT FALL, reworking his music for the soundtrack CD to make it more pop-ish. He also scored the modern day Most Dangerous Game homage, SURVIVING THE GAME, British director Ken Loach's RAINING STONES, and Boaz Yakin's directorial debut FRESH.

Carl Davis wrote a pretty orchestral score for the all-star period comedy WIDOW'S PEAK.

John Debney scored the Disney sequel WHITE FANG II: MYTH OF THE WHITE WOLF, not using any of Basil Poledouris' melodies from the original film. His score for the Christopher Lambert action film GUNMEN seemed strongly influenced by Jerry Goldsmith's Under Fire, and he wrote an energetic kids comedy score for LITTLE GIANTS.

Patrick Doyle's score for Kenneth Branagh's enjoyable, much maligned MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN was as bombastic as the film but showed more genuine craft, and is one of the composer's most entertaining efforts. He labored hard to give the sex comedy EXIT TO EDEN some energy and life but understandably failed.

Randy Edelman provided a pleasantly sinister main theme for THE MASK, while the period family drama PONTIAC MOON had both its film and soundtrack release cancelled at the last minute. He provided his usual sentimental mix of synth and orchestra for the surprise hit ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD, and scored his third film for director Jonathan Lynn, GREEDY.

Cliff Eidelman scored A SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE, Steve Martin's odd modernization of Silas Marner, with his usual craft and delicacy, though the score did fall a little too neatly into "Sensitive Piano Syndrome." His score for MY GIRL 2 was much better than James Newton Howard's for the original, but only a suite ended up on the soundtrack album.

Danny Elfman's main theme for BLACK BEAUTY is probably his most achingly beautiful creation. While the rest of the score is uneven, at times too busy in the Elfman fashion, the film is at its best when it's merely shots of the horse running with the Elfman music playing.

George Fenton adapted the music of Handel for the Oscar-winning THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE, the debut film of his regular collaborator Nicholas Hytner, wrote a disappointingly broad and intrusive comedy score for Nora Ephron's MIXED NUTS, gave the clumsy noir CHINA MOON an uncharacteristically cheesy score, and scored Ken Loach's powerful drama LADYBIRD, LADYBIRD.

Brad Fiedel wrote an energetic if forgettable action score for James Cameron's TRUE LIES, though some film music fans were sorry that the film's orchestrator/conductor, Shirley Walker, didn't receive the scoring job. He also scored Michael Apted's romantic thriller BLINK.

Robert Folk wrote a lively military comedy score for the Pauly Shore vehicle IN THE ARMY NOW, and his music for the Christmas farce TRAPPED IN PARADISE showed pleasing warmth and even featured exciting action music.

Dominic Frontiere scored his only feature film of the decade, reuniting with Stunt Man director Richard Rush for the guilty pleasure COLOR OF NIGHT. Reportedly his original version of the score was performed entirely on synthesizers and the studio made him rerecord it with an orchestra, though the soundtrack album featured the synth versions.

Michael Gibbs' score for Bill Forsyth's ambitious, centuries-spanning comedy BEING HUMAN was an especially lovely exercise in minimalism.

Richard Gibbs wrote a pleasingly energetic score for the Martin Short comedy CLIFFORD, and scored the Charlie Sheen action comedy THE CHASE.

Elliot Goldenthal wrote an offbeat (even for him), jazz-tinged score for the period drama GOLDEN GATE.

Jerry Goldsmith took a rare venture into wall-to-wall scoring (he said it was one of his easiest spotting jobs -- he just started the score at the beginning and stopped at the end) for the lavish but disappointing film of THE SHADOW. The score was not Goldsmith's most original, his main theme evoking Elfman's Batman, From Russia With Love and Williams' Family Plot, but it was one of his most purely entertaining scores of the decade, with ferocious action cues and a terrific motif for the film's villain, Shiwan Khan (John Lone), complete with pounding percussion. Unfortunately, the Arista soundtrack CD featured only a half hour of Goldsmith music, padding the disc out with pointless songs. Goldsmith was a last minute replacement when Maurice Jarre's score for THE RIVER WILD was rejected, and his music was effective but unmemorable, basing his main theme on the standard "The Water is Wide," but the collaboration with director Curtis Hanson later led to their acclaimed work on L.A. Confidential three years later. His score for Fred Schepisi's 50s comedy I.Q. mixed doo-wop with a solo violin variation on "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," and was one of the few Goldsmith scores of the decade not to receive a soundtrack release. He took a rare venture into small scale comedy drama with the Geena Davis vehicle ANGIE, but his music lacked the effortless delicacy of his classic Patch of Blue and never found the right tone for the project, which seemed more suited to a Georges Delerue. Though scheduling conflicts kept him from scoring 1993's Tombstone, he returned to the Western genre with BAD GIRLS, providing a versatile main theme that characterized the female protagonists while also serving as forceful action music.

James Horner's score for the third Jack Ryan adventure, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, was a huge improvement over his Patriot Games score, with a stirring main theme and pounding action music, and even his reuse of Khatchaturian's Gayane Ballet Suite seemed like an intentional connection to his Patriot Games score and not just laziness. He scored yet another animated feature, THE PAGEMASTER, his third project for director Joe Johnston.

James Newton Howard's score for the soap opera INTERSECTION (a remake of the 1970 French film Les choses de la vie, scored by Philippe Sarde) took a pop-jazz flavored approach rather than the usual lush Hollywood sentiment, but didn't help make the forgettable film any more emotional. He reunited with Dave director Ivan Reitman for JUNIOR, resulting in an Oscar nominated song, "Look What Love Has Done," but his warmly orchestrated music had to work too hard to give humor and energy to this failed high concept comedy.

Mark Isham had an absurdly prolific year of feature scoring in 1994. He wrote an efficient sci-fi action score for TIMECOP, but his heart didn't seem to be in the project. He wrote an edgy jazz score for the darkly comic noir ROMEO IS BLEEDING, and followed in the footsteps of Quincy Jones and Jerry Fielding by scoring the remake of Jim Thompson's THE GETAWAY. He wrote a sparse period jazz score for the Oscar nominated QUIZ SHOW, expanding his music for the soundtrack album, supplied more period jazz for Alan Rudolph's finest film, MRS. PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE, scored the family drama SAFE PASSAGE, and scored one of the few Mike Figgis films not scored by Figgis himself, the moving remake of THE BROWNING VERSION.

Wojciech Kilar scored one of his few English language projects, Roman Polanksi's film of the play DEATH AND THE MAIDEN, and his music was typically fresh and elegant.

Mark Mancina had his career breakthrough with his catchy, energetic score for the snappy big studio B-movie SPEED, and also scored the Harvey Keitel kids' comedy MONKEY TROUBLE.

STAR TREK: GENERATIONS was the first film in the series to feature the Next Generation cast and the only one to be scored by one of the Trek TV composers, Dennis McCarthy. Luckily, he wasn't under the usual aesthetic restraints of the later series and was able to provide exciting action cues, a stirring main theme, and lovely abstract music for the Nexus Ribbon sequences; it's a pity he hasn't received more feature assignments of this scale. And yes, I know he scored McHale's Navy.

Joel McNeely wrote strong, Williams-ish main themes for the skydiving thriller TERMINAL VELOCITY and the historical drama SQUANTO: A WARRIOR'S TALE. He wrote the incidental music for George Lucas' period song-laden production THE RADIOLAND MURDERS, and wrote a lively if highly derivative adventure score for IRON WILL.

Ennio Morricone scored three Hollywood films this year (probably because of the success of In the Line of Fire), almost a record for this Eurocentric composer. His music for Barry Levinson's film of Michael Crichton's DISCLOSURE was typically idiosyncratic, and at least one cue (the triumphant music when Michael Douglas thinks he's defeated Demi Moore) seemed unintentionally humorous. The Beatty/Bening remake of LOVE AFFAIR was very deliberately spotted, with the opening reels scored only with songs, and Morricone's score, dominated by a satisfying love theme (later heard with lyrics sung by k.d. lang on the soundtrack to 1996's Twister), only makes its entrance far into the movie, after Katharine Hepburn's cameo. John Williams was the original composer announced for Mike Nichols' enjoyable if unsatisfying WOLF, and like his score for Disclosure, Morricone's music couldn't have been written by anyone else, though his scoring did give the hastily pasted together ending the feeling of a European cologne commercial.

David Newman wrote an 11th hour replacement score when Elmer Bernstein parted company with I LOVE TROUBLE, but his lively romantic comedy thriller score was not all that different from Bernstein's rejected work. With dramas like Hoffa and Paradise ignored at the boxoffice, Newman continued to be typecast in comedy, scoring the hit THE FLINSTONES, the basketball comedy THE AIR UP THERE, the Gerard Depardieu remake MY FATHER, THE HERO, and the fish-out-of-water action comedy THE COWBOY WAY, but typically for Newman's career, none of these four projects received a score CD release.

Thomas Newman reunited with Fried Green Tomatoes director Jon Avnet for THE WAR, providing a lovely main theme and typically discreet yet emotional scoring. He wrote one of his quirky comedy scores for THE FAVOR, a long delayed Orion release, and provided offbeat music for the college sex comedy THREESOME. Newman composed only the themes for the period family drama CORRINA, CORRINA, with one of his regular session musicians Rick Cox receiving the scoring credit.

Ira Newborn returned for the final Police Squad spinoff, THE NAKED GUN 33 1/3: JUST FOR THE RECORD, and scored the inaugural film in a new franchise, ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE, which launched some Canadian comedian's career.

Basil Poledouris wrote an exciting percussive action score with indigenous orchestrations for Steven Seagal's directorial debut ON DEADLY GROUND. He wrote a droll comedy score in the Elfman vein for John Waters' SERIAL MOM, and a suitably warm score for LASSIE.

The romantic comedy ONLY YOU featured one of the most memorable love themes of the decade, courtesy of Rachel Portman. She wrote a zany score for Alan Parker's lushly mounted but failed adaptation of THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE, her orchestrations including spoons and combs, and wrote an especially lovely and Portman-esque theme for the erotic comedy SIRENS.

Zbigniew Preisner scored the two final films in Kieslowski's Trois Couleurs trilogy, the dark comedy WHITE and the Oscar nominated RED. He scored one of his few American projects, giving the alcoholism drama WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN a refreshingly restrained and un-Hollywoodish score.

Graeme Revell worked in a more conventional, orchestrally oriented approach than usual for two sci-fi action films, STREET FIGHTER (which featured some painful comedic scoring in a humorous torture scene) and NO ESCAPE. He wrote one of his most popular scores for THE CROW, his moody music helping to typecast him in dark superhero projects (Spawn, Daredevil).

J. Peter Robinson took a full orchestral approach to the clever, self-referential Elm Street sequel WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE with some especially satisfying action music.

Coming to America composer Nile Rodgers reunited with director John Landis for the dire BEVERLY HILLS COP III, the only film in the series not scored by Harold Faltermeyer, though Rodgers did provide an orchestral arrangement of Faltermeyer's "Axel F" theme.

Orchestrator William Ross scored the Chevy Chase comedy COBS AND ROBBERSONS and adapted vintage themes for THE LITTLE RASCALS.

Bruce Rowland scored two films for Australian directors, George Miller's kids-and-animal story ANDRE and Simon Wincer's light Western LIGHTNING JACK, pairing Paul Hogan and Cuba Gooding Jr.

Ryuichi Sakamoto gave director Bernardo Bertolucci his usual exotic and lushly romantic sound for their third film together, LITTLE BUDDHA.

Eric Serra transposed his modern, European sounds to an American setting for Luc Besson's stylish but frustrating THE PROFESSIONAL.

Marc Shaiman's score for CITY SLICKERS 2: THE LEGEND OF CURLY'S GOLD was dominated more by pastiche Western music than was his score for its predecessor, while his music for Rob Reiner's NORTH was much more charming than the film (though pretty much anything would be). He also scored his final (so far) film for director Rob Underwood, the old-fashioned romantic comedy SPEECHLESS, the pair apparently falling out when Underwood chose James Horner over Shaiman to score his Mighty Joe Young remake a few years later.

Michael Kamen protege Edward Shearmur scored his first major solo project, providing a fittingly dark and bleak score for the Ian McEwan adaptation THE CEMENT GARDEN.

Howard Shore's score for the hit John Grisham adaptation THE CLIENT emphasized the film's Southern setting, and the music was effective but showed less personality than one normally associates with the composer's output.

Alan Silvestri reunited with Bodyguard director Mick Jackson for CLEAN SLATE, which was like a comedic predecessor to Memento, worked choral elements skillfully into his music for the year's other bomb squad thriller, BLOWN AWAY, and provided the weak RICHIE RICH with a sprightly main them and an energetic score.

Michael Small scored one of his final features, the little seen Western comedy WAGON'S EAST, which also featured John Candy's last major role.

Eurythmic David A. Stewart's score for the witty comedy THE REF featured a striking choral main title.

English composer Colin Towns had a rare chance to score an American film, the snappy alien invasion thriller ROBERT A. HEINLEIN'S THE PUPPET MASTERS, and his moody orchestral music felt fresh while evoking the great history of sci-fi thriller scores.

Vangelis made a rare return to features, writing a brooding score for Roman Polanski's dark sex comedy BITTER MOON, which featured a memorable lead performance by Peter Coyote and major roles for Kristin Scott Thomas and the suddenly ubiquitous Hugh Grant.

Don Was wrote a tuneful jazz score for the early Beatles docudrama BACKBEAT.

Debbie Wiseman had her first major U.S. release, the Oscar nominated biographical drama TOM & VIV, and her score was appealingly lush if a little on the bland side.

Despite his usual expertise with thrillers, Christopher Young's music for acclaimed screenwriter Nicholas Kazan's dreary directorial debut DREAM LOVER was much less memorable than his usual output.

Hans Zimmer's score for the year's other skydiving thriller DROP ZONE, placed heavy emphasis on electric guitars. He wrote one of his most traditional, orchestral scores for the all-star adaptation of THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS, and wrote his first score for director James L. Boroks, I'LL DO ANYTHING, his work gaining greater prominence when Prince's songs were dropped after the film's musical numbers were edited out. His second Penny Marshall-directed film, RENAISSANCE MAN, was one of his more forgettable scores.

I LOVE TROUBLE (Elmer Bernstein)
INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (George Fenton)
LITTLE BIG LEAGUE (Hummie Mann)
THE RIVER WILD (Maurice Jarre)

Andre, Angels in the Outfield, Angie, Baby's Day Out, Backbeat, Bad Girls, Being Human, Black Beauty, Blink, The Browning Version, City Slickers II: the Legend of Curly's Gold, Clear and Present Danger, The Client, Cobb, Color of Night, The Crow, Death and the Maiden, Disclosure, Dream Lover, Drop Zone, Ed Wood, Exit to Eden, Forrest Gump, Getting Even With Dad, Golden Gate, Guarding Tess, Heavenly Creatures, The House of the Spirits, The Hudsucker Proxy, I Love Trouble, I'll Do Anything, In the Army Now, Intersection, Interview With the Vampire, Iron Will, Junior, Killing Zoe, Lassie, Legends of the Fall, Lightning Jack, The Lion King, Little Buddha, Little Women, Love Affair, The Madness of King George, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, The Mask, Maverick, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, Nell, No Escape, Nobody's Fool, North, On Deadly Ground, Only You, The Pagemaster, The Paper, Princess Caraboo, The Professional, Quiz Show, The Radioland Murders, Rapa Nui, Red, The Ref, Renaissance Man, Richie Rich, The River Wild, The Road to Wellville, Robert A. Heinlein's The Puppet Masters, Romeo is Bleeding, Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, The Santa Clause, Second Best, The Shadow, The Shawshank Redemption, Silent Fall, A Simple Twist of Fate, Sirens, The Specialist, Speed, Star Trek: Generations, Stargate, Street Fighter, Terminal Velocity, Timecop, Tom & Viv, Trapped in Paradise, True Lies, Wagons East!, The War, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, When a Man Loves a Woman, White, Widow's Peak, Wolf, Wyatt Earp

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