THE TOP FORTY COUNTDOWN 2006, PART FOUR

But first...

The April edition of FSM ONLINE features Part 1 of our extensive bonus coverage of FSM's release of Goodbye, Mr. Chips; an incisive interview with Howard Shore about his amazing S.U.N; an historical analysis of the only film score ever to win a Pulitzer Prize: Virgil Thomson's Louisiana Story; Terence Blanchard on Inside Man; more embedded audio clips, downloadable video and a lot more.

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11. Harry Gregson-Williams
12. Mark Isham
13. John Ottman
14. Rolfe Kent
15. Alan Silvestri
16. Patrick Doyle
17. Mychael Danna
18. Marco Beltrami
19. Alexandre Desplat
20. Michael Giacchino
21. Gustavo Santaolalla
22. Christopher Young
23. Rachel Portman
24. Craig Armstrong
25. Christophe Beck
26. George Fenton
27. Trevor Rabin
28. David Arnold
29. David Newman
30. Graeme Revell
31. Edward Shearmur
32. Theodore Shapiro
33. Dario Marianelli
34. Alberto Iglesias
35. Elliot Goldenthal
36. Klaus Badelt
37. Carter Burwell
38. Mark Mothersbaugh
39. Teddy Castellucci
40. Aaron Zigman

And now, on to The Predictables:

2005 RANKING: 11
AGE: 47
BIRTHPLACE: Burbank, California
REPRESENTATION: Kraft-Engel
1 OSCAR NOMINATION
3 EMMYS, 5 NOMINATIONS
ONGOING FILMMAKER RELATIONSHIPS: Tom Shadyac, Robert Rodriguez, Garry Marshall, Adam Shankman, Jon Favreau, Mark Dindal
BACKGROUND: Orchestrator, TV composer
FAN FAVORITE: Cutthroat Island
TYPECAST IN: Comedy, adventure, kids movies, God movies
TOP GROSSING FILMS:
1. The Passion of the Christ--370
2. Bruce Almighty--242
3. Liar, Liar--181
4. Elf--173
5. Chicken Little--135
6. The Pacifier--113
7. Spy Kids--112
8. The Princess Diaries--108
9. Inspector Gadget--97
10. The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement--95

While Debney has yet to follow the extraordinary and surprising commercial success of The Passion of the Christ with any project of comparable impact, he is currently greatly in demand and prolific as ever. His most acclaimed recent project was his least seen, Carroll Ballard's evocative adventure drama Duma, for which Debney (with George Acogny) wrote a restrained score in the Thomas Newman vein. His best recent work was his fantasy pastiche for Jon Favreau's Zathura, but that underrated film has yet to find its deserved audience. The formulaic but effective Dreamer (on which he replaced Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, who had beaten him for the 2004 Best Score Oscar) featured a somewhat Horner-esque score, while his contribution to Sin City allowed him to work in a darker, edgier vein, a refreshing change from the blandness of hits like The Pacifier and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. His lively, eclectic score for Chicken Little was quite effective, and he is set to score the Steve Carell-centered sequel to Bruce Almighty, which, coincidentally, is the first big studio religious project to follow the smash-hit Passion (but, one assumes, with less gore).

WHAT'S NEXT: Evan Almighty, Keeping Up With the Steins, The Barnyard, Ant Bully, Yankee Irving, Idlewild

2005 RANKING: 12
AGE: Unavailable
BIRTHPLACE: England
REP: Kraft-Engel
RELATIONSHIPS: John Woo, Dreamworks, Ron Underwood, Sandra Bullock, F. Gary Gray, Charles Stone III, Doug Liman, Paul Greengrass
BACKGROUND: Trinity College of Music, advertising music, Media Ventures
FAN FAVORITE: Paycheck
TYPECAST IN: Action, animation
TOP GROSSING FILMS:
1. Shrek--263
2. Mr. & Mrs. Smith--186
3. The Bourne Supremacy--176
4. Robots--128
5. The Bourne Identity--121
6. Ice Age: The Meltdown--115 (as of 4/9/2006)
7. Face/Off--112
8. Chicken Run--106
9. The Italian Job--106
10. Two Weeks Notice--93

Powell managed to achieve prominence with his first major studio credit, John Woo's popular action thriller Face/Off, and has become the most employable composer of Hans Zimmer's Media Ventures stable as well as the one with the most distinctive sound. His career has developed in two equally successful directions: his collaborations with Harry Gregson-Williams on such animated hits as Antz, Chicken Run and Shrek led to an impressive solo career in the field, providing energetic music for the stylishly designed hit Robots, and a satisfyingly varied score for the current smash sequel Ice Age: The Meltdown; meanwhile, he followed Face/Off with a series of lively, techno-flavored action scores, including Woo's Paycheck, the hit Bourne films, and the hugely successful (commercially, if not artistically) Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Coming up he has three impressively varied projects -- Paul Greengrass's 9/11 docudrama United 93 (which, if it's anything like the director's Bloody Sunday, will feature only a minimal amount of music), George Miller's CGI penguin fantasy Happy Feet (Powell had been announced to score Millerís unmade Mad Max sequel, Fury Road), and, most ambitiously, the latest X-Men adventure.

WHAT'S NEXT: United 93, X-Men: The Last Stand, Happy Feet

2005 RANKING: 8
AGE: 62
BIRTHPLACE: Los Angeles, California
REP: Gorfaine/Schwartz
1 OSCAR, 16 NOMINATIONS
2 EMMYS
3 GRAMMYS, 11 NOMINATIONS
BEST PICTURE NOMINEES: Awakenings, Seabiscuit
RELATIONSHIPS: Pixar, Jay Roach, Gary Ross
BACKGROUND: Nephew of Alfred Newman, popular singer-songwriter-pianist
FAN FAVORITE: The Natural
TYPECAST IN: Americana, comedy, computer animation
TOP GROSSING FILMS:
1. Meet the Fockers--278
2. Monsters Inc.--252
3. Toy Story 2--245
4. Toy Story--191
5. Meet the Parents--166
6. A Bug's Life--162
7. Seabiscuit--120
8. Maverick--101
9. Parenthood--100
10. Michael--95

It's hard to think of any composer who has as consistently impressive a track record as Newman -- he's scored only eighteen films (while providing songs for three others) but nine of them have broken the 100 million mark (and 3 have topped 200 mil), two of them were Best Picture nominees, and he's earned an Oscar and 16 nominations for his feature output. Considering his film resume, and the fact that he's 62 years old and one of the most respected singer-songwriters in American music, it's not surprising that heís more than a little picky with his projects, one of the things that keeps him in demand (his talent, taste, and commercial success are also factors). His first project since his all-time highest grosser, Meet the Fockers, will be the latest Pixar CGI feature, Cars.

WHAT'S NEXT: Cars

2005 RANKING: 5
AGE: 59
BIRTHPLACE: Toronto, Canada
REP: Gorfaine/Schwartz
3 OSCARS
3 GRAMMYS, 5 NOMINATIONS
BEST PICTURE NOMINEES: The Silence of the Lambs, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, Gangs of New York, The Return of the King, The Aviator
RELATIONSHIPS: David Cronenberg, David Fincher, Martin Scorsese
BACKGROUND: Pop musician, Saturday Night Live bandleader
FAN FAVORITES: Lord of the Rings series
TYPECAST IN: Thrillers
TOP GROSSING FILMS:
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King--377
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers--339
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring--313
4. Mrs. Doubtfire--219
5. The Silence of the Lambs--130
6. Big--114
7. Analyze This--106
8. The Aviator--102
9. Seven--100
10. Panic Room--95

Howard Shore's music for King Kong was arguably the most eagerly awaited score of 2005, and his departure from the project -- whether due to creative differences or the impossibility of finishing the score unaided during the compressed post-production schedule -- was the biggest film music disappointment of the year. His one completed score for the year, though far from a Kong-scaled epic, was one of 2005's finest, as his History of Violence music found just the right balance between the psychological and the pastoral, and the film proved to be director David Cronenberg's most acclaimed film as well as earning two unexpected Oscar nominations. Despite the Kong setback, Shore still has ongoing relationships with such respected directors as Cronenberg, David Fincher (no word yet on if Shore will score Fincherís Zodiac killer docudrama) and Martin Scorsese, for whom Shore will score the all-star Infernal Affairs remake. Meanwhile, he's kept busy with the exciting video game score Soul of the Ultimate Nation, and a planned opera version of The Fly.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Departed

2005 RANKING: 6
AGE: 52
BIRTHPLACE: Los Angeles, California
REP: Gorfaine/Schwartz
2 OSCARS, 9 NOMINATIONS
3 GRAMMYS, 7 NOMINATIONS
BEST PICTURE NOMINEES: The Dresser, Apollo 13, Braveheart, Titanic, A Beautiful Mind
RELATIONSHIPS: James Cameron, Martin Campbell, Mel Gibson
BACKGROUND: Son of production designer Harry Horner, Royal College of Music (under Gyorgi Lygeti), U.C.L.A., student film scores, low budget features
FAN FAVORITE: Star Trek II
TYPECAST IN: Adventure, Oscar bait
TOP GROSSING FILMS:
1. Titanic--600
2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas--260
3. The Perfect Storm--182
4. Apollo 13--172
5. A Beautiful Mind--170
6. Deep Impact--140
7. Ransom--136
8. Troy--133
9. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids--130
10. Clear and Present Danger--122

Horner hasn't had any megagrossers since his replacement score for 2004's Troy (which could even be considered a boxoffice disappointment given its budget), but he seems to be making a concerted effort to vary his output, working on artistically ambitious projects as well as more surefire commercial fare. His only hit last year was the slick thriller Flightplan, though Legend of Zorro received some very good reviews and it was great to hear the composer working in his most energetic and full-blooded symphonic style. The Chumscrubber, a ghastly attempt at American Beauty-style suburban satire, featured one his least Horner-sounding scores (and was much more effective on the CD than in the film), while The New World gave him the opportunity to work with one of American cinema's most respected directors, Terence Malick, and his sensitive score was one of his best works in years, despite the director's repetitive interpolation of classical cues. Along with his own scores, his musical influence showed up in such other composers' works as Harry Gregson-Williams's Kingdom of Heaven, John Debney's Dreamer, and Brian Tyler's The Greatest Game Ever Played. Surprisingly, he is not scoring Ron Howard's potential blockbuster film of The DaVinci Code, but instead he has many intriguing projects including a reteaming with director Mel Gibson and two major pieces of Oscar bait, the all-star remake of All the King's Men (postponed from 2005) and the Robert DeNiro-directed CIA docudrama The Good Shepherd.

WHAT'S NEXT: All the King's Men, The Good Shepherd, Apocalypto

2005 RANKING: 7
AGE: 54
BIRTHPLACE: Los Angeles, California
REP: Gorfaine/Schwartz
6 OSCAR NOMINATIONS
1 EMMY, 3 NOMINATIONS
1 GRAMMY NOMINATION
BEST PICTURE NOMINEES: The Prince of Tides, The Fugitive, The Sixth Sense
RELATIONSHIPS: M. Night Shyamalan, P.J. Hogan, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Hoffman, Barry Sonnenfeld, Joe Roth
BACKGROUND: U.S.C., Music Academy of the West, pop keyboardist, song arranger
FAN FAVORITE: Signs
TYPECAST IN: Adventure, thrillers, Julia Roberts comedy
TOP GROSSING FILMS:
1. The Sixth Sense--293
2. Signs--227
3. King Kong--218
4. Batman Begins--205
5. The Fugitive--183
6. Pretty Woman--178
7. Runaway Bride--152
8. Dinosaur--137
9. My Best Friend's Wedding--126
10. The Village--114

Howard followed his restrained score for Sydney Pollack's political thriller The Interpreter with two megabudget projects which proved to be two of his highest grossers, as well as perhaps the two most frustrating scores of the year for film music fans. Batman Begins was an unusually satisfying superhero movie and a deserved smash, and Howard's collaboration with friend and fellow A-list composer Hans Zimmer had the potential to be an outstanding project for both composers, but (presumably due to the influence of director Christopher Nolan), the score was a noisy non-entity, alternating hook-less, droning action music with a Thomas Newman-y emotional theme. Howard was a last minute replacement to score Peter Jackson's beautifully made, epic length King Kong remake, and the composer did the best he could given the crippling time restraints, but though his music was effective in many scenes it lacked a consistent and satisfying approach to the material. His music for this year's urban drama Freedomland too often reflected Joe Roth's hyped-up direction, and while Barry Sonnenfeld's RV is unlikely to inspire a film music masterpiece, M. Night Shyamalan's "bedtime story" Lady in the Water reunites the composer with his most inspiring director, and has the potential to be one the year's strongest scores.

WHAT'S NEXT: R.V., Lady in the Water

2005 RANKING: 3
AGE: 50
BIRTHPLACE: Los Angeles, California
REP: Gorfaine/Schwartz
7 OSCAR NOMINATIONS
1 EMMY, 2 NOMINATIONS
1 GRAMMY, 4 NOMINATIONS
BEST PICTURE NOMINEES: Scent of a Woman, The Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty, The Green Mile, Erin Brockovich
RELATIONSHIPS: Sam Mendes, Jon Avnet, Ron Howard
BACKGROUND: Son of Alfred Newman, Yale, pop and theater composer
FAN FAVORITE: The Shawshank Redemption
TYPECAST IN: Oscar bait
TOP GROSSING FILMS:
1. Finding Nemo--339
2. The Green Mile--136
3. American Beauty--130
4. Erin Brockovich--125
5. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events--118
6. Phenomenon--104
7. Road to Perdition--104
8. Fried Green Tomatoes--82
9. The Horse Whisperer--75
10. Scent of a Woman--63

Newman's output for 2005 continued his trend as the top composer for Oscar bait, though neither film he scored managed to actually win an Oscar and one wasn't even nominated. More surprisingly, though both films were intelligent and satisfying entertainments, neither managed to break into the list of Newman's top ten grossers, each earning just a little bit less than Scent of a Woman, which at 63 million wasn't exactly a blockbuster (even for 1992). His score for Cinderella Man, while breaking little musical ground for the composer, was admirably effective and restrained, lacking the overt sentiment that most composers would have brought to the project. His striking music for Jarhead cleverly evoked the alienation of its protagonists, American soldiers in the first Gulf War who find themselves with no opportunity to fight, but the film received mixed reviews and despite a strong opening weekend (probably due to audiences expecting a more gung ho MidEast war movie) dropped quickly at the boxoffice. No upcoming projects have been announced yet, though there was an intriguing rumor that he would score the hugely unnecessary prequel Young Hannibal: Behind the Mask.

2005 RANKING: 4
AGE: 48
BIRTHPLACE: Frankfurt, Germany
REP: Gorfaine/Schwartz
1 OSCAR, 7 NOMINATIONS
1 GRAMMY, 4 NOMINATIONS
BEST PICTURE NOMINEES: Rain Man, Driving Miss Daisy, As Good As It Gets, The Thin Red Line, Gladiator
RELATIONSHIPS: Ridley Scott, Dreamworks, Jerry Bruckheimer, Penny Marshall, James L. Brooks, Tom Cruise, Antoine Fuqua, Gore Verbinski
BACKGROUND: Keyboardist, pop musician, protege to Stanley Myers, founder of Media Ventures
FAN FAVORITES: Gladiator, The Thin Red Line
TYPECAST IN: Epics, action, Oscar bait, animation
TOP GROSSING FILMS:
1. The Lion King--312
2. Mission: Impossible 2--215
3. Batman Begins--205
4. Pearl Harbor--198
5. Madagascar--193
6. Gladiator--187
7. Rain Man--172
8. Hannibal--165
9. Shark Tale--160
10. As Good As It Gets--148

Zimmer's score for last year's surprisingly good character comedy The Weather Man demonstrates both the pluses and minuses of the composer's astoundingly successful career -- while the composer took a fresh and effectively restrained approach to a difficult project, the prominent end title credit "Score Co-Composed by James S. Levine" (why didn't it just say "Music by Hans Zimmer and James S. Levine"?) causes one to wonder what specifically Zimmer brings to a project besides an incredibly employable name and a great number of collaborators. Similarly, on last year's hit Madagascar, Zimmer received the primary credit but so many additional composers were credited (both in the film and on individual cues on the CD) that a Zimmer score starts to seem like the philosophical question about a chair where every single part has been replaced -- is it still the same chair? Is a score written by eight people really a Hans Zimmer score? Zimmer's trading Kingdom of Heaven for Madagascar with composer Harry Gregson-Williams demonstrated Zimmer's perennial commercial astuteness, while this summer he has two of the season's potential blockbusters -- The DaVinci Code and the first of two back-to-back Pirates of the Caribbean sequels.

WHAT'S NEXT: The DaVinci Code, Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, The Simpsons Movie

2005 RANKING: 2
AGE: 52
BIRTHPLACE: Amarillo, Texas
REP: Kraft-Engel
3 OSCAR NOMINATIONS
1 EMMY, 2 NOMINATIONS
8 GRAMMY NOMINATIONS
BEST PICTURE NOMINEES: Good Will Hunting, Chicago
RELATIONSHIPS: Tim Burton
BACKGROUND: Rock singer-songwriter (Oingo Boingo)
FAN FAVORITES: Batman, Edward Scissorhands
TYPECAST IN: Comic book movies, Oscar bait
TOP GROSSING FILMS:
1. Spider-Man--403
2. Spider-Man 2--373
3. Batman--251
4. Men in Black--250
5. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory--206
6. Men in Black II--190
7. Mission: Impossible--180
8. Planet of the Apes--179
9. Chicago--170
10. Batman Returns--162

Elfman began his career as a rock singer-songwriter (for Oingo-Boingo) and as a composer for Tim Burton films, so it is only fitting that his output for 2005 should consist of two Tim Burton musicals, whose scores are among Elfman's finest. Despite mixed reviews, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory proved to be one of the year's biggest hits, and Burton's highest grosser since the first Batman. Elfman's score was an utter delight, with irresistible energy and a strong main theme, and equally satisfying were his "Oompa-Loompa" songs, each based on Roald Dahl's original lyrics while incorporating a variety of pastiche styles -- the most memorable was the unforgettable '60s pop of "Veruca Salt." While his Corpse Bride score had fewer songs than Nightmare Before Christmas and less infectious melodies, it was a satisfyingly mature and evocative work whose songs were an inextricable part of the film's storytelling, and Elfman's lyrics were much superior to those he wrote for Nightmare. Next up are two more films based on beloved children's novels, the animated Meet the Robinsons (based on William Joyce's A Day With Wilbur Robinson) and the live-action/animation mix Charlotte's Web.

WHAT'S NEXT: Meet the Robinsons, Charlotte's Web

2005 RANKING: 1
AGE: 74
BIRTHPLACE: Long Island, New York
REP: Gorfaine/Schwartz
5 OSCARS, 45 NOMINATIONS
2 EMMYS, 4 NOMINATIONS
18 GRAMMYS, 55 NOMINATIONS
BEST PICTURE NOMINEES: Fiddler on the Roof, Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Born on the Fourth of July, JFK, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Munich
RELATIONSHIPS: Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Chris Columbus
BACKGROUND: U.C.L.A., session pianist (for Goldsmith & Bernstein), TV composer, concert music
FAN FAVORITES: Spielberg movies, Star Wars series
TYPECAST IN: Fantasy adventure, Oscar bait
TOP GROSSING FILMS:
1. Star Wars--460
2. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial--434
3. The Phantom Menace--431
4. Revenge of the Sith--380
5. Jurassic Park--357
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone--316
7. Attack of the Clones--310
8. Return of the Jedi--309
9. The Empire Strikes Back--290
10. Home Alone--285

Williams has individual years -- 1975 (Jaws), 1977 (Star Wars & Close Encounters), 1982 (E.T.), 1993 (Jurassic Park & Schindler's List) -- where his achievements, creatively and commercially, are so remarkable that any other composer could base an entire career on just one year like that, and 2005 was arguably another such year for him. His first score of the year, Revenge of the Sith, concluded the Star Wars sextet with a remarkably high grossing hit that was also surprisingly well reviewed (the New York Times critic found it superior even to the first Star Wars). War of the Worlds was Spielberg's highest grosser since Jurassic Park a dozen years earlier, and Williams' unnerving score was one of the director's greatest tools for ratcheting up the tension. The lavish adaptation of Memoirs of a Geisha, though not a boxoffice hit, featured one of the most gorgeous scores of Williams' later career with an unforgettable main theme, and his music received deservedly rapturous reviews (as well as Williams's 44th Oscar nomination). And though it also wasn't a hit, Spielberg's Munich was a Best Picture nominee and earned Williams a record 45th nomination (which either ties or exceeds Alfred Newman's total, depending on one's interpretation of the early Oscars), and his subtle score also received deserved raves. At the moment Williams doesn't have any feature projects in the works, which might just be his way of letting the other guys have a chance.

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