NOT EVEN NOMINATED PART TWENTY THREE

By Scott Bettencourt

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN - John Williams
FAR FROM HEAVEN - Elmer Bernstein
FRIDA - Elliot Goldenthal (the winner)
THE HOURS - Philip Glass
ROAD TO PERDITION - Thomas Newman

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS - Howard Shore

The second of Peter Jackson's hugely popular Lord of the Rings films, like its predecessor and successor, managed to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, but unlike the other Rings it was snubbed in the Writing and Directing categories. Shore managed to win three Oscars for his Rings work, for Fellowship of the Ring's score and Return of the King's score and song, so fans shouldn't be too put off by the lack of a nomination for his Two Towers score, though the theory has long been that confusion over the Music Branch Oscar rules -- specifically, the eligibility of sequel scores which rework material from their predecessor -- led to the lack of a nomination. At least this Shore-less year in the category meant that another composer -- in this case, the exceptionally worthy Elliot Goldenthal -- was able to get a crack at the little gold man. Shore had a refreshingly long scoring period on each of the Rings films, and the end result demonstrates the care he took with the project -- while expanding upon the wonderful music he wrote for Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers contains a wealth of new material, such as the rousing "Riders of Rohan" theme and evocative music for Gollum, including the creepy yet moving, Bjork-ish "Gollum's Song" featured in the end titles. The original soundtrack LP was a well-sequenced but inevitably fractional representation of the score, but last year saw the release of the "Complete Recordings," including the extra material Shore recorded for the film's expanded cut, which enables one to give this great score the full listening it deserves. (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers received 6 Oscar nominations)

MINORITY REPORT - John Williams

In the 1990s, director Steven Spielberg alternated obviously commercial projects (Jurassic Park) with "Oscar bait" (Schindler's List), so it was a surprise that in the new century he should make back-to-back ambitious science fiction films -- first the Kubrick-inspired A.I. and then this adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story, originally developed for Jan De Bont to direct. While A.I. was, by Spielberg standards, an art film, Minority Report was an action-filled mystery with a huge movie star (Tom Cruise) and a premise -- psychic crime-solving allowing police to arrest and convict before a crime even occurs -- that had odd resonance in our paranoid, post-9/11 era. Though the wrap-up of the mystery was disappointingly clunky, the film had dazzling visuals, exciting action scenes (occasionally spoiled by Spielberg jokiness) and a truly remarkable performance by Samantha Morton, and even Cruise was refreshingly subdued and un-Cruise-like. Williams managed to avoid copying his masterful A.I. score for Minority Report, which featured thrilling action cues evoking his great music for Irwin Allen's '60s TV series, as well as moving themes for Morton's psychic and Cruise's lost son. Some fans may be troubled by Williams' inclusion of the era's greatest film music cliche, the wordless, wailing voice (used for the murder victim on whom the plot hinges), but he employs it with welcome discretion. Unlike the frustratingly incomplete A.I. soundtrack, DreamWorks' Minority Report soundtrack CD is an excellent assemblage of the bulk of the score. (1 Oscar nomination)

SIGNS - James Newton Howard

M. Night Shyamalan's first film with composer James Newton Howard, The Sixth Sense, proved to be the director's biggest hit (so far), earning multiple Oscar nominations including Best Picture (a rarity for a supernatural thriller), though Howard's score was effective yet not as inspired as the film itself. Their next project together, Unbreakable, received less acclaim and lower grosses, but it was a worthy successor, highlighted by one of Bruce Willis' best performances, and Howard's score was fresh, original, and utterly different from Sixth Sense. Signs managed to be nearly as big a hit as Sense, with help from Mel Gibson's star power and a strong central premise, and the film had much to recommend it despite the tendency toward self-importance which would overwhelm Shyamalan's later films. One of the film's greatest assets is Howard's score, which sounds nothing like his earlier work for the director and manages to be arguably the finest work of his career -- from the stabbing strings of the main title (which some have suggested is an homage to Jerry Goldsmith's score for the Twilight Zone classic "The Invaders," another tale of a farmhouse besieged by aliens) to the wonderfully subtle yet supportive incidental cues to the climactic, powerful "The Hand of Fate," which may be the most satisfying cue in the entire Howard oeuvre. Howard's scores for the director have continued to be first-rate, even as Shyamalan's films have declined markedly, but though the composer remains as prolific as ever, no other director seems to inspire him as fully, and it is hoped that their next collaboration, The Happening, is a success for both filmmakers.

SPIDER-MAN - Danny Elfman

After the success of Tim Burton's Batman in 1989, it's no surprise that a film version of the groundbreaking Spider-Man comics should be in development (at one point planned as a James Cameron feature), and by 2002 visual effects had improved to the point where the web slinging comic book hero could potentially be portrayed convincingly on the big screen. Over the previous two decades, Sam Raimi had moved from no-budget filmmaker to director of glossy Hollywood productions, and his work on the cult favorite Darkman showed his affinity for comic book subject matter. Raimi's Spider-Man proved to be the blockbuster of the year, and though the state-of-the-art effects still couldn't quite make Spidey's acrobatics plausible (in motion, he often looked distractingly like a videogame character), the performances of Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in the leads made up for it -- as one critic remarked, one could imagine watching a film about these two characters even without the comic book antics, which is rare for the genre. One might have expected Elfman to have burned out on superhero stories after his two Batmans, Dick Tracy, and Darkman, but his Spider-Man score was a lively and welcome addition to the genre, with suitably propulsive action music and satisfying (and strangely underrated) themes for Spidey and his antagonist, The Green Goblin. Elfman returned for 2004's superior Spider-Man 2, but creative conflicts with Raimi led to the replacement of several of his cues by new pieces by John Debney and Christopher Young (and in a bitter irony, much of Young's Spider-Man 3 score was replaced by tracked-in Elfman as well as new cues from Debney and Deborah Lurie). (2 Oscar nominations)

THE SUM OF ALL FEARS - Jerry Goldsmith

The third film from Tom Clancy's series of novels about CIA analyst Jack Ryan, Clear and Present Danger, was released in 1994 to strong boxoffice and generally good reviews, but it was another eight years until fourth Clancy/Ryan story reached the screen. The film version of The Sum of All Fears, with Ryan facing a nuclear threat within the United States, took an unusual approach that would soon become relatively common with such films as Batman Begins, Casino Royale, and J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Trek feature -- restarting the franchise by making what the comic books would call an "origin ish." Ben Affleck followed in the footsteps of Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford as Ryan, paired with Morgan Freeman in a variant of the role James Earl Jones played in the earlier Ryan films. The director was Phil Alden Robinson, making his first feature since Sneakers a decade earlier, and it was presumed that his usual composer, James Horner, would write Sum's score, especially since Horner had scored the two Ford/Ryan adventures. Shockingly but pleasingly, the assignment went to Jerry Goldsmith. The film's release was ultimately delayed in the wake of 9/11, and the extended post-production period benefited the working relationship between Robinson and Goldsmith, as the filmmakers had a rare chance to develop the score carefully, resulting in an unusually intelligent and satisfying effort. Though the score shows some distracting echoes of Goldsmith's music for the similar Air Force One, it is full of strong cues and the choral-dominated main title is an especially surprising and successful choice. Sum of All Fears proved to be a milestone, as the last complete and memorable new Goldsmith score to reach the screen - Star Trek: Nemesis was a great disappointment, the wonderful Timeline was rejected, and Goldsmith's illness left Looney Tunes: Back in Action unfinished.

ATTACK OF THE CLONES - John Williams

Though the first of the long awaited, George Lucas-directed Star Wars prequels, The Phantom Menace, earned remarkably high grosses in the United States, reviews were almost uniformly harsh, and, surprisingly, Lucas seemed to take many of the criticisms to heart when planning the second in the trilogy, Attack of the Clones. He brought on a co-writer this time, greatly reduced the role of universally loathed CGI irritant Jar-Jar Binks, and managed to create many genuinely cool sequences, especially in the section of the film where Obi-Wan visits the cloning planet. He even gave the cult favorite Boba Fett a genuinely cool backstory -- much cooler than the history of Annakin that takes place over the three prequels. The biggest problem with the prequel trilogy is that Lucas hinges the films on a romantic tragedy, but the badly written, flatly acted relationship is virtually impossible to care about, and sinks each film every time it takes center stage. Williams did what he could to alleviate this by giving the thwarted lovers a truly beautiful love theme, "Across the Stars," which evokes one of his greatest early scores, the made-for-TV Jane Eyre. Williams also provided exciting new action material, but much of his effort was for naught, as Lucas brutally re-edited the score after Williams had finished his work, at times tracking in Phantom Menace music and even including a snippet of Yoda's theme in a Yoda-less scene (so much for the musical-dramatic-motific integrity of the series). Despite the film's huge box-office, only a one-disc score CD has been released, so fans are still waiting to hear Williams's complete work as he intended it.

AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER - George S. Clinton

The original Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, released in 1997, was only a modest hit, but the film reached a much greater audience on video, and its sequel, The Spy Who Shagged Me, was a $200 million blockbuster. A third Powers was thus inevitable, and though Spy Who Shagged Me was something of a comedown from Man of Mystery, with many funny scenes but also an over-reliance on bathroom humor (Man of Mystery may have had a lengthy urination scene, but that didn't justify Powers sipping from a mug full of feces in Shagged). The third (and to date) final Powers, the oddly titled Austin Powers in Goldmember, was a welcome return to form - not as consistent as Man of Mystery but full of quotable lines and memorable sequences, opening with an all-star film-within-a-film and even featuring several musical numbers. As before, George S. Clinton's music was a pivotal (if perennially underappreciated) part of the film's success, and his new material included a mysterioso theme for Goldmember, funky music for the new love interest, Foxxy Cleopatra, and a charmingly light bit of comedy scoring for the scene where Austin and Mini-Mi do a variation of the classic two-men-in-one-coat routine. New Line Records announced a score CD to be released soon after the film and then inexplicably cancelled it, despite Goldmember's huge grosses (Clinton remarked at the recent AMPAS film music seminar that he was only able to get a score suite on the Man of Mystery CD by paying the orchestra's reuse fees himself). Five years later, there's still no sign of a Goldmember score CD, though Clinton's promo compilation CD features a "Soul Shag" suite from the score including much key material, such as the opening parody of David Arnold's Bond scores.

ENIGMA - John Barry

This romantic WWII espionage thriller from director Michael Apted and writer Tom Stoppard (adapting the novel by Robert Harris) took a slow path to U.S. screens, not arriving until the spring of 2002, and seemed to disappear from theaters in an eyeblink. Apart from his consistently wonderful series of "Up" documentaries, Apted's most satisfying work tends not to be Oscar bait like Gorillas in the Mist and Nell but his more modest entertainments like Extreme Measures and Enigma, which despite its obscurity is a surprisingly satisfying entertainment for grownups (another term for "box-office poison"). John Barry's romantic score was something of an unofficial successor to his Hanover Street, with a similar mix of musical nostalgia and mild excitement. Despite a brief fling with scoring Pixar's The Incredibles (which ultimately benefited from Michael Giacchino's Barry homage), Barry has not scored a film since Enigma, so this minor but extremely pleasing score could prove to be his swan song.

ICE AGE - David Newman

Pixar produced the breakthrough computer animated feature, Toy Story, in 1995, and its string of critical and commercial successes insured that other companies would follow in its footsteps. DreamWorks' Shrek may have lacked the visual ingenuity of Pixar's work, but its stellar cast and Oscar-nominated script resulted in a boxoffice blockbuster to rival Pixar's films. The CGI short Bunny, from filmmaker Chris Wedge and his company Blue Sky, won an Oscar in 1998, and their first feature project followed in 2002, with Ice Age earning an impressive $178 million. Though the stylized character designs lacked Pixar's lavishness, the film benefited greatly from terrific voice work, genuinely funny dialogue, and a surprisingly melancholy tone. David Newman had earned his only Oscar nomination for another animated feature from 20th Century Fox, Anastasia, and though many of his later comedy scores were distractingly busy, his Ice Age score was deftly pitched, with an infectiously catchy main theme and a gentle touch for the film's more somber moments. Considering how artistically successful the collaboration was, it is surprising that Wedge has yet to work with Newman again, as it was John Powell who wrote the peppy scores for the next two Blue Sky features, Robots and the inevitable Ice Age: The Meltdown.

SOLARIS - Cliff Martinez

This remake of Andrei Tarkovsky's acclaimed science-fiction epic, based on the Stanislaw Lem novel, was the first collaboration between director Steven Soderbergh and star George Clooney following their blockbuster hit remake of Ocean's Eleven, and expectations were high, especially given the participation of producer James Cameron, one of Hollywood's most successful yet least prolific filmmakers. Those who expected Solaris to be any kind of box-office hit had probably never seen Tarkovsky's lavish but poky film (in his Biographical Dictionary of Film, critic David Thomson dared to suggest that the Star Trek episode "Shore Leave" had done the premise better than Tarkovsky had -- "I do not mean to be snide when I say that an episode of Star Trek explored this theme with more wit and ingenuity, less sentimentality, and at a third the length."), and Soderbergh's beautifully crafted sci-fi drama, though edited down to a manageable 99 minutes (the Tarkovsky version runs 165 minutes in its complete version), is still an acquired taste. Soderbergh is known for his aversion to traditional Hollywood film scoring -- while watching The Rocketeer with his usual composer, Cliff Martinez, Soderbergh turned to him during a full-bodied Horner cue and remarked "Don't you hate this shit?" -- and the Solaris score is understandably a far cry from Williams's Star Wars, but Martinez (with the help of orchestrator-conductor Bruce Fowler) managed to create an orchestral score (marked by a surprising prevalence of steel drums) that was extremely minimalist yet a satisfying and evocative listening experience.

Craig Armstrong wrote a typically dour and brooding score for the Oscar-nominated remake of THE QUIET AMERICAN.

David Arnold wrote his third James Bond score, for the wildly uneven DIE ANOTHER DAY, and his music was as skilled as ever but the lack of a strong main theme (the Madonna-penned title song was one of the disliked in the entire series) made it one of the least memorable Bond scores. His orchestral action-suspense score was one of the few tolerable aspects of the J.Lo thriller ENOUGH, and he provided edgy, non-melodic urban sounds for the intelligent drama CHANGING LANES.

Angelo Badalamenti's work with David Lynch led to his typecasting as the composer for projects involving unusual sexuality, and in 2002 he scored the S&M romance SECRETARY and the Bob Crane biopic AUTO FOCUS.

The stylish but derivative sci-fi action film EQUILIBRIUM featured a score by Klaus Badelt which took too little advantage of the subject matter's musical possibilities. His score for another futuristic project, THE TIME MACHINE, was much better, though his world music approach to the Eloi seemed over-familiar. His forthright score for K19: THE WIDOWMAKER also featured a prominent use of Richard Einhorn's "Visions of Light," and he teamed with Hans Zimmer for Werner Herzog's period drama INVINCIBLE.

Christophe Beck and John Debney shared the scoring credit on the high-concept Jackie Chan vehicle THE TUXEDO, with Beck providing the more satisfying cues. Beck scored his first of four films for actor-turned-director Shawn Levy, the annoying kids comedy BIG FAT LIAR.

Each of the three Blade films was scored by a different composer, and Marco Beltrami provided the dark orchestral score for BLADE II, reuninting him with Mimic director Guillermo Del Toro. He wrote a rare comedy score for the little seen THE FIRST $20 MILLION IS ALWAYS THE HARDEST, but the final film featured a disconcerting number of Additional Music credits. He also collaborated with Marilyn Manson on the rock-oriented score for the first RESIDENT EVIL film.

Terence Blanchard's score for the sleeper hit BARBERSHOP was an uncharacteristically broad and cartoony effort. His full-bodied orchestral score for 25TH HOUR earned both raves and pans from mainstream critics.

Jon Brion provided a deliberately unnerving (and critically acclaimed) score for Paul Thomas Anderson's memorable comedy-drama PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE.

While Carter Burwell's recent scores have often seemed too self-derivative, his distinctive, quirky style has proved to be a good match for the films of director Spike Jonze, and ADAPTATION was their second feature together. He wrote a minimalism tinged score for the sci-fi comedy SIMONE.

Teddy Castellucci wrote a pleasant comic pastiche for the Adam Sandler remake of MR. DEEDS, and also scored the Hanukkah themed cartoon ADAM SANDLER'S EIGHT CRAZY NIGHTS.

Stanley Clarke's lively, funky music was one of the strongest elements of the spoof UNDERCOVER BROTHER, and he provided percussive accompaniment for THE TRANSPORTER. He also scored Walter Hill's prison boxing drama UNDISPUTED, the director's final feature to date.

George S. Clinton's broad orchestral score for THE SANTA CLAUSE 2: THE ESCAPE CLAUSE lacked the gentle, evocative quality of Michael Convertino's score for the original.

Elia Cmiral wrote a typically edgy, unmelodic score for the horror film THEY.

Jeff Danna provided a lush pastiche for the offbeat documentary THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE. He wrote an extremely sparse score for Tim Blake Nelson's powerful Holocaust drama THE GREY ZONE, and collaborated with his brother Mychael on the post-Vietnam drama GREEN DRAGON.

Mychael Danna wrote a refreshingly restrained orchestral score for the clunky 9/11 drama THE GUYS. His score for Denzel Washington's directorial debut, ANTWONE FISHER, made unexpected use of the gamelan orchestrations which had made his Ice Storm score so distinctive, but they seemed a little distracting in this context, despite Danna's typically discreet approach. He wrote a strong orchestral score for Atom Egoyan's ARARAT, incorporating authentic Armenian instruments and musicians, and provided Indian sounds for the indie hit MONSOON WEDDING.

Don Davis wrote a disappointingly routine synth-techno score for one of the year's worst titled films, the forgettable BALLISTIC: ECKS VS. SEVER.

John Debney provided a satisfying pastiche adventure score for THE SCORPION KING, and wrote the themes for Louis Febre's score for the teen Fatal Attraction SWIMFAN. He also wrote a smoothly orchestrated supernatural score for the ghost story DRAGONFLY, and scored the Rob Schneider comedy THE HOT CHICK and the surprise hit SNOW DOGS.

Randy Edelman had his biggest boxoffice success with XXX, giving the action film a pleasantly trashy score. He also scored the dreadful crime comedy WHO IS CLETIS TOUT?

Cliff Eidelman wrote a typically somber and restrained score for the photojournalism drama HARRISON'S FLOWERS, replacing the less traditional Bruno Coulais score which was featured in the film's international release.

Danny Elfman wrote an enjoyable but atypically over-the-top score for Brett Ratner's film of RED DRAGON, and provided a modest amount of period-flavored original incidental music for the Best Picture winning musical CHICAGO. He worked pleasing variations on his Oscar-nominated Men in Black music for MEN IN BLACK II.

The romantic comedy SWEET HOME ALABAMA was one of George Fenton's biggest hits, but his score was a disappointingly broad effort.

Peter Gabriel composed a largely ambient, non-melodic score for the fact-based Australian drama RABBIT PROOF FENCE.

Richard Gibbs' lively action score was about the only palatable element of the horribly misconceived feature version of I SPY, and he also scored the kids comedy LIKE MIKE. Gibbs collaborated with Korn's Jonathan Davis on the orchestral score for the guilty pleasure Ann Rice adaptation QUEEN OF THE DAMNED.

Nick Glennie-Smith's score for the effective Vietnam War drama WE WERE SOLDIERS sounded too much like a weak imitation of Hans Zimmer's acclaimed The Thin Red Line.

Jerry Goldsmith wrote his final score for the Star Trek series, STAR TREK: NEMESIS, and though his music was effective in context, it was by far his least memorable Trek effort.

Damon Gough (aka Badly Drawn Boy) provided original songs and a perky incidental music for the comedy ABOUT A BOY.

Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek's effective orchestral score for the weak psychological thriller ONE HOUR PHOTO featured echoes of Carter Burwell.

Joe Hisaishi wrote a colorful and varied orchestral score for the Oscar-winning animated feature SPIRITED AWAY.

David Holmes scored one of his first non-Soderbergh features, bringing his funky sound to the sequel ANALYZE THAT.

James Horner's score for the strikingly photographed remake of THE FOUR FEATHERS featured authentic Indian instruments but failed to drum up enough romance or excitement. Similarly, his WINDTALKERS score featured Native American elements, but his scoring for the battle scenes was unusually clumsy.

James Newton Howard gave the underrated prep school drama THE EMPEROR'S CLUB a score reminiscent at times of Thomas Newman, highlighted by one of Howard's finest themes. He scored his first film for director Barry Sonnenfeld, giving BIG TROUBLE a quirky but uninsistent accompaniment, and scored his third animated feature for Disney, the lavish but unsuccessful TREASURE PLANET.

Alberto Iglesias provided satisfying orchestral drama for Pedro Almodovar's Oscar-winning TALK TO HER.

Mark Isham's score for the long-delayed adaptation of Philip K. Dick's IMPOSTOR was one of his least memorable efforts, and he provided a sparse score for the autobiographical comedy-drama MOONLIGHT MILE.

David Julyan had his first big studio project with the star-laden remake of INSOMNIA, though as per usual for a Christopher Nolan film, his score was allowed to make only a modest contribution.

Jan A.P. Kaczmarek took a sensitive, classical approach to the infidelity thriller UNFAITHFUL.

Rolfe Kent continued to prove himself a master at offbeat comedy scoring with his third film for writer-director Alexander Payne, ABOUT SCHMIDT, though his score for the high concept sex comedy 40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS was less memorable.

Wojciech Kilar provided impressively somber and restrained music for Roman Polanski's Oscar-winning THE PIANIST.

Krishna Levy composed a lush, old-fashioned orchestral score for the all-star French mystery-musical 8 WOMEN.

Danny Lux wrote a gentle score for the first Project Greenlight film, STOLEN SUMMER and adapted John Carpenter's classic theme for the final (to date) Halloween sequel, HALLOWEEN RESURRECTION.

Harry Manfredini adapted his popular Friday the 13th motifs for a new century for his score to the futuristic guilty pleasure JASON X.

Clint Mansell wrote an atypically mainstream orchestral score for the thriller MURDER BY NUMBERS, and a comparatively abstract suspense score for Steven Gaghan's disappointing directorial debut, ABANDON. He also scored Nicolas Cage's laughable directorial debut SONNY.

David Mansfield and T. Bone Burnett collaborated on a surprisingly conventional and sentimental orchestral score for the film version of DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD.

Clint Martinez worked in an ambient style for the critically acclaimed cop drama NARC.

David Newman wrote a typically busy score for the undeservedly high-grossing film version of SCOOBY DOO and reunited with director Stephen Herek for the romantic comedy LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT. His score for the black comedy DEATH TO SMOOCHY, his fifth film for director Danny DeVito, included some amusing parody songs.

Thomas Newman's restrained score for the all-star literary adaptation WHITE OLEANDER was so discreet that it barely made an impression. He wrote an edgy, modern score for one of his most obscure projects, the stylish thriller THE SALTON SEA.

Lennie Niehaus wrote the sparse score for BLOOD WORK, with a main theme by director-star Clint Eastwood, who from his next film on would begin scoring his own films.

John Ottman's busy orchestral score for EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS too often emphasized the film's cartoonish, unscary nature, and he wrote a more effective score for the tiresome thriller TRAPPED. Understandably, he failed to find the proper tone for the disastrous black comedy PUMPKIN.

Nicola Piovani provided pretty orchestral accompaniment for Roberto Benigni's lavish but critically panned live-action PINOCCHIO.

Rachel Portman wrote one of her loveliest scores for the little seen what-if romance THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES, and composed a brooding but unmemorable score for the underrated WWII drama HART'S WAR. Her pleasant score for the awful remake of Charade, THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE, was one of the film's few palatable elements but no match for Mancini's original Charade score. Her music for the film of NICHOLAS NICKLEBY was pleasingly melodic, though her main theme sounded like her popular Cider House Rules theme.

John Powell's driving, techno-inflected score for THE BOURNE IDENTITY helped establish him as a top composer in the action genre, and resulted in two sequel scores. He wrote an unmemorable score for the comedy TWO WEEKS NOTICE, with some unused cues ending up years later in another Sandra Bullock comedy, the temp-track laden Miss Congeniality 2. His score for the infamous sci-fi comedy flop, THE ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH, featured one of his catchiest main themes, and he also scored the Nick Cannon vehicle DRUMLINE.

Trevor Rabin wrote a typical Media Ventures-style action score for the eminently forgettable BAD COMPANY, featuring the unlikely buddy team of Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins. With his rocker background, Rabin was an unusually apt choice to score the ex-groupie comedy THE BANGER SISTERS.

Graeme Revell's uncharacteristically peppy score for HUMAN NATURE, the first teaming of the writer and director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, was one of his most pleasing efforts, while he took his typically percussive approach to the Schwarzenegger revenge thriller COLLATERAL DAMAGE. He wrote an effectively low-key score for the haunted submarine thriller BELOW, and worked with an appealingly varied musical palette for the mystery HIGH CRIMES.

William Ross's folksy orchestral score for the rural fantasy TUCK EVERLASTING featured strong temp track echoes of Thomas Newman's Horse Whisperer.

Ryuichi Sakamoto's score for Brian DePalma's stylish but nonsensical FEMME FATALE was perhaps the most uninspired score in the director's canon, alternating obvious homages to Bernard Herrmann and Ravel's Bolero.

Eric Serra brought his distinctive Euro-rock sound to John McTiernan's apalling remake of ROLLERBALL, and scored the Jean Reno action-comedy WASABI.

Edward Shearmur's orchestral score for the latest version of THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO was somber and effective, though the themes were relatively unmemorable for the genre. He wrote a forgettable score for the ghastly sex comedy THE SWEETEST THING.

Howard Shore's string-dominated music for the psychological drama SPIDER, a welcome return to form for director David Cronenberg, was one of the bleakest scores in the director's oeuvre, and Shore wrote a discreet suspense score for David Fincher's PANIC ROOM. After rejecting Elmer Bernstein's original music, Martin Scorsese scored GANGS OF NEW YORK with excerpts from "Brooklyn Heights," a concert piece by Shore.

Alan Silvestri's lively orchestral score for STUART LITTLE 2, like the film itself, was a big improvement on its predecessor, while his score for the romantic comedy MAID IN MANHATTAN had a relaxed charm. The Disney animated feature LILO & STITCH was one of his biggest hits, though some cues distractingly evoked earlier Silvestri scores, and he scored the flop action comedy SHOWTIME.

John Williams shared the music credit for HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS with William Ross, Williams composing and conducting new themes and major cues, and Ross adapting Williams material for the remainder of the score, and though none of the new themes were as memorable as his popular "Hedwig's Theme," the film was much better spotted than its predecessor.

Alex Wurman wrote an appealing chamber score for the well-acted indie 13 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING, and a sparse, piano-dominated score for George Clooney's directorial debut, CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND.

Gabriel Yared provided lush, melodic support for yet another tragic romance, the film version of the acclaimed novel POSSESSION.

Christopher Young wrote a lighthearted, change-of-pace score for Disney's theme park tie-in THE COUNTRY BEARS, which failed to find the success of the following year's Pirates of the Caribbean.

Aaron Zigman had his first major feature with his eclectic score for the HMO drama JOHN Q.

Hans Zimmer's sparsely spotted score for the genuinely spooky American remake of THE RING was of the most effective works of the composer's career, but his incidental music for the animated horse adventure SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON had a distractingly tinny, electronic sound.

GANGS OF NEW YORK - Elmer Bernstein
HARRISON'S FLOWERS - Bruno Coulais
(Coulais's score was featured in international prints)

Abandon, About a Boy, About Schmidt, Adaptation, Analyze That, Antwone Fisher, Ararat, Attack of the Clones, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, Below, Blade II, The Bourne Identity, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Catch Me If You Can, Changing Lanes, City by the Sea, Collateral Damage, The Count of Monte Cristo, CQ, Die Another Day, Dragonfly, Eight Legged Freaks, 8 Women, The Emperor's Club, The Emperor's New Clothes, Enigma, Enough, Evelyn, Far from Heaven, Feardotcom, Femme Fatale, The Four Feathers, Frailty, Frida, Ghost Ship, Green Dragon, The Guys, Halloween Resurrection, Harrison's Flowers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Hart's War, The Hours, Human Nature, Ice Age, The Importance of Being Earnest, Insomnia, Invincible , Jason X, K-19: The Widowmaker, The Kid Stays in the Picture, Lilo & Stitch, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Man from Elysian Fields, Men in Black II, Minority Report, Monsoon Wedding, The Mothman Prophecies, Naqoyqatsi, Narc, Nicholas Nickleby, One Hour Photo, Panic Room, Pinocchio, Possession, Pumpkin, Punch-Drunk Love, Queen of the Damned, The Quiet American, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Red Dragon. Return to Neverland, The Rising Place, Road to Perdition, Rollerball, The Salton Sea, The Scorpion King, Secretary, Signs, Simone, Solaris, Sonny, The Son's Room, Spider, Spider-Man, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Spirited Away, Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, Star Trek Nemesis, The Sum of All Fears, Sweet Home Alabama, Swept Away, Talk to Her, They, The Time Machine, The Transporter, Trapped, Treasure Planet, Tuck Everlasting, The Tuxedo, 25th Hour, Two Weeks Notice, Unfaithful, Wasabi, We Were Soldiers, Welcome to Collinwood, White Oleander, The Wild Thornberrys Movie, Windtalkers, XXX

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