Critic’s Choice: Top 73 Film and TV Scores of 2009
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Like last year, I have been checking up on my colleagues around the world wide web in an attempt to discover what everyone loved and hated. In this research I have been through all the reviews of 26 websites and rounded up the ratings of no less than 128 film and TV scores. There has been (to my knowledge) 571 reviews written and the average score of all reviews is 68 out of 100. How does that compare from 2008? It’s pretty much the same with an average rating of 66. Maybe 2009 was a better year for scores?
Before we begin with the list, here are some interesting statistics:
The website with most reviews: FSM Online (58 reviews)
The website with the most positive average score: KQEK (88 out of 100)
The website with the most negative average score: Muzyka Filmowa (60 out of 100)
The scores that got rating 0 out of 100: Gamer, Bright Star
Number of unique scores reviewed: 128
The total number of reviews (of all scores): 571
The scores with most reviews: Star Trek (22 reviews), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (15 reviews), Angels & Demons (15 reviews), Terminator: Salvation (15 reviews), Watchmen (14 reviews)
The scores with no reviews (that I could find): Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia, Espion(s), Henry Poole is Here, He’s Just Not That Into You, Last Chance Harvey, Mad Men Vol.1, Obsessed, Phoebe in Wonderland, Ricky, Role Models, Super Capers, Taking Chance, Tales of the Riverbank, The Haunting in Connecticut, The Secret of Kells, Toyo’s Camera.
You will see several scores that have a similar rating. The rankings are based on number of reviews and highest score. For example a score with average rating of 70 which has 5 reviews will rank lower than a score with the average rating of 70 with 8 reviews. Also, if two scores have the same rating and number of reviews, the one that will outrank the other is that with the highest rating from a website, 100 being the highest. Let’s start from nr. 72 and count our way to the top (The average rating is given after the score’s name). The top 15 has video previews and extra features.
73. Gamer by Robert Williamsson & Geoff Zanelli (18)
72. Bright Star by Mark Bradshaw (23)
71. Halloween II by Tyler Bates (33)
70. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans by Paul Haslinger (44)
69. X-Men Origins: Wolverine by Harry Gregson-Williams (49)
68. The Informers by Christopher Young (50)
67. The Unborn by Ramin Djawadi (50)
66. 2012 by Harald Kloser & Thomas Wander (51)
65. Watchmen by Tyler Bates (51)
64. The Last House on the Left by John Murphy (53)
63. A Perfect Getaway by Boris Elkis (53)
62. Duplicity by James Newton Howard (56)
61. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian by Alan Silvestri (58)
60. Land of the Lost by Michael Giacchino (59)
59. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by Nicholas Hooper (59)
58. G.I.Joe: Rise of the Cobra by Alan Silvestri (60)
57. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past by Rolfe Kent (62)
56. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen by Steve Jablonsky (62)
55. Law Abiding Citizen by Brian Tyler (63)
54. Heroes by Wendy & Lisa (63)
53. Year One by Theodore Shapiro (64)
52. Julia & Julia by Alexandre Desplat (64)
51. Taking Woodstock by Danny Elfman (64)
50. Outlander by Geoff Zanelli (64)
49. The Final Destination by Brian Tyler (64)
48. Monsters Vs. Aliens by Henry Jackman 65)
47. Race to Witch Mountain by Trevor Rabin (66)
46. Fast & Furious by Brian Tyler (66)
45. Angels & Demons by Hans Zimmer (66)
44. Terminator: Savlation by Danny Elfman (66)
43. Crash: The Series by Mark Isham & Cindy O’Connor (67)
42. Whiteout by John Frizzell (67)
41. The International by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek & Reinhold Heil (67)
40. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Mychael Danna (67)
39. Streetfighter: The Legend of Chun Li by Stephen Endelman (68)
38. Cheri by Alexandre Desplat (68)
37. Moon by Clint Mansell (68)
36. The Soloist by Dario Marianelli (69)
35. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Alexandre Desplat (70)
34. Green Lantern: First Flight by Robert J. Kral (70)
33. District 9 by Clinton Shorter (71)
32. True Blood by Nathan Barr (72)
31. The Princess and the Frog by Randy Newman (73)
30. The Uninvited by Christopher Young (73)
29. Coco Before Chanel by Alexandre Desplat (73)
28. Dragonball: Evolution by Brian Tyler (74)
27. Knowing by Marco Beltrami (74)
26. Astro Boy by John Ottman (75)
25. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs by John Powell (76)
24. A Christmas Carol by Alan Silvestri (77)
23. 9 by Deborah Lurie & Danny Elfman (78)
22. Lesbian Vampire Killers by Debbie Wiseman (78)
21. The Twilight Saga: New Moon by Alexandre Desplat (78)
20. Star Trek by Michael Giacchino (78)
19. Pope Joan by Marcel Barsotti (80)
18. The Lazarus Project by Brian Tyler (80)
17. Drag me to Hell by Christopher Young (80)
16. Avatar by James Horner (80)
15. Trick R’ Treat by Douglas Pipes (81)
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14. Coraline by Bruno Coulais (82)
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13. The Informant! by Marvin Hamlisch (82)
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12. Caprica by Bear McCreary (83)
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11. Up by Michael Giacchino (83)
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10. In The Electric Mist by Marco Beltrami (83)
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09. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Mark Mothersbaugh (83)
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08. Hachiko: A Dog’s Story by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (83)
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07. Lost Season 4 by Michael Giacchino (85)
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06. Agora by Dario Marianelli (86)
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05. Amelia by Gabriel Yared (86)
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04. Battlestar Galactica Season 4 by Bear McCreary (86)
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03. The Stoning of Soraya M. by John Debney (87)
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02. Mutant Chronicles by Richard Wells (87)
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01. The Red Canvas by James Peterson (89)
Surprised by this list? What did you think of 2009? What are your verdict? Let us know in the comments section below!
Other articles of interest:
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Soundtrack Seek
Thankfully the reviewers are praising THE RED CANVAS, a worthy top choice. I finally got my CD yesterday (after having listened to it strictly on download so far) and cranked it with the Bose speakers. What a great score! Yet another case in which downloading just can’t capture the CD experience.
It’s hard for me to look at these numbers and not revert back to my school days. Back then, anything below 70 meant you were failing the class. So to me, an average score of 68 for all of these scores means the world of film music is in a load of trouble and needs to step up its game. LOL But I realize that your numbers mean something different. Still, I wouldn’t say 68 is a good number. To me that means a lot of mediocrity out there.
That all being said, it’s still fun to read stuff like this. I know how much work this takes to put together, Jorn. Thank you for doing it.
Jim Lochner´s last blog ..December Recap
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Jorn Tillnes Reply:
January 1st, 2010 at 4:46 pm
I agree with you that 68 is not very good, but it would be interesting to check back 10, 20 or 30 years ago what the average was then. If it was better than 68, then I would be shocked LOL. Still, we are getting old (at least I am ) and I think my dad is correct when he says how much better the music was in the past. Perhaps we are just kidding ourselves and it wasn’t. At least 2009 is two points up from 2008. Hope 2010 get it up to 70+.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
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Jim Lochner Reply:
January 1st, 2010 at 5:09 pm
A friend of mine and I were just having this discussion about the past the other day. I bet if you checked back 10, 20 or 30 years ago, the average would probably be close to the same. I think why we look fondly on the past is just the nature of memories. We choose to focus on the good (or at least hopefully we do LOL) and let the awful parts fade into the distance. The same goes for music. History, and our memories, helps separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. There was probably just as much mediocre writing in the past, but our memories–and time–have allowed the cream of the crop to rise to the top. (The rhyme was a fluke.)
I say yes to 70+ in 2010 as well! Here’s to a great year of film music for both of us and all of your readers.
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