My Top Ten Film Composers

I've liked classical music for as long as I can remember. My mom used to put me to bed with Vivaldi's Four Seasons, I took piano lessons off and on throughout my childhood, and from sixth to tenth grade I played the french horn (which landed me on the front page of our small town newspaper with this picture). I like the anthem quality of the french horn - in Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf it's the latter character. My dad encouraged this interest by buying french horn sampler CDs, or else I would have probably never discovered Capriccio Espagnol by Rimskij-Korsakow(sp?). What my parents didn't get was everything I heard coming from the rhythm section, especially the bass and snare drum. I soon discovered swing (which my parents dismissed as their "parents' music") and moved on to jazz bebop and hard bop. My parents gave me an appreciation for instrumental music that most people don't have, and most people seem to share my parents' view of jazz. What this all has to do with film composition is that it's mostly wordless, which I like, and because most people seem to need lyrics to not pass over something, it needs a plug. As a side note, a guy I work with once said that "movie music is the new classical," to which I responded, "maybe that's just a new venue."

1. John Williams - not because I like him the best, but because he did my favorite movie, E.T., plus a lot of blockbusters that you already know. Plus the "Olympics Theme." Plus one of the first tapes I ever bought was the Hook soundtrack.

2. James Horner - I know what you're thinking: "he's just going with the obvious ones." But hear me out. I liked this guy before I saw any of the big name movies you're associating him with and one which you probably have never heard of, which is one of my top five movies, Where the River Runs Black. Eh? Eh? What's that you say? Alright fine, I admit they still use the music from Field of Dreams and Glory on movie trailers today. But one of my first CDs was the Sneakers soundtrack, with Branford Marsalis (from the old Tonight Show band) on sax. So what do you say to that?

3. Danny Elfman - but not because of Oingo Boingo or The Simpsons theme. Especially not for either of those reasons. It's more of a sentimental thing with Batman and Pee Wee's Big Adventure and, aw yeah, the Tales from the Crypt theme. Has anyone else noticed they use the Edward Scissorhands music on A LOT of trailers? Oh, and his Planet of the Apes was different.

4. Thomas Newman - here's my actual favorite, if you go by the music itself and not the quantity or quality of the movies featuring it. Another one of my first CDs was the Josh and S.A.M. soundtrack, but to this day I still find him on stuff like the Six Feet Under TV show theme. I recently realized he's done everything from Pixar's WALL-E and Finding Nemo back to '80s classics, The Great Outdoors, The Lost Boys, Real Genius, Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Desperately Seeking Susan, and Revenge of the Nerds.

5. Jerry Goldsmith - A childhood favorite I just introduced to my wife is Explorers, and another one of my first tapes was Medicine Man. He's primarily responsible for action and thrillers including, but not limited to Alien, Basic Instinct (I guess someone had to do it), The Mummy, Poltergeist, Rambo (First Blood), later Star Trek sequels, and Total Recall. He's also done animated movies like Mulan and The Secret of Nimh. Two of my favorites of his are The 'Burbs and Hoosiers.

6. John Barry - Who knew he did nearly all the James Bond movies? Well, did you know he also did chick flicks like Somewhere in Time, Out of Africa, and my personal favorite, My Life?

7. Harold Faltermeyer - Not just for "Axel F," but for Fletch and The Running Man too. See also Giorgio Moroder (I recently rewatched Over the Top - love what he did with Kenny Loggins and Van Halen).

8. Terence Blanchard - Blue Note trumpeter and Spike Lee's go-to man for 25th Hour, Jungle Fever, Inside Man, Malcolm X, and the one I own and discovered him through, She Hate Me. I was surprised to see his name on Barbershop, Glitter, Love & Basketball, and Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?

9. Michael Nyman - I'm not familiar with anything else he's done but Gattaca, but that's all I need to know for him to make this list.

10. Gabriel Yared - Same story as the one above - all I know is City of Angels and that's enough.

So? I hope I introduced you to something and the moral to the story is listen more closely to what's not being said at the movies.

OUT TODAY ON DVD: MADE OF HONOR