Not necessarily the best movies ever made, but these are twenty of my favorites, in no particular order.  Each post for the next twenty days will feature a brief discussion of one film (though one or two days will have multiple posts to make up for absences). 

Post 2: Score: A Film Music Documentary (2016 dir. Matt Schrader)

I vividly remember the moment, as a young boy, when I realized one could listen to film scores separate from the movie. My late Grandmother fueled my love of movies. After rewatching Star Wars (1977) on HBO in the very early 1980’s she showed me her double LP of the score by John Williams. We immediately listened to it and not only was I instantly hooked on film scores but John Williams became a hero of mine.

Film scores can be subtle and unnoticeable such as some of Carter Burwell’s work with the Coen Brothers. They can be deliberately loud and romantic as with Maurice Jarre’s work with David Lean. Or they can even be a character in the film itself much like John Williams’ work on Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Patrick Doyle’s music for Dead Again (1991), and Jerry Goldsmith’s score for Malice (1993).

But here at long last is a documentary chronicling the history and evolution of film scores. Archival footage, interviews, and critical response all combine to make an entertaining and compelling review of music written for movies. Film truly is a collaborative art.