Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: I think we all my position on this one, but I'll say it again. I absolutely loved this film and score.

The Fellowship of the Ring: Like Goldenthal with "Final Fantasy", Shore blew me away. "Fellowship" is everything I hoped it would be. Can't wait to see the film.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within: One of the best scores of 2001! Goldenthal totally blew me away with this one.

Hannibal: If you can get past the dialogue on the CD the score is great. This surpasses both of Zimmer’s “Gladiator” and “Pearl Harbor.” I also expect it to be better than “Black Hawk Down”

The Tailor of Panama: This energetic score by Shaun Davey is a great score. With a good beat and great sound mixing on the CD, this score was a fresh surprise.

The Mummy Returns: A very nice surprise after Goldsmith's sleeper score for the first one, Silvestri gave us one of the better action and energetic scores of the summer.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire: I love JNH and well this one really did it for me, great movie and score.

AI:I liked the score and loved the movie.

The Mists of Avalon Yeah so it was a TV movie, but what a gem of a score! This being my first Holdridge CD I absolutely loved it!

K-PAX Another first for me, Sheamur’s music, the score does repeat itself, but the score functions great as nice background music, a fun and sad score.

Evolution: This score was one of the funniest scores to hear in a film and it transfers effectively well onto CD. Powell’s themes are fun and get your blood pumping. This one is a good driving CD! I'm excited to hear how Powell does at his drama film "I am Sam."

--Brian

Shrek - Fun, but that's about it.

A Beautiful Mind - Lazy, uninspired Horner, but not without it's gorgeous moments.

Charlotte Gray - Good for Warbeck, who I usually find uninteresting.

Spy Game - A handful of great stuff mixed in with a handful of intolerable trash.

Harry Potter - It may be as complex as the hair on my chinny chin chin, but I still find it boooring.

Monster's, Inc. - Fun in the film, pretty stale as an album. Great theme for Goodman and the kid's character, though.

From Hell - Stunning main theme, however fairly boring as a whole.

K-Pax - A change of pace, I like it. Nothing spectacular, but a solid listen from start to finish.

Rat Race - Fun, but too much of it will drive one crazy. If you've heard the suite on the original release, you've heard everything you need to.

Last Castle - Uninspired but still very solid, well structured, consistent and enjoyable.

The Mole - Fun and diverse, but that's about all.

Hearts in Atlantis - Great score, too bad there's so little of it.

Musketeer - Sub-par Arnold with a great theme if you can get past the Superman-isms.

Cats and Dogs - An average family/comedy score from Debney.

Band of Brothers - Great opening and conclusion, but the middle is so insanely slow that I dare one to get through the whole album in one sitting.

Mists of Avalon - Great score, easily the biggest surprise of the year.

Pitch Black - Typical Revell: pretty bad.

American Outlaws - Nothing new but a fun time to be had.

Planet of the Apes - Impressive action score that's just a bit too much on album.

Captain Corelli - Boring, mediocre war/romance effort.

Tomb Raider - Did anybody like this one?

A.I. - Behind Shore's LotR, the best score of the year.

Final Fantasy - Another one of the best of the year, great Goldenthal.

Jurassic Park III - Solid score with some pretty generic action bits.

Evolution - Irritating outside a few tracks.

Well that's all I can recall of the past few months, I'm tired of writing.

"Padre Pio" by Ennio Morricone (Perhaps my fave of the year)

"LOTR" by Shore (of course)

"Final Fantasy" by Goldenthal

Harry Potter: The Best no doubt about it!

AI: I love this score Monica's theme is grrrrrreeeaat!!

The Lord of the Rings: Nearly tied with AI, Shore really suprised me.

The Mummy Returns: Far superiour to Goldsmith's efort The Mummy returns is one of the best action score of the decade.

Atlantis: Better than Dinosaur, Newton Howard creates a great masterpiece of a score.

Pearl Harbor: A beautiful score. That is tied with POTA!

Planet of the Apes: Boom thump wam slam! Is basically what the score is alhtough it's still great!!

Jurassic Park III: Not really my thing there are some good parts but overall not as good as either of it's predessecor's. Also I don't really like the Kirby's theme.

Hearts in Atlantis: A great score theres just not enough there.

Hannibal: I'll have to geive it another listen but I just didn't really get it.

Np: Toy Story (Randy Newman) ****/*****

THE MUMMY RETURNS: Whenever Alan Silvestri really gets his motor running, you can’t help but hop along for the exhilarating ride! That, plus the fact that I am sucker for anything Silvestri composes in the sci-fi/fantasy and action genres, kept this album in heavy rotation in my stereo ever since its early May release. The film itself may have its flaws, but the score has an honest sense of fun and adventure, coupled with an unbridled energy that makes repeat listenings quite rewarding. As a friend of mine remarked, this is a film score fan’s version of a head-banging heavy metal extravaganza!

A.I. – I was so glad to hear in Williams’ music for A.I. that he is now able to apply his decade-long study in pensive dramatic scores to his previous forte of large-scale backdrops for science fiction films. And along with that, able to draw upon more contemporary orchestral styles, like those of Steve Reich (as has been mentioned in other reviews of the score). The score offers exceptional examples of the majestic heights Williams’ music can achieve (“The Mecha World”), the haunting, lonely sounds of his experimental side (“The Replicas”) and a final touch of his sentimentality (not in maudlin amounts) in the closing moments (“The Reunion”). This will be long remembered in the Williams film score canon.

THE OTHERS – At least once every year, I like to get surprised by a composer I’ve never heard of writing for a film no one expects much from. This year’s best newcomer was also a great find as a director – Alejandro Amenabar. I had not thought about getting the score on disc until I had actually seen the film and I’m glad I waited. I think the score might suffer somewhat on its own if the listener has never watched the austere visuals it accompanies. The main theme is alternately moving in a melancholy fashion (not unlike Chris Young’s delicate work on FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC and HIDER IN THE HOUSE) and spine-tinglingly mischievous (through the subtle use of children’s vocals and sliding string figures). The remaining underscore is refreshingly uncluttered yet brimming with thoughtfulness and intensity. Amenabar’s use of woodwinds in the score is particularly adept.

PLANET OF THE APES – Well, I expected this to end up on my list of favorites for 2001, as soon as I read Elfman would be scoring it. I knew it would be heavily percussive and also make judicious use of his personal sound samples, but the way in which he weaves them all together creates an aural world only Elfman can imagine. While sitting in the theater, I was absolutely ecstatic to watch a full three-minute main title sequence devoted only to a visual montage of ape armour and the mounting tension of Elfman’s score. It was my favorite moment of the film! On album, I find the first third and last third to be the most engaging, as they contain both fuller representations of his main theme and percussion samples (as in “The Hunt”) and the most dramatic expressions of his take on the series’ high-minded concepts (“The Return”). Elfman is still the forerunner in the younger generation of composers.

And FINAL FANTASY would tie with APES for the last spot here. I really should have added, maybe I should've split the last between it and PLANET OF THE APES. Goldenthal has been a consistent favorite of mine ever since ALIEN3 in 1992. His score for TITUS was my top score from last year. FINAL FANTASY I was also a score I was blown away by this year, though I think the album recording quality was a bit on the murky side.