Well since this forum is the last to go without a proper first post I thought I would do the honors.

So the honor of best film score of 2005 in my book goes without question to King Kong.  While it works well enough in the context of the movie, as a CD release is where it really stands out.  James Newton Howard's scores in general I find to be the most listenable as pure stand-alone music of the major film composers, and that includes mainstays like Williams.

Where he really prevails in King Kong is in not allowing the action cues to overwhelm the score and in masterfully wielding a number of memorable themes.  We have an ominous adventure theme that sets the tone for the beginning of the score, a proud, powerful theme for Kong, action music much less abrasive than typical film score fare, and balancing it all out is a "beauty" theme for the female lead that features the most heart-stirring combinations of piano and orchestra I've heard in some time.

Any thoughts on the Kong score or your favorites from film for 2005?

I was more impressed by Harry Gregson-Williams with his score for The Chronicles of Narnia, which is to my opinion one of the greatest of the year. There are some amazing tunes such as "Evacuating London" - pure beauty. But Kingdom of Heaven also has a great soundtrack - I can't say the same about the movie, though.

I also really enjoyed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Danny Elfman showed his high level of creativity.

I agree that Gregson-Williams's soudtrack to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was excellent. I really can't think of any others that were good last year off the top of my head, but I don't really get into rankings anyway.

Ah, and I thought I was one of the only ones who took note of the Chronicles of Narnia soundtrack.. I didn't know it was Harry Gregson when I watched the movie, but "Evacuating London" gripped me by the balls, and hard.

It's just a beautiful mix of orchestral and electronic sounds, with that awesome deep bass that draws you in..

I've gotta go with SIN CITY.  Gritty, smoky, saxy and sexy, with a shot of pure liquid evil.  I haven't seen the other films mentioned above, so I can't comment on those scores (except for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with which I was so disappointed and disgusted that I turned it off before the end of the first hour).  Long live Gene Wilder!

I haven't't seen King Kong (although we were supposed to), but I do agree about Narnia. It gave me chills with its haunting beauty, and whoever was singing....! Thing is, while I think the music worked well within the movie, I'd have to listen to the soundtrack alone.

Hehe, on a tangent, funny thing when we when to see Narnia. Once the end credits started rolling, most people of course got up to leave. Us, as is our custom, stayed in our seats. And then the extra scene in the credits came up, and the ENTIRE THEATER STOPPED MOVING. Everyone just stood still and watched! I mean, I know I would have done the same thing if I'd been in that situation, but for some reason, I found it funny. ^_~

I find it interesting that everyone singles out Narnia because I thought it was one of the worst film scores this year, wildly inappropriate for the movie and derivative. The first half was distinctly better than the second (aside from the horrific vocals) and then it all fell apart with typical Media Ventures battle music and postering.

My picks for best score this year probably goes to King Kong (JNH at his best) with Memoirs of a Geisha a close second. After all, who can beat John Williams?

I gave my input on a prior post, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt mentioning again.

Star Wars EP3: Revenge of The Sith - Back in May, I was particularly excited about the music score, more so than the movie release itself; being the third and last of the trilogy, I looked forward to the culmination of musical themes that were featured in the first two films. (And in this case, from all five movies.) Inside and out of the movie, the score excelled. The Force Theme's prominent showcasings were most welcome, but it was the co-mingling of the Return of The Jedi action vibe, with darker more somber overtones, in addition to the solemn yet frantic Battle of The Heroes that made this such a joy to listen to. It's great to have seen the SW music series go out with a bang - now, if only they'll get going on releasing Ultimate Recording albums of this and EP2.

A close second goes to Wallace And Gromit: Curse of The Were-Rabbit, which, more than anything, gets my guilty pleasure soundtrack of the year award.  Julian Nott's infectiously whimsical main theme is thrown about with much virtuosity, and the Were Rabbit theme also puts forth some sweetly memorable cues as well. My favorite musical moment? When Gromit discovers all the eaten veggies in Wallace's bed. Chills!

Kong is an excellent score, very certainly harmonically-pleasing, which makes it a great listen in and out of the film.  The intermingling of flute, orchestra and piano in Ann's "Beautiful" is my personal favorite, as well as its "Central Park" follow-up.  On the opposite side of the coin is the awesome plethora of full-on action cues throughout the whole "Beauty Killed The Beast" segment.  Ben Inman's solo toward the finale feels very Jackson-esque in its execution, and was genuinely moving. 

I hope Kong gets the full soundtrack treatment someday; a single disc release simply isn't enough for the near three hours worth of music.

Have to say I'm a little surprised myself.  Wouldn't go so far as to call it bad, as there are several tracks I like quite a bit, but it did take a little while to grow on me... didn't impress me from the get-go as much as a few other film scores this year.

I'm generally a fan of Hans Zimmer (and occasionally his Media Ventures cohorts), but I agree that some of the MV synth sounds out of place.  That bassy piano-like rumbling synth they always use belongs more in a Jerry Bruckheimer explosion orgy than in a fantasy film.

That's probably why I disliked Narnia. I REALLY dislike Hans Zimmer and his band of cohorts.

That being said, Narnia had its moments (mostly quieter ones).

Well, I don't think that Narnia is very MV-ish. Maybe sometimes, but most of the time Harry Gregson-Williams proves himself inventive. Not THAT inventive, because it sometimes reminds me of The Lord of the Rings, for example. But, as in Kingdom of Heaven, he shows that he is not a standard MV composer, he is perhaps more inspired in terms of musical genres.

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Narnia...and you know...I never even bought the darn soundtrack yet! I just remember being impressed with the score while sitting through the movie. Very touching, haunting, and beautiful music. I agree with Angie too, with Episode III being a great score.

I wish Lemony Snicket had come out this year, so I can fawn over that here.  But if this counts, I nominate Tristram Shandy.  Weird but wonderful, just like the movie.  Although, I haven't listened to it yet, so I could be totally wrong.