Music at the Movies

In the spirit of Oscar Day, I asked my Facebook friends to highlight their favorite movie soundtracks. I have since added some movies to my must-watch list (or reinforced choices already on it).

Here is a selection of soundtracks that were suggested to me:

Hitchcock's Vertigo - Score by Bernard Herrmann, not a very decorated film composer in terms of big awards but the artist behind many iconic films. His filmography includes Psycho, Citizen Kane, Taxi Driver, North by Northwest, and Kill Bill vol. 1. With only one Oscar for The Devil and Daniel Webster in 1941, I'd say he still comes out on top for composing some of the most memorable music in American film.

The Pianist - Original music by Wojciech Kilar. No awards or noms for this film, but Kilar won an award from ASCAP for his score to the 1993 version of Brahm Stoker's Dracula, one of my guilty pleasures.

Amadeus - Mozart (Sir Neville Marriner, music supervisor). I know this film can be considered a joke by music professionals, but I really like it. It's funny, dramatic, and I think it brings classical music to a wider audience. I love the way the music is used throughout the film both in on-screen performances and as background, especially the scene where Salieri is leafing through Mozart's sketches and the music is playing in his head. Amadeus won the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Sound in 1985. (Fun fact from IMDb: The performance of "Don Giovanni" in the movie was filmed on the same stage where the opera first appeared.)

My favorite movie soundtrack is from Sleepless in Seattle. I know it's SO cheesy, but I love the old standards! "A Wink and a Smile" "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" "Bye Bye Blackbird" and the perfectly placed "Stand by Your Man" and "Back in the Saddle" get me every time. The film was scored by Marc Shaiman, who holds no Oscars, but has been nominated for some of my other favorites: An American President, The First Wives Club, Patch Adams, and even South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (he wrote "Blame Canada"). Genius.