Best Musical Composer in Hollywood???

[kassius]

For the way he handles each scene, and the pieces he's written... I'd have to put my money on Randy Newman.  What does he have like 14 Oscars??? Enough said!  

He range is so wide.  You have the scene where the thread roll off the baseball in "The Natural", the campfire scene in "The Three Amigos!", theme to "Maverick"... not to mention songs he's written for "Toy Story" and "Meet the Parents".

He comes from a long list of great composers, including Alfred Newman... his father.  I'm a huge fan of Randy's, outside of everything he did for Hollywood... I got a bunch of his albums... so maybe I'm a bit bias.

Don't get me wrong... Hollywood is full of great people like Randy.  Being a huge fan of PTA pictures, there is something about Jon Brion but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't mention Randy.

Just curious what others think? Who are your favorites???

[mogwai]

alan silvestri
danny elfman
jerry goldsmith
ennio morricone
angelo badalamenti

[MacGuffin]

I'd have to put my money on Randy Newman. What does he have like 14 Oscars??? Enough said!  

He's been nominated 16 times, but only has one Oscar. And I think his cousins David and Thomas are better composers. Alfred was his uncle, not father.

Who are your favorites???

Bernard Herrmann
Ennio Morricone
Max Steiner
Franz Waxman
Elmer Bernstein
Danny Elfman
Angelo Badalamenti

[Jeremy Blackman]

Danny Elfman is the standard in innovative film music. And Nino Rota before him.

Recently I really like Thomas Newman.

I'm conflicted about James Horner.

[NEON MERCURY]

..rza..clint w/kronos(all it took was one collaborative effort .and its classic)...and angelo.....

and lastly special mention has to go out to tony Basil for her brilliant musical cues in lynch's sci-fi epic magna -opus-epical conception of Dune.....

[ono]

Philip Glass's work in The Hours is one of the only scores that has really stood out for me.  So yeah, him.

[©brad]

u got to give it up to hans zimmer. even when the movie sucks, the music is good.

and i enthusiastically second thomas newman.

elfman's last few scores were pretty forgettable.

[Ghostboy]

Bernard Hermann is still the best. I've always loved Elfman, and he's definitely one of the all time greats thanks to Batman, Pee Wee and Edward Scissorhands,  but he's become rather boring. So have most well-known composers, actually.  Thomas Newman sometimes does good stuff but is also very safe (although not necessarily as safe as James Newton Howard), and James Horner has only done one good score (A Beautiful Mind) since he fell in love with Irish and Scottish string instruments. Howards Shore and Carter Burwell still consistently impress me, though. Howard Shore's stuff in 'The Cell' was really original, not to mention his Cronenberg collaborations and the LOTR films (and Burton's only non-Elfman collaboration).

Most underused composer would have to be Wojciech Kilar (or however you spell it) who did an absolutely amazing score for Bram Stoker's Dracula, and briefly resurfaced last year to provide The Piano with its original music.

I hate to sound cliched, but the most exciting composer working today would be Jon Brion. It's just a fact.

[Jeremy Blackman]

James Horner has only done one good score (A Beautiful Mind) since he fell in love with Irish and Scottish string instruments.

I'm a fan of the Braveheart score, though it may be a Holst rip-off.

I hate to sound cliched, but the most exciting composer working today would be Jon Brion. It's just a fact.

I have to agree, and I honestly think there's nothing more underappreciated than his Magnolia score.

[Ghostboy]

I have the Braveheart score too -- and the Titanic score   !

But I would counter the high quality of those soundtracks with almost every other score he's written since, the worst most likely being Bicentennial Man, which was almost a note-for-note rip off of his Braveheart score, which was indeed a huge ripoff of Holst in the first place.

[cron]

Moriconne.  all the way.

[rustinglass]

morricone. I think that "for a few dollars more" is his best work

ghostboy, you're right about dracula, I don't know the guy, but I'm now remembering how great that score was.

Goran Bregovic- underground, arizona dream and black cat white cat have awesome scores

[Finn]

Thomas Newman and John Williams are our best

[cron]

morricone. I think that "for a few dollars more" is his best work

ghostboy, you're right about dracula, I don't know the guy, but I'm now remembering how great that score was.

Goran Bregovic- underground, arizona dream and black cat white cat have awesome scores

didn't Emir Kusturica did the music for Underground and Black Cat White Cat?

[Myxo]

Uhh..

John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith and John Barry?

I can't believe I didn't seen them at least mentioned. These guys are icons.

Obviously Danny Elfman is on this list. I love Jon Brion's scores of both Magnolia and PDL. I think he's an up and coming composer. Howard Shore is fantastic as well.

Some others..

Philip Glass
Hans Zimmer
Thomas Newman