by Me.  @filmscorefans

Every year promises to be the greatest year in film score history.  When a film is a coming attraction, the accompanying music couldn't possibly be anything other than pure ear candy.  Just ask Mrs. FilmScoreFans... particularly before each summer season, I've got an extra bounce in my step.  So much promise.  So much hope.  That new action movie is going to be crazy intense.  That new drama is going to sweep me off my feet.  That new comedy will be silly but endearing.  Every score will be amazing from start to finish.  Themes!  Great main titles everywhere!!

Then reality sets in, and I remember just how picky I am.  My life has been spent searching for complete scores that are stellar from start to finish.  Stargate.  Shawshank.  HTTYD.  Every note is perfect.  I've gone through dry spells that have lasted for years.  The search can be a difficult one.

But, 2014 brought about a change in my search pattern.  Mrs. FilmScoreFan put me on a one-score-a-month budget.  Evil, I know.  Apparently, "money doesn't grow on trees" is something my father taught her to say.

Anyway, as technology progressed and hard drive space became obsolete, I began to realize that I needed to relocate my search to the Cloud.  That should be capitalized right?  It's a place, right?  I assume there's some lucky dude in an office somewhere that gets me my music when I need it?

I turned to Spotify.  Once I got over the fact that I would no longer be adding to my collection of scores, I fell in love with this option.  About $10 a month gets me almost every new score around it's physical release date.  (No, this is not an advertisement for Spotify.  But, if they want to give me my subscription for free, I won't complain.)  Instead of hoping that my monthly score purchase would pan out, I now have infinite listening choices.  (Seriously wife, ONE per month?!?!)

And so, I've become much more forgiving when I only find a few amazing tracks on a score.  I no longer live in fear of clicking the purchase button on iTunes.  

by Me.  @filmscorefans

Holiday music.  We have a radio station here in Philly that starts playing Christmas tunes before Thanksgiving.  I'm sure this happens all over the U.S., and it is awesome.  From Bing Crosby to Adam Sandler, they play it all.  But, we Film Score Fans, have holiday music of a different type.  We can listen to them all year round, but they sound so much better in season.

Don't get me wrong, I'll put on some actual Christmas tunes.

But when it comes to our chosen genre, we have a wide variety of films offering up holiday greatness.  Here is what has been keeping me in a festive mood:

In college, I should have majored in movie trailers.  This was before Youtube and the cloud, so countless hours and gigs were spent downloading these expensive commercials onto my computer.  Had I known they'd all be made available on IMDB just a few short years later, I  could have actually done well in college.  Don't get me wrong, I did OK, but I'm pretty sure I was considered the dumb one in my circle of friends.  Thanks a lot www.movie-list.com.

But it was an easy trap to fall into.  Film advertising experienced a renaissance in the early 2000's.  Trust me, this era was the first time you ever heard someone say, "The trailer was better than the movie."  Go back and watch some trailers from the 80's and 90's.  They look like they just patched together scraps from the editing room floor.  Apparently, I'm a trailer snob.  Is that a thing?

So what makes up a great trailer?  Glad you asked.  I've done extensive research. (See the paragraph about college above.)  I think it comes down to a few things:  The music.  The music.  And then, a little pinch of music.

Today, trailers have original scores written for them.  Companies like X-Ray Dog, Immediate Music, and Two Steps From Hell seem to dominate the business.  I say good for them.  There's some great stuff out there.  But, part of me just loves it when a production company goes into their library and finds some older film music that can be put to good use.  

Want to take a trip down memory lane?  Here we go.  Here are some of the best film trailers that feature fantastic use of music.  The producer on each of these films has earned a high five!