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To be honest, the appeal of Powell for me is simply how versatile he is and how not only he does great, but also really memorable music. His themes are very complex because the many times he plays with them in really different ways, plus the number of them in his movies being huge, so knowing what are his themes in each movie and listening to his variations is something really interesting to me, almost like a math test but actually fun.
 
And as someone with really eclectic taste on music, I simply can see the appeal of each approach he uses in his movies, and enjoy each one. I like how orchestral, optimistic, fun and chaotic his music can be, while also liking how electronic, sad, dramatic, and focused his music can be.

To be honest, the appeal of Powell for me is simply how versatile he is and how not only he does great, but also really memorable music. His themes are very complex because the many times he plays with them in really different ways, plus the number of them in his movies being huge, so knowing what are his themes in each movie and listening to his variations is something really interesting to me, almost like a math test but actually fun.
 
And as someone with really eclectic taste on music, I simply can see the appeal of each approach he uses in his movies, and enjoy each one. I like how orchestral, optimistic, fun and chaotic his music can be, while also liking how electronic, sad, dramatic, and focused his music can be.

John Powell is the most optimistic and feel-good film composer next to John Williams. 

John Powell is a composer who for me his scores are always* nice and wholesome. They make me feel good and well disposed. They're fun and uplifting in all the right ways
 
*I mean, excluding Bourne.
 
And while I generally agree that the Dragons trilogy is his masterpiece, I'd put the first HTTYD after the other two. While HTTYD 2 and 3 are amazing, the first one is a little... rough around the edges? I don't know.
 
But I do remember, back in 2010 or 2011, when I (who was long out of the target audience for these movies) saw the first one on DVD and thought the score was marvelous. I was happily surprised a while later when the Academy agreed with me and gave him a nomination.
 
Besides, Powell always seemed interested in Brazilian music - and not just with the Rio movies (whose scores are as fun and uplifting as the rest of his cartoon scores). I mean, just listen to this:
 
 
He's using samba percussion! And it goes so well with his orchestral writing!

It probably makes them feel like children (again).

Finally managed to do my own list of favorite scores from the year. There are some films I didn't watch yet and scores I didn't listen, that might have been included in the list like The Brutalist, The Wild Robot, Anora or Conclave. Also, I have a separate list for film/TV scores, another one for anime and then a shorter one for videogames:
 
Best Film & TV Scores
01 The Rings of Power (Season 2) - Bear McCreary
02 House of the Dragon (Season 2) - Ramin Djawadi
03 Dune: Part Two - Hans Zimmer
04 Nosferatu - Robin Carolan
05 Here - Alan Silvestri
06 Wicked: Part One - Stephen Schwartz & John Powell
07 ARK: The Animated Series (Season 1) - Gareth Coker
08 Skeleton Crew - Mick Giacchino
09 Inside Out 2 - Andrea Datzman
10 That Christmas - John Powell
 
Runner-Ups
Three Body Problem - Ramin Djawadi
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Season 1) - Takeshi Furukawa
We Live in Time - Bryce Dessner
Gladiator II - Harry Gregson-Williams
Dragonkeeper - Arturo Cardelús
Challengers - Trent Reznor & Aticuss Ross
Cristóbal Balenciaga - Alberto Iglesias
Mufasa - Dave Metzger
 
Best Anime Scores
01 Frieren, Beyond Journey's End - Evan Call
02 Look Back - haruka nakamura
03 The Apothecary Diaries - VA
04 Kimetsu no Yaiba: Hashira Training Arc - Go Shiina & Yuki Kajiura
05 Kaiju No.8 - Yuta Bandoh
 
Best Videogame Scores
01 Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown - Gareth Coker
02 Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - Gordy Haab
03 Star Wars: Outlaws - Wilbert Roget, II
 
Favorite Tracks
-Kiss the Ring from Dune: Part Two
-All Must Choose from House of the Dragon (Season 2)
-The Sun Yet Shines from The Rings of Power (Season 2)
-Daybreak from Nosferatu
-Zuko's Return from Avatar: The Last Airbender
-I Love It Here from Here
-Elodie's Maze from Damsel
-Memories of Home from Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
-Glide and Joy from Inside Out 2
-Origami Boats from Three Body Problem
 
I did a spotify playlist with one of my favorite tracks from 50 different scores this year, in case anyone wants to check it out!
 
 
My Favorite Films of 2024
01 Dune Part Two
02 Furiosa
03 Nosferatu
04 We Live In Time
05 Wicked
 
My Favorite TV Seasons (including anime, and in no particular order)
-House of the Dragon S2
-Dan Da Dan
-The Rings of Power S2
-Fallout S1
-Three Body Problem S1
-Solo Leveling
-Doctor Who
-Twilight of the Gods
-The Legend of Vox Machina S3
-Skeleton Crew
 
I would say my specific highlight this year was watching Dune 2 on cinemas. Such an awesome experience! And I don't have any big disappointments, other than how some scores I was looking forward to turned out, like Holkenborg's Furiosa, or Wallfisch's Alien Romulus.
 
I've also done a best of list in my blog, with a small write-up on each score. The list there is a bit different because I tried to not repeat any composer on the list, so feel free to check it out as well!
 
https://onenoteatatime815.wordpress.com/2025/01/07/best-scores-of-2024/

As men, why can’t/shouldn’t we be able to BOTH take women seriously, AND admire/enjoy nice breasts?
 
Do we (or heterosexual women) take Henry Cavill less seriously because of all his topless/revealing scenes on The Witcher or whatever?
 
I just don’t see it being either/or. But then I think strong intelligent women are sexy, and having nice bewbs (which they might show off — yay for us!) doesn’t diminish their intelligence or personhood in the slightest. I’d prefer women keep showing off BOTH their brains AND their breasts, thanks! 😊 
 
You can keep your either/or.
 
Yavar

The thing is that it was wish fulfilment for adults, two Jewish guys that wanted to imagine a Champion that would use his power to fight injustices and protect the oppressed.

New announcement from Gunn
 

Uh... what? I mean... really. What? 
 
You think? He is just as fast as The Flash. He is "faster than a locomotive". He can outrun a bullet. OF COURSE he can save his father without blowing his secret. But the point is that his goddamn secret doesn't matter at all. At that situation all that matters is that he can save his father. Nothing else is of importance. His secret is NOWHERE NEAR as important as saving his father. Or the kids in the bus. Or anyone. Only a psychopath would not save his dad just to keep his secret safe. A normal person would completely ignore his father's wish in that situation if he knew he could absolutely save him, and he wouldn't even have to reveal his true identity. But if he would, that still wouldn't matter. Creating this absurd moral dilemma for the film makes Clark a psychopath, not a hero.
Again, he can run and move faster than sound. Saving his dad and the kids at the same time is easy as pie to him. He wouldn't even have to make a choice. 

Actually, it was two. Free Guy is by Christophe Beck!
 
 
I was really surprised as well by the score. Personally (having been exposed only to Bayverse Transformers and nothing else), I was a bit bugged that they didn't get Steve Jablonsky, but I was quite impressed by the music, especially "The Fall". Honestly though, the first piece of music that really captured my attention and that really got me convinced about the overall direction of the movie was this unreleased piece with these beats and nice mix of orchestra and electronics. There were a number of tracks with similar vibes (iirc at the Iacon 5000 Race and a few more places) and unfortunately none of them were included in the OST. I really liked seeing the music take a new direction compared to what I was used to with Jablonsky TF music. I was hoping the FYC would include those unreleased tracks but unfortunately the Paramount FYC website only had a 60 seconds excerpt of the main theme and nothing else (compared to Gladiator II and other movies getting proper releases with new stuff) and now that the Oscar nominations are out, the TF One page has been deleted. Incredible how even on the promotional FYC front Transformers One is getting massive disrespect.

I don't know if anyone here has been following the drama / lawsuits for the movie "It Ends With Us", and the whole connection to "Deadpool & Wolverine" and allegations of harassment, hostile takeovers of the film, etc etc. There's even a Taylor Swift connection involving Brian Tyler. 

Apparently Tyler was the original composer on this (now completely tarnished) film. The rumors (and there are plenty) are that Taylor Swift demanded that Tyler's score get rejected or else Sony wouldn't be allowed to use her song in the picture, because at some point Swift and Tyler crossed professional paths and he was "mean" to her. The whole thing stinks of petty gossip (which makes sense given it was an actual Gossip Girl at the forefront of this whole mess) but a little surprising that the score was a point of contention purely due to the composer. 

So in the end, Rob Simonsen (composer for Deadpool & Wolverine, The Adam Project) was brought in as he's connected to Ryan Reynolds via those two Shawn Levy movies they did together. 

(edit: Three movies. Forgot about Free Guy.)
(edit 2: not Free Guy. Imperivm corrected me. )

Can we talk about this? 
it maybe became my favorite track of him, for years I wasn’t interested by his works, then in Transformers one non ironically he made some really good pieces.

I found a theme breakdown of GOTG Vol. 3. 
 

Yeah I was also annoyed by how low the score was at times, even in IMAX and Dolby Cinema w/ Atmos. It sounded like they kept the dialogue scenes fairly low compared to the songs and action scenes, so then the score under the dialogue is even LOWER. Speaking of action, the “Monkey Mayhem/Balloon Escape” scene at the end has such blaringly loud sound effects that it drowns out Powell’s thrilling music, try as it may to cut through.

Jon Broxton just posted something on Facebook about Powell's 5 Cat Studios concerning the Palisades fire in LA.
 
Apparently the studio is surrounded if not already taken by the fire.
 
I hope everyone is okay.
 
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15oJXnSJtc/

That's devastating.
 
I can't see the FB post, but I have found an article about how that entire street is closed down by firefighters.
 
Hope everyone got out safe.

And I understand why you would be worried, but with King being one of the creative leads of the DCU and the fact that Gunn is a fan of the comic that only picked Supergirl to be the second DCU because he thought that the script was great, I think that we don’t need to be too worried.

And I understand why you would be worried, but with King being one of the creative leads of the DCU and the fact that Gunn is a fan of the comic that only picked Supergirl to be the second DCU because he thought that the script was great, I think that we don’t need to be too worried.

Jason Momoa confirmed as Lobo in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow 
 
https://deadline.com/2024/12/jason-momoa-to-play-lobo-supergirl-woman-of-tomorrow-1236243776/
And have to say, the cast is great. 

It was really good in the beginning, thought that it was going to be a bit weaker in the middle, but then was surprised by how great that and the final part was.

Uninspired choice of composer aside, I'm actually hugely optimistic for the movie itself! Even if it won't dethrone Superman '78, I think it at least has a good chance of being the best since.
 
Superman is my favorite fictional character (don't let my username/avatar fool you ) and Gunn has been saying all the right things for me in regard to story, tone, character. The comics he's cited as his key sources of inspiration are among my all-time favorites. I think all the casting choices so far have been spot on. Not to mention Guardians 3 was my favorite Marvel movie in quiiiiite a while.
 
I'm hyped.

The Batman 2 was delayed to 2027
https://variety.com/2024/film/news/the-batman-2-release-date-delayed-2027-1236260749/
 
Gunn says that it’s only because of the script 

The Batman 2 was delayed to 2027
https://variety.com/2024/film/news/the-batman-2-release-date-delayed-2027-1236260749/
 
Gunn says that it’s only because of the script 

The thing is that it was wish fulfilment for adults, two Jewish guys that wanted to imagine a Champion that would use his power to fight injustices and protect the oppressed.