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The 13th Annual JWFan Awards - The Best Scores and Films of 2020!


Jay

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Prior threads:

 

2002: The Best of 2002

2003: Best Films + Scores of 2003

2004: The Best of 2004

2005: The Best of 2005 / The best of 2005 (the non-JW awards) / Proposal for JWFAN Net Music Awards

2006: Composer of the Year (2006) / Grade The Year 2006 by Various Composers / The most underrated and overlooked gem of 2006

2007: Best of 2007

2008: Looking back on 2008 / Favorite Score of 2008 / 1st Annual JWFan Award / 1st Annual JWFan Award / 1st Annual JWFan Award / JWFan award minus the JW Bias

2009: JWFan 2009 Awards

2010: The 3rd (?) Annual JWFan Awards

2011: The 4th Annual JWFan Awards

2012: THE BEST OF 2012

2013: The 6th Annual JWFan Awards - The Best Scores and Films of 2013!

2014: The 7th Annual JWFan Awards - The Best Scores and Films of 2014!

2015: The 8th Annual JWFan Awards - The Best Scores and Films of 2015!

2016: The 9th Annual JWFan Awards - The Best Scores and Films of 2016!

2017: The 10th Annual JWFan Awards - The Best Scores and Films of 2017!

2018: The 11th Annual JWFan Awards - The Best Scores and Films of 2018!

2019: The 12th Annual JWFan Awards - The Best Scores and Films of 2019!

 

 

 

 

Without further ado, let's begin discussing the best of 2020!

 

Here is a wikipedia list of 2020 films to jog your memory

As always, use these categories and/or create your own!

 

BEST SCORES OF 2020:

 

TOP 10 BEST TRACKS OF 2020:

 

BEST CATALOG TITLES OF 2020:

 

FILM SCORE LABEL OF THE YEAR:

 

BEST FILMS OF 2020

 

BEST TV SEASONS OF 2020

 

SPECIFIC HIGHLIGHTS OF 2020:

 

SPECIFIC DISAPPOINTMENTS OF 2020:

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I have seen and heard little this year.

 

BEST SCORES OF 2020:

1. Enola Holmes by Daniel Pemberton

2. The Witches by Alan Silvestri

3. Emma by Isobel Waller-Bridge and David Schweitzer

4. Wonder Woman 1984 by Hans Zimmer

 

BEST THEME OF 2020:

 

Love theme from Enola Holmes - Daniel Pemeberton

 

 

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1 hour ago, bruce marshall said:

This is THOR territory

 

Yes, but I'm not sharing untill all my lists have been properly published in their respective channels. I have my film list ready to go; currently working on listening to as many 2020 scores as I can. Aiming at an early January release date for these lists/podcasts.

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I've seen more of this year's films than at the same point in any previous year (not as many as Thor, of course). I won't try to list the best ones for another few weeks, but there are clear candidates for the top two which I don't expect to change. One of them is blisteringly brilliant and I was lucky enough to see it in the cinema right before our second lockdown.

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4 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

There were brilliant scores in 2020?

 

I don't know about 'brilliant', but there were many good ones, yes.

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3 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

There were brilliant scores in 2020?

 

4 minutes ago, Glóin the Dark said:

of this year's films ... there are clear candidates for the top two ...One of them is blisteringly brilliant...

 

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Another light year - this time, even lighter than usual for the obvious reasons.  I can't say that I heard any 2020 scores or saw any 2020 movies at all that I loved - plenty of fine-to-good out there.  TV was where it's at this year - plenty of good TV.

 

I've listed every new thing I listened to or watched this year.  Why not?  It wasn't much....

 

I own some 2020 movies, soundtracks, catalog titles, TV shows, and albums that I haven't watched or listened to yet - I've left them off the list entirely, but maybe some day I'll come back and update this...

 

Since we've been locked in with a four-year-old for nine of the months this year, a large portion of our time was spent doing stuff with her.  A blessing, cream to skim off this cursed year.  As you'd expect, we watched a bunch of stuff with her, so I included a separate category for "shorts and specials."  

 

I also added a category for 2020 non-score albums because why not.  Again, haven't heard a ton this year, so I listen em all.

 

 

BEST SCORES OF 2020:

 

1.       The Mandalorian Season 2 (Ludwig Goransson)

2.       The Witches (Alan Silvestri)

3.       Dolittle (Danny Elf Man)

4.       Onward (Mychael Danna)

5.       The Platform (Aranzazu Calleja)

6.       The Clone Wars Season 7 (Kiner)

7.       Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge (Gordy Haab)

8.       The Willoughbys (Mark Mothersbaugh)

9.       Star Wars: Squadrons (Gordy Haab)

10.   Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Stephen Barton)

11.   The Hunt (Nathan Barr)

 

 

 

BEST CATALOG TITLES OF 2020:

 

1.       Solo: A Star Wars Story (WDR)

2.       Darkman (LLL)

3.       Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (Intrada)

4.       Friday the 13th Part 7 (LLL)

5.       The River (Intrada)

6.       Far and Away (LLL)

7.       Dolores Claiborne (Varese)

8.       War of the Worlds (Intrada)

9.       Forces of Nature (LLL)

 

 

FILM SCORE LABEL OF THE YEAR:

 

1)      LLL

 

 

BEST FILMS OF 2020

 

1.       The Invisible Man

2.       Birds of Prey, or the Fabtabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn

3.       The Hunt

4.       Underwater

5.       Soul

6.       Onward

7.       Trolls World Tour

8.       The Willoughbys

9.       The Witches

10.   DieRy

11.   Hansel and Gretel

 

SHORT FILMS AND SPECIALS OF 2020

 

1.       Out (Disney+)

2.       Lamp Life (Disney+)

3.       Loop (Disney+)

4.       Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt:  Kimmy vs. the Reverend (Netflix)

5.       Angela’s Christmas Wish (Netflix)

6.       The Disney Family Singalong (ABC)

7.       Once Upon a Snowman (Disney+)

8.       Maggie Simpson in:  A Playdate With Destiny (Disney+)

9.       From Our Family to Yours (Disney+)

10.   A Celebration of the Music from Coco (Disney+)

11.   Elmo’s Playdate (PBS)

12.   The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special (Disney+)

13.   Alien Xmas (Netflix)

14.   Forky Asks a Question: What is Cheese? (Disney+)

15.   Forky Asks a Question:  What is Reading? (Disney+)

16.   The Disney Family Singalong vol 2 (ABC)

17.   The Disney Holiday Singalong (ABC)

18.   Elf Pets:  Santa’s Reindeer Rescue (home video)

 

 

BEST TV SEASONS OF 2020

 

1.       Pen15 Season 2

2.       The Mandalorian Season 2

3.       The Good Place season 4

4.       Schitt’s Creek Season 6

5.       The Clone Wars Season 7

6.       Rick and Morty Season 4

7.       Bob’s Burgers seasons 10/11

8.       Survivor Season 40

9.       What We Do in the Shadows Season 2

10.   Tiger King

11.   RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12

12.   Brooklyn Nine-Nine season 7

13.   Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure Season 3

14.   DuckTales Season 3

15.   Space Force season 1

16.   RuPaul’s Drag Race AllStars season 5

17.   Nailed It Season 4

18.   Superstore Season 5/6

19.   Star Wars Resistance Season 2

20.   Secret Celebrity RuPaul’s Drag Race

 

 

BEST NON-SCORE ALBUMS OF 2020

 

1.       Dan Bern – Ivan’s Barbershop

2.       Badly Drawn Boy – Banana Skin Shoes

3.       Dan Bern – Quarantine Me

4.       Sufjan Stevens – Ascension

5.       Taylor Swift - Folklore

6.       Dan Bern – Shining

7.       Morrissey – I Am Not a Dog on a Chain

8.       Dan Bern – Hashtag 800cc

9.       Dan Bern – Rivalry

10.   Green Day – Father of All....

 

 

SPECIFIC HIGHLIGHTS OF 2020:

 

1.       The fun Birds of Prey

2.       The last arc of The Clone Wars

3.       The balancing act of The Mandalorian of bringing outside canon into the fold and largely succeeding

4.       Studios releasing new films direct to streaming (via services or paid rental) during the pandemic

 

 

SPECIFIC DISAPPOINTMENTS OF 2020:

 

1.       Star Wars Resistance

2.       The novel coronavirus

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9 minutes ago, Glóin the Dark said:

 

Not at all! There have been lots of brilliant films this year.

 

Ah, though you were talking about scores.

 

10 minutes ago, Jay said:

Faleel was pointing out that he called a film brilliant, not a score, and you thought he called a score brilliant, but he didn't

 

Oh, that's what happens when you're composing and reading forum posts at the same time.

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Not sure about movies, but surely 2020 was great for video games. Lots of great games came out this year, and I still haven't played some of them (AC: Valhalla, Doom Eternal, Immortals: Fenyx Rising, etc).

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Best World premiere/catalog release: LESS THAN ZERO - LLL.

Best Expansion: TWO MULES...

Best Remastered: HTTYD

 

BEST New cover art" THE RUNNING MAN - VSD

 

BEST television  SCORE: BABYLON BERLIN

Best Film score : GODZILLA: KOTM

 

 

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3 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

Not 3rd season. That was 2020.

 

Sure, but the soundtrack in his picture was of the first season, if I recall correctly, but still he might have been referring to the 3rd season. Nobody knows with Bruce. :D

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BEST SCORES OF 2020:

 

1. Call of the Wild

2, Midnight Sky

3. The Mandalorian: Season 2

4. Mank

5. Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond

 

Those were the ones I remember hearing. Hardly outstanding but I really can't recall hearing anything else.

 

TOP 10 BEST TRACKS OF 2020:

 

Nothing that stands out. Maybe those last two tracks from The Mandalorian.

 

BEST CATALOG TITLES OF 2020:

 

1. War of the Worlds

2. The River

3. Far and Away

4. Solo: A Star Wars Story

5. King of Kings

6. The Land Before Time

7.  The Swarm 

8.  Endless Night

9. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

10. Casper

 

This was actually not a bad year. There were fewer releases, obviously, but all of the above (plus few others) were really great. Some really outstanding work from all our beloved labels.

 

FILM SCORE LABEL OF THE YEAR:

 

Intrada

 

BEST FILMS OF 2020

 

1. Mank

2. The Invisible Man

3. 1917

 

I have watched about 24-25 new films this year but I would hardly pick anything that was really really good. Mank I really enjoyed, the other two were solid enough. Everything else, even if fine, doesn't deserve to be on the list. Tenet was better on my third viewing but that's still not good.  There were some that I liked but were not technically speaking 2020 movies (Weathering With You, Richard Jewell). Obviously, it wasn't a terrific year in cinema.

 

BEST TV SEASONS OF 2020

 

1.  Better Call Saul

2. The Boys

2. The Mandalorian

 

I really couldn't be bothered to watch anything else. The first one was great and the other two were just solid.

 

SPECIFIC HIGHLIGHTS OF 2020:

 

John Williams in Vienna and meeting some familiar faces there (although some very briefly)

New nephew (that I have yet to meet)

Some really cool UHD titles that came out (Dawn of the Dead, Lawrence of Arabia, Hitchcock set etc) as well as more boutique labels (Arrow) joining in.

That I'm still here and that there are some really cool people around the world with whom I really enjoy interacting (also thanks to this forum).

@TownerFan's ever-awesome podcasts (especially the LA musician episodes)

 

SPECIFIC DISAPPOINTMENTS OF 2020:

 

Do we really need this category? ;)

 

Karol

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For me this was really a year for looking into things that I missed in the past years. But I didn't go to the movies at all. Didn't hear interesting scores created 2020. But when I look at the other top 2020 lists around here, I might not have missed much. 

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8 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Sure, but the soundtrack in his picture was of the first season, if I recall correctly, but still he might have been referring to the 3rd season. Nobody knows with Bruce. :D

I bought it in 2020.

With streaming and home video you have to be flexible about these things. The calendar year isn't the only criteria.

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9 minutes ago, Bellosh said:

I didn't listen to a single score that came out in 2020.

 

If you liked Giacchino's old Medal of Honor scores from the 90s you might like his new one 

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21 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

I'm sure Jay has something to say about that.

 

I bought the OST of Cutthroat Island in 2020.

BB is recent, not ancient.

It came to America late.

Deal with it, you moron!

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You didn't see Invisible Man or The Hunt or Palm Springs or Old Guard or Mank or Trial of the Chicago Seven or Midnight Sky or Onward or Soul? 

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Still waiting on some films before I want to put together a list.

 

Do these lists ever get aggregated? For an official JWFan master list?

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No but I meant to do a best of decade thread last year but forgot. I guess I can make it now

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57 minutes ago, Jay said:

No but I meant to do a best of decade thread last year but forgot. I guess I can make it now

I did one for scores.

2 hours ago, Jay said:

You didn't see Invisible Man or The Hunt or Palm Springs or Old Guard or Mank or Trial of the Chicago Seven or Midnight Sky or Onward or Soul? 

Is CHICAGO SEVEN free on NETFLIX? Really want to see that one!

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2020 was a shitty year, even without the pandemic. The films that were released were duds, the scores ranged from 'meh' to 'bleh' and the highlights for me were scores from decades ago getting a proper expanded release. So I hope to whatever deity exists that 2021 things return to form and things improve. Here are two categories that I bothered to pick:

 

BEST CATALOG TITLES OF 2020: 

 - Solo: A Star Wars Story (Deluxe)

 - How to Train Your Dragon (Deluxe)

 - War of the Worlds (LLL)

 

To crib @mstrox 's category

BEST NON SCORE ALBUMS OF 2020

 - From This Place (Pat Metheny)

 - Travelogue Volume 1 (Michael Giacchino)

 

BEST TV SEASONS OF 2020

 - The Mandalorian

 - His Dark Materials

 - Fear the Walking Dead

 - Westworld S3

 - The Crown S4

 - The Good Place 

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As far as scores go, of what I listened I would say my top would be:

The Mandalorian Season 2 (Ludwig Goransson)

Wonder Woman 1984 (Hans Zimmer)

Enola Holmes (Daniel Pemberton)

Medal of Honor Above and Beyond (Michael Giacchino and Nami Melumad)

The Last of Us II (Gustavo Santaolalla)

 

I don't know if it was this year, but McCreary's score for the Season 5 of Outlander was really great

 

I also loved the expanded releases of Solo and How To Train Your Dragon

 

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    BEST SCORES OF 2020

     

    There's still a ton of 2020 film/tv/game music I haven't listened to yet, but out of what I've heard, my favorites are certainly

    1. Final Fantasy VII Remake by Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, Mitsuto Suzuki, etc
    2. The Mandalorian Season 2 by Ludwig Göransson
    3. Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond by Michael Giacchino and Nami Meumad
    4. The Call of the Wild by John Powell
    5. The Flight Attendant Season 1 by Blake Neely
    6. Soul by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

     

     

    BEST CATALOG TITLES OF 2020

    1. Solo: A Star Wars Story by John Powell (Disney)

    2. How To Train Your Dragon by John Powell (Varese)

    3. War of the Worlds by John Williams (Intrada)

    4. The River by John Williams (Intrada)

    5. Far and Away by John Williams (La-La Land)

    6. Casper by James Horner (La-La Land)

    7. The Land Before Time by James Horner (Intrada)

    8. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves by Michael Kamen (Intrada)

    9. The Swarm by Jerry Goldsmith (La-La Land)

    10. Darkman by Danny Elfman (La-La Land)

    11. Dolores Claiborne by Danny Elfman (Varese)

    12. Interstellar by Hans Zimmer (Sony)

     

    But I haven't listened to Alive, Moritui, Take Her She's Mine, Legends of the Fall, Sunflower, Mystery Men, Sliver, US Marshals, The Don Is Dead, The Last Castle, or Inchon yet


    FILM SCORE LABEL OF THE YEAR

     

    1. Intrada

     

     

     

    BEST FILMS OF 2020

     

    I wrote a little bit about every 2020 film I've seen so far here (along with listing the 2020 films I had wanted to see but haven't seen yet)

     

    I think out of the ones I've seen the best ones for me were:

    1. Palm Springs
    2. The Invisible Man
    3. The Hunt
    4. Greyhound
    5. Soul
    6. The Old Guard
    7. The Trial of the Chicago Seven
    8. Unpregnant
    9. Happiest Season
    10. An American Pickle

     

     

     

    BEST TV OF 2020

     

    Dramas

    1. Better Call Saul 5
    2. The Boys 2
    3. The Queen's Gambit
    4. The Mandalorian 2
    5. Ozark 3
    6. Fargo 4
    7. The Outsider
    8. Perry Mason

    Comedies

    1. Schitt's Creek 6
    2. Curb Your Enthusiasm 10
    3. What We Do Shadows 2
    4. Medical Police
    5. Search Party 3
    6. Big Mouth 4

    All other 2020 TV I saw:

    • 2 Weeks To Live
    • 30 Rock: A One-Time Special
    • Avenue 5
    • Brooklyn 99 7
    • Flight Attendant 1
    • Good Girls 3
    • The Good Place 4 (mostly aired in 2019)
    • His Dark Materials 2
    • Homeland 8
    • I'll Be Gone in the Dark
    • Killing Eve 3
    • Lovecraft Country
    • Love Life
    • McMillions
    • A Parks and Recreation Special
    • Plot Against America (gave up after 2 episodes though)
    • South Park: The Pandemic Special
    • Space Force
    • Westworld 3
    • Plus the usual Whose Line, Saturday Night Live, Last Week Tonight, etc

     

     

     

    Most anticipated 2021 or later TV:

    1. THE ORVILLE 3!!! 
    2. Better Call Saul 6
    3. Barry 3
    4. The Boys 3
    5. Succession 3
    6. Search Party 4
    7. The Last Of Us
    8. Curb Your Enthusiasm 11
    9. South Park 24
    10. What We Do In The Shadows 3
    11. Ozark 4
    12. The Mandalorian 3
    13. His Dark Materials 3
    14. Stranger Things 4
    15. Westworld 4 I guess

    I don't really have any anticipation or hopes for the upcoming MCU and Star Wars shows, but will likely end up checking some of them out

     

     

    Specific Highlights of 2020

    • Final Fantasy VII Remake's score blowing me away and getting into more of Uematsu's work as a result
    • SOLO and HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON getting unexpected expansions that both blew me away with their improved sound quality and programs
    • Finally playing THE LAST OF US and loving it
    • Getting back into ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD and loving it
    • The Mandalorian (I didn't see any of it until this year) - show and score
    • The Boys (I didn't see any of it until this year) - what a show!
    • Better Call Saul Season 5 bouncing from from a sub-par season 4 with a brilliant season 5
    • Schitt's Creek ending a brilliant 6-season run at the top of its game
    • The Good Place delivering an extremely satisfying and perfect finale, after a mostly not great season 4 up until that point

     

    Specific Disappointments of 2020

    • No season 3 of The Orville
    • No OST album for Season 2 of The Orville
    • Black Widow, Dune, and West Side Story getting delayed to 2021
    • Various film score catalog titles getting delayed to 2021
    • 2020 becoming the only year since I was old enough that I didn't see a single film in the theater
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