I was listening to an episode of the podcast Critically Acclaimed Network, and the hosts, who are film critics, did a Top 10 list episode of their "Iron List" series, each picking their top ten best film scores. I wanted to share some that I really like. I'm not great at noticing film scores, as the music is often in the background as I'm watching the movie, but some of these stood out a lot to me:
Jon Brion's experimental score for Punch-Drunk Love.
Danny Elfman's fantasy fairy tale score for Edward Scissorhands, especially with "Ice Dance," with the choir singing in parts, like when Edward makes it "snow" around Kim.
The Chemical Brothers' electronic score for Hanna.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' electronic score for Challengers.
David Michael Frank's recurring theme for Showdown in Little Tokyo, particularly "Saving Minaka"
Antonio Sanchez' drum score for Birdman.
John Du Prez' haunting score, especially "Shredder's Theme" for the 1990 version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Yann Tiersen's French playful score for Amelie, with "La Valse d'Amelie"
Eric Serra's kinda-synth score for La Femme Nikita, with both "Rico's Gang Suicide" and "A Smile"
