As the year races to a close, we’re all on the verge of killing each other, at least on Film Twitter. Everyone’s ornery as we sprint to make those deadlines, but before we declare war on one another, remember we still have inspiring and movie music to celebrate and soothe us. In crafting this piece over the years – Best Soundtracks and Scores – we’ve discovered it’s one of the most soothing, one of the best balms of the end of the year. Not only are the tunes great, but they’re also transportive and putting together the lists, re-listening to all the scores each year has a reviving and healing effect.
READ MORE: The 25 Best Films Of 2018
With each album, with each playlist, we are sent back, instantly rewound to some superb piece of cinema through music and the prism of memory; it’s really something kind of special to trigger a feeling, a moment, or a scene through a piece of music, that emotional cathartic connection is breathtaking when it happens.
READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2019
Music often tells you how movies or characters are really feeling and what they are trying to say. It’s naked and vulnerable, and it’s often an exciting new way to re-interact with a film, enter it through a different lens, and ear, as it were. Put simply, 2018 was a fantastic year for films, and so naturally, the music that guided each film emotionally to resonant, memorable success was just as incredible. Here are our picks for the best tunes in film in 2018.
Click here for our complete coverage of the best and worst of 2018.
20. “Isle of Dogs”
While Alexandre Desplat is certainly no stranger to film scores (his resumé includes “Tree of Life” and “The Shape of Water”), the composer’s work on “Isle of Dogs” is an undeniable gem. Once the ominous chants and echoing tribal drums featured on the opening track “Shinto Shrine” hit your ears, the atmosphere immediately paints pictures of post-dystopian landscapes, mangy plague dogs, and cinematic quests. Separated from the film entirely, Desplat’s gloomy songs convey a story of their own. Taken as a body of work, you would not be wrong in assuming that “Isle of Dogs” was a stone-faced thriller instead of an odd stop-motion flick directed by Wes Anderson. Nevertheless, there is a distinct lack of eccentricity to be found within this thunderous, adventure-driven collection of compositions. Combined with several stray contributions from Kaoru Watanabe, Teruko Akatsuki and The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, the soundtrack for “Isle of Dogs” is as enthralling as it is grand. – Jonathan Christian
19. “Gemini”
For years, we’ve been saying that Keegan DeWitt (“Listen Up Philip,” “Land Ho!,” “Queen of Earth”) was one of the most exciting new composers on the indie scene (he made our 2014 list of Composers On The Rise) and since then, he’s never disappointed and become greatly in demand. This year, DeWitt hit yet again with the mystery thriller “Gemini” (which feels like ages ago, because it premiered at SXSW in 2017, but wasn’t released until a year later). Directed by Aaron Katz, “Gemini” is an atmospheric mystery thriller about an assistant of a Hollywood actress (Lola Kirke) who must clear her name after her starlet boss (Zoë Kravitz) is found murdered in her home. And this beguiling, visually and musically striking picture has a lot on its mind about Los Angeles, celebrity, duplicity, betrayal, and the authenticity of friendships that are made in a town where everyone’s trying to get ahead. Employing a ghostly jazzy, techno-edge, capturing the hipsterdom of the Silverlake clubs and the stylish, but empty, sheen of some of L.A.’s quarters, DeWitt’s terrifically moody score features myriad and evocative flavors: cool slickness, apprehension, dread, and the anxious unknowingness that comes when realizing maybe those who you thought you knew and thought you trusted, weren’t ever very real to begin with. – Rodrigo Perez
18. “BlacKkKlansman”
“BlacKkKlansman” gave director Spike Lee not only the opportunity to re-explore hatred, racism, and race in America, but also, America itself, through one of his favorite period-piece lenses: the 1970s. So, it’s not a surprise that the “BlacKkKlansman” soundtrack and score is as kitchen-sink eclectic as the movie. Lee brings back his musical muse Terrence Blanchard, and as is so often the case when the jazz trumpeter is blowing moods for Lee, he’s musically summarizing America with a bent that’s often sincere, but darkly ironic and sobering too, especially as one of his first pictures spending most of its time in the South. Blanchard’s cleverly constructed pieces take cues from minstrel songs, slyly incorporating Stephen Foster’s “Suwannee River” (“Old Folks at Home”) and elements of Daniel Decatur Emmett’s “Dixie” in the tellingly titled “Gone With The Wind” opening piece. Blanchard’s score is blustery, big, thematic with elements of orchestral funk, but doesn’t skimp on the fundamental sadness of racism and hatred. Then, to complement it all, you’ve got its lively score which includes some ’70s funk and white Americana, typified in The Cornelius Brothers’ “Too Late to Turn Back Now”—the centerpiece dance scene in the movie where John David Washington meets the girl of his dreams Laura Harrier—and Emerson Lake and Palmer’s folksy, denimy “Lucky Man,” which acts as a great valediction before the movie segues to its epilogue. Lee’s scorching, wry, somber film has a lot of flavors and styles and its score and soundtrack epitomize that with terrific flair and solemnity. – RP
17. “Game Night”
“Game Night” is such a triumph on every level. First, it’s a concept comedy and extremely clever homage: you have writer/directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (two of the writers behind “Spider-Man: Homecoming”) absolutely knocking it out of the park with an ingenious concept: let’s remake David Fincher’s “The Game,” a twisty neo-noir crime thriller, and not only do it like a comedy, but let’s actually shoot it like Fincher would: tilt-shift establishing shot homages to “The Social Network,” long dolly tracking shots that pass through walls a la “Panic Room” and a pulsating synth score by… no, it’s not Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, but it’s the next best thing in Cliff Martinez, the composer known for work with Steven Soderbergh, Nicolas Winding Refn, Harmony Korine, and like-minded arthouse directors found of his pulsating, evocative cristal baschet-centered scores. Sure, Martinez’s score is much broader than the Oscar-winning ‘Social Network’ score, purposefully so, but its riff on throbbing and tense sinister EDM is absolutely aces. Just on paper, “Game Night” is a terrific idea, but the execution is first-rate and something Team Fincher, Reznor and Ross probably sent fruit baskets, champagne, and thank you notes about. – RP
16. “Black Panther”
Was there a more rousing and emotional stunning moment in 2018 for African American audiences—hell, audiences everywhere— in the early scenes of “Black Panther” during the modern day introduction of Wakanda, with the sonorous “Wakanda” title track, Baba Maal doing his lifting spiritual African tribal cry segueing into the beating drums of T’Challa’s inspiring main theme? Finally seeing this kind of representation in what turned to be a banger of a superhero film? CHILLS, I tell you, CHILLS (see below). Grammy nominee Ludwig Göransson, whose recent work with Childish Gambino has netted him some big awards and critical adoration and whose work on the “Creed” films showed the punch he could pack with his original compositions, really delivered the musical goods here in a way that has minted the composer for life. Mixed with a soundtrack curated by none other than Kendrick Lamar, perhaps the artist of a generation, Göransson’s score infuses itself with the film’s African heritage and the soundtrack’s rap-orchestral feel to create something grand, regal, and supremely celebratory; tapping into the film’s theme of Black exceptionalism. Lamar’s soundtrack is almost a cinematic experience in and of itself, as each song covers two purposes: it weaves the story Lamar wants to tell with the curation and lends itself to meet some of Ryan Coogler’s big moments the movie. Plus, the needle drops of “Opps,” radio hit “Pray for Me,” and 2018 Grammy favorite “All the Stars” over the closing credits are some for the ages. There’s a reason the album was the first film soundtrack to get nominated for the Grammy’s Best Album honor since “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” – Cory Woodroof