Join The Community
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Soundtrack: As is the norm, there are actually two OSTs for this dystopian thriller – one of them James Newton Howard’s rousing score, the other a ‘Music Inspired By’ compilation.
Best Tune: Coldplay’s ‘Atlas’ is a neat addition, particularly because of its ‘ticking clock’ sound effects, which chime with the film’s plot.
Hocus Pocus
The Soundtrack: Re-released 20 years after the film first hit cinemas, this more comprehensive compilation of music conducted by John Debney (the original OST was edited-down) is a more full-blooded, fleshed-out album that sucks you right back into Bette Midler’s witchy wonderland.
Best Tune: Sarah Jessica Parker’s ‘Come Little Children’ is still missing (sigh), so we’ll go for ‘Winnie’s Lament’, purely because it plucks the heartstrings in just the right way.
The Kings Of Summer
The Soundtrack: Ryan Miller (Safety Not Guaranteed) taps into that sense of freedom and serenity that accompanies our intrepid lead Joe Toy (Nick Robinson), who escapes the responsibilities of impending adulthood by running away into the woods with his best friend.
Best Tune: Sadly, Thin Lizzy’s ‘Cowboy Song’ is missing, meaning the standout is ‘Breaking Ground’, with its wordless vocals and rattling tambourine.
The Place Beyond The Pines
The Soundtrack: A blend of Mike Patton’s mournful symphonies and tracks from The Cryin’ Shames, Vladimir Ivanoff and Bon Iver.
Best Tune: ‘Family Trees’, a sombre offering that captures the themes toiling at the centre of director Derek Cianfrance’s emotional drama. Sort of like a church choir song only spikier and less sleep-inducing.
Iron Man 3: Heroes Fall
The Soundtrack: A film so big it required two whole soundtracks, Iron Man 3 has an official score CD by Brian Tyler, plus the Heroes Fall compilation that features music by lesser-known artists like Neon Trees, The Wondergirls and AWOLNATION.
Best Tune: ‘Ready, Aim, Fire’ by Imagine Dragons is the stand-out track thanks to its rousing lyrics, sword-clashing sound effects and anthem-like sound mixing.
Mud
The Soundtrack: Southern gothic is the name of the game in David Wingo’s score for this Matthew McConaughey coming-of-ager, which is both playful and ominous, and is complemented by Ben Nichols’ blue-grass tracks ‘Davy Brown’ and ‘The Kid’.
Best Tune: ‘Juniper’ injects a little magic into proceedings.
Man Of Steel
The Soundtrack: Hans Zimmer had a real challenge on his hands attempting to create a Superman score that in no way emulated John Williams’ iconic music, but he pulled it off for Man Of Steel.
Best Tune: ‘Superman Theme’, which begins quietly with a mere handful of piano notes before the orchestra swells gently in the background, the drums pick up and the music clambers up into the heavens.
Stoker
The Soundtrack: Composer-of-the-moment Clint Mansell (Moon, Filth) does it again with his gorgeous compositions for this dark drama.
Best Tune: ‘Becomes The Colour’ brings beauty and breathless tension, summing up Mansell’s work on the score perfectly. So creepy you’ll want to watch an episode of Teletubbies before going to bed.
Maniac
The Soundtrack: A throbbing, synth-heavy compilation of tracks by French composer Rob, who attempts to send you into a trance alongside the titular maniac (Elijah Wood) with his moody, Blade Runner -esque melodies.
Best Tune: ‘Headache’ is as good as it gets – soaring and sailing with its juicy horror textures, which are just the right side of sleazy.
Sound City
The Soundtrack: It’s the soundtrack for Dave Grohl’s documentary, so you already know you’re in safe hands, and Grohl doesn’t disappoint, offering up fresh tracks from Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks and Trent Reznor.
Best Tune: Bizarre as it sounds, McCartney’s the standout here, his ‘Cut Me Some Slack’ a rough and ready ride that taps into Grohl’s vision of creating a soundscape that echoes the no-frills origins of Sound City.
Warm Bodies
The Soundtrack: An achingly cool mix of indie hits and classic foot-stompers, with John Waite’s ‘Missing You’ providing impeccable style (it's every bit as amazing as Tina Turner's stomping diva cover), while Guns N’ Roses bring their own special brand of chill-out rock with ‘Patience’.
Best Tune: We refuse to let Made In Chelsea kill the magnificence that is ‘Midnight City’ by M83. WE REFUSE.
American Hustle
The Soundtrack: A collection of hits from the ‘70s and ‘80s in keeping with the film’s period setting, with contributions from Elton John, Electric Light Orchestra, The Bee Gees and Tom Jones.
Best Tune: McCartney and Wings’ ‘Live And Let Die’, which captures all the glitzy drama perfectly – and one character lip synchs to it in one of the film’s standout moments.
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Soundtrack: Technically out in 2014, but the film showed at the London Film Festival in 2013, so we’re counting it – mostly because it’s as brilliant as you’d expect any Coen Brothers soundtrack to be.
Best Tune: ‘Hang Me, Oh Hang Me’ is the film’s soulful anthem, but ‘Please Mr Kennedy’ is the track you’ll skip forward to, if only because it features Adam Driver ( Girls ) doing some brilliant back-up in a trembling bass.
Gravity
The Soundtrack: An unconventional collection of sounds and silences, Steven Price’s score for Alfonso Cuaron’s mega-blockbuster defies action movie music clichés.
Best Tune: ‘Don’t Let Go’ is an epic at 11 minutes long, but title track ‘Gravity’, with its Gladiator-like vocals, can’t help but inspire goosebumps.
Frozen
The Soundtrack: Disney goes Broadway with a little help from Tony-award-winning duo Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. While Christophe Beck provides the score, they provide the show tunes for one of Disney’s strongest soundtracks in years.
If it’s chills you’re after, though, power ballad ‘Let It Go’ is a force of nature, especially when sung by Idina Menzel (ignore Demi Lovato’s personality-free radio version).
Django Unchained
The Soundtrack: Another masterpiece from Tarantino, who can do no wrong when it comes to releasing soundtracks for his cinematic rumblings.
Best Tune: Clearly, the sixties 'Django' theme tune, resurrected in full here, is the stand-out track. We could listen to this one on repeat, especially if dragging a coffin through a Western wasteland...
The Way Way Back
The Soundtrack: An eclectic symposium of tracks for this coming-of-ager. Edie Brickell and The Gaddabouts contribute two beautiful songs (tone-setting opener ‘For The Time Being’ and soundtrack-closer ‘Go Where The Love Is’), while INXS pump up the energy levels with ‘New Sensation’.
Best Tune: Mr Mister’s ‘Kyrie’, mostly because it’s got gorgeous rock trappings, and we can’t understand what the heck he’s singing about.
