This profile is under construction. The opinions, interviews, and commentary expressed herein are not necessarily those of the author. More information about my wonderfulness will be coming soon to a profile page near you. (Last updated: July 29, 2010)

First, some incidentals. I am a 28 year old Mormon living in Southern Nevada teaching religion for a living. My wife is a stay at home mom and an aspiring author, and we have two wonderful children. I play the piano quite well, collect PEZ dispensers, love artichokes, and own an owl made of sunflower seeds. I earned a BA in history, will finish my master's degree in human development/family relations next month, and I will be starting a doctorate in education next month. I haven't eaten at McDonald's since 2001. Supersize Me did not make me more likely to go back. I'm currently training to run a 5K in November, never having been a runner before. If I were stuck on a desert island and could have only one beverage, it would be orange juice. I have never ridden in a helicopter. I served a mission for my church for two years in the mean streets and dangerous ghettos of Lansing and Grand Rapids, Michigan. I learned Spanish so that I could converse with the millions of Latinos who live there.

As for our shared passion, it was Braveheart that got me into film scores. My art teacher used to play that score almost every day. At first I didn't really notice it, but after a while I realized that I really liked it. When I saw it at a used CD store, I picked it up and have literally worn it out. The last two tracks won't even play anymore Shortly after buying that, I saw Glory on TV. Greatly impressed by the music, I sought it out. Then I saw Apollo 13 and was blown away by the launch music. Somehow I had bought these three CDs without even paying attention to who the composer was. Imagine my shock when I realized they were all by the same guy! "Does he write every film score?" I wondered.

Since then I have expanded my collection to just over 200 scores (quality over quantity y’all), and I remain almost entirely ignorant of film music before the 1980s. I love beautiful melodious film scores above all, and find most action-heavy scores a chore to listen to. I think Mark McKenzie is wonderful and I wish he got the attention he deserves from studios and directors. I forgive Horner for stealing from himself so often as the themes he steals are so darn good. I also like Philippe Rombi, Patrick Doyle, Georges Delerue, Debbie Wiseman, James Newton Howard and sometimes Jerry Goldsmith, Thomas Newman, Danny Elfman, and Ennio Morricone. I’ve yet to register much with Desplat or Brian Tyler’s music. John Corigliano and Elliot Goldenthal’s music is too smart for me. I haven’t met an Alan Silvestri score that I genuinely liked. I think John Powell might just be the savior of modern film music.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for....my 10 favorite scores!

Warning: the following section is full of hyperbole and a giddy preponderance of exclamation points. Anyone with an aversion to wild overgenerlization should slowly back away from this profile now, without looking it directly in the eyes.

Warning #2: as stated above this is my list of favorite scores. I don't think they are the best scores ever written (who could possibly tell you what are?), or the most original, influential, ground-breaking, or technically complex scores ever written. They simply provide me with more utility over their various running times than any other scores I’ve heard (economics rules!). In other words, I LOVE these scores.

1. Glory – James Horner

Find four tracks better than the last four of this score. You can’t. I know it. And before you start to tell me that Charging Fort Wagner is based on Carmina Burana, I know that. And Horner’s track is better than the source material. Take that.

2. Love, Actually – Craig Armstrong

I feel kind of bad ranking such a short and unreleased score so highly, but man, have you heard it?! It’s short, but it’s so full of glorious and triumphant music! I love the sound of this score, and if you ever run into a score as wonderful, happy, and inspiring as this one is, please email me right away, for I must have it!

3. Torus du Monde Tours du Ciel – Georges Delerue

Another really short score, so sue me. This is powerful, powerful music. Just sit in a quiet empty room at night, close your eyes, and let Stellaire 1 wash over you. Now you know why it’s #3!

4. Durango – Mark McKenzie

If you like Irish music, multiple wonderful themes, beautiful melodies, or perfect orchestration, you’d better pick this one up. Just listen to the suite! Find me a score written in the last 10 years that has more or better themes than that single track! (if you actually can you’d better email me again). The album listening experiences suffers a little from a complete lack of closure, so stick the suite at the end in your playlist and enjoy one of, if not the, finest scores by Hollywood’s most underappreciated musician.

5. Rich in Love – George Delerue

Frequently, it seems, Delerue would write a wonderful theme for a film and almost nothing else of value. What you get is an album containing few very welcome appearances of that excellent theme and a whole bunch of music that is downright boring. For examples of this, see Man Trouble, Agnes of God (oh, I went there), Memories of Me, etc. To enjoy those scores, all you need is a Delerue compilation album. Rich in Love is not one of those scores. It swells with deeply poignant, wistful, bitter-sweet melancholy from beginning to end. Its several themes are heard on one solo instrument after another (from flute, to guitar, to clarinet…or maybe it’s an oboe (why can’t I ever tell the difference?)). It is almost as though Delerue knew his time was over and he wanted to compose a score that would be a perfect send off.

6. Wilde – Debbie Wiseman

What, you’ve never heard of this one? Repent! This score has half a dozen fantastic themes and is so beautiful and orchestrally grand that I almost get tired of beauty and orchestral grandeur by the end of it!

7. Braveheart – James Horner

This is where it all started for me. I love the themes of this score, the bagpipes, the fact that nearly any track on this album would be the highlight track of any other. I love that penultimate track that is as good as its name is long. Just listen to the climax of that track as two of the themes Horner has been weaving throughout the score finally play simultaneously – one by a massive-sounding orchestra and the other by a whole clan of bagpipers. That may be the single greatest moment of film music I’ve ever heard.

8. Gladiator – Hans Zimmer

What can I say? I just enjoy so much of this album. The action music is even enjoyable for me (not something I say often….at all). The last several tracks are particularly great, I think. It may sound like a lot of other things (both by Zimmer and not), but there’s not a Zimmer album more enjoyable to me than this one.

9. Schindler’s List – John Williams

I’m sorry to say that the first few times I heard this score (back when I was a stupid 17 year old) I thought it was super boring. I put it down and didn’t listen to it again for half a decade. Then I decided I would try it again and realized that a masterpiece had been collecting dust on my shelf. Now as a stupid 28 year old, I can safely declare this to be my favorite Williams score. The melodies are just so achingly beautiful and so expertly played, whether by Perlman or the full orchestra. This is a wonderful score.

10. Only You – Rachel Portman

This score is in the same category as Love, Actually, for me. It’s not very consequential in the grand scheme, it’s short, it’s to a romantic comedy…but it’s such happy, exuberant, and victorious music! I just love how this music makes me feel.

For now, the rest of my top 25 are:
11. LOTR: Return of the King – Howard Shore
12. Meet Joe Black – Thomas Newman
13. Un Homme et son Chien – Philippe Rombi
14. The Truman Show – Burkhard Dalwitz/Phillip Glass
15. Rudy – Jerry Goldsmith
16. Independence Day – David Arnold
17. Cutthroat Island – John Debney
18. The Legend of Zorro – James Horner
19. The Last Sin Eater – Mark McKenzie
20. Ladies in Lavender – Nigel Hess
21. Hook – John Williams
22. LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring – Howard Shore
23. Blizzard – Mark McKenzie
24. Atonement – Dario Marianelli
25. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas – Harry Gregson-Williams

I can now die a happy man knowing that the two of you who have read this profile know what my favorite scores are.