The composer rundown.

I am a film music fan (as if my 'Favorite Themes' column wasn't enough of a hint) and I just wanted to enlighten you (or remind myself) of who's doing the music for the summer movies:

X-Men: the Last Stand: John Powell (haven't seen the film - yet! - but from the samples I've heard online, I think he may have outdone himself...but Paycheck is, for my money, the brass ring)
Cars: Randy Newman (no real surprise, here)
A Prairie Home Companion: (arranged by) Richard Dworsky
Nacho Libre: Danny Elfman (happy birthday! and, if nothing else, this makes for a fascinating return to the type of films he did when he started out)
Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties: Christophe Beck
The Lake House: Rachel Portman
Waist Deep: Terence Blanchard (betcha it won't be as impressive as his Inside Man)
Superman Returns: John Ottman (with an assist from John Williams's original score...should be exciting)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: Hans Zimmer (here's hoping that the music has a personality this time; I'm with the general consensus that Klaus Badelt's work on the first film could've been written for any movie)
A Scanner Darkly: Graham Reynolds
Clerks 2: James L. Venable
Barnyard: John Debney (would've been nice with Robert Folk; he's done every Oedekerk project but this and he hasn't done animation since the lean years of Don Bluth - nothing against Debney, but it's not like he's hurting for work...he's doing The Ant Bully, which opens the following week)
Miami Vice: John Murphy
Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby: Alex Wurman
Beerfest: Nathan Barr
Snakes on a Plane: Trevor Rabin (ever since I heard about this film, I was dying to know who'd score it...the thought of Jerry Bruckheimer's pet composer doesn't instill me with hope...then again, a closed-in place, killer creatures and Sam Jackson...Deep Blue Sea, and that had a pretty good score)
DOA: Dead or Alive: Junkie XL (I don't know who that is, either)

Call me an optimist, but here's hoping that at least half of these scores are released.