The film music of 2012.

My favorite scores of 2012:

(Laziness precludes my ability to describe why I loved these scores so much. Just go with it.)

More good scores:
The Avengers (Alan Silvestri), Big Miracle (Cliff Eidelman), The Cold Light of Day (Lucas Vidal), Hitchcock (Danny Elfman), Journey 2: the Mysterious Island (Andrew Lockington), The Lorax (John Powell), The Man with the Iron Fists (The RZA & Howard Drossin), Ruby Sparks (Nick Urata), Seven Psychopaths (Carter Burwell) and There Be Dragons (Robert Folk)

Some great unreleased scores:
The Campaign (Theodore Shapiro)
The Dictator (Erran Baron Cohen/Deborah Lurie)
Fun Size (Deborah Lurie)
Hotel Transylvania (Mark Mothersbaugh)
21 Jump Street (Mark Mothersbaugh)

My favorite new CDs of 2012:

Batman: the Animated Series - Vol. 2 (Shirley Walker and co. - La La Land): Even more terrific episode scores (like the exciting "Shadow of the Bat" and the delightful "Mad as a Hatter"). Bring on Vol. 3!

The Black Cauldron (Elmer Bernstein - Intrada): The complete score. Every theme. Every note. (I didn't even know that there were female voices in this music!)

Hook (John Williams - La La Land): A worthwhile release if only for the climactic Pan vs. Hook swordfight music.

King Kong Lives (John Scott - Intrada): A lovely main theme and immensely enjoyable action music for the laughably pointless sequel. Bonus: no goddamn roaring!

Love at First Bite (Charles Bernstein - Intrada): The underrated vampire comedy enjoys a lively score, courtesy of the unsung (and unrelated) Bernstein.

The Phantom (David Newman - La La Land): Unexpected but welcome expansion of Newman's lush adventure score.

The Shadow (Jerry Goldsmith - Intrada): Finally, one of Goldsmith's finest efforts of the 90s is available. Thrilling music with some terrific orchestrations (those slurring brass effects will never get old).

Star Trek: the Motion Picture (Jerry Goldsmith - La La Land): Maybe, there's too much music here, but still a fantastic presentation of one of Goldsmith's finest scores.

Sunset (Henry Mancini - Quartet): This nearly-forgotten murder-mystery featured one of the last great Mancini scores, highlighted by an rousing main title cue.

2 Days in the Valley (Jerry Goldsmith - Intrada): Despite the awkward sequencing, Goldsmith's flavorful rejected score for the modern noir is well worth having.

Other notable releases from 2012 that I have yet to buy because of my financial woes:

The Barbarian and the Geisha/Violent Saturday (Hugo Friedhofer - Kritzerland)
Batman Forever (Elliot Goldenthal - La La Land)
Bride of Vengeance/Captain Carey, USA (Hugo Friedhofer - Intrada)
China Moon (George Fenton - Quartet)
Condorman (Henry Mancini - Intrada)
Enemy Mine: DE (Maurice Jarre - Varese Club)
Hardly Working (Morton Stevens - BuySoundtrax; Funny story, I ordered this from the label, but they didn't send it. As a soundtrack label, they take some interesting chances, but as a soundtrack retailing outfit, this is but one more example of how these people could fuck up a cheese sandwich.)
Nowhere to Run (Mark Isham - Perseverance)
Once Upon a Time (Mark Isham - Intrada)

The 'Burton/Elfman Music Box' "This'd be a nice collection to have, but are you fucking kidding me with that price?!" award:

Star Trek: the Original Series Collection (La La Land) - Okay, this is a little disingenuous, as I'm not a Trekkie and would therefore have no desire to own this anyway, but it still fits.

My favorite pieces of film music (from scores that didn't make the above lists):

"Bomber Briefing" - Red Tails (Terence Blanchard)
"Bryan and Lenore Are Taken" - Taken 2 (Nathaniel Mechaly)
"A Day in the Life" - Looper (Nathan Johnson)
"Hadley's Lament" - The Cabin in the Woods (David Julyan)
"The Heroic Weather-Conditions of the Universe, Part 5: Lightning" - Moonrise Kingdom (Alexandre Desplat)
"It Ain't Over, Tommy" - Alex Cross (John Debney)
"John and Lori at Work/A Walk in the Park" - Ted (Walter Murphy)
"Late to the Theater" - Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Henry Jackman)
"Mind if I Cut In?" - The Dark Knight Rises (Hans Zimmer)
"The Mission" - Argo (Alexandre Desplat)
"Poe and Hamilton on the Path" - The Raven (Lucas Vidal)
"The Queen Wants Snow Killed" - Mirror Mirror (Alan Menken)
"Regret" - Men in Black 3 (Danny Elfman)
"The Vault" - Total Recall (Harry Gregson-Williams)

Ten releases I'm hoping for this year:

Amityville II: the Possession (Lalo Schifrin)
Down Periscope (Randy Edelman)
Fatal Instinct (Richard Gibbs)
Gymkata (Alfi Kabiljo)
High Anxiety (John Morris)
Jacknife (Bruce Broughton)
The Slayer (Robert Folk)
Super Mario Bros. (Alan Silvestri)
The Sword in the Stone (George Bruns)
Take a Hard Ride (Jerry Goldsmith)