German composer and producer Hans Zimmer has played a part in over 100 films, and his latest two ventures do not disappoint. Zimmer teamed up with N.E.R.D. frontman Pharell Williams and Heitor Pereira to compose the score for Universal Pictures’ Despicable Me. I fell for the score last September when the first teaser trailer for the animated flick came out. When it was made known that Pharell would have a hand in the music production, there was little doubt that the soundtrack would attract moviegoers. The movie opens with the slow tempo “Despicable Me” track and it hits the ground running as other Pharell-infused songs add an extra touch to support the gorgeous animations. The soundtrack features four solo cuts from Pharell; he also produced and wrote songs for a number of the characters including “Minion Mambo” (co-written by Lupe Fiasco) and “The Unicorn Song.” Robin Thicke, The Bee Gees, and The Sylvers lend their voices to the soundtrack, too. Preview and purchase the soundtrack at iTunes, or at least get the catchy “Despicable Me” track.

Having worked magic on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan decided to call up Zimmer’s services a third time to formulate the score for Inception. The soundtrack is, in a word, brilliant. Zimmer was going for “a very electronic score”, and after researching how it would be best to mash together “the playfulness” of math and music he succeeded in making a score that perfectly matches the dizzying and exciting on-screen action. From the chilling “Half Remembered Dream” track that was featured behind the theatrical trailer to the heavy, melancholy “Dream Is Collapsing” and “Dream Within a Dream” tracks to the final track “Time” that is both uplifting yet ominous, Zimmer manages to capture the suspense and thrill of the movie in music. Download the soundtrack at iTunes.