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Decided by a jury of 500-ish musicians and whatnot, via the American Film Institute.

1. Star Wars - 1977 - John Williams
2. Gone With The Wind - 1939 - Max Steiner
3. Lawrence of Arabia - 1962 - Maurice Jarre
4. Psycho - 1960 - Bernard Herrmann
5. The Godfather - 1962 - Nino Rota
6. Jaws - 1975 - John Williams
7. Laura - 1944 - David Raskin
8. The Magnificent Seven - 1960 - Elmer Bernstein
9. Chinatown - 1974 - Jerry Goldsmith
10. High Noon - 1952 - Dimitri Tiomkin
11. The Adventures of Robin Hood - 1938 - Erich Wolfgang Korngold
12. Vertigo - 1958 - Bernard Herrmann
13. King Kong - 1933 - Max Steiner
14. E.T. - 1982 - John Williams
15. Out of Africa - 1985 - John Barry
16. Sunset Boulevard - 1950 - Franz Waxman
17. To Kill a Mockingbird - 1962 - Elmer Bernstein
18. Planet of the Apes - 1968 - Jerry Goldsmith
19. A Streetcar Named Desire - 1951 - Alex North
20. The Pink Panther - 1964 - Henry Mancini
21. Ben-Hur - 1959 - Miklos Rozsa
22. On the Waterfront - 1954 - Leonard Bernstein
23. The Mission - 1986 - Ennio Morricone
24. On Golden Pond - 1981 - David Grusin
25. How the West Was Won - 1962 - Alfred Newman

My question is: are there so few recent scores on this list due to a mathematical reason (more movies produced prior to 1980 than after), a quality reason (older scores simply better, on the whole), or an aging reason (a score needs to “age” before its impact can be accurately judged).  No answers here.

Apparently, those who try to rein in their emotions at critical moments may fare poorly when it comes time to remember what it was they were trying to avoid bein’ all emotional about.

James Gross at Stanford University in California and Jane Richards at the University of Texas at Austin showed 57 volunteers a disturbing film about a surgical procedure, then asked them questions about their emotional state, how much effort they put into hiding their feelings, and their memory of events in the film.

They found people who made the most effort to keep their emotions in check had the worst recall for what they had seen.

This effect may not have as much to do with emotions as it does distractions, however; a second part of the study found no difference in people who tried to control their facial expressions vs. people who tried to distract themselves with other thoughts.

(NewScientist: “Stiff upper lips may impair memories.” [Sept 15, 2005]) 

A bit past-due, I realize.  But worth perusing.  A list-of-lists, Fimoculous compiles links to lists of practically everything, best, worst, or otherwise.  Top 10 kitchen utensils of 2005, 100 most annoying things, best serial dramas, best i-pod accessories… it’s all there.  And more.

In what seems to have been some sort of combination of performance art and environmental protest (maybe?), a group took a parking space in San Francisco, fed the parking meter, and transformed the space into a park of sorts.  Tranforming a private space (parking space) into a public one (park… space).
Witness:

One of the more surprising parts of the project is that the group had absolutely no interference from authority-type figures.

The project website includes photos and text and such, as well as a handy how-to guide, should you feel compelled to re-create the experiment.

…last year, at this time; a list of 100 things, put out by BBC News Magazine. A sampling:

• Baboons can tell the difference between English and French. Zoo keepers at Port Lympne wild animal park in Kent are having to learn French to communicate with the baboons which had been transferred from Paris zoo. (#7)
• In America it’s possible to subpoena a dog. (#23)
• You’re 10 times more likely to be bitten by a human than a rat. (#52)

Lots more, obviously.

(BBC News Magazine: “100 things we didn’t know this time last year.” [Dec 30, 2005])

Or would that be past-future? “Futuristic” adverts from roundabout the 60s, Motorola making your future-selves more leisurely fantastic comfortable. Fun.

(More descriptive, if you like: paintings commissioned by Motorola sometime in the 60s to, like, advertise, showcase, what-have-you.)
(via BoingBoing)