...something in the last 12 months or so.

I know some people will probably say "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, but I think Howard Shore's done better.

Personally, I really liked Angelo Badalamenti's score for "A Very Long Engagement" so I bought the CD, which I don't do very often. I think it got ripped off by the Oscar nominations. No way was the score to "Finding Neverland" better.

I thought Love Actually had a nice score

I Heart Huckabees...Jon Brion runs the show.

Starship Troopers 2 and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow are terrific scores. Both of them dip into that grand, Golden Age sound. The Aviator had some interesting moments, sounding Herrmann-esque at times. It would've been the perfect vehicle for him if he was still alive.

Winged Migration
Older than 12 months, but it's really the only thing that's recent that left any memorable impression on me.

I really dig The Incredibles score that I picked up last week.

I always find it funny that some really bad movies get good soundtracks. 13th Warrior comes to mind. Who'd have thunk Starship Troopers 2 would have a good soundtrack! I always thought the first one had an excellent score too by Basil Poledouris.

Incredibles.

House of Flying Daggers

I gotta go with Aviator and Finding Neverland, very impressed with those (Neverland has some of the most peaceful music I've ever heard).

I agree with the above poster on Love Actually, too. I really wish they would get around to releasing an actual score CD for that movie. Craig Armstrong did some excellent work.

I'd add each of James Newton Howard's scores for M Night's films. The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village all have excellent scores. Especially Signs, which has a wonderful Bernard Herrman influenced score.

ditto

I wanted to pick up the score to The Incredibles after seeing the movie the day it came out, but my girlfriend told me not to buy it because I might get it for Christmas. Well, I didn't end up getting it for Christmas so I went out and bought it a few days after and I've listened to it about 20-30 times by now. Great score.

Tony Takitani - superb, moving score by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Best of the year.
Les Choristes - Oscar-nominated for good reasons, though the Best Original Song selection is baffling (Vois sur ton chemins?! Hell no.)
2046 - it's a Wong Kar-Wai film. When has a Wong Kar-Wai film not have a fantastic film score?

I really dug the Van Helsing score, lot's a fun. Of course the breathtaking LOTR is the best of recent memory.

LOTR is one of the best in the past several years.

While the movie stunk, I loved the score to Alexander.

One of the few positive things about that mess of a film.

Vangelis' score for Alexander

I loved Eastwood's subtle score for MILLION DOLLAR BABY.

The Matrix Revolutions

^^^

eastwood scored million dollar baby? jack of all trades

dun tan for hero perhaps for me. i need to see more movies.

whatever danny elfman did last? i do like the theme to desperate housewives

If the criteria is last 12 months, that eliminates LotR as a possibility.

I really liked the latest Harry Potter score.

I have to disagree with the Alexander score though, I thought it was poorly matched with the movie, often not reflecting at all what was going on during the movie. I found it more of a distraction and wasn't impressed.

The Machinist

Eastwood scores a lot of the films he directs...his score for Mystic River was also powerful.

From IMDB:
Clint Eastwood
Composer - filmography
(2000s) (1990s) (1980s)

Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Mystic River (2003)
Space Cowboys (2000)
True Crime (1999) (songs)
Absolute Power (1997)
The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
Unforgiven (1992) (Claudia's theme) (uncredited)
Heartbreak Ridge (1986) (songs)
City Heat (1984) (songs)
Bronco Billy (1980) (songs)