Back in the early nineties at university, when you got a girl back to your dorm room, there was only CD you would put on to close the deal: the soundtrack to The Mission by Ennio Morricone. I really don’t know why this slightly twee, artsy recording became the gold standard, but it did. It’s a very collegiate sort of thing, and far less cool than, say, making out to Marvin Gaye or Wilson Pickett.
Regardless, as SneakPeak.ca reports, Morricone is getting his due:
Musician Ennio Morricone, composer of more than 300 motion picture scores over a 45-year career, has been voted an Honorary Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The Award, an Oscar statuette, will be given to Morricone at the 79th Academy Awards presentation, February 25, 2007, “for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music.”
Morricone previously earned five Academy Award nominations for original score on the films ‘Days of Heaven” (1978), “The Mission” (1986), “The Untouchables” (1987), “Bugsy” (1991) and “Malèna” (2000).
I thought Morricone had done the beautiful soundtrack for Unforgiven, but it turns out that was Lennie Niehaus (with help from Clint Eastwood).
UPDATE: Julie points out that you can’t watch a skating competition without hearing at least one track from The Mission.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
Bravo! “The Strength of the Righteous” from “The Untouchables” is STILL in heavy rotation in my personal music collection.
Those who have seen Last Night know that, if you thought you could get away with it, the song you really wanted to play was Parliament’s “I’ve Been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body)”.
Never mind all that newer stuff. The 1966 theme from “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” remains his greatest achievement, and is right up there with Monty Norman’s James Bond theme and Strauss’s “Thus Spake Zarathustra” from “2001” as film music instantly recognizable even to those who’ve never seen the associated movie.
Such strange world-music instrumentation (whistling, indecipherable basso chanting, surf guitar, oddball percussion) somehow became the defining music for the last gasp of the dark and brooding western movie. He deserves the award just for that.