Eerie, Ethereal, Moody, Involving Soundtracks

Enjoyed Mark Isham's soundtrack to "The Cooler" immensely (at least while watching the film). Doesn't really fit the bill, except for the "moody" part, but it is some really traditoioal, smoky, bluesy nightclub jazz sound.

I'll second Peter Gabriel's Passion (Last Temptation of Christ), Long Walk Home (Rabbit Proof Fence) and Birdy. All great. Especially the first 2.

Also -

Apollo, Music For Films (Brian Eno)
Dune (Klaus Schulze)
Traffic - (various) (includes a tune from Eno's Apollo)
Twin Peaks (Badlamenti)
Legend, Sorcerer (Tangerine Dream)
Bladerunner (Vangelis)
Insomnia (David Julyan)
Memento (various)
Pi (various)
Braveheart (Horner)

The soundtrack to "The Insider" very much fits the bill of moody, ethereal, and involving.

Phillip Glass did the soundtrack for the horror film "Candyman". Eerie and haunting.

I'm surprised Thomas Newman's work has not been mentioned more. He's sorta the town's king of Etherial Moody. Recent high water compositions include:

AMERICAN BEAUTY
ANGELS IN AMERICA

Those are just two excellent examples. Candidly, most of Newman's work is quite moving.

An older school composer who has that gear in his composition bag is James Horner. He's more varied in style than Newman, but some which fall into your catagory are:

A BEAUTIFUL MIND
HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG (I love this composition)

Of course Phil Glass also falls into this catagory, though I find his compositions become a bit repetative after a while.

Finally, if you like Jazzy stuff, Mark Isham is a good call. Not only is he an excellent straight jazz player, but he's getting more film scoring gigs, and some are quite good.

I do find film scores one of the most over looked sources for outstanding modern composition. Far more quality than modern classical composers. Happy hunting.

Best,