A lot of films today would not be able to support film scores from the past and that is why filmscoring has had to change over time. Conversely, you get films today, that need an enormous amount of input from the filmscore simply because the film needs that support. In the same way it may need a great deal of support from say, CGI. Acting is becoming a by-product of film making but even more important than that is the lack of storyline and script writing and editing. You may be able to count the number good films released in a year on one hand if you're lucky. But a moron can't.
When you talk about the chuggs of orchestral string sections for example, it's become obvious over recent times that this is merely a substitute of and for the background drone of 21st century day to day living. You are sublimily, as a director/producer in certain instances, simply trying to recreate the comfort zone in terms of SOUND, a bottom-up way of making films that will not frighten the age group that relies on the constant noise production of the mobile phone.
Last night, I watched Sunset Boulavard with a score from Franz Waxman. Not a bad score and works well with film that doesn't actually need the support of a great score because the film in and of itself is a great story and character study. After the film was over, I naturally watched the news and noticed that London was burning. This immediately triggered me getting out the violin so I could fiddle while London burned. Best thing for it in my view. Son of bitch that Nero, Kind of guy played with himself nights.