2020 Oscars - Best Original Score predictions

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I listened to the Motherless Brooklyn OST once.  I liked Pemberton's jazz approach and production, but overall it left little impression on me.  Otherwise the noms are expected contenders.

 

So it's the official kickoff to awards season!  I always enjoy it.  For me the key is to approach the whole awards season narrative as fun and a bit silly like sports, and not invest myself emotionally in what "deserves" what.  What I like is what I like, regardless of if these different industry unions/groups agree.

[Edmilson 7,387]

Daniel Pemberton is one of these composers that critics talk very highly about, but I can't bring myself to like his music. Everything he did so far was just ok for me at best. Even his highly praised Dark Crystal score I found a little uninteresting.

[Thor 7,465]

I actually just listened to MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN. I find it quite good; I'll give it a few more whirls before I decide if I want to keep it in my collection or not.

 

Not everything Pemberton does is equally great, but I find him to be one of the best talents of his generation. I absolutely love OCEAN'S 8, THE MAN FROM UNCLE and STEVE JOBS. And bits and bobs in DARK CRYSTAL (although it also has some rather generic parts; the album suffers tremendously from its excessive presentation).

[TheUlyssesian 2,473]

1 hour ago, Edmilson said:

Here are the nominees for Best Original Score on the Golden Globes:

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
“Motherless Brooklyn”
“Little Women”
“Joker”
“1917”
“Marriage Story”

 

Obviously SW wasn't nominated (the other two of the sequel trilogy weren't either), and the Globes' nominations usually differ from those of the Oscars, sometimes for the good, sometimes not. But there you go.

 

I think Joker or 1917 are the favorite. Sorry to say this but I think Joker will win because the composer is a woman and the globes haven't nominated a woman for director or screenplay. So they might feel they have to make it up somewhere else.

[TownerFan 4,983]

19 hours ago, gkgyver said:

JW has the best chance in forever. Not because of the actual quality of the score, whatever it may be, but because it makes for a good Hollywood story, JW receiving an Oscar for his last SW movie. 

 

He won't win. Competition is strong this year, plus there might be the feeling he already got enough awards. If the Academy has some sort of common sense, they could give him a special award outside the competition. 

[Ricard 2,242]

14 hours ago, King Mark said:

Here's why JOKER will win

 

Academy viewers will remember that the music made them emotional, but it was really the unrelated  song Bring on the Clowns or whatever sung by Fran Sinatra  in the End credits.  But no matter, that song will "project" an impression that the rest of the score was good too and they'll vote for that

 

Perhaps more important than that: the composer is a woman. EDIT: Just saw TheUlyssesian commented on that.

[crumbs 14,300]

10 hours ago, TheUlyssesian said:

I think Joker or 1917 are the favorite. Sorry to say this but I think Joker will win because the composer is a woman and the globes haven't nominated a woman for director or screenplay. So they might feel they have to make it up somewhere else.

 

Unfortunately have to agree with your reasoning here, the optics would be terrible. These awards are no longer based on merit but political convenience.

[mrbellamy 6,272]

Variety got a peek at the list of eligible scores

 

The Irishman and A Hidden Life are disqualified so we can cut those from Maurizio’s list. 

 

Captain Marvel, The Two Popes, Knives Out, and Ad Astra are the other omissions they noted. 

 

** 

 

As far as Williams goes, I feel like TFA and TLJ are easy to take for granted and this score will be similar, generally acknowledged that it sounds fabulous and he’s doing his thing without necessarily exceeding his usual standards. Which are crazy high to be fair.  

 

I just think it’ll have to be a uniquely moving and ear-catching score to get him a sixth Oscar. Last time he won was Schindler and last time he got close was Memoirs, two scores that were unexpected from him. It’ll be hard to get something that surprising out of either a second Williams/Abrams collab or a ninth Star Wars (not to mention the zillionth John Williams adventure score). Meanwhile Joker and 1917 are getting singled out for having a striking effect in probably more acclaimed movies.

 

Plus yeah, Hildur Guonadottir would be the first woman to win since Anne Dudley and the most high-profile, while Thomas Newman is a legendary vet in his own right who has never won. John Williams’ last Star Wars is a big deal and will be acknowledged by the media but I think the new music is going to have to be kind of shocking for that to carry awards weight. He’s gonna have to get like, best of his career type reviews.

[crumbs 14,300]

Quote

Preliminary voting ends tomorrow afternoon, and the song and score shortlists — from which the final five nominees will be chosen in each category — will be announced Dec. 16.

 

LOL, the score won't even be out until the 20th!

[mrbellamy 6,272]

For us!

[Edmilson 7,387]

4 hours ago, mrbellamy said:

Variety got a peek at the list of eligible scores

 

The Irishman and A Hidden Life are disqualified so we can cut those from Maurizio’s list. 

 

 

Oh, for fuck's sake! JNH's best shot at nomination in over a decade, and the score is disqualified! 

 

Tbh, this was expected, since the movie is 3 hours long, and makes extensive use of pre existing music, as usual per Malick, while a recent article by Burlingame confirmed that the original score is indeed 40 minutes long, all recorded in a single day, some cues specific to scenes and some recorded freely so Malick can use it as he likes. 

 

The good side is, considering the score is so short, so there probably isn't that much music unreleased, and I bet the OST contains everything that was recorded (barring a few alternates). Meanwhile, Zimmer and Horner recorded hours and hours of music for The Thin Red Line and The New World, and while there's very long bootlegs of Zimmer's great score around the internet, the complete sessions for Horner's TNW never leaked as far as I know, only a FYC. Which is unfortunate, there's a few cues I would really love to hear.

[Jay 37,285]

Aw dip, that sucks for JNH

 

 

5 hours ago, crumbs said:

 

LOL, the score won't even be out until the 20th!

 

Presumably, Disney sent the FYC and/or the OST album to academy voters already

[TheUlyssesian 2,473]

No Malick score will ever qualify. Because he uses so much classical music.

 

And I think Scorsese in his career has only had Hugo and Taxi Driver nominated for best score. His movies are also plastered with songs.

[Edmilson 7,387]

17 minutes ago, TheUlyssesian said:

No Malick score will ever qualify. Because he uses so much classical music.

 

 

Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line were nominated (and I personally think that Zimmer should've won that year).

 

But yeah, although DoH and TTRL use classical music as well, I guess Malick started to favor the classics instead of the original score from The New World, which annoyed Horner and left just about 5 minutes of Desplat on The Tree of Life.

[mrbellamy 6,272]

54 minutes ago, TheUlyssesian said:

And I think Scorsese in his career has only had Hugo and Taxi Driver nominated for best score. His movies are also plastered with songs.

 

Age of Innocence!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

28 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

 

Age of Innocence!

 

One of E. Bernstein's greatest scores!

[Thor 7,465]

Sorry to hear about A HIDDEN LIFE, but not wholly unexpected. I'm sure it will receive plenty of kudos otherwise (I know that it will from me).

[Fabulin 3,510]

TROS is lyrical, peaceful, emotional, and beautiful in such a way, that it already appeals to normies on reddit, who undoubtedly enjoy Game of Thrones music, etc., and didn't have that high opinion of other ST scores.

 

It outplays Thomas Newman at this own game lol. Sounds quite a lot like the music of the generations around World War One.

In emotional closure it definitely outdoes Endgame. In fact, based on just FYC, it already runs damn circles around it.

 

If it wins, it will do it in a way quite unlike what we expected (bombast, blowing people off their seats), and instead in a "emotional, artsy score" way. Makes for a great Oscars story.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Star Wars artsy? Sure. 

[KK 3,307]

Williams will not win. No chance.

 

This is either Newman's year or Hildur's. I'm rooting for the former. Not necessarily for the quality of the score, but that his Oscar is long overdue.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

And we all know Hildur will win!

[Thor 7,465]

8 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

And we all know Hildur will win!

 

Yes, she will.

 

For the Harpa awards (the Nordic film music prize), there is one woman nominated too, among four other male composers, and there's no doubt she will win. She's both a woman AND Icelandic. That tends to weigh more than any other concerns these days; more than a fair evaluation of the actual work even.

 

But it will be interesting to see what score JOKER will be up against.

[Jost1 105]

Is Michael Abel's "Us" eligible, it has a lot of references to a specific pop song doesn't it?

[crumbs 14,300]

What Williams really needs is two women to be nominated in the same category, so they cancel each other's votes out in the same way Williams' dual nominations cost him in 2005! Then he can skate on through and take the win for TROS! 

 

But yes, we should all save ourselves the angst and just accept JOKER will win this one for political reasons. Maybe Williams will get an honorary mention for completing the saga, like he did 4 years ago for his 50th nomination.

[Arpy 4,145]

I nominate How To Train Your Dragon The Hidden World. I don't think there's one score more deserving and it sure smashes 1917, Endgame and Joker. 

[Edmilson 7,387]

I was going to say Hildur will be the fourth woman to win the Oscar for Best Original Score, but then I found out that Nicola Piovani is a dude  . I guess I always read his name as Nicole Piovani.

 

Anyway, the Joker score, despite being quite short and sharing the space with songs, works really well on the movie, although it's not a score I would want to hear on its own.

[Thor 7,465]

22 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Anyway, the Joker score, despite being quite short and sharing the space with songs, works really well on the movie, although it's not a score I would want to hear on its own.

 

For a Gudnadottir score, it actually works remarkably well on its own. But it's also great in the movie, of course, as one would expect from her. I just don't consider it among even the top 10 scores of 2019, which is why it's a bit annoying to me that she will win it regardless, for political reasons.

[Fargo 297]

2 hours ago, Arpy said:

I nominate How To Train Your Dragon The Hidden World. I don't think there's one score more deserving and it sure smashes 1917, Endgame and Joker. 

 

Probably my favorite of the year. But not gonna happen.

 

Powell had his chance in 2010, and I think that was the last time I really paid attention to or cared about who wins Best Original Score. What does the award even mean if The Social Network wins?

[Thor 7,465]

4 minutes ago, Fargo said:

Powell had his chance in 2010, and I think that was the last time I really paid attention to or cared about who wins Best Original Score. What does the award even mean if The Social Network wins?

 

SOCIAL NETWORK is a far more interesting score than any of the HTTYD scores. So deserved win. To be fair, I enjoy the HTTYD scores, especially the first two (not so thrilled with the third), but it's pretty standard orchestral 'pap'.

[Edmilson 7,387]

I'm not a Resznor/Ross hater (really like their works on Gone Girl and Before the Flood), but in 2010 I was hoping Powell would get the award. I was simply mesmerized when I watched the movie (without hearing the album previously), and was really happy when it got nominated.

 

However, it would never win. In the 90s, a kids animated movie, thanks to Menken and Zimmer, had big chances on winning the Award, but by 2010, not really. HTTYD was simply a silly kiddie flick for much of the Oscar voters, and it didn't had the pedigree of The Social Network.

 

The Hidden World is my favorite score of 2019 as well, but its chances of being nominated are the same as Scarlett Johannsson asking me to go on a date with her in Vegas  

[TheUlyssesian 2,473]

1 hour ago, Edmilson said:

I was going to say Hildur will be the fourth woman to win the Oscar for Best Original Score, but then I found out that Nicola Piovani is a dude  . I guess I always read his name as Nicole Piovani.

 

Anyway, the Joker score, despite being quite short and sharing the space with songs, works really well on the movie, although it's not a score I would want to hear on its own.

 

Actually in a lot of ways Hildur will be the first woman to win Best Original Score outright. Marilyn Bergman for Yentl won for the lyrics of a song score. She did not win for composition. The composer was Michel Legrand and even then it was a song score - the actual Best Original Score Oscar went to Bill Conti for The Right Stuff.

 

Portman and Dudley's wins for Emma and The Full Monty were half wins because the Original Score category was wrong-headedly divided into Comedy and Drama.

 

So no woman has won Best Score outright without any caveats. Hildur would be the first. And it would a remarkable first and major milestone and achievement.

[Evanus 216]

Powell was seriously robbed in 2010. And Solo not even being submitted last year was just awful. The Hidden World is my favorite score this year (until TROS at least) so yeah I think he should win. I'm already disappointed, since it won't happen. The Oscars are mostly a joke anyway, but it's still annoying. 

[Edmilson 7,387]

I don't think HTTYD was robbed, more like it never had much chance to begin with. Probably most people on the Music Branch voted for either The Social Network or Zimmer's Inception that year. As I said, for them HTTYD was yet another silly DreamWorks kiddie flick, no different from Madagascar or Kung Fu Panda or whatever, while TSN and Inception had more prestige (renowned directors, movie stars, etc).

 

In Solo's case, I don't think Disney wanted to put much money on its campaign, because 1- the movie was a humiliating failure and 2- they already had Black Panther and Mary Poppins Returns fighting for some awards. So they didn't even bothered to produce a FYC or something.

[Evanus 216]

Yeah, pretty much. Still the best score of 2010 in my opinion. 

 

Solo's failure saddens me a little, I hope it doesn't reduce the possibility of Powell doing more Star Wars scores.

[Thor 7,465]

SOLO was a fantastic film, on the level of THE FORCE AWAKENS. That it didn't fare well at the box office or even among certain critics just boggles the mind.

[Edmilson 7,387]

True story: the other day, I was talking to a teenage boy that loved the franchise. He said the Star Wars movies were his favorites (specially the OT, which was surprising), and he had watched all the Episodes, as well as Rogue One and the Rebels series on Netflix.

 

Then I asked him if he had watched Solo, and, guess what, he didn't, despite saying he adored the saga.

 

So yeah, if even the "fans" had no interest on the movie... I guess, on the future, Solo will be just a curiosity, like the Ewoks movies.

[Thor 7,465]

No, I think it will eventually be appraised for what it is -- one of the best STAR WARS films of the 'new resurgence'. People just need to wrap their heads around the fact that it's a western movie, basically, and that the tone is slightly different than the earlier ones. Perhaps the success of THE MANDALORIAN, which also has a western concept, will help in that regard.

[Arpy 4,145]

Compared with TFA, Solo is weaker. Nothing can match that spark that was created when TFA hit, Star Wars was back and things were looking good.

 

Solo on the other hand feels like Disney's first attempt to make an extraneous, stretched-out film that didn't need to be made. The film doesn't do anything but expand every little word uttered in the OT by Han and Lando to fill out a feature length story.

 

I liked it, but I could start to see through it. The score on the other hand - brilliant. One of Powell's best.

[TheUlyssesian 2,473]

Solo is trash. Really a film that nobody asked for. Score is great. But why make the film. Talk about pointless.

[Arpy 4,145]

8 hours ago, Edmilson said:

I don't think HTTYD was robbed, more like it never had much chance to begin with. Probably most people on the Music Branch voted for either The Social Network or Zimmer's Inception that year. As I said, for them HTTYD was yet another silly DreamWorks kiddie flick, no different from Madagascar or Kung Fu Panda or whatever, while TSN and Inception had more prestige (renowned directors, movie stars, etc).

 

In Solo's case, I don't think Disney wanted to put much money on its campaign, because 1- the movie was a humiliating failure and 2- they already had Black Panther and Mary Poppins Returns fighting for some awards. So they didn't even bothered to produce a FYC or something.

Yep, edgy, artsy, pretentious drivel always prevails. The last time I was at least pleased with the Oscars was 2018's win with Desplat's The Shape of Water.

 

The Social Network was bland, droning nonsense in comparison to the lively and richly detailed HTTYD. I always wonder if it would've won, it might change the other voters' perspectives on the artistry on display in animated films and that they too have worthy scores. Yet, it's like you said, it's driven also by the popularity of the film, it's stars and directors and so on, so it was just a fickle year for something like HTTYD to have it's day. Both HTTYD and Inception were remarkable scores that year.

[Fabulin 3,510]

As for reviews, I don't know about the critics, but the audience...

[publicist 4,643]

Nice, another potentially interesting thread about new music is now about...Star Wars. Idiots!

[Thor 7,465]

54 minutes ago, publicist said:

Nice, another potentially interesting thread about new music is now about...Star Wars. Idiots!

 

Ha, ha...yes, good point. Sorry to add to that; it's out of character for me. It's just that the avid SOLO defender in me tends to come out when the film is under attack.

[Arpy 4,145]

Solo did have a reason to exist - it gave us the collaboration of John Williams and John Powell!

[Edmilson 7,387]

I don't like Solo, but I don't hate it either. It's a movie that is just... there. It exists. 

 

Somehow it reminds me a little of some of a more competently made version of those movies from the last decade that tried to initiate franchises before falling with critics and public, like Eragon or The Golden Compass, or that Tron sequel...

 

7 hours ago, publicist said:

Nice, another potentially interesting thread about new music is now about...Star Wars. Idiots!

 

According to my calculations, 97% of the threads on this forum have to involve Star Wars in some capacity. The balance of JWFan depends on it!

[Fabulin 3,510]

I've been on a tram today and heard some teenagers discussing going to see Jumanji. Then their talk shifted to star wars, but only one of them had knowledge about the new films, and even he laughed that he saw Solo on the TV in a hotel in the Czech Republic.

 

Considering our morning conversation, it's like poetry.

[Fargo 297]

7 hours ago, Arpy said:

Solo did have a reason to exist - it gave us the collaboration of John Williams and John Powell!

 

More importantly - it explained how Han got his surname. Imagine if the movie failed to tell us that. Or, god forbid, his name was just always Han Solo from the outset.

[publicist 4,643]

22 hours ago, Thor said:

Ha, ha...yes, good point. Sorry to add to that; it's out of character for me. It's just that the avid SOLO defender in me tends to come out when the film is under attack.

 

Spend the time instead with some of the really good late additions of 2020:

 

 

[Thor 7,465]

I actually love MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN, publicist; even did a thread on it over on FSM:

 

https://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=138630&forumID=1&archive=0

 

I've heard some 200-250 scores from 2019, and will be doing my top 10 soon on Celluloid Tunes. There will be no STAR WARS on it (probably; at least if judging by the FYC clips), but rather a mix between familiar and non-familiar material (to most). Like always.

 

[publicist 4,643]

Most of my favourites came late in the year (JNH, Desplat, Shore), barring some dark horses like 'Midsommar'. I also recommend you 'La Mula' by Oscar Navarro, another spanish surprise (the other one i forgot, but there was a very good revolutionary thing this year).