2012 Oscar Predictions: First Look at Best Original Score

The Best Original Score is, quite frankly, a category that frustrates me. That frustration largely comes out of the knowledge some of the film scores I believe to be the best from this year will most likely not even hit the Academy’s radar. Scores such as The Chemical Brothers‘ work on Hanna, the work Steven Price and the Basement Jaxx put in for Attack the Block and I doubt Cliff Martinez‘s work for Contagion or Drive will get much love either.

Instead it’s looking like a year where John Williams could end up with two nominations joined by usual suspects Alexandre Desplat and Dario Marianelli. And don’t get me wrong, Desplat and Marinelli’s scores are great — Marianelli’s especially — I would just like to think last year’s outside the box nomination and win for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Social Network wasn’t just a one time thing. Especially considering last year’s snub for Daft Punk‘s score for TRON: Legacy, which was far more memorable and/or important to its film than say A.R. Rahman‘s for 127 Hours or Desplat’s for The King’s Speech.

Unfortunately, complaints like this don’t help you make solid predictions. We must push feelings and opinions aside and look at these things without bias. So let’s see where we stand…

In first is the obvious choice and the score that may as well be handed the Oscar right now. Ludovic Bource has never been nominated for an Oscar, but his work on The Artist is virtually assured the Oscar, but is it for the right reasons?

The curious thing about The Artist is people are treating it as if it’s something alien, but as I asked director Michel Hazanavicius, “Is the movie really that good or is it more of a reminder to people that movies can be made differently and still be that good?”

One RopeofSilicon commenter on recently said The Artist “literally would not have worked without [Bource’s score].” If I’m understanding this comment correctly, this is to insist that since the film is a silent film it needed the score to work, but that’s how it is for all silent films. They use music in place of dialogue. If there were four other silent films this year would all five be nominated simply because all five needed the score? By this logic the performances shouldn’t be as highly considered in the acting categories since the score played such a large role.

Bource’s score for The Artist is good, no doubt, but is it the best of the year? Oscar will most likely think so, but there are a few veterans that will be vying for attention.

John Williams has won five Oscars out of his 45 nominations and with two scores this year it stands a very good chance he’ll be receiving nomination number 46. Between War Horse and The Adventures of Tintin, my money is on War Horse being the one that takes home the nomination, though I’m still not counting out both getting in.

In third is one of the scores I actually do really like, Dario Marianelli‘s work on Jane Eyre. Marianelli is no stranger to Oscar, winning once before for Atonement and also being nominated for Pride and Prejudice. His Jane Eyre score is rather similar to those two in terms of appeal, but like much of Jane Eyre‘s presentation, there is a haunting, beautiful quality to Marianelli’s work here that really stands out. You can listen for yourself right here.

My fourth place pick isn’t a prediction out of much love for the score, but Howard Shore‘s work on Hugo seems like it is just prime for a nomination as the film is garnering attention in all corners at the moment and is the second film among my top five that harkens back to the days of classic cinema. You can give Shore’s score for Hugo a listen right here.

And finally, rounding out my top five is Alexandre Desplat, but sorry Harry Potter fans I have a feeling Desplat’s nominated score won’t be for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, but instead for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. My thought process here is the same as it was for deciding between which John Williams score will be in the top five, the more adult themed feature is the one I went for. Combine that with the fact a score from a Harry Potter film has not been nominated for an Oscar since John Williams was nominated, first for his Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone score in 2001 and then for his score for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Desplat was up for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 last year and he missed out then as well and I don’t see things changing this year.

That does it for my top five for now while other major contenders such as Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross‘ score for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Mychael Danna‘s score for Moneyball and Alberto Iglesias‘ work on Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy are right on the other side of that bubble line followed by 11 other contenders.

I have included my top five in order directly below and you can browse my ranking of 19 contenders in the Best Original Score category right here along with links to purchase them through Amazon.com where available. I have been listening to the Contagion, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Jane Eyre and Moneyball score a lot recently and would also suggest Drive, The Skin I Live In, Hanna and Attack the Block if such things interest you.