As so often happens, this year's nominations for the Academy Awards are full of "what were they thinking" moments. For me, the biggest oversight is in the nominations for best original score, where Carter Burwell's music for In Bruges didn't get a nod, despite being so integral to the mood of the film that it, and the medieval center of the city of Bruges, become a kind of composite character in the film.
Anyway, I don't get to see a lot of films, and I wonder how that changes the way I hear the scores, or the songs nominated for the Best Song category. Are the voters choosing purely on musical merits, or on how well the music serves the film? The two are often (though not necessarily) mutually exclusive. At least with the songs, you can watch the clips that they accompany - maybe that's why Springsteen's "The Wrestler" didn't get a nomination: it just plays while the final credits roll, so it doesn't add anything to the film. It has to stand or fall on its own, and apparently the academy voters decided it was no "Streets of Philadelphia," a much stronger song that also added to the mood of the film Philadelphia.
On purely musical merits, I think A.R. Rahman's score to Slumdog Millionaire is not his best work. This is a man whose scores have driven Indian film and India's pop charts since the 70s, and he is one of the true geniuses of the film world - but most Americans are just learning about him, and won't have his earlier soundtracks to compare this one to. In the great Bollywood tradition, Rahman's score occupies a place in the film that is much more up-front than the usual Hollywood score, which rarely calls attention to itself. So is it the most likely winner? No. Rahman's scores are built around their songs, so he should win for Best Song with "Jai Ho" (he has two of the three nominations in that category). This will allow the Academy to give the Best Score award to someone whose score was closer to what Hollywood expects. I'm guessing Thomas Newman or perhaps Danny Elfman pulls off the upset win.
Tell us: who do you think will walk off with the Score and Song awards?
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Vote in our Academy Award Poll - what's your favorite nominated score?
John Schaefer has hosted Soundcheck since the show’s inception in 2002. He has also hosted and produced WNYC’s radio series New Sounds since 1982 (“The No. 1 radio show for the Global Village” – Billboard) and the New Sounds Live concert series since 1986.
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