Countdown to the Oscars: What You Can Hear

Welcome to the Last Cinema Standing Countdown to the Oscars for the 2019 movie season! Throughout this series, we will break down all 24 categories with predictions and hopes for the big night. The series continues with the crafts you can hear.

Best Original Score

Nominees

Joker, Hildur Guðnadóttir

Little Women, Alexandre Desplat

Marriage Story, Randy Newman

1917, Thomas Newman

Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, John Williams

It does seem like Williams gets nominated just for getting out of bed in the morning and going to the studio these days. Williams will be 88 years old within the week after this year’s Oscars ceremony, and he is on his 47th nomination, which – need I say – is a record. Remarkably, he has won just five times from all those nominations and not since Schindler’s List in 1993. This is his 20th Original Score nomination (he also has an Original Song nomination in there) since that win, which is a lot of tuxes to rent (he probably owns by now, right?) without winning an award. He will not win this year for his familiar Star Wars work, but I think it is good to remember exactly who we are talking about when we talk about John Williams.

Randy Newman, of course, is another Academy favorite, though he is more known for his songs than his scores. He has been nominated nine times for Original Score, but this is his first recognition in the category since 2001. He has never won for a score. Randy’s cousin, Thomas Newman, has also never won for score, despite a record-tying 14 nominations (just to be clear, that is the record for nominations without a win). I found the Marriage Story score to be so contrapuntal as to be distracting, though I know a lot of people love it. The 1917 score on the other hand is a beautiful example of the form, building tension and perfectly complementing the onscreen action.

Desplat’s work on Little Women is a wonderfully propulsive burst of energy that fits like a glove on Greta Gerwig’s modernist take on the material. Finally, there is Guðnadóttir’s creepy, ominous work on Joker, which fills the film with its deep sense of dread. Some have complained that the tones and strings are overbearing, telling the viewer how to feel rather than evoking a feeling. I disagree. That overbearing is the feeling being evoked, a crumbling city falling down all around and finally on top of you. I found it deeply moving, and the season seems to be pointing this way. If Guðnadóttir wins – and she is the current favorite – it will be richly deserved.

Will win: Joker

Should win: 1917

Should have been here: Midsommar

Best Original Song

Nominees

“I’m Standing With You” from Breakthrough, Dianne Warren

“Into the Unknown” from Frozen II, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

“Stand Up” from Harriet, Cynthia Erivo and Joshua Brian Campbell

“I’m Gonna Love Me Again” from Rocketman, Elton John and Bernie Taupin

“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” from Toy Story 4, Randy Newman

I have been very clear in the past how I feel about this award. I hate it. Clear enough? Not because I think the best film songs of the year do not deserve to be rewarded but because that is not what tends to happen in this category. Every year, voters – and the nominating music branch – fail to ask: Does this song complement and enhance the themes of the film? Is it integral to the plot? Does it evoke the mood of the story and improve our understanding of the characters? Instead, they ask: Is this person famous? Was this song a hit? Do I like this movie?

That is how you end up with a list of nominees that looks like this. If you are looking for the winner, it probably comes down to “Stand Up,” “I’m Gonna Love Me Again,” or “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away.” The Frozen II nomination feels like a token Disney nod for the third-best song in a middling to bad movie. “I’m Standing With You” can be explained by the music branch’s love of Warren, who is an 11-time Best Original Song nominee and has never won the award. She will be bridesmaid once again this year.

For Newman, this is his 13th songwriting nomination, and he won his last time out, but that was for Toy Story 3 10 years ago. He has won this award twice, though, and it seems unlikely the Academy will award him again. So, it comes down to “Stand Up” or “I’m Gonna Love Me Again.” Rocketman was a huge hit, and people love Elton John, who previously won this award and was thrice nominated for The Lion King in 1994. But, because Erivo is highly unlikely to win Best Actress, this is another place they can award a performer and movie they clearly liked. In the end, I think John and Taupin take it just based on star power, but watch out for “Stand Up.”

Briefly, I should say my biggest Oscars snub of the year came in this category (boy, it feels like that is always the case). I will never understand how the music branch could have slept on the tremendous “Glasgow” from the underseen but spectacular Wild Rose. Jessie Buckley plays a woman who dreams of being a country singer, and the film culminates in Buckley’s powerful performance of this song. This is the kind of song this award is meant for and should be rewarding, but it almost never does, so I suppose I should not be surprised. If nothing else, please seek out Wild Rose, which is also a better film than any of these nominees.

Will win: “I’m Gonna Love Me Again” from Rocketman

Should win: “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” from Toy Story 4

Should have been here: “Glasgow” from Wild Rose

Best Sound Editing

Nominees

Ford V. Ferrari, Donald Sylvester

Joker, Alan Robert Murray

1917, Oliver Tarney and Rachel Tate

Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, Wylie Stateman

Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, Matthew Wood and David Acord

Okay, we have talked about the difference between sound editing and sound editing a few times before on this site, so I will not totally rehash it here. If you want a detailed look at it, you can head over here or here. For the layman, think of it this way: Sound editing equals sound effects, and sound mixing equals levels of all sound (score, sound effects, dialogue, etc.). That difference being stated, the Academy sound branch does not differentiate much in its nominees, as you can see above and below.

The mix of nominees in Sound Editing this year is interesting, featuring a couple classic actioners (1917 and Ford V. Ferrari), two more subdued works (Joker and Once Upon a Time), and a science-fiction yarn (Star Wars). It is always kind of remarkable to me the Star Wars films have not done better in this category, considering their green-screen worlds rely heavily on sound effects to bring everything to life. Is there any more iconic movie sound than the light saber swoosh? But, as ever, the nomination is the respect of the craftspeople in the branch who recognize the work.

The larger Academy tends to be swayed by both prestige and more tangible, visceral work, in this case films like the war epic 1917 and the race car flick Ford V. Ferrari. Either would be an admirable winner, though I will make the case below for Ford V. Ferrari in the other sound category. Most likely, the Academy’s love for 1917 as a whole and the recognition of the film as a clear technical achievement will carry it to victory here. Never mind that it is also probably the most deserving of the nominees.

Will win: 1917

Should win: 1917

Should have been here: The Nightingale

Best Sound Mixing

Nominees

Ad Astra, Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, and Mark Ulano

Ford V. Ferrari, Paul Massey, David Giammarco, and Steve Morrow

Joker, Tom Ozanich, Dean A. Zupancic, and Tod A. Maitland

1917, Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson

Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, Michael Minkler, Christian P. Minkler, Mark Ulano

Swap out Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker for Ad Astra – one space adventure for another – and you have pretty much the same lineup for Sound Mixing as Sound Editing. Once again, the Academy members are likely to be swayed by the overall technical achievement of 1917 and tick off the boxes all the way down the ballot. Make no mistake, the balancing of Thomas Newman’s score with all those effects is an admirable feat, but it is perhaps not most impressive among this group.

For that, I want to single out two films: Quentin Tarantino’s breezy comedy caper Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood and James Mangold’s superior sports film Ford V. Ferrari. Tarantino has talked extensively about using the diegetic sound in the movie to create the atmosphere necessary for his story. In particular, the songs playing out of car radios and off record players in the homes are omnipresent, and they are omnipresent in the way music is in our lives and in the lives of these characters. It is loud without being obtrusive, underpinning the dialogue in a way that feels authentic and true to life.

Meanwhile, Ford V. Ferrari is a film about the intricacies of building an automobile. It is about characters attuned to every subtle change in the look, feel, and yes, sound of the car. Featuring a rousing score – sadly overlooked by the music branch – and all those engine noises and screeching tires, Massey, Giammarco, and Morrow help make the world of Ford V. Ferrari visceral without it being overwhelming. It is not a sensory overload so much as it is a perfect balancing act of sensation. All that being said, do not predict two separate films in the sound categories (unless there is a serious musical in play, which is a discussion for another year). Go with 1917.

Will win: 1917

Should win: Ford V. Ferrari

Should have been here: The Nightingale