Welcome to this year’s edition of Last Cinema Standing’s Countdown to the Oscars, where we will break down each of the 23 categories, analyze the films, and make some guesses at their awards prospects.
Best Original Score
The nominees are:
American Fiction
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
American Fiction
Laura Karpman’s jaunty jazz numbers are the perfect accompaniment to Cord Jefferson’s satire of the literary world. Karpman expertly plays the emotions of the film without ever telling the audience what emotions to feel. It is an elegant piece of work. I had the chance to see Karpman and Jefferson talk about their collaboration after a screening at Vidiots in December, and it sounded like a match made in cinema heaven. Hopefully, these two keep working together because Karpman displays just the right touch to play the full range of feelings Jefferson is trying to evoke.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
I might be getting a little rude about the Diane Warren thing over in the Best Original Song category. If that’s the case, I’m sorry. I just think she might be garnering undue acclaim for arguably mediocre work based on a long history of quality and success. So, how about that John Williams, eh? The second-most nominated person in Academy history, this is Williams’ 54th nomination (48th in this category). He is inching ever closer to Walt Disney’s record of 59, though at 92 years old, that might be asking a lot.
Among those 54 nominations, six have come for Star Wars films, four for Indiana Jones movies, including this one, and two for Harry Potter. I am not claiming to have the world’s greatest ear for music, but I do defy you to listen to the scores for The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker and tell me with 100 percent confidence which one is which. Anyway, I didn’t think Dial of Destiny was all that bad, and the music is Indiana Jones music. It’s a ripping good time. What else do you want?
Killers of the Flower Moon
It would be an overstatement to claim this was the dearly departed Robbie Robertson’s crowning achievement. I mean, he was the leader of The Band. He’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. He performed with everybody. And, yeah, he has been a key collaborator of Martin Scorsese’s over the years. So, I’m not saying the score for Killers of the Flower Moon is the best thing Robertson ever did, but damn if it isn’t absolutely note perfect from beginning to end.
Robertson was indigenous on his mother’s side and split his childhood between Toronto and the Six Nations reservation outside the city. In a way, that made him the perfect person to write the score for a film about a native world beset by white interlopers. Much like Robertson, himself, the music has a foot in both worlds and belongs wholly to neither. It is something else, something grander, something special.
I would urge you to read Chris Willman’s full piece in Variety, covering the last interview Robertson gave before his death in early August last year. It’s an excellent article. But, I want to pull out one quote Robertson gave that has stuck with me: “On something like this, where its soul is from Indian country, for me, it comes down to: You couldn’t have written this. You couldn’t have made something like this up. This is so magical.” Magical, indeed.
Oppenheimer
When I think of composer Ludwig Göransson, I think of him as Ryan Coogler’s guy – the same way you might think of Williams as Steven Spielberg’s guy. Göransson met Coogler at USC and the two have collaborated on every feature Coogler has made. He won an Oscar for his Black Panther score and was nominated alongside Coogler for Best Original Song last year for “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. I imagine they will continue to do great work together.
But, for now, it appears Göransson has picked up the baton from Hans Zimmer to become Christopher Nolan’s guy, as well. He joined the Nolan team on Tenet and continues the collaboration here with a propulsive, dread-filled score that perfectly matches the tone and energy of this richly layered biopic. Göransson particularly shines during the lengthy Trinity test sequence, when all of the film’s threads come together at one of the most significant moments in human history.
Poor Things
It was necessary that Yorgos Lanthimos’ weirdo sci-fi fantasy – which I say with love and admiration – have an equally gonzo score. The director found the right man for the job in British musician Jerskin Fendrix. Fendrix deftly blends classical score structures and instrumentation with more experimental synth pop to arrive at something akin to Casablanca by way of Björk. It is both wholly original and wholly appropriate, filled with the same sense of wonder and discovery that the film’s lead character experiences throughout the story.
The final analysis
So, we’ve reached the point in this series where we’re going to be doing a lot of talk about Oppenheimer. There are 10 categories where it is not nominated, and we’ve already covered seven of them. Of the 13 categories where it is nominated, it is the clubhouse leader in at least seven or eight, including this one. What I’m saying is get ready to hear a lot about it. Promise we’ll try to keep it interesting.
In another year, Robertson’s Killers of the Flower Moon score would have a real shot here. It is a perfect, beautiful score to a much loved film, and a posthumous Oscar would be a fitting tribute to one of the musical legends of our times. But, it’s an Oppenheimer kind of year and I fully expect Göransson to win his second award.
Will win: Oppenheimer
Should win: Killers of the Flower Moon
Should have been here: May December
A note about my favorite snub: The Music Branch would never deign to nominate something as interesting and experimental as Marcelo Zarvos’ work on Todd Haynes’ May December. Zavros composed a number of original pieces for the film but also spends a significant portion of the soundtrack interpolating Michel Legrand’s original compositions for the 1971 film The Go-Between. It is daring, inventive work that plays an integral role in establishing the tone of Haynes’ film.
The Music Branch is always wary of nominating work that combines previously existing material with new compositions – these are the same people who refused to nominate Zimmer’s iconic Inception score because of its use of “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” – so recognition was always unlikely. But, these are the kinds of nominations the Academy should open itself up to if it wants to remain fresh and relevant in the coming years.
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