Film compositions differ from other musical genres in that they are responsible not only for evoking mood and feeling in listeners but for doing so in the extra dimension of the moving image. If cinema can be considered a marriage between sight and sound, then music is all the more crucial to its success; history provides powerful examples. Take away “Lara’s Theme” and watch “Doctor Zhivago” stripped of its sentimental beauty; omit Ennio Morricone’s score and watch “Once Upon a Time in the West” stripped of its operatic magnificence. This year’s Academy Award nominees elevated the human spirit in fascinating ways. Just as James Newton Howard’s orchestral tribute to humanity in the face of war matched its stirring subject matter in “Defiance”, so Danny Elfman’s elegiac ode to the indefatigable human spirit did wonders for “Milk”. The haunting allure of Alexandre Desplat’s contribution to “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” contrasted splendidly with A. R. Rahman’s breathless and buoyant soundtrack for “Slumdog Millionaire”. But none of these created as indelible of an impression on me than the score for “WALL·E”, composed by the brilliant Thomas Newman. More than any other score this year, “WALL·E” blurred the distinction between music and moving pictures in such a way that it proved even space-age animation can withhold as much power as films did before the advent of dialogue. If there’s anything that could mute my enthusiasm for this year’s nominees, it’s a single glaring omission. I admit that I’m still flabbergasted by “The Dark Knight” being skipped over; of all the major film scores of 2008, Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s symphony of escalation was by far the most interesting. It’s essentially a brilliant variation of their work on “Batman Begins”, replete with a deep, thunderous bass and rumbling strings mimicking unearthly sounds of anxiety and chaos. By snubbing the most boldly avant-garde score ever written for a blockbuster film, the Academy has unfortunately played things safe this year. Was it ever a crime for a superhero movie to have crossover appeal? In the case of “The Dark Knight”, apparently so. David’s Pick: “WALL·E” Oscar Prediction: “Slumdog Millionaire” Best Film(s) Not Nominated: “The Dark Knight”, “Speed Racer”, ”Frost/Nixon” http://blog.dailycal.org/arts/2009/02/post-559/
