Best Score The score of a movie can instantly convey the feeling a director is going for in any given moment, and can continue to movie us for the rest of our lives. Over the past thirty years, some factors have shown a series of regular, if not prescient, voting patterns. (For the years this category was split into Best Dramatic Score and Best Musical or Comedy Score, between 1995 and 1998, we will be focusing on the Dramatic Scores.) The Breakdowns 1) Winners in this category have also been nominated for the Golden Globe 25 of the last 30 ceremonies (83.33%). Advantage: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Defiance, Slumdog Millionaire 2) Scores for films that were not predominantly set in the modern day have won 24 of 30 (80%). Advantage: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Defiance, Milk, WALL·E 3) Best Score has gone to a film also nominated for Best Picture 21 of 30 (70%). Advantages: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire 4) Being nominated for a Golden Globe might be a good harbinger, as seen in Example 1, but actually winning the Golden Globe for Best Score can apparently hurt your chances of wining an Oscar, as only 14 of the last 30 GG winners have gone on to win the Oscar (46.67%). Disadvantage: Slumdog Millionaire 5) First time nominees in this category have won 13 of 30 (43.33%). Disadvantage: Slumdog Millionaire By The Numbers While the numbers show a slight edge for Desplat's epic score, the Academy will often go for something different and unique when given the chance (see Chariots of Fire, 'Round Midnight, The Last Emperor, The Milagro Beanfield War, Il Postino, Life is Beautiful, The Red Violin, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Frida or Atonement), so look for a Slumdog win here. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Alexandre Desplat): +1, +2, +3, -4, -5 (103 of 150, 68.67%) Defiance (James Newton Howard): +1, +2, -3, -4, -5 (91 of 150, 60.67%) Milk (Danny Elfman): -1, -2, +3, -4, -5 (65 of 150, 43.33%) Slumdog Millionaire (A.R. Rahman): +1, +2, +3, +4, +5 (97 of 150, 64.67%) WALL·E (Thomas Newman): -1, +2, -3, -4, -5 (71 of 150, 47.33%) Personal prediction for Best Score: Slumdog Millionaire Personal choice amongst these nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
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