Five accomplished musicians are looking for their first Oscar in a competitive field for Best Original Score. Noted concert oboeist Adam Spunberg examines these unique sheets of music and offers clarity on this exciting, yet difficult-to-predict category. By Adam Spunberg
It's hardly a coincidence that the Oscar nominations for Best Original Score tend to come from acclaimed films also nominated in other major categories. There are three inferences we can make from this: 1. Good soundtracks make for good movies 2. The best filmmakers hire the best composers or more likely 3. There are superior scores out there, scorching in obscurity, collecting the glitzy sawdust of better-known pictures. While this unfortunate occurrence detracts from the legitimacy of the award, the Academy is still pretty accurate in nailing some schmaltzy choices. As such, let's examine the five candidates for this year's golden statue: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) - Alexandre Desplat This is the second nomination for Monsieur Desplat (The Queen, 2006), which makes him a toddler among centenarians. Fortunately, the Academy does not discriminate by age, and the good-natured Frenchman has a wonderful shot at turning back time. Desplat's eerie concoction is particularly effective in capturing the befuddlement of Benjamin Button's backwards condition. The music assumes an almost Dali-esque persona, presenting a theme as distorted in its cadences as it is rigid in its clockwork. Gustav Holst's "Saturn" from The Planets comes to mind, with a little unconventionality thrown in. "Defiance" (Paramount Vantage) - James Newton Howard This marks Howard's sixth nomination for Best Original Score and eighth overall. His other five nominations were for The Prince of Tides (1991), The Fugitive (1993), My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), The Village (2004), and Michael Clayton (2007). Howard definitely deserved this nomination, but like his other five attempts he will almost certainly come up short. The music is strong in its exposition, but it lacks that key ingredient, that magical element necessary to win. The texture bears some similarity to John Williams' Schindler's List theme, and for that it ought to be praised, but it also needs to be a bit more memorable. A worthy nomination effort nothing more. "Milk" (Focus Features) - Danny Elfman Elfman is well known in the industry but has not received that many nominations. Like Desplat and Howard, he is still waiting for the ultimate call. Men In Black, Good Will Hunting, and Big Fish were all poignant efforts, and Elfman has slight reason to believe this could be his turn. There is something extraordinarily exciting about the Milk soundtrack. Elfman really gets your heart going, introducing an adrenaline- thumping rhythmic dictation in the strings. Then enter choir, which metamorphoses the daintiness into something far more sublime. Quite simply, I like it a lot, and I think the Academy will too just not enough. "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) - A.R. Rahman Every once in a while, something unorthodox slips its way into the Oscar equation. Rahman's invigorating, pulse-pounding, cross-cultural, tour de force score is a dangerous contender, perhaps even the prohibitive favorite. The fate of Rahman (pictured) may very well be tied to the fate of Slumdog Millionaire, and based on preliminary findings, that's probably good news. There is something sorrowfully human within this score, and yet a hope whispers uncompromisingly from within. The use of unusual instruments and nontraditional tonalities should only help his candidacy. Either way, Rahman is on the fast track to becoming a millionaire in his own right. "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) - Thomas Newman Thomas Newman is probably the most famous among this group, garnering eight prior nominations. The rub? He also has never won. Newman's excursions to the Oscars are starting to resemble prostate-diseased trips to the can. When, oh when, will Mr. Newman win? WALL-E is not Newman's best work, although it comes pretty close. In 2002, he was inexplicably stood up, robbed, and left bleeding in a Compton corner when Road to Perdition was disregarded. I want to say his comeuppance has come, but I just don't think WALL-E will trump Slumdog Millionaire or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. http://www.awardspicks.com/blog/2009/02/composing-for-gold-a-look-at- best-score/
