Comments on: 2009 Academy Award Nominees

By: CD Review: Sherlock Holmes | Film Score Click Track

CD Review: Sherlock Holmes | Film Score Click Track — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:01:16 +0000

[...] came out almost two months ago? Quite simply I needed to complete my reviews of this year’s Oscar nominees. I’m sure the film’s strong box office performance and Zimmer’s celebrity status [...]

By: Jim Lochner

Jim Lochner — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:25:59 +0000

I thought SLUMDOG was a well-directed, well-edited film (2 Oscars it definitely deserved) but not much more than that. I didn’t think it was bad, but I also didn’t find it particularly fresh. I did think that with FROST/NIXON, Ron Howard took a mediocre stage play and greatly improved upon it. But nobody cared about the subject matter. Ah well.

By: Bizarro Pedro

Bizarro Pedro — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:52:54 +0000

“I think the reason it won is because voters tend to feel they have to award something to the five Best Picture nominees.”– very very true. always about the politics- but yet last year Frost/Nixon went home completely empy handed- that damn slumdog millionair train just ran everything over.

By: Jim Lochner

Jim Lochner — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:13:10 +0000

I must say, and this isn’t to shoot you down, that I feel much differently about the HURT LOCKER score nomination than I did about MICHAEL CLAYTON. The HL score is effective in the film and interesting to listen to in a cerebral way (though it will be just noise to most non-film score people, I think). And even though I totally think it swept in on the wave of popularity for the film, I think it’s an oddly brave choice for the Music Branch, though I doubt that’s how they thought during the process.

The MICHAEL CLAYTON nomination was I’m sure the same case of riding the coat tails of the again inexplicable support behind that film. But that score was simply boring and ineffective. At least I get what Beltrami and Sanders were trying to do with HL. I’m not sure what James Newton Howard was doing with MC.

As for BABEL (yes, I’ll go there! LOL), I think Santaolalla’s score isn’t bad. I doubt it won for his music though. Since the film had so many pre-existing songs and the highly effective piano tune by Ryuichi Sakamoto at the end, I doubt most Oscar voters listened to the “For Your Consideration” promo CD. But I think Santaolalla’s guitar-driven, Middle Eastern-flavored score works well to set the mood in the film. A winner? Probably not. My choice would have been Thomas Newman for THE GOOD GERMAN or Javier Navarrete’s PAN’S LABYRINTH. I think the reason it won is because voters tend to feel they have to award something to the five Best Picture nominees. I wonder if they’ll continue that practice with 10 nominees? Oy!

It’s rare for my preference to prevail as well, but I’m hoping that year, for both our sakes, the Oscar gods cut us some slack. :)

By: Michael Arlidge

Michael Arlidge — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:30:03 +0000

I haven’t seen “The Hurt Locker” (the Australian distributor, in all their wisdom, has decided to make us wait until 25th February to see it), but from what you and others have said, Jim, it’s obvious that the score only got nominated because of the film. Much like what happened with “Michael Clayton” last year (and maybe even “Babel” the year before that, but I’m absolutely NOT going there! :D ).

In any event, I really can’t complain about any of the nominees. Sure, there are alternatives I would have nominated (especially the Hamlisch and Korzeniowski scores you’ve mentioned), but overall I’m happy. I still think that “Up” will win, but it’s rare for my preference to prevail, so it probably won’t. :-P

By: Jim Lochner

Jim Lochner — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:47:09 +0000

Because of the new preferential voting that they’re instituting for Best Picture this year, it could conceivably go to a different film other than those two. I can’t imagine that a lot of people are going to give HURT LOCKER or even AVATAR the top slot on their ballots. But maybe I’m wrong. I still that it’s probably between one of those two films, neither of which I’m crazy about winning.

Hamlisch’s snub is just wrong. Young’s day will come if he just gets some higher profile films. DRAG ME TO HELL didn’t stand a chance, no matter how good the score is.

Ah well, so long as Giacchino wins, I’ll be happy. :)

By: Bizarro Pedro

Bizarro Pedro — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:44:23 +0000

yes but we have certainly seen much better. As usual, I agree with all you have said. I think nominating The Hurt Locker for this category was just to balance the amount of nominiations against Avatar which the academy has no forcefully made into a “race”… if you ask me, both of them shouldve not been in this category… I was surprised that Marvin Hamlisch got snubbed and it wouldve been awesome to see Christopher Young in there for Drag me to Hell, but I guess we knew that was a long shot…