Best Original Score: Ranking Every Oscar Nominee
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Last year’s winner: Joker-Hildur Guðnadóttir.
Yesterday, we looked at the five excellent original songs written for films: something that is a little bit of a bonus feature or element for most motion pictures (that aren’t musicals). Today is the sister category that is a little bit more frequent in cinema: the Best Original Score category. Most features have scores crafted for them, so that music can match (or contrast) what is on screen. As I’m slowly discovering this year, the Academy has done really well with selecting strong picks for most categories, and this one is no exception (ironically, I thought that the awards season shifts and the pandemic-affected rollout of films would have weakened the Academy’s choices, but that is not the case). Let’s get to ranking these scores! Here are your nominees.
Biggest Snub: Tenet
Even though I feel like the Academy did a great job with these picks, there’s still an astonishing omission when Tenet isn’t featured here. If anything, I think Ludwig Göransson’s score was one of the best of 2020 (by far). In the many places that Tenet may have struggled, got overly complicated, or contrived, Göransson’s score swooped in to save the day, being equal parts intense and fascinating. Common Nolan affiliate Hans Zimmer wasn’t here to score one of his films for the first time in a while, but Göransson not only stepped up to the plate, but may have out-Zimmered Zimmer.
5. News of the World-James Newtan Howard
I have to be extremely picky to separate these scores apart, so it’s time to justify why a good score like James Newtan Howard’s for News of the World is last. At its best, Howard’s score is a fantastic tribute to the music of classic Westerns, both old school and spaghetti (those twanging guitars!). However, there’s enough material that’s good but not great that it can’t compete with the other four scores that are even more difficult to pick apart. The score also works mostly conventionally, which isn’t enough in a year like this.
4. Da 5 Bloods-Terrence Blanchard
In a weird way, Terrence Blanchard’s score for Da 5 Bloods feels like it’s meant to be standard, but in its own tribute way, as if to match Spike Lee’s typically-heroic-yet-modernly-enticing picture. When the film is meant to feel like an homage of a classic Hollywood flick, the score matches. When the film is getting more harrowing, the score is reliable once again. I’m still sad that Da 5 Bloods only got one nomination, but at least it is a worthy slice of recognition for this score.
3. Mank-Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
On one hand, there is such a massive appeal here, when electronic musicians Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are camouflaging their styles in the instruments and orchestrations of yesteryear. Their experiment with replicating the music of the Golden Age of Hollywood is quite convincing; only the pristine production values will remind you that this is a modern recording. Even if you disregard this niche side of the score, Mank still has some great music that fits its moods and vibes so efficiently. However, this isn’t the score of the year, and it isn’t even the best Reznor/Ross score of the year (or of this category).
2. Minari-Emile Mosseri
Emile Mosseri’s score for Minari is full of efficiency: a few short tracks that get right to the point and hit exactly the right notes. The film itself is a visceral experience, and this score keeps up in a myriad of ways. Out of the more conventional scores that have been nominated, Minari is the most moving, and it really is a massive portion of the aesthetic experience of the film. I’d call it the clear winner, if there wasn’t already a nominee that has been running away with the award since the start of the season.
1. Soul-Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross & Jon Batiste
What can be said about the score for Soul that hasn’t been covered already? Firstly, it’s such an interesting score for its entirety. Secondly, let’s look into its two natures. Jon Batiste’s on-Earth accompaniment details the music that can spark joy in one’s life, especially as a driving passion (a major theme of the film), particularly through the usage of jazz-piano wizardry. In the world beyond Earth, we have Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross bringing us friendly-yet-foreign beeps, boops, and sonic landscapes; it’s the perfect middle ground of the usually bleaker duo and the wholesomeness of a Pixar film. Both experiments work, and every song is its own musical wonderland (either one that we know, or of a distant, abstract place).
Who I want to win: I’m riding this Soul train (no pun intended) the whole way. There’s just something about Reznor and Ross winning again, for a Disney film no less, that I find so intriguing.
Who I think will win: Right now, no one is beating Soul. In some years, the idea of an animated film winning this category was still a bit of a stretch, given the unfairness of how animation is represented in the awards season (outside of the animation specific categories). The fact that Soul has been crushing this category often enough already means that I doubt that it will lose.
Tune in tomorrow for our next Academy Award category! We’re reviewing every single nominee.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.