OVP: Best Original Score (2016)
The Nominees Were...
Mica Levi, Jackie
Justin Hurwitz, La La Land
Dustin O'Halloran & Hauschka, Lion
Nicholas Britell, Moonlight
Thomas Newman, Passengers
My Thoughts: We continue on with our rundown of 2016 with a move toward the Best Score nominations. Deciding in recent contests what the "best" score has been has become increasingly hard in conjunction with the OVP. That's because as we move further back into history, it's easier to see scores that have become iconic or ubiquitous in a way that we might not have expected. Trying to find a balance between a score that is genuinely great within the confines of its film, or a score that has been transposed into dozens of commercials becomes a bit of a challenge.
Take, for example, Jackie. This is one of the best scores for me in all of 2016, but it's one that hasn't really translated into pop culture in the way that some of the other pictures do. The score juxtaposes what we traditionally expect from a biopic-it's not really "moving" or "uplifting" in the way that other such scores might be, but instead dreamlike and daunting. This plays into Larrain's vision for the picture-he wants our cinematic Jackie to be a real woman, not the plastic princess she was expected to be in real life, a woman whose fashion sense was even discussed while she was burying her husband. Levi finds ways to play with that motif while still creating something distinctive (and not over-powering).
The same cannot be said for a movie like Passengers, where Thomas Newman finds himself blasting through the picture. That movie has been raked across the coals by critics, but I was quick to defend it for Production Design (it even won here). However, I can't get over the routine aspects of Newman's score, setting up a generic action movie, and one that overcompensates. You see how the film almost tries to use Newman's score to fill in plot holes or add itself as its own character. This doesn't work, of course, because even the best of scores cannot fix a movie, and Passengers is too generic to even substitute as a crutch.
The same, I'm sorry to say since it's the composing team's first outing with Oscar, is true of Lion. The score is just a blend of strings, and never finds much to stand apart of add to the film. Kudos have to go to O'Halleran/Hauschka for not leaning too heavily into AR Rahman's Slumdog Millionaire work, which has become shorthand for pretty much every other movie since for "We're in India!" but that's about all I can say for it. It feels listless, and like it doesn't really understand the movie that's surrounding it. It works relatively well outside of the film, but I just re-listened to multiple tracks, and I never got transported back to Lion, which is the sign of a score that misses the mark.
This is certainly the case for Moonlight. The score in this is sparing-it's not always present in the movie, and that works. Jenkins' film isn't heavily reliant on a score to fill in its plots or instruct the viewer how to watch the movie, but that doesn't mean it's not doing so. Think of the way that the daunting chopped violins hang in the air even when they're not playing, or the similarities between the three themes for the main characters (as well as the differences). Britell has established himself as a voice to be reckoned with between this and If Beale Street Could Talk, and it's because his music creates atmosphere, it heightens already distinctive tales.
I always find it hard to judge the scores of musicals. Justin Hurwitz is certainly crafting something that lends to its film. You listen to the score samples on the soundtrack, and not only do you hear callbacks to the best songs in the movie, but you also see where the movie is taking you. His score has that "too fast desperation" that is always there on this ticking clock romance, as if instructing you to enjoy the whimsy & amour because it will soon be replaced with strife. However, it doesn't entirely separate itself from the songs themselves-you still find that the score is just part of why you're loving it, but it's mostly the bigger musical numbers.
Take, for example, Jackie. This is one of the best scores for me in all of 2016, but it's one that hasn't really translated into pop culture in the way that some of the other pictures do. The score juxtaposes what we traditionally expect from a biopic-it's not really "moving" or "uplifting" in the way that other such scores might be, but instead dreamlike and daunting. This plays into Larrain's vision for the picture-he wants our cinematic Jackie to be a real woman, not the plastic princess she was expected to be in real life, a woman whose fashion sense was even discussed while she was burying her husband. Levi finds ways to play with that motif while still creating something distinctive (and not over-powering).
The same cannot be said for a movie like Passengers, where Thomas Newman finds himself blasting through the picture. That movie has been raked across the coals by critics, but I was quick to defend it for Production Design (it even won here). However, I can't get over the routine aspects of Newman's score, setting up a generic action movie, and one that overcompensates. You see how the film almost tries to use Newman's score to fill in plot holes or add itself as its own character. This doesn't work, of course, because even the best of scores cannot fix a movie, and Passengers is too generic to even substitute as a crutch.
The same, I'm sorry to say since it's the composing team's first outing with Oscar, is true of Lion. The score is just a blend of strings, and never finds much to stand apart of add to the film. Kudos have to go to O'Halleran/Hauschka for not leaning too heavily into AR Rahman's Slumdog Millionaire work, which has become shorthand for pretty much every other movie since for "We're in India!" but that's about all I can say for it. It feels listless, and like it doesn't really understand the movie that's surrounding it. It works relatively well outside of the film, but I just re-listened to multiple tracks, and I never got transported back to Lion, which is the sign of a score that misses the mark.
This is certainly the case for Moonlight. The score in this is sparing-it's not always present in the movie, and that works. Jenkins' film isn't heavily reliant on a score to fill in its plots or instruct the viewer how to watch the movie, but that doesn't mean it's not doing so. Think of the way that the daunting chopped violins hang in the air even when they're not playing, or the similarities between the three themes for the main characters (as well as the differences). Britell has established himself as a voice to be reckoned with between this and If Beale Street Could Talk, and it's because his music creates atmosphere, it heightens already distinctive tales.
I always find it hard to judge the scores of musicals. Justin Hurwitz is certainly crafting something that lends to its film. You listen to the score samples on the soundtrack, and not only do you hear callbacks to the best songs in the movie, but you also see where the movie is taking you. His score has that "too fast desperation" that is always there on this ticking clock romance, as if instructing you to enjoy the whimsy & amour because it will soon be replaced with strife. However, it doesn't entirely separate itself from the songs themselves-you still find that the score is just part of why you're loving it, but it's mostly the bigger musical numbers.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Grammys eligibility window for the best film score nomination occasionally leaves different nominees from opposing years and so along with Game of Thrones: Season 7, we have La La Land (victorious), Arrival, and Hidden Figures joining Dunkirk for the trophy. The Globes similarly went with La La Land, though they didn't have 2017 to deal with in their nominations so Hurwitz bested Moonlight, Arrival, Lion, and Hidden Figures (Pharrell Williams was the composer in case you were curious why it was continually showing up at the star-studded affairs but missing with Oscar). BAFTA was again someone who preferred La La Land, but found room for Arrival, Jackie, Lion, and Nocturnal Animals. Part of me wonders if John Williams' The BFG was in sixth place despite no precursor support (that happens sometimes for Williams), but the sentiment in me prefers thinking it was Nocturnal Animals' Johann Johannsson, who would die within a year of these nominations being announced.
Films I Would Have Nominated: I would have found room for Johannson, if nothing else. I loved his work on Nocturnal, possibly the only element of that film I didn't have conflicted feelings regarding. A Monster Calls is gorgeously-rendered, and a movie I liked better than pretty much anyone else, and so I'd include that, along with the distinctive melodies of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which somehow finally escapes the gauntlet of John Williams' original Harry Potter theme (while still creating a worthwhile score).
Oscar’s Choice: An easy call for La La Land. I can imagine a situation where Hurwitz cleared 70% of the ballots.
My Choice: Moonlight, but due respect to Jackie who would have been a contender in a different year. Moonlight somehow becomes one of those scores that works damn well in the film and could be used in pop culture callbacks for decades. Follow that with La La Land, Passengers, and Lion.
Those are my thoughts-how about yours? Are you with everyone else that La La Land deserved it (it wears better in the memory than I thought at the time, I'll give it that) or are you with me that its Best Picture rival deserved the crown? Am I the only person who totally didn't feel Lion at all in terms of its music? And what's it going to take to finally get Thomas Newman that Oscar? Share your thoughts below!
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