OVP: Best Original Score (2018)
The Nominees Were...
Ludwig Goransson, Black Panther
Terence Blanchard, BlacKkKlansman
Nicholas Britell, If Beale Street Could Talk
Alexandre Desplat, Isle of Dogs
Marc Shaiman, Mary Poppins Returns
My Thoughts: Well, we're doing OVP on a Saturday this week, as I kind of dropped the ball on getting this to you on Wednesday (I have no one to blame but myself & a bit of laziness). We are doing Best Score today, and taking a look at a healthy mix of first-time nominees (Goransson, Blanchard) and previous contenders (Desplat, Shaiman, Britell). What's weird here is that with two exceptions, all of these are films that didn't make it into the Best Picture field (and none of the other Oscar nominees for Best Picture even came close to getting in here). Since we're already talking about it, let's start with the one of the Best Picture nominee that the Oscars did deem worthy in 2018.
Black Panther's score is an unusual nomination-it's rare for a comic book film to be cited for this (I believe this is the first time this has happened since 1978's Superman). It's a strange nomination, though, because it doesn't feel like a particularly standout score for this picture. Relistening to some of the music, while it isn't bad, it doesn't lack the same sort of aesthetic appeal you'd expect from a movie of this caliber. There aren't as many common thorough-lines tying together the music, and while it definitely stands out in terms of the MCU, when put up against a number of other scores, it just can't compete in terms of individuality.
This isn't the case for a movie like If Beale Street Could Talk. Two years after Nicholas Britell took Moonlight by storm and created a complete masterpiece with Barry Jenkins, he's doing the same here. If Beale Street Could Talk's floating trumpets echo throughout the film, giving the picture an extra poetic license. This is so crucial to the picture's success, and unlike Black Panther, it's the kind of movie that you hear the score out-of-context and are instantly transported back into the film itself. More than any other nominee this year, this is the score that feels the most distinctive to the actual film itself-you know hearing any track off of the album "this is Beale Street."
Well, unless you count Mary Poppins Returns. Musicals get a double-edged sword in this category, because their scores are generally pretty catchy (that's certainly the case for Marc Shaiman's rich, storybook score), but they also derive a lot of that score's pleasures from the songs themselves that litter the picture. This isn't exactly cheating (the score utilizing the songs is smart writing-it keeps repeating the film's best moments in the viewer's mind), but it also is intruding on the Best Original Song category, which there's a separate category for. As a result, I struggle to know how to place this against a movie like Beale Street, which doesn't have the advantage of Emily Blunt or Lin-Manuel Miranda crooning a ditty to the music, but know that this is my favorite of the Mary Poppins nominations (worth noting as this is the last of its nominations we'll discuss).
BlacKkKlansman is the movie of this bunch that is playing the most with film history. You can see that in the way that Blanchard borrows from some of his own best work (including my personal favorite, Inside Man), as well as the 1970's motif that he brings to the film. You can hear some of the sounds of the era's Blaxploitation films in some of the strumming electric guitar backgrounds, and the spirit of a movie like The French Connection coming through in the recurring drums & brass licks. BlacKkKlansman does the three things I look for when judging this category-it gives iconic music that stands apart as a signifier for the film, it gives music that works within the motif (without ever overwhelming), and the music is genuinely just great. It was about time Blanchard got an Oscar nomination, and I'm glad he broke that barrier with such a worthy contender.
Our final nominee is Isle of Dogs, this year's Alexandre Desplat citation (which is basically an annual occurrence these days, with Desplat taking over the mantle of John Williams while the latter is still also scoring constant nominations). Desplat is good, and sometimes he's truly great (he'd have Oscar nominations from me too, though I don't think I've given him a win yet in the My Ballots), but this is one of those nominations I think the Academy phoned in on his behalf. Isle of Dogs does have that omnipresent drumming, but it's recurring to the point of nauseum, and underscores some of the weaker aspects of the picture (that it's, well, repetitive). I think the Academy could've done better, and that this was more nominated due to the name attached than it being truly deserving.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Grammys eligibility window for the best film score nomination is not the same as Oscar's so oftentimes you'll see films from two different years getting citations, and that's the case here. For the 2018 Grammys, Black Panther won the trophy over a group of four films from 2017, while in 2019 Mary Poppins Returns was cited for Best Score but lost to Chernobyl. Only two nominations underlines that this was not the strongest field to pick citations from for AMPAS. The BAFTA's went with A Star is Born for Best Original Music (likely winning more for its songs than its score) over BlacKkKlansman, If Beale Street Could Talk, Isle of Dogs, and Mary Poppins Returns, while the Globes gave the trophy to First Man over A Quiet Place, Isle of Dogs, Black Panther, and Mary Poppins Returns. It's not my cup of tea, but my gut says that A Quiet Place was in sixth place here-the score was too much for my tastes (it would have been an easy fifth place for me), but it's the kind of loud music (and Marco Beltrami is a previous nominee) that the Academy eats up.
Films I Would Have Nominated: Could someone explain to me, particularly in a weak field, precisely how First Man didn't make it? Justin Hurwitz had just won (that's a help in this category), the film is beautiful, & the score is glorious. I am at a loss here, Oscar.
Oscar’s Choice: With Hurwitz out & Beale Street underperforming, this was Black Panther's for the taking.
My Choice: An easy call for Beale Street-just beautiful music. Behind it I'll go BlacKkKlansman, Mary Poppins, Black Panther, and Isle of Dogs
Those are my thoughts-how about yours? Are you over with Oscar supporting Black Panther or do you want to join me with the jazzy Beale Street? Why do you think it took so long for Terence Blanchard to finally break through with Oscar? And was it Hurwitz or Beltrami in sixth place here? Share your thoughts below!
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