{"id":46944,"date":"2021-04-19T21:04:53","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T02:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/?p=46944"},"modified":"2021-04-19T21:39:10","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T02:39:10","slug":"oscars-siren-song-a-slight-return-original-score","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/2021\/04\/19\/oscars-siren-song-a-slight-return-original-score\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscar\u2019s Siren Song (A Slight Return): Original Score"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Soul<\/strong> (2020).<\/em><\/p>\n

Jeff Smith here:<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a short hiatus, I\u2019m back with a preview of this year\u2019s Oscar nominees for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures. As with everything else in the COVID pandemic, this year\u2019s nominees represent a slight departure from previous years. With the massive shuffling of release schedules, some films like No Time to Die<\/em>, Dune<\/em>, and In the Heights<\/em>\u00a0that would have been strong contenders in these categories will have to wait until next year.\u00a0 At the same time, the closure of theaters, and the attendant changes regarding Oscar eligibility, meant that some smaller films\u2019 fortunes were boosted by their availability on top streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime.<\/p>\n

Here I survey the five scores that received nominations and offer a prediction regarding the eventual winner. Later this week, I\u2019ll do the same for the Best Original Song nominees.<\/p>\n

The usual caveats apply for those readers interested in the online betting markets. My picks are for \u201centertainment purposes only.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, I admit that my track record hasn\u2019t exactly been stellar. If memory serves, I\u2019ve gone five for eight in my previous predictions. That\u2019s about a 62% accuracy rate. Better than chance but hardly anything to brag about.<\/p>\n

Consequently, I advise readers to treat both predictions as the equivalent of a handicapper\u2019s pick for a daily double. It feels really good if you are right. But truth be told, odds are against it.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s turn now to the nominees for Best Original Score. At first blush, it would be hard to imagine a more disparate group of nominated films. It includes a Western, an adventure film, a family drama, a retro-styled biopic, and a metaphysical comedy in cartoon form.<\/p>\n

Composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are heavy favorites going into Sunday as double nominees. They were recognized both for their jazz-flavored orchestral score for Mank <\/em>and, along with fellow nominee Jon Batiste, for their electronic atmospherics in Soul<\/em>. As previous winners for The Social Network<\/em> (2010), they stand a good chance of adding more little gold men to their mantles.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The long shot<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Oscar betting markets have Terence Blanchard\u2019s score Da 5 Bloods <\/em>as the nominee with the longest odds. That is a shame insofar as Blanchard remains one of the most underrated composers writing for films. Using a 90-piece orchestra, Blanchard provides an epic sound for Spike Lee\u2019s clever take on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre<\/em>. I wouldn\u2019t say Blanchard and Lee\u2019s collaboration on Da 5 Bloods<\/em> is a career best. For me, their peak is represented by the magisterial score in 25th<\/sup> Hour<\/em> (2003), one of the best films of the 2000s. Still, Blanchard\u2019s music for Da 5 Bloods <\/em>is awfully, awfully good.<\/p>\n

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Besides the resources of a conventional orchestra, Blanchard also engaged the services of Pedro Eustache to play the duduk, an Armenian double reed instrument that adds an unusual tone color to some of the score\u2019s melodies. The duduk adds a touch of exoticism as a reminder that the protagonist Paul and his crew of Vietnam vets are strangers in a strange land. Yet the score wisely avoids the kinds of Orientalizing musical gestures that are common in many Hollywood films with South Asian settings. The duduk is heard in a handful of cues that underscore Otis\u2019 relationship with Tien, his old Vietnamese girlfriend.<\/p>\n