Firstly, a quick ranking of the Oscar nominees:
Music, Original Score
5. Passengers - solid Thomas Newman, but far, far, far, far from being his best work.
4. Lion - rather good stuff, though the biggest musical impression the film made on me was via Sia.
3. Jackie - rather brilliant deconstruction of the 'typical' biopic soundtrack, always verging on the inspirational before subverting it to a jarring, clinical effect.
2. Moonlight - a mesmerizing score that would be my win in almost any other year this decade, well besides 2012 maybe but few scores can ever best Beasts of the Southern Wild. This score kind of reminded me of that one with its orchestral, raw, and powerful feeling, achieved with minimalism.
1. La La Land - need I say more, the ultimate musical experience all around, and 'Epilogue' is close to being amongst my crop of top 10 musical score segments.
Music, Original Song
5. 'Can't Stop the Feeling', Trolls - I have to admit I don't care for the song. Waste of a nomination.
4. 'The Empty Chair', Jim: The James Foley Story - like Trolls, I haven't seen the film. This isn't a bad song, just nothing particularly special, though I need to see how it fits into context of the documentary.
3. 'City of Stars', La La Land - lovely song, should it win? I'm not sure, even if it's for the superior duet, because it's a very nice song, but hardly the most impressive one in the film's terrific soundtrack.
2. 'How Far I'll Go', Moana - great classic Disney tune vibes all round, and a memorable addition to its canon of great film tunes. This one works particularly well in hitting the good ol' sweet spot.
1. 'Audition (The Fools Who Dream)', La La Land - loved it, loved it, loved it. If Emma Stone is winning (which she will), this song should get an honorary mention as well.
And my personal choices (with less talk from me, I'll let the music do the talking)
Original Score
HM/not sure how to rank: Arrival (would be on the list but its most memorable tune isn't technically an 'original' work. I'll need to decide how I rank scores based on this sort of thing.)
10. Lion
9. Elle
8. Hunt for the Wilderpeople
7. A Monster Calls
6. Hacksaw Ridge
5. The Neon Demon
4. Jackie
3. Swiss Army Man
2. Moonlight
1. La La Land
Original Song
10. 'Brown Shoes', Sing Street
9. 'Never Give Up', Lion (although I'm biased because I absolutely love Sia's music)
8. 'How Far I'll Go', Moana
7. 'Another Day of Sun', La La Land
6. 'A Lovely Night', La La Land
5. 'To Find You', Sing Street
4. 'You're Welcome', Moana
3. 'Someone in the Crowd', La La Land
2. 'Audition', La La Land
1. 'Drive It Like You Stole It', Sing Street (loved all the songs on this list, and loved some even beyond these 10, but this is easily my favourite song/musical scene of the year)
I still find Passengers's nomination a little baffling, I guess because it was Newman, but it was such middling work much like its production design.
ReplyDeleteSame, what a bizzare selection. I guess the J-Law influence strikes even when she's not in awards contention.
DeleteI love The Neon Demon' score! And yes Drive it like you stole it should have been nominated.
ReplyDeleteSame, it adds so much to film. Refn's films may be so subjective but his soundtracks are always on point. Glad you agree :)
DeleteWhere's the love for Up? Sometimes I think I might prefer it to Drive It Like You Stole It.
ReplyDeleteIt's a competitive year. I just took another listen to it, I now remember that I did enjoy it when I heard it in the film, but it did not leave as much of an impression as Drive it Like You Stole It, To Find You, Brown Shoes, or even Riddle of the Model.
DeleteHmm interesting. That was the moment I sat up and thought, "Hey this little movie might end up being something rather special." The only part of the Sing Street soundtrack I wasn't thrilled about was Brown Shoes.
DeleteMy song nominees would've been (in no particular order outside the winner):
*Audition
Another Day of Sun
Start a Fire (I know it should be probably one of the story-centric tracks, but I'm a massive sucker for anything remotely big-bandy, even (or maybe especially) if it has synthesizers everywhere.)
Drive It Like You Stole It
Up
Haven't seen Moana yet.