Monday, February 6, 2012
Oscar Prediction Countdown: Song & Score
Posted by Curt Holman @Curt_Holman on Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 1:33 PM
In advance of the Academy Award ceremony on Feb. 26, Screen Grab will predict the winners in all categories over the next three weeks.
Best Original Song: "Man or Muppet"' from The Muppets, Bret McKenzie; "Real in Rio" from Rio, Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown, and Siedah Garrett.
For reasons so complicated that they nearly defy explanation (but Popcornworld's David Cornelius gives it a go), there are only two Best Song nominees this year. My favorite is "Man or Muppet" by a mile. Like the other songs in The Muppets, it's written by Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords, and its satire of soulful, self-dramatizing pop makes it the closest to a Conchords song of any tune in the movie. Compared The Muppets' big, showstopper, "Life's a Happy Song" (which wasn't nominated), "Man or Muppet?" might be too weird for the Academy, and "Real in Rio's" Siedah Garrett has a previous Oscar-nomination in the category, for Dreamgirls' "Love You I Do." "Real in Rio" benefits from vibrant Brazilian instrumentation and could pull an upset, but it's otherwise pretty dull.
Prediction: "Man or Muppet."
Original Score: The Adventures of Tintin, John Williams; The Artist, Ludovic Bource; Hugo, Howard Shore; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Alberto Iglesias; War Horse, John Williams.
John Williams already has five Best Score Academy Awards, and he competes against himself in this category. Personally, I enjoy his playfully adventurous Tintin soundtrack much more than his overblown, pompous music for War Horse. Given that The Artist is both the Best Picture frontrunner and a silent movie, with the soundtrack front and center, I'd normally think it would be a shoo-in. But Academy voters may be turned off by The Artist's conspicuous use of Bernard Hermann's Vertigo score near the end. Vertigo actress Kim Novak took out in an ad in Variety that declared: "I want to report a rape. I feel as if my body — or, at least my body of work — has been violated by the movie, The Artist...This film could and should have been able to stand on its own without depending upon Bernard Herrmann's score from Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo to provide it more drama." So I have a hunch that they'll pick Howard Shore's score for Hugo as a safer choice. Hugo did get more total nominations than The Artist.
Prediction: Hugo, Howard Stern. Anyone but War Horse, really.
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