This year’s Academy Awards ceremony will take place on February 28. We’ll do our best to get you in the mood this week on “Picture Perfect,” by sampling from the nominations for Best Original Score.
In the Cold War drama, “Bridge of Spies,” Tom Hanks plays an American lawyer who is recruited to defend a Soviet operative, then enlisted to facilitate an exchange with the Soviets for a captured American pilot. Director Steven Spielberg’s regular collaborator, John Williams, had been engaged to write the score, but when Williams fell ill, Thomas Newman stepped in to provide the music.
Over the years, Newman has been nominated for 13 Academy Awards. He is the most nominated living composer to have never won an Oscar. He is surpassed in that regard only by Alex North, who was nominated 14 times. North finally received an honorary Oscar in 1986.
Though active as a film composer for over 30 years, Carter Burwell – composer of choice for the Coen Brothers – has never even been nominated – until now. “Carol,” starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, is based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel, “The Price of Salt.” A departure for Highsmith, who is known for her thrillers, which became the basis for such films as “Strangers on a Train” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” “The Price of Salt” defies expectations to explore the relationship between an aspiring young female photographer and an older woman going through a difficult divorce.
Burwell captured the Academy’s attention with his tender score that nonetheless owes a bit to Philip Glass.
Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson has received his second Academy Award nomination. Last year, he was nominated for his music to “The Theory of Everything,” which won the Golden Globe. This year, he has been nominated for his work on “Sicario.”
Emily Blunt plays an idealistic FBI agent enlisted by a mysterious government official (played by Josh Brolin) to join a task force in the escalating war on drugs. Benicio del Toro also stars in this thriller set along the U.S.-Mexico border. Here is a sample of Johann Johannsson’s music for “Sicario.” It’s not exactly feel-good music, and it’s probably very effective in the film. Your enjoyment may depend on your tolerance for processed sounds.
Five-time Academy Award winner John Williams is the 800-pound gorilla of film composers. His music for the latest installment of “Star Wars,” “The Force Awakens,” features a preponderance of action cues and rare moments of poetry and lyricism. The score has earned Williams’ his 50th Academy Award nomination. He is not only the most-nominated person alive, he is the second most-nominated ever, behind only Walt Disney.
The great Ennio Morricone, despite having scored over 500 film and television projects in a career which has spanned 60 years, has never won a competitive Oscar. He received an honorary award from the Academy in 2007. His music for “The Hateful Eight” has earned him his sixth nomination. Having already collected this year’s Golden Globe and BAFTA awards, he is a favorite to win. Above and beyond the usual fine craftsmanship in evidence, there seems to be a wave of sentiment in favor of the beloved 87 year-old composer, who will be making a rare trip to the United States to attend the ceremony and the dedication of a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
“The Hateful Eight,” of course, is Quentin Tarantino’s synthesis of slow-burn Agatha Christie mystery and ultra-violent western. The music is one of its stronger elements.
Tune in tonight to find out what’s been deemed award-worthy in 2016. “Picture Perfect” airs at 6:00 ET, with a repeat tomorrow morning at 6; or you can listen to it later as a webcast at wwfm.org.
PHOTOS: John Williams, at the center of the film score universe, surrounded by (clockwise from bottom left) Johann Johannsson, Carter Burwell, Oscar fave Ennio Morricone, and always-a-bridesmaid-never-a-bride Thomas Newman
