At the end of last year, I had every intention in the world of doing a special 2013 list of my favorite movies scores. Fortunately or unfortunately, I got completely and totally sidetracked by several other “best of” countdowns and never got around to it. Now, however, the Oscars are here! Which means I get one last chance at redemption.
Not surprisingly, when I pit my list of top contenders against the current Oscar nominees for “Best Original Score” there are no similarities. I mean, seriously…none. While I saw more than a quarter of the films nominated in that category (sorry Philomena), none of their soundtracks really stood out to me. Some would argue that the purpose of film music is to support a scene instead of…well, stand out. While I do agree that that is true for certain films by certain filmmakers who emphasize subtlety, typically, the movie scores we remember are the bolder entries. Films like Jaws and Psycho used music to extract an immediate visceral response from the audience and they were all the better for it.
I bring all this up because each of my 5 nominees for Best Original Score come from larger than life genres. It would be almost criminal if the following composers didn’t match such scale with orchestral might.
*Ahem*
And the nominees are…
1. Oblivion – M83
2. The Wolverine – Marco Beltrami (Take a listen)
3. Stoker – Clint Mansell (Take a listen)
4. Man of Steel – Hans Zimmer (Take a listen)
5. Now You See Me – Brian Tyler (Take a listen)
And the winner is…
…wait for it…
…wait for it…
Brian Tyler for Now you See Me!
Composer Brian Tyler’s work for Now You See Me was overlooked this year in favor of award-winning musicians like Hans Zimmer (Rush, 12 Years A Slave) and John Williams (The Book Thief). Which is a shame, because Tyler (Iron Man 3) did something really fun with this score, mixing furious drum work with playful symphonic pop.
You can see exactly what I mean below…