As you are all aware by now, the Oscar has been given to UP by Michael Giacchino on Sunday. I thought it would be nice to do a roundup of the oscar nominee scores we have reviewed. There’s only one missing: Fantastic Mr. Fox by Alexandre Desplat.

Here are the reviews of the 4 other nominees including the winner UP.

Soundtrack Review: Avatar by James Horner

“James Cameron has got the perfect score for Avatar, even though the score itself is not perfect.”

Read The full review Here

The Hurt Locker by Marco Beltrami & Buck Sanders

“The experience of watching The Hurt Locker can’t be fully felt on the score album alone.”

Read The Full Review Here

Sherlock Holmes by Hans Zimmer

“The 18 minute track is a wonderful beast of a cue and literally saves this score by itself”

Read The Full Review Here

UP by Michael Giacchino

“Up gives Giacchino’s typically flexible themes and vibrant orchestrations a beautiful undercurrent of poignant emotion.”

Read The Full Review Here

What do you think of the Oscars? Who should have won?

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Ok, maybe not a surprise, in fact it’s probably one of the least surprising wins ever. I knew it would win and it did. I think you all know my sentiments on that if you listened to the Oscore Noms podcast a couple of weeks ago.

Congratulations to Michael Giacchino are in order for winning Best Score. Although it was expected, it wasn’t an easy feat. He has aloready won everything there is to win so far this year and the Academy Award is the biggest. Here is his acceptance speech:

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One surprise at this year’s Oscar nominations for best score: The Hurt Locker by Marco Beltrami & Buck Sanders. The rest were no-brainers, although I wouldn’t mind seeing some more surprises. Here are the nominees in full:

Music (Original Score)

• “Avatar” James Horner
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
• “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
• “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
• “Up” Michael Giacchino

Who is your favorite and why?

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The unstoppable force that is UP won the Grammy Awards last night, who would have thought it? By the way, that was an attempt of irony. Michael Giacchino is three for three with already having won Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globe Awards earlier this year.

Here are the nominees in full:

* Up by Michael Giacchino
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by Alexandre Desplat
* Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by Nicholas Hooper
* Milk by Danny Elfman
* Star Trek by Michael Giacchino

We congratulate Michael Giacchino yet again!

Source: Grammy.com

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Awesome! Love the International Film Music Critics Awards, simply because it is the best award “show” only for film music. Here are this year’s nominees:

FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR

• AVATAR, music by James Horner
• DRAG ME TO HELL, music by Christopher Young
• STAR TREK, music by Michael Giacchino
• THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON, music by Alexandre Desplat
• UP, music by Michael Giacchino

FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

• Alexandre Desplat
• Michael Giacchino
• James Horner
• Brian Tyler
• Christopher Young

BREAKOUT COMPOSER OF THE YEAR

• Henry Jackman
• Abel Korzeniowski
• James Peterson
• Clinton Shorter
• Austin Wintory

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM

• AGORA, music by Dario Marianelli
• BAARÌA, music by Ennio Morricone
• CREATION, music by Christopher Young
• MAO’S LAST DANCER, music by Christopher Gordon
• A SINGLE MAN, music by Abel Korzeniowski

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM

• COUPLES RETREAT, music by A.R. Rahman
• DUPLICITY, music by James Newton Howard
• THE INFORMANT!, music by Marvin Hamlisch
• JULIE & JULIA, music by Alexandre Desplat
• LESBIAN VAMPIRE KILLERS, music by Debbie Wiseman

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE FILM

• G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA, music by Alan Silvestri
• LUCKY LUKE, music by Bruno Coulais
• THE RED CANVAS, music by James Peterson
• SHERLOCK HOLMES, music by Hans Zimmer
• UNDER THE MOUNTAIN, music by Victoria Kelly

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION FILM

• AVATAR, music by James Horner
• THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS, music by Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna
• KNOWING, music by Marco Beltrami
• STAR TREK, music by Michael Giacchino
• THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON, music by Alexandre Desplat

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A HORROR/THRILLER FILM

• DRAG ME TO HELL, music by Christopher Young
• IMAGO MORTIS, music by Zacarías M. de la Riva
• IN THE ELECTRIC MIST, music by Marco Beltrami
• THE KILLING ROOM, music by Brian Tyler
• TRICK ‘R TREAT, music by Douglas Pipes

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE

• A CHRISTMAS CAROL, music by Alan Silvestri
• CORALINE, music by Bruno Coulais
• FANTASTIC MR. FOX, music by Alexandre Desplat
• THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, music by Randy Newman
• UP, music by Michael Giacchino

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• BROTHERS AT WAR, music by Lee Holdridge
• EARTH DAYS, music by Michael Giacchino
• GARBO: EL ESPÍA, music by Fernando Velázquez
• HOME, music by Armand Amar
• UNDER THE SEA 3D, music by Micky Erbe and Maribeth Solomon

FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR

• AVATAR – “War,” music by James Horner
• DRAG ME TO HELL – “Concerto to Hell,” music by Christopher Young
• THE RED CANVAS – “Ballet for Brawlers,” music by James Peterson
• STAR TREK – “Enterprising Young Men,” music by Michael Giacchino
• UP – “Married Life,” music by Michael Giacchino

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION

• BATTLESTAR GALACTICA [SEASON 4.5], music by Bear McCreary
• CAPRICA, music by Bear McCreary
• LIFE, music by George Fenton
• LOST [SEASON 5], music by Michael Giacchino
• YELLOWSTONE, music by Edmund Butt

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA

• ASSASSIN’S CREED II, music by Jesper Kyd
• CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2, music by Lorne Balfe and Hans Zimmer
• HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, music by James Hannigan
• NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN, music by Chris Tilton
• SPORE HERO, music by Winifred Phillips

BEST NEW RELEASE/RE-RELEASE OF AN EXISTING SCORE

• BACK TO THE FUTURE, music by Alan Silvestri; Douglass Fake, producer (Intrada)
• INNERSPACE, music by Jerry Goldsmith; M.V. Gerhard and Mike Matessino, producers (La-La Land)
• THE JOURNEY OF NATTY GANN, music by James Horner; James Horner, Simon Rhodes and Douglass Fake, producers (Intrada)
• STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, music by James Horner; Lukas Kendall, producer (Film Score Monthly)
• TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE, music by Jerry Goldsmith; Bruce Botnick, Lukas Kendall and Mike Matessino, producers (Film Score Monthly)

BEST RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE

• THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, music by Max Steiner, cond. William Stromberg; Anna Bonn, John Morgan and William Stromberg, producers (Tribute Film Classics)
• EXODUS, music by Ernest Gold, cond. Nic Raine; James Fitzpatrick, producer (Tadlow)
• THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, cond. William Stromberg; Anna Bonn, John Morgan and William Stromberg, producers (Tribute Film Classics)

BEST FILM MUSIC COMPILATION ALBUM OR BOX SET

• 40 BANDES ORIGINALES POUR 40 FILMS, music by Vladimir Cosma; Vladimir Cosma, producer (Larghetto Music)
• DAVID RAKSIN AT M-G-M, music by David Raksin; Lukas Kendall, producer (Film Score Monthly)
• THE FILM MUSIC OF MISCHA SPOLIANSKY, music by Mischa Spoliansky; Philip Lane, Ralph Couzens and Neil Varley, producers (Chandos)
• HOWARD SHORE: COLLECTOR’S EDITION Vol. 1, music by Howard Shore; Jonathan Schultz, producer (Howe)
• NORTHWEST PASSAGE: CLASSIC WESTERN SCORES FROM M-G-M Vol. 2 (1940-1974), music by various composers; Lukas Kendall, producer (Film Score Monthly)

FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR

• Film Score Monthly
• Intrada
• La-La Land Records
• MovieScore Media
• Varèse Sarabande

Source: IFMCA

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…or should I say Michael Giacchino vs. James Horner? Well maybe, but it sure looks like the only two contenders to me.

Michael Giacchino has already won two awards so far, including the Golden Globe so he is favorite, but you never know with the hugely succesful Avatar. Will its momentum finally catch up?

There’s an outsider in Alexandre Desplat who is nominated for Fantastic Mr. Fox. He is always dangerous when the award season comes around and given the amount of films he scored in 2009, I would be surprised if he didn’t get at least one award this year.

Still it is the BAFTA awards and they do favor the underdog at times. Could Crazy Heart by T-Bone Burnett & Stephen Bruton or Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll by Chaz Jankel be victorious?

Here are the nominees:

Who will win?

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Award season is upon us once again and not surprisingly it was Up by Michael Giacchino that opened with two clear wins. Most interesting was the Golden Globe Awards win over James Horner’s Avatar who many thought might get the nod.

First off was the Critics Choice Awards:

Up by Michael Giacchino (WINNER) 40%
Sherlock Holmes by Hans Zimmer (Runner Up) 32%
The Princess and the Frog by Randy Newman 12%
Where the Wild Things Are by Karen O & Carter Burwell 11%
The Informant! by Marvin Hamlisch 4%

Golden Globe Awards:

Up by Michael Giacchino (WINNER)
The Informant! by Marvin Hamlisch
Avatar by James Horner
A Single Man by Abel Korzeniowski
Where the Wild Things are by Karen O & Carter Burwell

Congratulations to Michael Giacchino! Here’s his acceptance speech:

Here’s UP:

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UPDATED! Brian Tyler has confirmed that none of his scores were submitted for the Academy this year. His scores for films in 2009 are The Killing Room, Dragonball: Evolution, Fast & Furious, Middle Men, The Final Destination and Law Abiding Citizen. I will update further when I know more. Thanks for the heads up Brian!

Other composers not so lucky are Marco Beltrami who got In The Electric Mist and Knowing ineligible for the Oscars.

Another strange exclusion is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by Nicholas Hooper.

Angels & Demons by Hans Zimmer is not eligible as well. There is a rule that goes like this: “scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs, or assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible”. Angels & Demons used themes from The Da Vinci Code, but then why didn’t Terminator: Salvation by Danny Elfman, Star Trek by Michael Giacchino and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen got disqualified? I think the real reason is probably Zimmer’s use of more composers. Strange then that many of the scores deemed eligible are written and composed by more than one composer.

Critics favorites Pope Joan by Marcel Barsotti and The Red Canvas by James Patterson are also ineligible.

Here are some of the more important exclusions this year:

9 by Deborah Lurie & Danny Elfman
Agora by Dario Marianelli
Angels & Demons by Hans Zimmer
Crossing Over by Mark Isham
Dragonball: Evolution by Brian Tyler
Effi Briest by Johan Soderqvist
Fast & Furious by Brian Tyler
Hachiko: A Dog’s Story by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
Halloween II by Tyler Bates
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by Nicholas Hooper
In The Electric Mist by Marco Beltrami
Knowing by Marco Beltrami
Law Abiding Citizen by Brian Tyler
Lesbian Vampire Killers by Debbie Wiseman
Monsters Vs. Aliens by Henry Jackman
Pope Joan by Marcel Barsotti
Ricky by Philippe Rombi
Streetfighter: The Legend of Chun-Li by Stephen Endelman
Surrogates by Richard Marvin
Taking Woodstock by Danny Elfman
The Final Destination by Brian Tyler
The Fourth Kind by Atli Orvarsson
The International by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek & Reinhold Heil
The Red Canvas by James Patterson
The Soloist by Dario Marianelli
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 by Harry Gregson-Williams
The Ugly Truth by Aaron Zigman
The Unborn by Ramin Djawadi
The Vampire’s Assistant by Stephen Trask
Where The Wild Things Are by Carter Burwell
Whiteout by John Frizzell
X-Men Origins: Wolverine by Harry Gregson-Williams
Year One by Theodore Shapiro

Here is the list of eligible scores:

• ADAM (Christopher Lennertz)
• ADORATION (Mychael Danna)
• ADVENTURES OF POWER (Ethan Gold)
• ALIENS IN THE ATTIC (John Debney)
• AMELIA (Gabriel Yared)
• ASTRO BOY (John Ottman)
• AVATAR (James Horner)
• BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS (Mark Isham)
• BRIGHT STAR (Mark Bradshaw)
• BROKEN EMBRACES (Alberto Iglesias)
• BROTHERS (Thomas Newman)
• BY THE PEOPLE: THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA (Craig Wedren)
• CHERI (Alexandre Desplat)
• CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS (Mark Mothersbaugh)
• COCO BEFORE CHANEL (Alexandre Desplat)
• CORALINE (Bruno Coulais)
• COUPLES RETREAT (A.R. Rahman)
• CREATION (Christopher Young)
• DISNEY’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Alan Silvestri)
• DISTRICT 9 (Clinton Shorter)
• DRAG ME TO HELL (Christopher Young)
• DUPLICITY (James Newton Howard)
• AN EDUCATION (Paul Englishby)
• EVA (Vlady Cnejevici)
• EVERYBODY’S FINE (Dario Marianelli)
• FANTASTIC MR. FOX (Alexandre Desplat)
• (500) DAYS OF SUMMER (Mychael Danna /Rob Simonsen)
• G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA (Alan Silvestri)
• GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST (Rolfe Kent)
• HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU (Cliff Eidelman)
• HOTEL FOR DOGS (John Debney)
• THE HURT LOCKER (Marco Beltrami / Buck Sanders)
• ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS (John Powell)
• THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS (Jeff & Mychael Danna)
• THE INFORMANT! (Marvin Hamlisch)
• INKHEART (Javier Navarrete)
• INVICTUS (Kyle Eastwood / Michael Stevens)
• IRON CROSS (Roger Bellon)
• IT’S COMPLICATED (Hans Zimmer / Heitor Pereira)
• JULIE & JULIA (Alexandre Desplat)
• LAND OF THE LOST (Michael Giacchino)
• THE LAST STATION (Sergey Yevtuchenko)
• THE LIGHTKEEPERS (Pinar Toprak)
• THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS (Rolfe Kent)
• THE MISSING LYNX (Sergio de la Puente)
• MOON (Clint Mansell)
• MY SISTER’S KEEPER (Aaron Zigman)
• NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN (Alan Silvestri)
• OLD DOGS (John Debney)
• ORPHAN (John Ottman)
• PARIS 36 (Reinhardt Wagner)
• PLANET 51 (James Brett)
• PONYO (Joe Hisaishi)
• THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (Randy Newman)
• THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE (Michael Rohatyn)
• PUBLIC ENEMIES (Elliot Goldenthal)
• PUNCTURED HOPE (David Brandstaetter)
• RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN (Trevor Rabin)
• THE ROAD (Nick Cave / Warren Ellis)
• RUDO Y CURSI (Leoncio Lara)
• A SERIOUS MAN (Carter Burwell)
• 17 AGAIN (Rolfe Kent)
• SHERLOCK HOLMES (Hans Zimmer)
• SIN NOMBRE (Marcelo Zarvos)
• A SINGLE MAN (Abel Korzeniowski)
• SKIN (Helene Muddiman)
• STAR TREK (Michael Giacchino)
• THE STONING OF SORAYA M (John Debney)
• SUNSHINE CLEANING (Michael Penn)
• TERMINATOR SALVATION (Danny Elfman)
• TETRO (Osvaldo Golijov)
• THAT EVENING SUN (Michael Penn)
• THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE (Mychael Danna)
• TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (Steve Jablonsky)
• THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON (Alexandre Desplat)
• 2012 (Harald Kloser / Thomas Wander)
• THE UNINVITED (Christopher Young)
• UP (Michael Giacchino)
• UP IN THE AIR (Rolfe Kent)
• WATCHMEN (Tyler Bates)
• THE YOUNG VICTORIA (Ilan Eshkeri)

What do you think about all this Oscar debacle? Let me know in the comments section below.

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Just in. James Horner has received a nomination for Best Original Score at next years Golden Globe awards.

Other nominees were unsurprisingly Michael Giacchino for Up and Marvin Hamlisch for The Informant!. A new name is Abel Korzeniowski for A Single Man and Karen O/Carter Burwell are also nominated for Where The Wild Things Are.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE

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Before we start with the winners of Hollywood Music in Media Awards 2009 bor best original score, let us all congratulate John Debney for an Outstanding Career Ahievement Award. Congratulations!

Now on to the awards themselves. There are more categories than ever and plenty of winners.

There has been some confusion as to who won what. Nathan Barr proclaimed on his website that he had won, but there was no official word. Here are the winners (After The Jump):

(JUMP)

Best Original Score – Film: District by Clinton Shorter

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Best Original Score – TV: True Blood by Nathan Barr

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Best Original Score – Videogame: Assassin’s Creed 2 by Jesper Kyd

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Congratulations to all the winners! What do you think of the awards? Well deserved or not? Let us know in the comments section below.

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