Saturday, February 20, 2016

Oscar Predictions: Best Original Score and Original Song

It's time again for the Oscars. It's been a long Awards season as always. Guilds, Globes, BAFTAs, and critics have all made their picks  and I'm here to figure out what it all means. Yes, it's time again for my multi-part Oscar predictions.
I'm going to go through each category, tell you who has been nominated and won for what, give a context for what that means, and order the nominees from most to least likely to win on Oscar night. That doesn't mean I'll be right, but it does mean I'll be informed. Wish me luck.

Previously:
Nomination Reaction
Documentary, Animated, and Live-Action Short
Documentary Feature
Animated Feature 
Foreign Film
Visual Effects
Sound Mixing and Sound Editing
Makeup & Hairstyling 
Costume Design
Score and Song
Production Design
Cinematography
Film Editing
Adapted Screenplay
Original Screenplay
Supporting Actress
Supporting Actor
Lead Actress
Lead Actor
Director
Best Picture

Glossary:
BAFTA - British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards
Golden Globe - Presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association  Award


Best Original Score
Normally, I like to go back 20 years on these breakdowns. It's harder to do that with the Original Score category, because the Academy broke it up for a while in the 90s into dramatic and comedic/musical score. So, I'm only going back to 1999 for this.
The numbers aren't encouraging. The BAFTA have only picked 7 of the last 16 Oscar winners. The Golden Globes are only slightly better at 8 of 16. At least getting a BAFTA or Globe nomination helps. 15 of the last 16 winners have been nominated by one or the other (the exception being The Red Violin winning the Oscar back in 1999). So, even that guide isn't bullet-proof.

The Hateful Eight 
Golden Globes - Original Score - Winner
BAFTA - Original Score - Winner
This is the only movie that's been nominated by both the Globes and the BAFTA and it won both. That doesn't make it a lock. Of the 5 times this has happened since 1999, only 3 of those went on to get the Oscar too. That said, I don't know what else you could pick as a front-runner this year.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
BAFTA - Original Score - Nominee
Let's be honest. Who's actually going to be angry to see John Williams win again for a Star Wars score?

Bridge of Spies
BAFTA - Original Score - Nominee
Thomas Newman is a legend who has been composing great scores for over three decades. He's been nominated for 13 Oscars and never won. I'm not sure how well known that is in the industry, but there could be an “it's his time” campaign stewing.

Carol
Golden Globes - Original Score - Nominee
The Golden Globes are slightly more meaningful as an indicator. That'll help.

Sicario
BAFTA - Original Score - Nominee
Movies like Sicario don't tend to get nominated.

Best Original Song
This is the first time in a while that the winner of this category wasn't predetermined by Oscar night. The Golden Globes are the only group with a similar award and their requirements aren't nearly as strict as the Academy's. It's matched the Oscar winner only 3 times in the last decade.

The Hunting Ground ("Til It Happens To You")
It's about time that Lady Gaga had an Oscar, right? EGOT!!!

Spectre ("Writing's On The Wall")
Golden Globes - Original Song - Winner
The Globe win can't hurt. Every time I think of this song, I'm reminded of a Spectre review I read that described it as "a Bond theme that I couldn't remember as I was actually listening to it".

Youth ("Simple Song #3")
Golden Globes - Original Song - Nominee
The nomination by the Golden Globes can't hurt, but it means little. Only four of the last ten Oscar winners for Original Song had Globe nominations as well.

50 Shades Of Gray ("Earned It")
This was not the 50 Shades of Gray song I expected to see here.

Racing Extinction ("Manta Ray")
Haven't heard of the song OR the movie. Always a bad sign.

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