This year 5 nominees are up for Best Original Score:

James Horner for the 3D extravaganza, Avatar.
Alexandre Desplat for the stop-motion animated film, Fantastic Mr. Fox
Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders for the war drama, The Hurt Locker.
Hans Zimmer for the action packed film, Sherlock Holmes.
And Michael Giacchino for the latest Pixar-animated film, Up.

It’s great to see two animated films being represented in the Original Score category.  Some of the great film scores come from animated films, and at times it seems they hardly represented.  Although, Giacchino’s work for the Pixar-animated film Ratatouille was nominated two years ago.

Avatar was last year’s most anticipated film of the year.  And another James Horner score to accompany a Cameron epic had everyone a buzz about what the score would sound like.  And what was the score like? Well, the usual Horner motifs.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Parts of the score were beautiful and majestic, however I felt it didn’t match to the wonderful visuals of Cameron’s world.  Leaving the theater (almost 3 hours later) I couldn’t really remember the film music, which for such a huge film, I thought was a rather huge disappointment.

Wes Anderson’s stop-motion animated film, Fantastic Mr. Fox was a delight.  Anderson did such a great job of making this film enjoyable for all audiences.  The music is such a joy.  It felt like the rodents from the film were providing the accompanying music.  It was a clever choice on Desplat and Anderson to keep the orchestra intimate and minimal.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Anderson wanted a sort of a Peter and the Wolf feel for the film’s music. Giving each character a them and instruments associated with that character.  My favorite piece was the Ennio Morricone influenced theme for the rat in the secret cider cellar.  And the lovely march for the game Whack-Bat.

Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders’ score for The Hurt Locker among the nominees was a big surprise for me.  The is not the normal traditional score and it was designed to put you on the edge of your seat, which worked for me.  This was a great film. Very suspenseful, yet for being a war drama, there is a simplicity to it which I appreciated.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

An actual score creeps out at the end but for the majority of the film the score is more of a sound design than actual music.

Sherlock Holmes was actually one of the few films I missed last year.  I’m so bummed I didn’t get a chance to see this film, because after hearing Zimmer’s score, I bet the film was one fun ride.  Although, much of this score has that typical Zimmer sound and feel to it, I thought parts of this score was really clever.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

I love the percussion elements throughout the score.  Lot’s of fun.

And finally there is the Pixar gem, Up.  I embraced this film and the music within the first 15 minutes of the film.  How can a film pack in so much emotion in one segment?  Well Giacchino’s simple nostalgic score helped.  Although the themes were simple, Giacchino’s orchestrations made them more complex and brought the character to life.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

I love film scores that tell a story and evolve and you listen to them.  Therefore my pick for this year’s award has to go the Giacchino’s lovely work for Up. His scores are simple, yet carry a lot of emotion and add more depth to the film.  Way to go Michael Giacchino for making us listen.  I sure hope to hear more from him in the near future.