Along with Best Art Direction, this is the only other craft category that I think we can assume is locked up. And I have to say that I rather like the lineup, myself. Even with the silly disqualification of Drive and the inevitable snubs of Hanna and The Ides of March, the music branch still managed to pin down five of the year's best scores.
After a six year absence, John Williams is back in full form with a pair of superb scores that just so happen to be the best two of the year. The Adventures of Tintin's slinky orchestrations glance back to Williams' jazzy roots while still selling us up-tempo adventure. It's loads of fun, but being the film's only nomination, I can't see it winning. War Horse evokes the grandeur of 1950s epics with soaring melodious themes - you either love or hate Williams for this; I plainly admit that I can't fight it! If War Horse were a stronger Best Picture contender, I might have it as the runner-up, but it would still be no competition for our next nominee.
The sheer ubiquity of Ludovic Bource's deliberately melodramatic music in The Artist is all it needs to coast to an easy win here. To be honest, I was ready to call this race since Cannes, when word of the film first got out. Although Bource can owe most of his pending victory to the film's gimmick than to the music itself, he is nonetheless deserving of a pat on the back. It's surely a daunting task being the sole person responsible for the voice of an entire film, but he undertook it with gusto.
A distant challenger to Bource is Howard Shore for his lovely score in Hugo. He lends a warm Parisian flavour to the soundtrack that at once captures the culture of the setting and the mysterious magic realism of the story. It's looking like Hugo and The Artist are going tete-a-tete in many categories (or so their disproportionate lead in the nomination tally suggests), so I could see Shore coming in second here, but probably by a wide margin. Hugo's visuals are more of a talking point than its aural elements.
Finally, the music branch usually finds room for at least one score that values subtlety, and this year's beneficiary is Alberto Iglesias' subdued, moody compositions for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - a fine selection indeed. It's unfortunate that his is the only craft nomination the terrifically made film could secure, but something's better than nothing. He's probably bringing up the rear in this race, because voters like their music to be memorable. Iglesias' music does more to serve his film as a whole by staying firmly in the background.
Will win: The Artist
Runner-up: Hugo
Should win: War Horse
Should've been nominated: Drive
