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.
My options for the best Original Score of the year:
The Adventures of Tintin (John Williams):
Busy orchestrations with lots of jazzy ornaments mixed in for distinction, actually making it a closer cousin of Williams' Catch Me If You Can than Indiana Jones, but still with loads of exciting fast-paced compositions.
The Artist (Ludovic Bource):
Hard not to enjoy the romantic swells and antiquated whimsy of Bource's music. He has to become the voice of the entire picture, and he takes up the challenge with aplomb.
Hanna (The Chemical Brothers):
The hypnotic electronic rhythms are a key aural element to this stylized actioner, lending a unique sonic flavour to each scene in which it is used. Another notch on the belt of progressive scoring.
The Ides of March (Alexandre Desplat):
Quietly dissonant background strings masked by more obvious stoccatic beats, kinda like how the drama of dirty campaign managing is masked by the frontdrop posters, platforms, and politics.
War Horse (John Williams):
A sweeping, old school Williams score with melodious themes and robust arrangements. It basically comes down to whether or not you like old school Williams scores, and I do. I really do.
Just missed: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Hugo, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Silence is golden in Michel Hazanavicius' quaint silent cinema homage The Artist. The story is a somewhat slight but archetypal one about the screen stars of Hollywood's silent era falling into obsolescence and obscurity at the hands of the talkies. The novelty of a (mostly) silent film in 2011 may seem a gimmick, but it's hard not to let yourself be charmed by it.
We first meet George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) at the premiere of another one of his melodramatic hits, where the showman reveling in the noiseless applause of his adoring fans. He's blissfully unaware of the impending cacophony that will threaten not only his livelihood but the way of the world as he knows it, but not before he sends bright-eyed ingenue Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) on her own trajectory to fame and acclaim in the brave new world of talking pictures.
