Best original score

[James]

LOL, Thomas Newman for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel may be a dark horse candidate.

I hadn't considered that. But there's a good possibility. The score is pretty good too.

I also think we shouldn't rule out Snow White and the Huntsman, James Newton Howard has gotten plenty of surprise nominations in this category.

Other than that I think this category is impossible to predict, because some year's its extremely predictable and others you wouldn't have expected any of the nominees.

I know I'll change my mind before the Oscars, but the safe line-up:
Anna Karenina
Argo
Lincoln
Life of Pi
Zero Dark Thirty

I mean I could see all of them missing except Lincoln. And I do think Argo is more likely to be here than Zero Dark Thirty.

[guany]

Zero Dark Thirty has to get nominated here. OMG.

[skgai]

FYI, Moonrise Kingdom is not eligible (http://www.oscars.org/press/pressrel.../20121210.html). Neither is Les Miserables or Silver Linings Playbook. I'd be shocked if Lincoln, Anna Karenina, Beasts of the Southern Wild and The Hobbit aren't nominated. They all seem like locks to me. That fifth spot could go anywhere. Usually that tends to go to a moody, dark movie with a minimalist score or an Alberto Iglesias score. Since Iglesias doesn't have one this year I bet it will be Zero Dark Thirty and Desplat. If the Academy nominated a traditional big score that should go to John Carter, but considering the movie sucked I doubt many members heard it. I'm hesitant with Cloud Atlas because they would be first time nominees and this branch rarely nominates first time nominees. Dark Knight Rises has no shot if they weren't going to nominate the other two. Aside from my personal tastes and Argo and Flight I can't see any other films getting in.

[Atonenent.]

FYI, Moonrise Kingdom is not eligible (http://www.oscars.org/press/pressrel.../20121210.html). Neither is Les Miserables or Silver Linings Playbook.

People were actually surprised by that? MK has a whole bunch of pre-existing music, and Les Miserables, well...

[Zuranthium]

I'd be shocked if Lincoln, Anna Karenina, Beasts of the Southern Wild and The Hobbit aren't nominated.

Prepare to be double-shocked when nominations come out, then. Beasts has a score by no-name composers and it is very simplistic. The main theme to the score works extremely well for some people, but this isn't what the branch tends to nominate. It's pretty much only Best Picture frontrunners that get nominated for symphonically simplistic and/or minimalistic work. As for The Hobbit, it has too much of a been-there, done-that feeling to it.

ZD30 could still miss the cut, but I'm confident in all of Lincoln / Anna Karenina / Argo / Life of Pi being nominated. If ZD30 does miss the cut, I feel like it would be to Cloud Atlas. It's a more complex work and part of the film being about composing helps it.

[HollyG]

01. Anna Karenina
02. Argo
03. Lincoln
04. Life of Pi
05. Zero Dark Thirty

[Jali]

Academy love to reward newcomers, so I am preparing myself to see Mychael Danna winning the Oscar.

[Zuranthium]

Academy love to reward newcomers, so I am preparing myself to see Mychael Danna winning the Oscar.

They don't love rewarding newcomers, it's just that most people enjoy music differently than the music branch does. That branch is very haughty about adhering to certain types of composition, so whenever they finally let new people in, it tends to be for work which has caught wide attention (and thus it wins, because the whole Academy gets to vote and not just the music branch).

I do think Life of Pi is winning this.

[Eternal]

I think Williams is winning.

[walkabout]

I think, if nominated (and I believe it will) Cloud Atlas can actually win this.
The music is beautiful and is also a dramatic part in the story. So I believe they'll nominate it. The win is certainly possible after that.
Remember The Red Violin which have won against American Beauty, The Cider House Rules and The Talented Mr. Ripley.

[moviewatcher]

I think, if nominated (and I believe it will) Cloud Atlas can actually win this.
The music is beautiful and is also a dramatic part in the story. So I believe they'll nominate it. The win is certainly possible after that.
Remember The Red Violin which have won against American Beauty, The Cider House Rules and The Talented Mr. Ripley.

[erikdean]

Prepare to be double-shocked when nominations come out, then. Beasts has a score by no-name composers and it is very simplistic. The main theme to the score works extremely well for some people, but this isn't what the branch tends to nominate. It's pretty much only Best Picture frontrunners that get nominated for symphonically simplistic and/or minimalistic work. As for The Hobbit, it has too much of a been-there, done-that feeling to it.

ZD30 could still miss the cut, but I'm confident in all of Lincoln / Anna Karenina / Argo / Life of Pi being nominated. If ZD30 does miss the cut, I feel like it would be to Cloud Atlas. It's a more complex work and part of the film being about composing helps it.

One of Beasts' composers is also the director/writer of the film and I would hardly call the score simplistic or minimalist, quite the opposite. It's rich and full and builds to climaxes and is as much a part of the emotion of the film as anything that's onscreen.

I do think this is a place that Cloud Atlas could do well though, I agree with you there.

[Addison de Witt]

After watching ZDT, I think Alexander Desplat is getting his first Oscar this year with either Argo or ZDT and I expect a double nomination for him this year.
So:
Argo
ZDT
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Anna Karenina (weakest link, imo)
Alt: Beasts of the Southern Wild.

[Zuranthium]

One of Beasts' composers is also the director/writer of the film and I would hardly call the score simplistic or minimalist, quite the opposite. It's rich and full and builds to climaxes and is as much a part of the emotion of the film as anything that's onscreen.

The writer/director also being a composer of the score actually just hurts the chances of it being nominated even more. The music branch feels threatened because they look down upon someone who thinks they can do this job instead of hiring "a real professional". Combine that with both of the composers not having an extensive composition history and, yeah, there's already a huge knock against the chance of a nomination. They pretty much never nominate a film for Best Score unless the composer has a body of work behind them.

The score to the film is definitely not minimalistic, but it is simplistic symphonically. It's not the classical usage of instruments they consider "proper".

[Critix]

Is it me or does it seem like such a weak year for the category? Beasts easily tops my list.

[Atonenent.]

1. Lincoln
2. Life of Pi
3. Argo
4. Anna Karenina
5. The Master

6. Cloud Atlas
7. Zero Dark Thirty
8. Beasts of the Southern Wild
9. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
10. The Impossible

I feel like apart from the top two, this is pretty wide open, and due for some surprises. Hopefully not both of Desplat's boring stock scores.

[crazyfists3600]

I do think Life of Pi is winning this.

It was the best part of the film, outside of the visuals, so I'd be fine with this.

Although, I still think Jackman should take this but sadly he doesn't even have a shot at a nomination

[Addison de Witt]

1. Lincoln
2. Life of Pi
3. Argo
4. Anna Karenina
5. The Master

6. Cloud Atlas
7. Zero Dark Thirty
8. Beasts of the Southern Wild
9. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
10. The Impossible

I feel like apart from the top two, this is pretty wide open, and due for some surprises. Hopefully not both of Desplat's boring stock scores.

Zero Dark Thirty is an amazing score and is way more likely than The Master. Johnny Greenwood didn't even get nominated with the more acclaimed TWBB, who was also a Best Picture nominee when there were only 5 nominees.

[guany]

Zero Dark Thirty is an amazing score and is way more likely than The Master. Johnny Greenwood didn't even get nominated with the more acclaimed TWBB, who was also a Best Picture nominee when there were only 5 nominees.

TWBB was ineligible.

[cscin4d]

6 of the last 8 years the film which has won this category has not won BP
Of those 6
3 were BP noms with no wins in any other category and likely this win was a throw the film a bone win since it looked unlikely to win anywhere else(Finding Neverland,Atonement,Babel)
2 were the likely runner ups for BP (BBM,TSN)
And the other was Up which won no other category besides Animated Feature

If Argo wins BP Williams will likely win Score,If Lincoln wins BP Desplat wins score


As for the noms I think Argo,Lincoln,Life Of Pi and Anna Karenina are the 4 best bets the 5th nom could be tons of stuff