From ‘All is Lost’ to ‘The Wolverine,’ 114 films vying for the Best Original Score Oscar

The Academy has just announced the 114 films eligible for this year’s Best Original Score Oscar, and all the usual suspects are present. That includes the five films nominated this morning in the category at the Golden Globes: Hans Zimmer for “12 Years a Slave,” Steven Price for “Gravity,” John Williams for “The Book Thief,” Alex Ebert for “All is Lost” and Alex Heffes for “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.” At least the first three of those are widely predicted to score Oscar nominations too.

Most of the high-profile omissions were already known to us: though “Inside Llewyn Davis” has won several music awards from the critics, it was never going to be eligible give that the soundtrack is made up mostly of pre-existing songs. Mark Orton has received much praise for his twangy contributions to “Nebrasks,” but it’s been established that they aren’t original to the film. “Frozen” isn’t competing her either: the Academy didn’t used to mind handing this award to song-dominated Disney films, but they seem to be ruled out these days. Interestingly, Craig Armstrong’s Grammy-nominated score for “The Great Gatsby” is eligible; I somehow expected the Academy to disqualify it.

Also missing is two-time winner Gustavo Santaolalla for “August: Osage County,” Steve Jablonsky for “Lone Survivor” (though he makes the list for three other films), former winner Rachel Portman for “Diana” (no great loss there) and Tindersticks genius Dickon Hinchliffe for “Out of the Furnace” (he’s listed instead for “At Any Price”). I’m not surprised not to see Shane Carruth for his ingenious score for “Upstream Color” — almost inseparable from its sound design — but he’d be on my list.

The most frequently listed composer is Christophe Beck, who makes the list for four entries: “The Hangover Part III,” “The Internship,” “R.I.P.D.” and “Runner Runner.” Something tells me he won’t be nominated for any of them. Zimmer, meanwhile, is in a better position, with three possibilities: in addition to “12 Years a Slave,” he’s longlisted for “Rush” and “Man of Steel.” (He’s not, however, in the mix for “The Lone Ranger,” one of my favorite scores of the year — I guess the interpolation of the William Tell Overture was the sticking point there.)

Looking at this list, the five scores I’d most like to see recognized are: Daniel Hart’s inventively organic, handclap-filled “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” Win Butler and Owen Pallett’s rightly lauded work on “Her,” Ilan Eshkeri’s spare, chilling strings on “The Invisible Woman,” Rick Smith’s chattering electronica in “Trance” and Zimmer’s aforementioned (but divisive) work on “12 Years a Slave.” (Or perhaps Clint Mansell for “Stoker” — I’ve never been very good at counting to five.) 

Check out the full list on the next page and tell us who you’re rooting for.

“Admission,” Stephen Trask, composer
“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” Daniel Hart, composer
“All Is Lost,” Alex Ebert, composer
“Alone Yet Not Alone,” William Ross, composer
“The Armstrong Lie,” David Kahne, composer
“Arthur Newman,” Nick Urata, composer
“At Any Price,” Dickon Hinchliffe, composer
“Austenland,” Ilan Eshkeri, composer
“Before Midnight,” Graham Reynolds, composer
“The Best Man Holiday,” Stanley Clarke, composer
“The Book Thief,” John Williams, composer
“The Butterfly’s Dream,” Rahman Altin, composer
“The Call,” John Debney, composer
“Captain Phillips,” Henry Jackman, composer
“Closed Circuit,” Joby Talbot, composer
“The Company You Keep,” Cliff Martinez, composer
“The Conjuring,” Joseph Bishara, composer
“Copperhead,” Laurent Eyquem, composer
“The Counselor,” Daniel Pemberton, composer
“The Croods,” Alan Silvestri, composer
“Despicable Me 2,” Heitor Pereira, composer
“Elysium,” Ryan Amon, composer
“Ender’s Game,” Steve Jablonsky, composer
“Enough Said,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer
“Epic,” Danny Elfman, composer
“Ernest & Celestine,” Vincent Courtois, composer
“Escape from Planet Earth,” Aaron Zigman, composer
“Escape from Tomorrow,” Abel Korzeniowski, composer
“Evil Dead,” Roque Baños, composer
“47 Ronin,” Ilan Eshkeri, composer
“42,” Mark Isham, composer
“Free Birds,” Dominic Lewis, composer
“Free China: The Courage to Believe,” Tony Chen, composer
“Fruitvale Station,” Ludwig Goransson, composer
“G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” Henry Jackman, composer
“Gangster Squad,” Steve Jablonsky, composer
“Gravity,” Steven Price, composer
“The Great Gatsby,” Craig Armstrong, composer
“The Hangover Part III,” Christophe Beck, composer
“Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters,” Atli Örvarsson, composer
“Haute Cuisine,” Gabriel Yared, composer
“Her,” William Butler and Owen Pallett, composers
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” Howard Shore, composer
“Hollywood Seagull,” Evgeny Shchukin, composer
“Hours,” Benjamin Wallfisch, composer
“How Sweet It Is,” Matt Dahan, composer
“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” James Newton Howard, composer
“Identity Thief,” Christopher Lennertz, composer
“The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,” Lyle Workman, composer
“Insidious: Chapter 2,” Joseph Bishara, composer
“Instructions Not Included,” Carlo Siliotto, composer
“The Internship,” Christophe Beck, composer
“The Invisible Woman,” Ilan Eshkeri, composer
“Iron Man 3,” Brian Tyler, composer
“Jack the Giant Slayer,” John Ottman, composer
“Jobs,” John Debney, composer
“Kamasutra 3D,” Sreejith Edavana and Saachin Raj Chelory, composers
“Labor Day,” Rolfe Kent, composer
“Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” Rodrigo Leão, composer
“Live at the Foxes Den,” Jack Holmes, composer
“Love Is All You Need,” Johan Söderqvist, composer
“Mama,” Fernando Velázquez, composer
“Man of Steel,” Hans Zimmer, composer
“Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” Alex Heffes, composer
“The Missing Picture,” Marc Marder, composer
“Monsters University,” Randy Newman, composer
“The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,” Atli Örvarsson, composer
“Mud,” David Wingo, composer
“Murph: The Protector,” Chris Irwin and Jeff Widenhofer, composers
“Now You See Me,” Brian Tyler, composer
“Oblivion,” Anthony Gonzalez and Joseph Trapanese, composers
“Oldboy,” Roque Baños, composer
“Olympus Has Fallen,” Trevor Morris, composer
“Oz The Great and Powerful,” Danny Elfman, composer
“Pacific Rim,” Ramin Djawadi, composer
“Pain & Gain,” Steve Jablonsky, composer
“Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters,” Andrew Lockington, composer
“Philomena,” Alexandre Desplat, composer
“The Place Beyond the Pines,” Mike Patton, composer
“Planes,” Mark Mancina, composer
“Prisoners,” Jóhann Jóhannsson, composer
“R.I.P.D.,” Christophe Beck, composer
“Reaching for the Moon,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer
“Romeo & Juliet,” Abel Korzeniowski, composer
“Runner Runner,” Christophe Beck, composer
“Rush,” Hans Zimmer, composer
“Safe Haven,” Deborah Lurie, composer
“Salinger,” Lorne Balfe, composer
“Saving Mr. Banks,” Thomas Newman, composer
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” Theodore Shapiro, composer
“Short Term 12,” Joel P. West, composer
“Side Effects,” Thomas Newman, composer
“The Smurfs 2,” Heitor Pereira, composer
“The Spectacular Now,” Rob Simonsen, composer
“Star Trek Into Darkness,” Michael Giacchino, composer
“Stoker,” Clint Mansell, composer
“Thor: The Dark World,” Brian Tyler, composer
“Tim’s Vermeer,” Conrad Pope, composer
“Trance,” Rick Smith, composer
“Turbo,” Henry Jackman, composer
“12 Years a Slave,” Hans Zimmer, composer
“2 Guns,” Clinton Shorter, composer
“The Ultimate Life,” Mark McKenzie, composer
“Unfinished Song,” Laura Rossi, composer
“Wadjda,” Max Richter, composer
“Walking with Dinosaurs,” Paul Leonard-Morgan, composer
“Warm Bodies,” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, composers
“We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks,” Will Bates, composer
“We’re the Millers,” Theodore Shapiro and Ludwig Goransson, composers
“What Maisie Knew,” Nick Urata, composer
“Why We Ride,” Steven Gutheinz, composer
“The Wind Rises,” Joe Hisaishi, composer
“Winnie Mandela,” Laurent Eyquem, composer
“The Wolverine,” Marco Beltrami, composer

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