As The Academy pulls together to whittle down the massive list of movies, individual actors and soundtracks vying for top honors at the 89th Oscars ceremony, we now have word of the original scores eligible for this year’s Best Original Score Oscar and as always, there are a few notable absentees.
While The Little Prince, La La Land and Hell or High Water find themselves among the candidates, three original scores – Arrival, Silence and Manchester By the Sea – have been outright disqualified by the organization. Why, you ask? The Academy’s strict guidelines state that a score “shall not be eligible if it has been diluted by the use of pre-existing music, or it has been diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs or any music not composed specifically for the film by the submitting composer.”
That rules out Johann Johannsson’s frankly inspired work on Arrival, due to the use of Max Richter’s sombre “On the Nature of Daylight,” a piece of music that also featured in Will Ferrell’s Stranger Than Fiction and Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese’s psychological thriller. And though it’s disappointing to hear that Johannsson’s unsettling original score will be shunned altogether for its use of pre-existing music – ditto for Manchester by the Sea (scored by Lesley Barber) along with Kim Allen Kluge and Kathryn Kluge’s compositions for Silence – it does open up the field for Rogue One, Jackie and The BFG, which are still in the running for this year’s Best Original Score accolade.
Tell us, what are your thoughts on The Academy’s ruling that Arrival, Silence and Manchester By the Sea will be out of contention? Drop your reactions below and expect the full, comprehensive list of Oscar nominations to be announced on January 24, 2017.
