- Black Panther by Ludwig Göransson
- First Man by Justin Hurwitz
- Isle of Dogs by Alexandre Desplat
- Mary Poppins Returns by Marc Shaiman
- A Quiet Place by Marco Beltrami
ANALYSIS
The 2019 Golden Globes air tonight. As with many larger awards shows the nominees are safe, heavily skewing in favor of the mainstream. While this bias still leaves many good scores, it overlooks many deserving ones as well. For instance, Beltrami’s score is a solid, albeit typical, horror score that is overshadowed by Colin Stetson’s frightening and much more creative work on Hereditary. Similarly, the best and most inventive scores of the year – like Mandy, If Beale Street Could Talk, and Suspiria – are notably absent.
As far as recent blockbuster/superhero scores go, Black Panther represents a high point. Göransson traveled throughout Africa in order to create an authentic African sound. Especially when combined with hip hop elements (such as in Killmonger’s theme), the score is creatively distinct from, and more interesting than, comparable films, while also doing a service to the African roots of the character. Isle of Dogs is similar, with its heavy use of Japanese taiko drumming and sampling of older Japanese pop songs.
Mary Poppins Returns finds itself in a difficult position as it inevitably draws comparisons to the original film, arguably Disney’s best live action film and one of the greatest film musicals of all time. The tracks, both lyrical and incidental, are often whimsical and fun, but have difficulty ascending beyond a surface level aesthetic and miss out on the magic that made the first film so timeless.
Finally, First Man has several strong themes and a immersive, occasionally dreamy atmosphere. At times Hurwitz borrows broad ideas from 2001: A Space Odyssey through the use of classically-inspired ballet and waltz songs, but the homage is slight and results in an even more varied composition. I won’t pretend to be an expert in predicting awards shows winners. With that said, my guess will be that Justin Hurwitz takes home the award for his work on First Man. Not only has it received repeated critical and awards success, it is simply the best score nominated.
RESULT
My prediction was correct and Justin Hurwitz took home the Golden Globe for First Man. Despite this win, however, Hurwitz’s score wasn’t even nominated for an Academy Award, which is quite a surprise. Although the other nominees were relatively well-deserved, there are several nominated scores above which I would have placed it.
