Oscar 2010 Predictions: Original Score

Definitely one of the most competitive competitions this year is for Original Score, and even though this should be a two horse race, somehow it's been made into something more by The King's Speech. I'm not going to lie due to my affinity towards Alexandre Desplat, because The King's Speech is the least deserving score on this slate. I take into account 127 Hours, whose sole melody I remember "Lovely Day" by Bill Withers. Desplat's work on the film boiled down to the simple suites that he's been doing for year, and it was nowhere near as expansive and emotional as his work on Deathly Hallows: Part 1, nor anywhere close to the originality he brought to The Ghost Writer. I absolutely adore Desplat's work, which is the main reason I acknowledged him as the greatest contributor of 2010. He deserves to receive recognition, but not this year, and not for this score. He's got better work on the horizon, most notably Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and The Tree of Life.

How to Train Your Dragon was John Powell's greatest achievement in years, weaving so many memorable themes that equal the works of John Williams in his heyday. That being said, he's not going to take the gold with this particular work. The two scores in this race with the greatest chance at victory utilized the electronic in a fascinating way. My personal pick is quite obviously Inception, which is Hans Zimmer's most original score in years. Nobody else could have done it like him. The other is Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' work on The Social Network. Whoever has griped at the score not expanding the feel of the film should shut it. They're only pissed that TRON Legacy didn't get in, and while I appreciate Daft Punk's work, I didn't realize until just recently how similar their score is to the score for The Dark Knight. Getting back to Reznor and Ross, their score defined our generation in a way that the film came just short of, not that they were aiming at capturing that. The Golden Globe win in favor of The Social Network raised the stakes of this particular race, and it'll be interesting to see what goes down later this month.

1. Inception
2. The Social Network
3. How to Train Your Dragon
4. 127 Hours
5. The King's Speech

Will Win: The Social Network
Should Win: Inception
Potential Upset: The King's Speech
Should Have Been Nominated: The Ghost Writer