Golden Globe Musings: Best Original Score

Golden Globe nominations for this year will be announced in just a few weeks, so here’s a survey of the contenders and the most likely predictions at this time. Weigh in with your thoughts, and let me know if I’ve left off anything important. A reminder that the Globes are wildly unpredictable and that it is still a bit early to gauge the reception or awards potential of a number of the so-called “contenders” at this point.

Last year’s nominees:
Avatar (James Horner)
The Informant! (Marvin Hamlisch)
A Single Man (Abel Korzeniowski)
Up (Michael Giacchino)
Where the Wild Things Are (Carter Burwell & Karen Orzolek)

This category is hard to predict both because the Globes are irreverent and so many of the scores for later films remain unheard at this point (at least by me). Given the Globes’ fondness for comedy scores, nominated stuff like “Sideways” and “Spanglish” in the past, I’d put Alice in Wonderland (Danny Elfman), How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell) and Toy Story 3 (Randy Newman) high on the list. Dramatically speaking, I’ve already heard excellent scores for Inception (Hans Zimmer), Never Let Me Go (Rachel Portman), and The Ghost Writer (Alexandre Desplat). Desplat also scored The King’s Speech, which could be a strong contender. Additionally, 127 Hours (A.R. Rahman) and The Way Back (Burker Von Dallwitz) are right up the Globes’ alley. Another wild card to watch out for: Clint Eastwood, who composed the score for Hereafter and has been nominated three times in this category.

Predicted nominees:
Alice in Wonderland
The Ghost Writer
Inception
Never Let Me Go
The Way Back