The BAFTA Film Award nominations have been announced and we, despite begin a music publication, still have at least one category that we can chime in on: Original Music in 2015. The nominees aren't too surprising (unlike the Adapted Screenplay category, where any were surprised to see Paddington nominated alongside Gone Girl and American Sniper) although it's noteworthy that acclaimed Radiohead member and Brit Johnny Greenwood didn't get a nod for his work on Inherent Vice (that is, if you believe award ceremonies are just popularity contests).
Music Times takes aim at what film will most likely take home the award, based strictly on politics and hunches (all of the films feature sublime soundtracks). We can't see the official odds in the UK yet as our American IP address prevents us from accessing betting sites across the pond).
This year's nominees are: The Grand Budapest Hotel (Alexandre Desplat), The Theory of Everything (Jóhann Jóhannsson), Under The Skin (Mica Levi), Birdman (Antonio Sanchez) and Interstellar (Hans Zimmer). From least to most likely to win:
05) Birdman by Antonio Sánchez
Antonio Sánchez has two things going for him when it comes to the Original Music nominations: A) He's a popular musician outside of composing (which is to say, he plays the drums) and modern panels are eager to promote more updated scores, and B) Birdman is unlikely to take home the other prizes it's currently courting (Michael Keaton, alas, will lose to Everything's Eddie Redmayne for Leading Actor). The problem: Incorporating previously existing compositions in a film is a surefire way worry judges about the balance or new versus original, and Birdman has plenty, from John Adams to Joseph Ravel. This fact derailed Greenwood's There Will Be Blood's award chances.
04) The Grand Budapest Hotel by Alexandre Desplat
Our rationale here is entirely based on trends in award show voting: The powers that be don't like repeating winners when it comes to composers (unlike, say, acting...where Daniel Day-Lewis and Meryl Streep drown in trophies). The BAFTA Film Awards have only given one composer multiple awards since the turn of the millennium—Gustavo Santaolalla in 2004/'06—while Howard Shore and Santaolalla are the only two with two wins at the Oscars in the last 15 years. Desplat is a frequent nominee at the BAFTAs but he won relatively recently, in 2010 for The King's Speech. Using this same logic, Desplat should stand a good chance at the Academy Awards if he gets a nomination—he's never won there.
03) Interstellar by Hans Zimmer
Interstellar is simply in the wrong place, or more likely at the wrong time. Last year's winner for Original Music was Steven Price's score for Gravity, an artistic film that spends most of its time in space, focused specifically on its male/female astronaut duo. Interstellar is an artistic film that spends most of its time in space, focused specifically on its male/female astronaut duo. Are the plots remotely similar? Of course not. Will such a petty fact scare the committee from giving the prize to Zimmer and Interstellar strictly out of fear that they'll be painted as lovers of space movie? Almost assuredly.
02) The Theory of Everything by Jóhann Jóhannsson
Electronic elements in film scores has been a rising trend...consider the aforementioned Gravity score and the 2011 Oscar winner The Social Network from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Icelandic favorite Jóhann Jóhannsson fills this niche nicely and his work for The Theory of Everything follows similar themes as Gravity, avoiding density and grandiose gestures whenever possible. We took this for no. 2 based entirely on the belief that Redmayne will take home the prize for Leading Actor, and the film may even have a chance at Adapted Screenplay (the equivalent to Best Film). When in doubt bet against films that have already won.
01) Under The Skin by Mica Levi
Mica Levi, better known as Micachu from her role in Micachu & The Shapes, is the kind of experimental musician that critics love to fawn over. She's also the only nominee from the UK (born in Surrey), which can't hurt her chances in front of a hometown audience. The most telling factor: momentum. Awards season is a time when winners tend to repeat, and Levi has already taken Best Composer at the European Film Awards and she tied with Greenwood at the Los Angeles Film Critics Awards in the States (and he won't be there to play spoiler in London).
