[Thor Joachim Haga]

The Oscars short list is here. As usual with what’s hot on the Oscar radar, it’s a list of things I either dislike outright or am largely indifferent to. Few of these will feature anywhere near my own top 10 of the year, with one notable exception:

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH (Simon Franglen)

As I said in the AVATAR thread, a step down from 2 and a big step down from 1. But possible to whittle oneself to about an hour of decent music. But nowhere near a favourite of the year.

BUGONIA (Jerskin Fendrix)

Fendrix’s best score to date, but still not something that will feature high up. I wrote a couple of comments here.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (Laura Karpman)

Meh.

DIANE WARREN: RELENTLESS (Lesley Barber)

Haven’t heard, and have no intention to. Although I did like Barber’s work on MANCHESTER BY THE SEA a few years ago.

F1 (Hans Zimmer)

Some really cool and funky highlights amidst some rather non-descript cues. A few comments here.

FRANKENSTEIN (Alexandre Desplat)

Meh.

HAMNET (Max Richter)

Meh. And I’m a big Richter fan.

HEDDA (Hildur Guðnadóttir)

A little more outrovert than some of her other work, but still rather stale stuff.

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE (Volker Bertelmann)

Loved the film, and the score is at least a BIT more musical than Bertelmann usually is. But still a long way to go to feature in any ‘best of’ list for me.

JAY KELLY (Nicholas Britell)

Meh. Britell has done so much better.

MARTY SUPREME (Daniel Lopatin)

Now here’s a FANTASTIC score that will no doubt feature in my own top 10. Saw the film earlier today, and posted a few comments in the “Do you like synth scores?” thread that I post in all by myself.

NUREMBERG (Brian Tyler)

Nah. He’s too overt and heavyhanded, as he often is with more serious material.

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (Jonny Greenwood)

The film was okay, but not the Second Coming like some made it out to be. I found the score supremely annoying.

SINNERS (Ludwig Göransson)

Meh.

SIRAT (Kangding Ray)

I think I sampled this, but have no memory of it at this time.

TRAIN DREAMS (Bryce Dessner)

Rather boring, but the film looks interesting.

TRON: ARES (Nine Inch Nails)

I’ve whittled this down to an album that is okay, but it’s a long way from Daft Punk in quality. A couple of highlight tracks.

TRUTH AND TREASON (Aaron Zigman)

Haven’t heard it.

WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY (Nathan Johnson)

Meh.

WICKED: FOR GOOD (John Powell & Stephen Schwartz)

No. Just no.