Thomas Newman, Michael Giacchino Lead Oscar Score Contenders
John Williams, Trent Reznor also in the running; acclaimed score for "Drive" did not qualify
Steve Pond | December 22, 2011 @ 6:11 PM
Thomas Newman and Michael Giacchino must be two of the busiest people in Hollywood, if one is to judge by the list of musical scores that have qualified for the 84th Academy Awards.
Both composers had four entries on the list of 97 qualifying scores. Newman wrote the music for "The Adjustment Bureau," "The Debt," "The Help" and "The Iron Lady," while Giacchino handled the chores on "Cars 2," "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol," "Monte Carlo" and "Super 8."
Notably missing from the list: Cliff Martinez's score for "Drive," which was recently named the year's second-best by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.
A spokesperson for the film said the score was indeed submitted to the Academy, but was disqualified by the music branch. Martinez wrote about 45 minutes of original music, which is used throughout the film alongside a number of '80s-style synth-pop songs.
The score to "The Muppets" was also missing (the branch frowns on scores from films that include too many songs), as was Howard Shore's well-regarded score to "A Dangerous Method" and Alexandre Desplat's for "A Better Life."
Shore opted not to submit his "Dangerous Method" score, because much of it was based on Richard Wagner's "Siegfried Idyll." Another score not eligible because of the extensive use of pre-existing music was Desplat's for "The Tree of Life."
Despite the ineligibility of "Tree of Life" and "A Better Life," Desplat still had multiple entries on the list. Other composers who did the same include Danny Elfman, Alberto Iglesias, Mark Isham and John Williams.
Composer Philip Glass is in the running with "Rebirth," while Tom Rowlands from the Chemical Brothers qualified for "Hanna," which won the top prize from the L.A. critics.
Rock 'n' rollers whose scores are eligible include Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood for "We Need to Talk About Kevin" and Sigur Ros' Jon Thor Birgisson (aka Jonsi) for "We Bought a Zoo."
Likely frontrunners include Ludovic Bource for "The Artist," Shore for "Hugo," Williams for "The Adventures of Tintin" and "War Horse," Desplat for "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" and last year's winners, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (AMPAS photo above), for "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."
The prolific composer Hans Zimmer, who will serve as the one of the Oscar show's music consultants this year, opted not to enter any of his scores.
The qualifying films and composers:
"The Adjustment Bureau," Thomas Newman, composer
"The Adventures of Tintin," John Williams, composer
"African Cats," Nicholas Hooper, composer
"Albert Nobbs," Brian Byrne, composer
"Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked," Mark Mothersbaugh, composer
"Anonymous," Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser, composers
"Another Earth," Phil Mossman and Will Bates, composers
"Answers to Nothing," Craig Richey, composer
"Arthur Christmas," Harry Gregson-Williams, composer
"The Artist," Ludovic Bource, composer
"@urFRENZ," Lisbeth Scott, composer
"Atlas Shrugged Part 1," Elia Cmiral, composer
"Battle: Los Angeles," Brian Tyler, composer
"Beastly," Marcelo Zarvos, composer
"The Big Year," Theodore Shapiro, composer
"Captain America: The First Avenger," Alan Silvestri, composer
"Cars 2," Michael Giacchino, composer
"Cedar Rapids," Christophe Beck, composer
"Conan the Barbarian," Tyler Bates, composer
"The Conspirator," Mark Isham, composer
"Contagion," Cliff Martinez, composer
"Coriolanus," Ilan Eshkeri, composer
"DAM999," Ousepachan, composer
"The Darkest Hour," Tyler Bates, composer
"The Debt," Thomas Newman, composer
"Dolphin Tale," Mark Isham, composer
"Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, composer
"Dream House," John Debney, composer
"The Eagle," Atli Orvarsson, composer
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," Alexandre Desplat, composer
"Fast Five," Brian Tyler, composer
"The First Grader," Alex Heffes, composer
"The Flowers of War," Qigang Chen, composer
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, composers
"The Greatest Miracle," Mark McKenzie, composer
"Green Lantern," James Newton Howard, composer
"Hanna," Tom Rowlands, composer
"Happy Feet Two," John Powell, composer
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," Alexandre Desplat, composer
"The Help," Thomas Newman, composer
"Hop," Christopher Lennertz, composer
"Hugo," Howard Shore, composer
"I Don't Know How She Does It," Aaron Zigman, composer
"The Ides of March," Alexandre Desplat, composer
"Immortals," Trevor Morris, composer
"In Search of God," Rupam Sarmah, composer
"In the Land of Blood and Honey," Gabriel Yared, composer
"In Time," Craig Armstrong, composer
"Insidious," Joseph Bishara, composer
"The Iron Lady," Thomas Newman, composer
"J Edgar," Clint Eastwood, composer
"Jane Eyre," Dario Marianelli, composer
"The Lady," Eric Serra, composer
"Like Crazy," Dustin O'Halloran, composer
"Margaret," Nico Muhly, composer
"Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol," Michael Giacchino, composer
"Mr Popper's Penguins," Rolfe Kent, composer
"Moneyball," Mychael Danna, composer
"Monte Carlo," Michael Giacchino, composer
"New Year's Eve," John Debney, composer
"Norman," Andrew Bird, composer
"One Day," Rachel Portman, composer
"Puss in Boots," Henry Jackman, composer
"Rampart," Dickon Hinchliffe, composer
"Real Steel," Danny Elfman, composer
"Rebirth," Philip Glass, composer
"Red Riding Hood," Alex Heffes and Brian Reitzell, composers
"Restless," Danny Elfman, composer
"Rio," John Powell, composer
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes," Patrick Doyle, composer
"The Rite," Alex Heffes, composer
"The Rum Diary," Christopher Young, composer
"Sanctum," David Hirschfelder, composer
"Sarah's Key," Max Richter, composer
"Senna," Antonio Pinto, composer
"Shame," Harry Escott, composer
"The Skin I Live In," Alberto Iglesias, composer
"The Smurfs," Heitor Pereira, composer
"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan," Rachel Portman, composer
"Super 8," Michael Giacchino, composer
"Take Shelter," David Wingo, composer
"The Thing," Marco Beltrami, composer
"Thor," Patrick Doyle, composer
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Alberto Iglesias, composer
"Tower Heist," Christophe Beck, composer
"W.E.," Abel Korzeniowski, composer
"War Horse," John Williams, composer
"Warrior," Mark Isham, composer
"Water for Elephants," James Newton Howard, composer
"The Way," Tyler Bates, composer
"We Bought a Zoo," Jon Thor Birgisson, composer
"We Need to Talk about Kevin," Jonny Greenwood, composer
"Win Win," Lyle Workman, composer
"Winnie the Pooh," Henry Jackman, composer
"X-Men: First Class," Henry Jackman, composer
"Young Adult," Rolfe Kent, composer
"Your Highness," Steve Jablonsky, composer