Thursday Movie Picks: Best Original Score & Best Original Song (Oscar Winners Edition)

 

For the 35th week of 2021 as part of Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. We return to the subject of Oscar winners in the categories for Best Original Score and Best Original Song. Music always drive a film and it’s often an original piece as it would help define a film. Here are my three picks in these respective categories:

Best Original Score

1. Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne, and Cong Su-The Last Emperor



Bernardo Bertolucci’s Oscar award-winning bio-pic on Emperor Puyi remains an astonishing achievement in its study of a boy who grows up in a world where he has no power as he becomes China’s emperor only to be imprisoned in his own palace and then become a pawn for the Japanese government. The film’s music score that is largely a collaboration between Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (who also has an acting role in the film) and David Byrne of Talking Heads where the former did more classically-based pieces and Byrne doing the more Chinese-based pieces with contributions from Cong Su. It is an incredible score piece that allow two men in the world of art rock and avant-garde music create something play into the dramatic journey of Puyi.

2. Gustavo Santaolalla-Brokeback Mountain



From Ang Lee’s gay-western drama is score by the Argentine composer who provides a mixture of folk, country, and lush orchestration that play into the relationship of two men who meet during summer grazing as they would fall for one another. Gustavo Santaolalla’s score is just understated in its presentation and never goes for any kind of bombast in favor of atmosphere. It is a music score that isn’t just iconic and memorable as it adds to the film’s monumental achievement.

3. Ennio Morricone-The Hateful Eight



There is no question the Maestro was one of the greatest music composers that ever lived as his collaborations with Sergio Leone and Pier Paolo Pasolini remain legendary yet the man had never won an Oscar prior to this film other than a honorary Oscar awarded to him by Clint Eastwood. Yet, the Maestro finally got that win and in Quentin Tarantino’s snowy western about eight people stuck inside a cabin during a snowstorm where all hell breaks loose. Morricone’s score definitely play into the suspense and tension that looms while maintaining that sense of unease that looms throughout as each note that Morricone creates through all of the instruments is like a character in the film and it is proof in why he’s the best.

Best Original Song

1. Take My Breath Away lyrics by Tom Whitlock, music by Giorgio Moroder, and performed by Berlin-Top Gun



Giorgio Moroder is a pioneer in the world of electronic music and production as he doesn’t get enough for what he’s done despite the many hits he’s created in the world of pop and electro-pop with acts like Donna Summers, Irene Cara, David Bowie, Sparks, Blondie, Japan, and more recently Daft Punk. Moroder’s work in films has also made him influential as his work in Tony Scott’s 1986 naval-pilot blockbuster doesn’t just feature memorable themes that Moroder creates but also a love ballad that is one of his best creations with help from lyricist Tom Whitlock as it would be performed by the Los Angeles synth-pop group Berlin as it is one of these defining love ballads of the 80s that still holds up.

2. Things Have Changed written and performed by Bob Dylan-Wonder Boys



Bob Dylan in his own right is a legend who is someone that didn’t need any awards yet accolades started to come in during the late 90s and early 2000s as he would surprisingly pick up his only Oscar so far in a song for Curtis Hanson’s 2000 film that also featured other songs by Dylan. Yet, the song that Dylan created is one that is expected from him in terms of his humor as it play into the many crises that Michael Douglas’ character endures as he befriends a troubled student who would inspire him to deal with his own personal troubles such as finishing a second novel and his affair with the chancellor’s wife who is pregnant with their child. Dylan’s song is a testament to aging and life itself as it is an example of why he’s so awesome.

3. It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp written and performed by Frayser Boy, Juicy J, and DJ Paul as Three-6 Mafia-Hustle & Flow



The second song from the world of hip-hop to win an Oscar for Best Original Song with Eminem being the first three years earlier with Lose Yourself from another Curtis Hanson film in 8 Mile. The song for Craig Brewer’s film about a pimp/hustler who decides to leave the game to try his hand in being a rapper where he wants to rap about his own struggles in the game of pimping. The song itself play up into all of that as its music adds to the film’s Southern location and feel where it is not afraid to be dirty and unforgiving but also with a pop sensibility that makes it appealing. It is the song that also featured one of the greatest moments in the Oscars when the group were announced as the winners.



© thevoid99 2021