It’s scored for the band led by Jovan Adepo’s character, Sidney, while other cues are scored for a manic 100-piece orchestra, and some even by circus sounds. This consisted of wailing trumpets, screaming saxes, shades of rock ‘n’ roll riffs, and modern house beats. The composer wanted to give “Babylon” a musical universe of its own: a sound that wouldn’t be anachronistic but also a far cry from the quaint jazz of the period. “Babylon” marks the fifth collaboration between composer Hurwitz (“La La Land”) and director Damien Chazelle, hurling viewers into the Wild West days of Hollywood in the late ’20s. If nominated, Williams would be the oldest to hold such an honor, chasing his sixth Oscar at the age of 90. While the score shares time with Mitzi’s piano playing, it is confirmed to be eligible. But the center of the story is Sammy’s strong connection with his free-spirited mother, Mitzi (Michelle Williams), who gave up a promising career as a concert pianist to raise her family the composer’s piano emotionally conveys that bond in the main theme while exploring a range of styles (including ragtime for Sammy’s filmmaking). In channeling Spielberg through alter ego Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle), Williams musically explores all of the themes of suburbia, isolation, dissolution, and passion for movies that have illuminated their work together. Williams has scored all but five of Spielberg’s celebrated films since the director’s 1974 debut, “The Sugarland Express.” But “The Fabelmans” is special for two reasons: It marks Spielberg’s most personal film - and, with Williams’ impending retirement after “Indiana Jones 5,” it’s their last film together after a nearly 50-year collaboration. Hollywood, Music, and the Power of Cinema In 2021, the bar for eligibility in the category was dropped from 60% original music to 35% - this potentially increases the number of eligible scores that rely heavily on pre-existing songs (or needle drops) and source music. Still to come are Oscar winner Justin Hurwitz’s jazzy score for “Babylon” (Paramount), Nicholas Britell’s gripping score for “She Said” (Universal), Abel Korzeniowski’s uplifting score for “Till” (UA), and two-time Oscar winner Alexandre Desplat’s Italian-infused score for Guillermo del Toro’s stop-motion “Pinocchio” (Netflix).

Oscars 2023: Best International Feature Film PredictionsĪdditionally, there are several composers (many winners in previous years) with multiple scores in contention, including Oscar winner Hildur Guðnadóttir (“Joker”) for both “Women Talking” (UA) and “TÁR” (Focus Features), Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for “Empire of Light” (Searchlight) and “Bones & All” (UA), Michael Giacchino for “The Batman” (Warner Bros.) and “Lightyear” (Pixar/Disney) Ludwig Göransson for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Marvel/Disney) and “Turning Red” (Pixar/Disney) and Danny Elfman for “White Noise” (Netflix) and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (Marvel/Disney). The Best True Crime Streaming Now, from 'Unsolved Mysteries' to 'McMillions' to 'The Staircase' 'The Fabelmans' TIFF Premiere Changes the Course of the Best Picture Race

They are joined by the legendary John Williams’ final collaboration with Steven Spielberg on his TIFF-winning, semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans” (Universal) Carter Burwell’s mystical score for Martin McDonagh’s dark bromance “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight) Christopher Spelman’s spare score for James Gray’s semi-autobiographical “Armageddon Time” (Focus Features),Tom Holkenborg’s expansive score for George Miller’s romantic fantasy “Three Thousand Years of Longing” (UA), and Rob Simonsen’s nautical score for Darren Aronofsky’s somber “The Whale” (A24). Among the early frontrunners are Michael Abels’ genre-bending score for Jordan Peele’s flipped-out “Nope” (Universal), Son Lux’s maximalist score for the Daniels’ multiverse action-adventure, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24), and Terence Blanchard’s African-infused score for Gina Prince-Bythewood’s historical epic, “The Woman King” (Sony). In a season marked by movies about showbiz, social change, and superheroics, many of the contending scores experiment with new musical sounds uniting the past and present.

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