But the Academy Awards are my Super Bowl, my World Series, my Tony Awards. Just as silly and pointless, but a powerful marketing tool in our own niche world of film music. With a global audience of 37.6 million for the 2010 awards, that’s a sizable group of people who are exposed to film music, at least for three brief minutes. If they’re smart, they take the Oscars all in the spirit of good, clean fun that it is. And maybe, just maybe, they’ll be inspired to explore this wonderful world of film music, even if they don’t agree with the Academy’s choices. That is, if they didn’t go to the bathroom during that segment…

The Oscars were my entry into film music. Perhaps these 2011 nominees will spark a lifelong love in some young 14-year-old…

BEST SONG

• “Man or Muppet” from THE MUPPETS—Bret McKenzie
• “Real In Rio” from RIO—Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett

After all these years and the many idiosyncracies of the AMPAS Music Branch, I didn’t think it was possible for me to be shocked anymore. But  when I first read the Song category on Oscar.com, I couldn’t believe it. I thought there had to be a mistake. Only TWO nominees?! I quickly went to other sites to verify that I wasn’t seeing things. Yup, only two nominees. In the numerous rule changes over the last few years, they’d always threatened that it could be as few as two and as many as the normal five nominees in the category. I just never thought I’d see two, much less missing the predicted winner (the rousing production number “Life’s a Happy Song” from THE MUPPETS).

Missing are expected nominees like the beautiful ballad “Lay Your Head Down” from ALBERT NOBBS and “The Living Proof” from THE HELP, co-written by Thomas Newman and Mary J. Blige. The nominating trend over the past few years, and this year in particular, is sending a clear message to songwriters and filmmakers—If you want a song nominated for an Oscar, it damn well better be part of the film and not a thrown onto the end titles scroll as audiences are leaving the theater.

As for the nominees themselves, “Man or Muppet” is a particularly funny sequence during THE MUPPETS, though it doesn’t strike me as a stand-alone classic. But, hell, neither was Randy Newman’s phone-it-in winner last year from TOY STORY 3.

Then again, RIO is a big, splashy production number in the animated film that starts the film off with a colorful bang of Brazilian pop, with a melody that becomes integral to John Powell’s score. Having a trio of music powerhouses as songwriters won’t hurt its chances either.

Prediction: “Real In Rio,” strictly because of its bigger box office and the chance to give Sergio Mendes an Oscar. (Hey, it worked with Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Melissa Ethridge, and many others.)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN—John Williams
• THE ARTIST—Ludovic Bource
• HUGO—Howard Shore
• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY—Alberto Iglesias
• WAR HORSE—John Williams

Here, we see a return to the heyday of John Williams double nominations. While I wasn’t a particular fan of TINTIN, the score or especially the film (which didn’t even get a nomination for Best Animated Film), I won’t deny any love shown for Williams (though TINTIN takes a spot that rightfully should have gone to Alexandre Desplat). Williams’ action writing in TINTIN is, as always, colorful and superb, and WAR HORSE is one of his most mature works. In most years, the two nominations cancel each other out and they will do so again this year. (The only time Williams has won during a double nominations year was in 1977 for STAR WARS, when he was also nominated for CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. I don’t count the E.T. win as a double nomination, since the second nomination came in the Best Song category for “If We Were In Love” from the long-forgotten YES, GIORGIO.) With all the deserved love being shown THE ARTIST, just take these 46th and 47th nominations as equally deserved recognition for the Maestro.

HUGO goes into the awards with the most nominations of any film (11, as opposed to THE ARTIST’s 10). Martin Scorcese’s loving shout out for film preservation waltzes beautifully onscreen thanks in no small part to Howard Shore’s superb score. A well-deserved nomination that will hopefully remind people that there is more to Shore than just LORD OF THE RINGS.

Alberto Iglesias’ TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY just missed making my Top 10 list, but I’m thrilled that the Music Branch honored his moody, atmosphere score. With echoes of Jerry Goldsmith’s CHINATOWN, it’s a chilly evocation of John Le Carré’s Cold War spy story.

As for THE ARTIST, I’ve been trumpeting Ludovic Bource’s score for months now. I’m running out of adjectives and superlatives to heap on this marvelous work. See it, hear it, and enjoy.

Prediction: The Artist, hands down. Nothing else stands a chance.

What do you think? What are the highlights and snubs of this year’s music nominees?

The five nominees will be voted on from the list below. Check it out and let me know your thoughts and predictions in the comments section.

• THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU, Thomas Newman
• THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN, John Williams
• AFRICAN CATS, Nicholas Hooper
• ALBERT NOBBS, Brian Byrne
• ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: CHIPWRECKED, Mark Mothersbaugh
• ANONYMOUS, Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser
• ANOTHER EARTH, Phil Mossman and Will Bates
• ANSWERS TO NOTHING, Craig Richey
• ARTHUR CHRISTMAS, Harry Gregson-Williams
• THE ARTIST, Ludovic Bource
• @urFRENZ, Lisbeth Scott
• ATLAS SHRUGGED PART 1, Elia Cmiral
• BATTLE: LOS ANGELES, Brian Tyler
• BEASTLY, Marcelo Zarvos
• THE BIG YEAR, Theodore Shapiro
• CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, Alan Silvestri
• CARS 2, Michael Giacchino
• CEDAR RAPIDS, Christophe Beck
• CONAN THE BARBARIAN, Tyler Bates
• THE CONSPIRATOR, Mark Isham
• CONTAGION, Cliff Martinez
• CORIOLANUS, Ilan Eshkeri
• DAM999, Ousepachan
• THE DARKEST HOUR, Tyler Bates
• THE DEBT, Thomas Newman
• DOLPHIN TALE, Mark Isham
• DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
• DREAM HOUSE, John Debney
• THE EAGLE, Atli Orvarsson
• EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE, Alexandre Desplat
• FAST FIVE, Brian Tyler
• THE FIRST GRADER, Alex Heffes
• THE FLOWERS OF WAR, Qigang Chen
• THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
• THE GREATEST MIRACLE, Mark McKenzie
• GREEN LANTERN, James Newton Howard
• HANNA, Tom Rowlands
• HAPPY FEET TWO, John Powell
• HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2, Alexandre Desplat
• THE HELP, Thomas Newman
• HOP, Christopher Lennertz
• HUGO, Howard Shore
• I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT, Aaron Zigman
• THE IDES OF MARCH, Alexandre Desplat
• IMMORTALS, Trevor Morris
• IN SEARCH OF GOD, Rupam Sarmah
• IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY, Gabriel Yared
• IN TIME, Craig Armstrong
• INSIDIOUS, Joseph Bishara
• THE IRON LADY, Thomas Newman
• J. EDGAR, Clint Eastwood
• JANE EYRE, Dario Marianelli
• THE LADY, Eric Serra
• LIKE CRAZY, Dustin O’Halloran
• MARGARET, Nico Muhly
• MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL, Michael Giacchino
• MR. POPPER’S PENGUINS, Rolfe Kent
• MONEYBALL, Mychael Danna
• MONTE CARLO, Michael Giacchino
• NEW YEAR’S EVE, John Debney
• NORMAN, Andrew Bird
• ONE DAY, Rachel Portman
• PUSS IN BOOTS, Henry Jackman
• RAMPART, Dickon Hinchliffe
• REAL STEEL, Danny Elfman
• REBIRTH, Philip Glass
• RED RIDING HOOD, Alex Heffes and Brian Reitzell
• RESTLESS, Danny Elfman
• RIO, John Powell
• RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, Patrick Doyle
• THE RITE, Alex Heffes
• THE RUM DIARY, Christopher Young
• SANCTUM, David Hirschfelder
• SARAH’S KEY, Max Richter
• SENNA, Antonio Pinto
• SHAME, Harry Escott
• THE SKIN I LIVE IN, Alberto Iglesias
• THE SMURFS, Heitor Pereira
• SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN, Rachel Portman
• SUPER 8, Michael Giacchino
• TAKE SHELTER, David Wingo
• THE THING, Marco Beltrami
• THOR, Patrick Doyle
• TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, Alberto Iglesias
• TOWER HEIST, Christophe Beck
• W.E., Abel Korzeniowski
• WAR HORSE, John Williams
• WARRIOR, Mark Isham
• WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, James Newton Howard
• THE WAY, Tyler Bates
• WE BOUGHT A ZOO, Jon Thor Birgisson
• WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, Jonny Greenwood
• WIN WIN, Lyle Workman
• WINNIE THE POOH, Henry Jackman
• X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, Henry Jackman
• YOUNG ADULT, Rolfe Kent
• YOUR HIGHNESS, Steve Jablonsky

As usual, there are a lot of songs and films on this list I have not heard or seen. And an eligibility list is certainly no indication of quality. It just means these 39 songs have passed the Music Branch’s rather ridiculous (and stringent) rules so far. Next, video clips from the songs’ actual spot in their respective films will be shown to the Academy’s Music Branch members in the annual “bake off” to vote for the final nominees.

The same odd rules apply to the voting process. From the official Oscar rulebook: “Nominations will be determined by an averaged point system of voting using 10, 9.5, 9, 8.5, 8, 7.5, 7, 6.5 or 6. Only those songs receiving an average score of 8.25 or more shall normally be eligible for nomination. There may not be more than five nominations. If no song receives an average score of 8.25 or more, there will be no nominees. If only one song achieves that score, it and the song receiving the next highest score shall be the two nominees. If two or more songs (up to five) achieve that score, they shall be the nominees.” Only two songs may be nominated from any given film, so at least one of THE MUPPETS songs will be left out of the three eligible.

My usual complaints about not listing the songwriters on the ballot and in press releases still applies. It does a disservice to the musicians involved. I’m also not a fan of the bake off. The five songs with the highest number of votes should be the nominees. The Music Branch continues to make this so much harder than it needs to be, all to the detriment of their members.

On the plus side, in addition to the songs from CAPTAIN AMERICA and WINNIE THE POOH that I mentioned above, I’m glad to see the songs from ALBERT NOBBS, HUGO and RIO making the list. There are some quality songs on this list. Whether or not they’ll make it to the final round in January remains to be seen.

• “The World I Knew” from AFRICAN CATS
• “Lay Your Head Down” from ALBERT NOBBS
• “Star Spangled Man” from CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER
• “Collision of Worlds” from CARS 2
• “Dakkanaga Dugu Dugu” from DAM999
• “DAM999 Theme Song” from DAM999
• “Mujhe Chod Ke” from DAM999
• “Rainbird” from DIRTY GIRL
• “Keep On Walking” from THE FIRST GRADER
• “Where the River Goes” from FOOTLOOSE
• “Hello Hello” from GNOMEO & JULIET
• “Love Builds a Garden” from GNOMEO & JULIET
• “Bridge of Light” from HAPPY FEET TWO
• “The Mighty Sven” from HAPPY FEET TWO
• “Never Be Daunted” from HAPPYTHANKYOUMOREPLEASE
• “Hell and Back” from HELL AND BACK AGAIN
• “The Living Proof” from THE HELP
• “Coeur Volant” from “HUGO
• “It’s How We Play” from I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT
• “When the Heart Dies” from IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY
• “Ja Nao Estar” from JOSE AND PILAR
• “The Keeper” from MACHINE GUN PREACHER
• “Life’s a Happy Song” from THE MUPPETS
• “Man or Muppet” from THE MUPPETS
• “Pictures in My Head” from THE MUPPETS
• “Summer Song” from THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED
• “Imaginary Friends” from OLIVE
• “Sparkling Day” from ONE DAY
• “Taking You with Me” from OUR IDIOT BROTHER
• “The Greatest Song I Ever Heard” from POM WONDERFUL PRESENTS THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD
• “Hot Wings” from RIO
• “Let Me Take You to Rio” from RIO
• “Real in Rio” from RIO
• “Shelter” from TAKE SHELTER
• “Gathering Stories” from WE BOUGHT A ZOO
• “Pop” from WHITE IRISH DRINKERS
• “Think You Can Wait” from WIN WIN
• “The Backson Song” from WINNIE THE POOH
• “So Long” from WINNIE THE POOH

I had a couple of reasons for bringing FSCT onto Facebook in an official capacity:

• I wanted to extend my personal brand as a writer/editor, and this site is part of that branding.
• I wanted to further extend the FSCT community into a more immediate, semi-real-time place for discussion.

I’ve revised the Facebook buttons here on the site to redirect to the new page. You’ll no longer be delivered to my personal Facebook page once you click on the links (though feel free to send me a “friend” request through there as well).

Also, if you click the Wibya toolbar at the bottom of your screen, you’ll get a real-time view of the FSCT fan page and you can post comments directly from there. Pretty cool, huh? (I do love technology sometimes.)

So keep up the comments here on the site and/or feel free to chime in on Facebook. As always, I appreciate your patronage and participation.

First, two sets of awards that might be of interest. As many of you know, I’m a member of the International Film Music Critics Association. Our 2010 nominees are being announced today and can be found on the IFMCA website. In addition, Roger Hall over at AmericanMusicPreservation.com recently bestowed his 23rd annual Sammy Awards, named for four-time Oscar-winning lyricist Sammy Cahn. The awards primarily focus on vintage scores, though there are a few contemporary scores in the mix as well.

As for the precursors, below are all the score awards that I could find. If I’ve missed any, feel free to leave a comment below.

• Alliance of Woman Film Journalists - THE SOCIAL NETWORK—Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
• Annie Awards – HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON—John Powell
• Austin Film Critics - TRON: LEGACY—Daft Punk
• BAFTA - THE KING’S SPEECH—Alexandre Desplat
• Boston Society of Film Critics - THE SOCIAL NETWORK
• Broadcast Film Critics Association – THE SOCIAL NETWORK
• Central Ohio Film Critics – INCEPTION—Hans Zimmer
• Chicago Film Critics – BLACK SWAN—Clint Mansell
• Denver Film Critics - TRON: LEGACY
• Golden Globes – THE SOCIAL NETWORK
• Grammy Awards – TOY STORY 3—Randy Newman (Best Score Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media)
• Hollywood Film Awards – INCEPTION
• Houston Film Critics – INCEPTION
• International Press Academy (Satellite Awards) – INCEPTION
• Las Vegas Film Critics – THE SOCIAL NETWORK
• Los Angeles Film Critics Association – THE GHOST WRITER (Alexandre Desplat) and THE SOCIAL NETWORK (tie)
• New York Film Critics Online – BLACK SWAN
• Phoenix Film Critics Society – INCEPTION
• San Diego Film Critics Society – NEVER LET ME GO—Rachel Portman
• St. Louis Film Critics Association – THE SOCIAL NETWORK
• Washington, D.C. Film Critics – INCEPTION

Does any of this mean anything in the great scheme of life? Nope. But for us award junkies, it’s second nature.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• “Coming Home” from COUNTRY STRONG (Music and Lyrics by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey)
• “If I Rise” from 127 HOURS (Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyrics by Dido and Rullo Armstrong)
• “I See the Light” from TANGLED (Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Glenn Slater)
• “We Belong Together” from TOY STORY 3 (Music and Lyrics by Randy Newman)

This is the first time since 1939 that there have been four Song nominees. There have been three, the usual five and more than five, depending on the Academy rules, but apparently the Music Branch voters were as unimpressed by this year’s eligible songs as most Oscar prognosticators. To receive a Song nomination, members of the Music Branch go to a special screening (or ask for the DVD) to watch random clips from all 41 eligible songs. They are graded on a .5 basis between 6 and 10. Songs must receive an average of 8.25 or above to be nominated.

Looking at the four, the major omissions are the songs from BURLESQUE, including Diane Warren’s Golden Globe power ballad for Cher, “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me.” I don’t know if the film was considered too schlocky for nominations, but a lot worse have been nominated in the past. I personally think Warren is a formulaic hack, so I’m not crying over her omission. However, the other two eligible songs–the Christina Aguilera ballad “Bound to You” and the catchy “Welcome to Burlesque”–would have been worthy additions.

What we’re left with are four pleasant, if uninspired choices. COUNTRY STRONG has not performed particularly strong at the box office, but Gwyneth Paltrow’s rendition of “Coming Home” seems to have hit a chord with voters. Except for James Franco’s performance, I thought 127 HOURS was much ado about nothing and that goes for the music as well (more on that below). The film hung on with six total nominations, including an undeserving Best Picture nod. Even though Rahman swept the Oscars a couple of years ago with his two-fisted wins for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, don’t expect him to repeat that phenomenon this year, especially with this drippy ballad.

The two most likely winners come from the animated films. “I See the Light” marks Alan Menken’s 19th Oscar nomination. It’s a pleasant ballad that comes during a particularly beautiful scene in TANGLED. But the film has struggled at the box office, mainly, I believe, to some poor marketing, and that may hurt the song’s chances. Which leaves us with Randy Newman on his 20th (!) nomination. Newman won this category in 2001 for “If I Didn’t Have You” from MONSTERS, INC. At the time, the award was seen as a consolation prize to break his long non-winning streak. TOY STORY 3 is not only the highest grossing film of 2010, it is the highest grossing animated film of all time. The popularity of the film may give Newman his second Oscar, even though the song is not used as effectively as some songs from earlier TOY STORY films.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, John Powell
• INCEPTION, Hans Zimmer
• THE KING’S SPEECH, Alexandre Desplat
• 127 HOURS, A.R. Rahman
• THE SOCIAL NETWORK, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

I was all set to spit fire if John Powell wasn’t nominated. Now that he is, I can breathe a little easier and you will be spared numerous angry blog rants about how his exclusion. Anyone who has read any of my posts about this score over the last year knows how much I love it. When I read that my favorite score of 2010 had received some love from the Music Branch this morning, be glad you weren’t around to witness my cheesy dance moves.

Overall, this is not a bad group of scores, with one exception. Now that A.R. Rahman is in the “club” as an Oscar winner, expect him to be nominated more and more in the future. His score for 127 HOURS adds nothing emotionally or dramatically to an already stagnant film. This is a lazy entry from the Music Branch who should know better.

INCEPTION and THE KING’S SPEECH were locks for nominations, given the popularity of their films and their respective composers. But the surprise (and incorrect) omission of INCEPTION’s Christopher Nolan in the Director category indicates there may not be as much love for the film as there was originally, and Zimmer may have a tougher time than I originally thought.

THE KING’S SPEECH is on a roll, giving THE SOCIAL NETWORK some eleventh hour competition for Best Picture. If it continues to build momentum, it may pull Desplat into the winner’s circle. If SOCIAL NETWORK continues its already astonishing run of wins, then it may pull in Reznor and Ross for their effective techno score.

Since the nominees are voted on by all 5,755 members of the Academy, the popularity of a film goes a long way towards an Oscar win in this category. At this point, I think it’s a three-way race–INCEPTION, THE KING’S SPEECH and THE SOCIAL NETWORK. We’ll just have to see how things play out over the next month. My choice, of course, would be DRAGON, but I don’t see that happening. But if it does, you’ll feel the earth move from me jumping up and down over and over and over and over…

As always, some scores had already been officially disqualified. Clint Mansell’s BLACK SWAN was deemed ineligible because of its use of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake as was Carter Burwell’s TRUE GRIT because of its reliance on 19th-century hymns. Burwell’s THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT and Michael Brook’s THE FIGHTER were left out of the running because they were “diluted” by the presence of too many songs. In addition, two popular animated scores–Alan Menken’s TANGLED and Randy Newman’s TOY STORY 3–were not submitted, instead choosing to concentrate on the Best Original Song category, where I fully expect both films to be nominated. Other omissions include Alexandre Desplat’s TAMARA DREWE, which he did not submit for consideration; Theodore Shapiro’s delightful DIARY OF A WIMPY KID; and Danny Elfman’s THE WOLFMAN. (I’m not sure what the story is with the last two.)

As to be expected, the remaining list contains the usual suspects and some head scratchers as well. Like the Song category, the Oscar list for Original Score only lists the film titles, without the composer names, “in an effort to avoid votes for familiar or favorite composers,” says Burlingame. I wonder if other categories are set up this way or if it’s just another ridiculous rule by the Music Branch. Either way, I bet money it doesn’t work at all. I also think it’s insulting to the composers whose work is being recognized and probably wouldn’t mind a publicity boost getting their name in front of the 5,755 voting members of the Academy. Since I don’t have to follow Academy protocol, I’ve listed the composers below.

The only score that I think is a lock for a nomination (and the probable winner) is Hans Zimmer’s INCEPTION. Beyond that, you can make arguments for and against nearly every score on this list. We’ll see what happens on the morning of January 25 when the nominations are announced.

(Thanks to Steve Pond over at The Wrap for publishing the actual list.)

• THE A-TEAM, Alan Silvestri
• ALICE IN WONDERLAND, Danny Elfman
• THE AMERICAN, Herbert Groenemeyer
• ANIMAL KINGDOM, Antony Partos
• ANOTHER YEAR, Gary Yershon
• APAPORIS, Alejandro Ramirez
• BABIES, Bruno Coulais
• BARNEY’S VERSION, Pasquale Catalano
• BIUTIFUL, Gustavo Santaolalla
• BLACK TULIP, Christopher Young
• BROOKLYN’S FINEST, Marcelo Zarvos
• CHARLIE ST. CLOUD, Rolfe Kent
• THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, David Arnold
• CLASH OF THE TITANS, Ramin Djawadi
• CONVICTION, Paul Cantelon
• CYRUS, Michael Andrews
• DAYBREAKERS, Christopher Gordon
• DESPICABLE ME, Heitor Pereira and Pharrell Williams
• DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS, Theodore Shapiro
• EDGE OF DARKNESS, Howard Shore
• THE EXPENDABLES, Brian Tyler
• FAIR GAME, John Powell
• FOR COLORED GIRLS, Aaron Zigman
• FRANKIE & ALICE, Andrew Lockington
• GET LOW, Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
• THE GHOST WRITER, Alexandre Desplat
• HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 1, Alexandre Desplat
• HEREAFTER, Clint Eastwood
• HOW DO YOU KNOW, Hans Zimmer
• HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, John Powell
• HOWL, Carter Burwell
• THE ILLUSIONIST, Sylvain Chomet
• INCEPTION, Hans Zimmer
• INSIDE JOB, Alex Heffes
• IRON MAN 2, John Debney
• JUST WRIGHT, Lisa Coleman and Wendy Malvoin
• THE KARATE KID, James Horner
• THE KING’S SPEECH, Alexandre Desplat
• THE LAST AIRBENDER, James Newton Howard
• LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE, David Hirschfelder
• LET ME IN, Michael Giacchino
• LOVE & OTHER DRUGS, James Newton Howard
• MADE IN DAGENHAM, David Arnold
• MAO’S LAST DANCER, Christopher Gordon
• MARMADUKE, Christopher Lennertz
• MIDDLE MEN, Brian Tyler
• MORNING GLORY, David Arnold
• MOTHER AND CHILD, Edward Shearmur
• NEVER LET ME GO, Rachel Portman
• THE NEXT THREE DAYS, Danny Elfman
• OCEANS, Bruno Coulais
• 127 HOURS, A.R. Rahman
• PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF, Christophe Beck
• THE PERFECT GAME, Trevor MacGregor
• PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME, Harry Gregson-Williams
• PURE COUNTRY 2: THE GIFT, Steve Dorff
• RABBIT HOLE, Anton Sanko
• RAMONA AND BEEZUS, Mark Mothersbaugh
• REMEMBER ME, Marcelos Zarvos
• ROBIN HOOD, Marc Streitenfeld
• SALT, James Newton Howard
• SECRETARIAT, Nick Glennie-Smith
• THE SOCIAL NETWORK, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
• THE TEMPEST, Elliot Goldenthal
• TOOTH FAIRY, George S. Clinton
• THE TOURIST, James Newton Howard
• THE TOWN, Harry Gregson-Williams and David Buckley
• TRON: LEGACY, Daft Punk
• THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE, Howard Shore
• VAMPIRES SUCK, Christopher Lennertz
• WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN,” Christophe Beck
• WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS, Craig Armstrong
• THE WAY BACK, Burkhard Dallwitz
• WILD GRASS, Mark Snow
• WINTER’S BONE, Dickon Hinchliffe
• WRETCHES & JABBERERS, J. Ralph
• YOGI BEAR, John Debney

Composers with multiple scores eligible:

• 4 scores–James Newton Howard
• 3 scores–David Arnold, Alexandre Desplat
• 2 scores–Christophe Beck, Bruno Coulais, John Debney, Danny Elfman, Christopher Gordon, Harry Gregson-Williams, Christopher Lennertz, John Powell, Howard Shore, Brian Tyler, Marcelo Zarvos, Hans Zimmer

I won’t be commenting on these since A) I haven’t heard them all and B) I’m still debating whether or not I’ll be doing my annual write-up for FSM Online. (The list is down to 41 songs from last year’s 63, making it a bit less unwieldy.) Suffice it to say that the list looks weak on first glance, but it always does. Often many of the strongest songs come from little-known films, though they stand little to no chance of being nominated.

What five songs would YOU nominate?

• “Alice” from ALICE IN WONDERLAND
• “Forever One Love” from BLACK TULIP
• “Freedom Song” from BLACK TULIP
• “Bound to You” from BURLESQUE
• “Welcome to Burlesque” from BURLESQUE
• “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” from BURLESQUE
• “There’s a Place for Us” from THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER
• “Coming Home” from COUNTRY STRONG
• “Me and Tennessee” from COUNTRY STRONG
• “Despicable Me” from DESPICABLE ME
• “Prettiest Girls” from DESPICABLE ME
• “Dear Laughing Doubters” from DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS
• “Better Days” from EAT PRAY LOVE
• “If You Run” from GOING THE DISTANCE
• “Darkness before the Dawn” from HOLY ROLLERS
• “Sticks & Stones” from HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
• “Le Gris” from IDIOTS AND ANGELS
• “Chanson Illusionist” from THE ILLUSIONIST
• “Never Say Never” from THE KARATE KID
• “To the Sky” from LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE
• “What If” from LETTERS TO JULIET
• “Life during Wartime” from LIFE DURING WARTIME
• “Made in Dagenham” from MADE IN DAGENHAM
• “Little One” from MOTHER AND CHILD
• “Be the One” from THE NEXT THREE DAYS
• “If I Rise” from 127 HOURS
• “When You See Forever” from THE PERFECT GAME
• “I Remain” from PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME
• “Dream Big” from PURE COUNTRY 2: THE GIFT
• “How I Love You” from RAMONA AND BEEZUS
• “Darling I Do” from SHREK FOREVER AFTER
• “Noka Oi” from SIX DAYS IN PARADISE
• “This Is a Low” from TAMARA DREWE
• “I See the Light” from TANGLED
• “Rise” from 3 BILLION AND COUNTING
• “We Belong Together” from TOY STORY 3
• “Eclipse: All Yours” from THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE
• “Nothing” from TYLER PERRY’S WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO
• “A Better Life” from UNBEATEN
• “Shine” from WAITING FOR SUPERMAN
• “The Reasons Why” from WRETCHES & JABBERERS

The documentary will be broadcast on Sunday, October 31 on the following venues:

• 3 PM across all North American time zones on CBC Radio Two (in stereo)
• 9 PM across all North American time zones rebroadcast again on CBC Radio One (in mono)
• You can also can listen live (at 3 PM and 9PM) via web streaming at CBC Radio One (click on any time zone that displays the program ”Inside the Music,” which starts at 5 minutes past the hour, following the news broadcast)
• And on Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 137  at 6 AM (ET) and 3 AM (PT)

For more information, including a list of the scores on tap for the program, check out the Unsettling Scores page.

Sounds like a scarily fun time to me!

UPDATE 11/26/10: Permalink

If you’ll notice at the bottom of the site, I have installed the Wibya toolbar, which has all sorts of cool features that will hopefully add to your experience here on Film Score Click Track.

• For all you international visitors, give the Translate feature a try. I’d be interested to know how accurate their computer-generated translations are compared to the English versions.
• Too tired to go to the sidebar for recent posts? It’s there in the toolbar.
• Check out all the videos on my YouTube channel.
• Once I figure out how to link the CoolIris graphic feature that’s in the sidebar (which I updated yesterday) (Update: Now linked…Enjoy!), you’ll be able to look at it in the toolbar as well.
• You can “like” any particular post or page in the site.
• The toolbar tells you how many people are visiting the site at that particular moment.
• You can subscribe to my RSS feed, share posts and follow me on Twitter.
• The Facebook icon will take you to the FSM Online fan page.
• The person icon…well, I’m not sure what that does yet. (Update: This is where I will post messages from time to time and film music items of interest that don’t necessitate a full blog post. So check back often.)
• If you don’t want the toolbar showing, you can minimize it by clicking on the arrows on the right hand side.

As I play around more with the toolbar, I’ll probably add some extra features into the blank space in the middle. Let me know if you find any value in this new feature. If not, I’ll deactivate the plugin and get it out of your way.