Is it (finally) Thomas Newman's time?
Saturday, January 25, 2020 at 11:31AM Just 15 days til Oscar. Here's Cláudio Alves on a 15 time nominee...
When we think of Hollywood royalty, our mind tends to go to those dynasties of movie stars or celebrity directors -- families like the Barrymores, the Hustons, the Fondas or the Coppolas. But not every tinsel town lineage is made up of those who sit on the director's chair or dazzle in front of the cameras.
The Newmans are a good example. With more than 90 collective nominations and many wins, they're the Academy Awards' most beloved family. Alfred Newman is the most Oscar-winning composer of all-time with a total of 43 nods and 9 victories. His son David Newman is a one time nominee and his brother, Lionel Newman, won the Oscar for adapting the score of Hello Dolly! and received 10 additional nominations. Emil Newman, another brother, was nominated for the score of 1941's Sun Valley Serenade. Their nephew, Randy Newman, has amassed 22 nods and 2 statuettes.
And then there's Alfred's other Oscar-beloved son, Thomas Newman…
Like his father before him, Thomas holds an Oscar record, though his is a bit less sweet. As of this day, with a total of 15 nominations, he is the most nominated composer in Oscar history never to have won a single Academy Award. He's tied with Alex North in that regard, though that composer ended up winning an Honorary Oscar before hsi death in 1991. Maybe 15 is the lucky number for Thomas Newman, though the Joker's gloomy cellos are a big threat for the win. One thing's for sure, he should have an Oscar by now.
His first dance with the Academy came in 1994, when he was double nominated for his work in The Shawshank Redemption and Little Women. That year, Hans Zimmer won his first and only Oscar for The Lion King, so it's a bit difficult to argue against Newman's defeat. Five years and two nominations later, the loss of the award became much more perplexing and harder to defend. In 1999, American Beauty was the big winner, conquering five statuettes including for Best Picture. Still, when it came to its iconic score, Hollywood's elite looked the other way. Newman was nominated, but the prize went to John Corigliano for the little-seen Red Violin.
The following years would see Newman amass a slew of other nominations, none of which had hopes of turning into wins. At least, that was the case until 2008, when he was once again double nominated. For Wall-E, the composer received nods for Original Score and Original Song and ended up losing both trophies to A.R. Rahman's work in Slumdog Millionaire. This animated romance of robots in space featured some of Newman's most beguiling compositions, making this double loss particularly painful. Couldn't the Academy have split the honors and given Rahman Best Song and Newman Best Score?
The 2010's solidified the composer as one of the Academy Awards' favorites. In 2012 it was Skyfall, in 2013 Saving Mr. Banks, in 2015 Bridge of Spies and Passengers in 2016. Whenever he's in contention he's usually nominated.
1917 may indeed put an end to Thomas Newman's long wait for Oscar gold, but nothing is certain. Maybe Hildur Guðnadóttir will repeat her Golden Globe victory for Joker? Perhaps its time for John Williams' to win his sixth statue or Alexandre Desplat his third? There could even be an ironic twist of fate with Newman losing to Newman, and Randy nabbing a third statue while his cousin remains Oscarless. Whatever the outcome, we can all agree that, Thomas Newman has earned that often misapplied title of being overdue.
Reader Comments (26)
I was SO SHOKED to find out (years later), that T.Newman has NOT won for American Beauty! I mean… how????
It's so iconic!
The Academy's really weird...
WOW I always forget and cannot believe he lost for American Beauty.
I suspect he's losing again, which sucks but Guonadottir is so deserving.
And as badly as I want to see Newman win an Oscar, 1917 is... 'far from his best' is the nicest way I can put it.
He should have won for "Road to Perdition."
Desplat should have won for "Benjamin Button" in 2008.
This year's category is really bad - I wouldn't have nominated any of the scores chosen, and I rather Newman not win for something as forgettable as "1917."
The score for 1917 is terrific, period. And perfectly in rhythm with the tones of the film. The score to Joker is terrific, but not as in sync and not as good.
His work on Scent of a Woman is stunning.
Heathers and Fried Green Tomatoes are my partials when it comes to him.
Heathers is Dave Newman.
I saw The Red Violin and loved it, but Newman’s American Beauty score should have won.
Joker's score is kinda repetitive and sounds like what you might hear on a grim episode of Game of Thrones. Newman deserves it this year.
Deakins 2nd, Newmans first and with Parasite the first foreign language Film (and ASIAN CINEMA) to finally win "Best Picture" is all I want this year!!! Please make it happen!
Sigh. He is one of the industry's most overdue legends and should have easily won for “American Beauty”. And up until Hildur Gudnadottir's Globe win, he had the Oscar in the bag. It will be incredibly tight. Luckily, both are imminently deserving.
For me, it’s kind of an Olivia Colman/Glenn Close situation. I prefer Hildur’s score and what it contributed to the film/character but Newman’s work was beautiful as always and based on his track record with the Academy, it’s time he won that damn trophy.
I love AMERICAN BEAUTY and can hardly remember THE RED VIOLIN.
But I own the TRV soundtrack, but no the AB one.
There is reasoning behind that win. I suggest everyone sits down and listens to both thoroughly before going on a "I can't believe the Academy..." trip. ("Iconic" doesn't automatically mean "best".)
I love John Williams, but he should NOT win this year for a retread. I think Thomas Newman has a 30% shot to win, but I suspect Hildur Guonadottir's going to take home the trophy.
Thomas Newman is my favorite composer. I would have given him the Oscar for Meet Joe Black, American Beauty and Wall-E. 1917 isn’t one of his most memorable but I would vote for him in this category.
I love that THE RED VIOLIN won. The exact kind of win I wish happened more often. THE ROAD TO PERDITION is my favourite of newman's scores and I wish he'd won for that. It's evocative of his themes, those swelling strings, that he's had since SHAWSHANK. I'm also a fan of his FINDING NEMO score, although it does come off as a bit reminiscent of his other work. My other faves of his nominations are AMERICAN BEAUTY and THE GOOD GERMAN (with its surprise lone nod for Newman).
I sadly don't think 1917 is a good score. Or at least not in the context of the movie. But then I also don't think much of the JOKER score, so...
He absolutely should have won for Little Women, and it's a travesty that he didn't. Most egregious non-nomination was Fried Green Tomatoes.
Y'all, sometimes I just sit back and think about all the Oscars ANGELS IN AMERICA would have won had it been released theatrically and not on HBO.
I didn’t like the 1917 score.
Even though I dislike the film and not sure it really even fits, the JOKER score is the most inspired of the nominees. But I suppose I like the LITTLE WOMEN score best.
I would nominate none of them. Well, I haven’t seen the new STAR WARS, but that nomination weirds me out.
@Alex
Me too! I know 2003 was the year of Lotr and 2004 was the year of MDB, but I always think if Angels was release as two pictures:
Millennium aprouches - nominations
Best picture - directing - adapted screenplay - actor (Al Pacino + Justin Kirk) - actress (Meryl - Emma Thompson) - sup actor (Jeffrey Wright) - sup actress (Mary Louise Parker) - production design - editing - original score
Perestroika
Best picture - directing - adapted screenplay - actor (Pacino - Kirk) - actress (Streep - Thompson) - sup actor (Patrick Wilson - Wright - Ben Shenkman) - sup actress (Parker) - editing - score
North has 15 unsuccessful Oscar bids, not 14, and it's Alex North, not Alfred.
"Whenever he's in contention he's usually nominated."
Not so. In fact, the scores he's not nominated for actually stand out more than that he hasn't won an Oscar yet (which, don't get me wrong, is ridiculous). Fried Green Tomatoes, The Help, The Horse Whisperer, Meet Joe Black, Revolutionary Road, etc. are all fantastic scores nevertheless ignored by the Academy. Any one of them would be worthy winners, IMO.
Anyway, good for Hildur Guðnadóttir but go Thomas Newman!
Marcos -- Thank you for pointing it out. I forgot to count North's Original Song nomination and then mixed up names, as I usually do. I'm very sorry for these mistakes. I am also ashamed of them and very grateful for readers like you that help me improve these pieces. Again, I'm sorry and thank you.
Mareko -- In that paragraph, I was referring to his Oscar scorecard during the 2010s, specifically. I apologize if that wasn't easily understandable. Maybe some other wording would have made it clearer. This past decade, I think only The Help qualifies as a surprising Oscar oversight.
Regarding your praise for the scores of The Horse Whisperer, Meet Joe Black, and Revolutionary Road, I completely agree. All great works.
He should've won for WALL-E as I just love that score as I think it's one of his best work as a composer.
I love Newman's score for Angels in America most especially that sublime main theme. I love his scores in Oscar & Lucinda and Little Children. I agree that his score was very memorable (not quite iconic yet) in American Beauty yet I agreed with the decision to award it to Corigliano's post-Romantic score in The Red Violin.
He will win someday but for this year I am rooting for the weeping Gorecki-an cellos of Hildur Guðnadóttir in Joker.
I remember I was surprised when AB lost Best Original Score (but actually I was surprised even when it lost Best Actress...ok, ok, I get it...) but frankly it’s not incredible that a composer such as Corigliano is an Oscar winner
Thanks for this Claudio - and putting a spot light on one wonderful artist ... so much I didn't know