by Nathaniel R
Are all cinephiles "visual" people or are some more sonically attuned? I ask this because in order to draw up my own lists of "bests" in the aural categories, I have to really focus to note the soundscapes. In some cases, as with the sinuous alien creepiness of Nope and the haunted bold swings of TAR, the genius is hard to miss even for those of us who are more visually oriented. If any of you have theories as to how Oscar's sound branch didn't include either in even their finalist lists, I'm all ears... no pun intended.
For the most part it's the images I remember which may explain why I am so allergic to end credit songs over a dark screen being hailed the "Best" of any given season in Original Song. Marry the images and sound and it's far more memorable and valuable to the overall film experience...
This is why "Naatu Naatu" from RRR should handily win the Oscar for Best Original Song though it's the only one of Oscar's nominees that makes my own list. The other Film Bitch Award nominees, like "Naatu Naatu" are highlights of their films. They're crucial to the overall vibe or narrative. And if songs aren't doing that why are they in the film?
In other words the Film Bitch Awards for the films of 2022 have begun starting with the music categories.
For good measure, we have an extra "Adapted or Combo Score" category since so many movies relies heavily on pre-existing music. In some cases as with movies about Elvis or Bowie, the movies shouldn't be faulted but celebrated for doing right by the source. In other cases, as with Camille's moody score with Corsage (that song "She Was" is fire) it's a matter of brilliantly repurposing older music. And I'm currently obsessed with the original synthpop of "Anybody" from Return to Seoul but the whole soundtrack, a mix of original score and pop songs is stellar.
What scores and songs were your favourites this year?