Year in Review: Best Music and Soundscapes

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...

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Oscar Volley: How do you choose only 15 finalists for "Best International Feature"?

Team Experience will be discussing each Oscar category as we head into the precursors. Here’s Elisa Giudici and Abe Friedtanzer…

Argentina, 1985

ELISA: Abe, have been handed one of the toughest Oscar volleys of the year. The Best International Film category is maddening: more than 90 possible contenders, the majority of whom are still unavailable. My first impression this year is that no movie has already locked up a nomination. There is no Parasite, no Another Round, no crystal-clear, 100% sure contender who can sleep tight until the nomination morning. Do you have the same impression? 

There are of course some strong contenders in the category, such as Argentina, 1985. I saw this movie in Venice and underestimated its crowdpleasing power...

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