AMPAS Music Branch Rules Out WILD THINGS, LOVELY BONES, CRAZY HEART Scores

Sigh… Seems like the Music Branch of AMPAS is at it again. Did we learn nothing from last year’s mess? Their omissions just gall me. Only 81 scores managed to qualify and move onto the next round of Oscar voting.

Steve Pond of The Wrap:

Eno’s score for “The Lovely Bones,â€� a haunting and effective use of the composer’s music both new and old, was not submitted to the Academy for consideration. Yeah Yeah Yeah’s frontwoman Karen O’s music for “Where the Wild Things Are,â€� which she co-wrote with Burwell, and Burnett’s and Stephen Bruton’s score to “Crazy Heart,â€� both of which have won critics awards, are also not on the branch’s “Reminder Listâ€� of qualifying achievements.

Notable scores have been disqualified in the past by the Academy’s music branch, which has strict rules for qualifying in the category. In 2007, for instance, Warren Ellis’ score to “There Will Be Blood� was eliminated from contention for containing too much pre-existing music, including compositions by Brahms and Arvo Pärt.

One section of the rules reads as follows:

“[S]cores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs, or assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible.�

(The Academy does make an exception if “two composers function as equal collaborators in producing the score, each contributing a substantial amount of original music for the film.�)

Eno’s music to “The Lovely Bones,� which incorporates several older compositions by the pioneering rock and ambient musician (right), is ineligible by the composer’s own choice. According to a spokesperson for the film, Eno simply felt that he didn’t have time to submit the required paperwork and submit to the type of publicity campaign necessary.

The scores to both “Where the Wild Things Are� and “Crazy Heart� make substantial use of music from songs that were written for the films. (Two songs from each film are eligible in the best original song category.)

Although Burnett and Bruton won the Best Music/Score award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for “Crazy Heart,� Fox Searchlight does not include the score in its “for your consideration� listing on the film’s screeners. Warner Bros., however, does suggest a nomination for the “Where the Wild Things Are� score on that film’s screeners.

In addition to “Wild Things� and “The Lovely Bones,� other ineligible scores that had been the subject of ads or FYC screener listings include “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince� (Nicholas Hooper), “The Blind Side� (Carter Burwell again), “Precious� (Mario Grigorov), “Bruno� (Erran Baron Cohen) and “Funny People� (Michael Andrews and Jason Schwartzman).

Click here to see which scores did qualify.

Source: Steve Pond/The Wrap