At the top of a long list of lauded composers vying for Oscars this year are the four who landed both Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe Best Score nominations.
Challenging never-nominated frontrunner Hildur Guðnadóttir (“Joker”) are two-time Oscar winners Alexandre Desplat (“Little Women”) and Randy Newman (“Marriage Story”), who is dueling not only with himself (“Toy Story 4”) but his cousin Thomas Newman, long overdue with 14 nominations (World War I epic “1917”).Icelandic cellist/composer Hildur Guðnadóttir’s unique experimental orchestral score for “Joker” tunes into the inner emotional struggles of the lead character, Arthur Fleck.
The composer has been praised not only for inspiring Joaquin Phoenix’s performance, but recently took home an Emmy for her avant-garde score for HBO hit series “Chernobyl.” She would be the sixth woman to be nominated for Original Score, and the fourth to win.But even these masters are not locks for nominations.
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