The 2018 crop of Best Original Score nominees is mainly comprised of familiar faces to the Academy: Williams, Desplat, Zimmer, etc. That said, there’s one newcomer to the Oscar-nominee club that could shake things up in this category.

The Nominees:

• Dunkirk – Hans Zimmer
• Phantom Thread – Jonny Greenwood
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi – John Williams
• The Shape of Water – Alexandre Desplat
• Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri – Carter Burwell

Will Win: Phantom Thread

Could Win: Dunkirk

Should Win: Phantom Thread

 

There has been a lot of talk about Jonny Greenwood’s Phantom Thread score. It is certainly a great musical composition. But it isn’t a lock for the Oscar. Hans Zimmer’s Dunkirk score and Alexandre Desplat’s The Shape of Water score are nothing to sneeze at.

I would put less emphasis on the Williams and Burwell scores. The notion of a Star Wars sequel getting an Oscar for score seems somewhat ludicrous, since most of that music is re-hashed from the original score. I kind of figured Williams would get the nod for The Post rather than Star Wars, but as it stands he’s essentially out of this race.

In my mind, this is a two-horse race between Phantom Thread and Dunkirk with a potential for upset from The Shape of Water. I’m not saying I have a whole heap of evidence for why this is the case—I’m no expert of musical compositions—but intuition is a powerful force…then again, Desplat did win the Golden Globe in this category…maybe we should talk about a different category now…

 

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—Alex Brannan (@TheAlexBrannan)