Simon's Oscar Preview: Music

This week's schedule:
Monday - Art & Design, Music
Tuesday - Technical Achievements
Wednesday - Short Films, Special Feature Films
Thursday - Writing & Directing, Acting
Friday - Best Picture

Films I haven't seen are marked accordingly.

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Nominees: How to Train Your Dragon, Inception, The King's Speech, 127 Hours, The Social Network

Who Will Win: The Social Network
Who Should Win: How to Train Your Dragon

Lots of good stuff in this category. Trent Reznor's work with Atticus Ross for The Social Network has to be considered the favorite here. Dark, droning and atmospheric, it's certainly a strong score. Hans Zimmer's bellowing music for Inception also deserves recognition, especially when you consider the whole slowed-down-Edith-Piaf trick at its core. At the end of the day, though, my personal favorite has to be John Powell's score for How to Train Your Dragon, which incorporates wonderful touches of "Viking music" into fun, highly enjoyable compositions.

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
Nominees: "Coming Home" - Country Strong (have not seen), "I See the Light" - Tangled, "If I Rise" - 127 Hours, "We Belong Together" - Toy Story 3

Who Will Win: "We Belong Together"
Who Should Win: "We Belong Together"

Another thin category. My logic here works through a process of elimination. "I See the Light" is essentially Alan Menken plagiarizing his own "A Whole New World," so it's out. "If I Rise," a collaboration between A.R. Rahman, Rollo Armstrong and Dido, is an overwrought, syrupy ballad that holds no one's attention. "Coming Home" might have a shot, since it's in a movie that's actually about music, but again, the song itself is so dull that I have a hard time imagining voters physically checking the box on the ballot. That leaves Randy Newman's "We Belong Together," a sweet-but-simple tune that does a decent job of matching the movie it was written for. Nothing exciting here, but it just might tip Oscar pool scales in your favor.