Film scores that deserved Academy Awards

Music is one of the most important aspects of a film. Motion pictures have always utilized music to help set a mood, enhance what we see, create comedic effect and engage the audience. Think about this: music has been in films longer than actual talking has been in films. That alone should tell you how important music is to the art form. With the Academy Awards coming up this weekend, I decided to stroll down the lanes of film history and see what movie scores and original songs the academy had not awarded Oscars, but should have.

Some of these selections might be a surprise and some of them you might never have heard of, but they're all worth checking out. In my opinion, the music of these movies elevated the film’s art to another level of greatness, and it should be better recognized.

Legendary composer Bernard Hermann worked with Martin Scorsese to craft Taxi Driver’s iconic 1975 score. How this brilliant piece of musical artistry lost out to The Omen is shocking. The moody jazz and intense orchestral arrangements bring life to the title character Travis Bickle. When you hear the sleazy trumpets and raunchy saxophones, you’re there with Bickle in the taxi, seeing the gross underbelly of ‘70s New York City.

Making it even crazier that this didn’t win is that this was Hermann’s last score. He died shortly after the release of the film.

When it comes to iconic music from a film, Ennio Morricone’s score for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is up there with the likes of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Jaws. However, it saw no nomination from the academy. Apparently “Spaghetti Westerns,” as director Sergio Leone's films were called (due to his Italian heritage), were not respected due to their “excessive violence.” Nowadays the subject matter is tame. To hear the brilliance of the score, put on the title track and listen. “The Ecstasy Of Gold” is instantly identifiable, and if you’ve seen the film it’s impossible not to see Clint Eastwood as “The Man With No Name.”

Fun fact — Morricone and Leone worked together on the soundtrack before the film started production. They used the music during the filming so the actors could channel it into the performance. This is not the standard practice.

Released in 2011, Nicholas Winding Refn’s Drive was a huge cult success. The film stars Ryan Gosling as the brooding, one-man-army lead character simply known as “Driver.” This is a seriously moody piece of filmmaking, highlighted by an incredible score by Cliff Martinez. Martinez blends atmospheric synths to create a mood reminiscent of ‘80s thrillers like Thief and Manhunter, but it’s the addition of modern acts such as Chromatics, Desire and College that makes the score so noteworthy.

A lot of these acts had never been heard of before, but after the success of the film it wasn’t uncommon to hear “A Real Human Being” and “Under Your Spell” at the bar or even a bowling alley. The songs elevated the film, and the film elevated the songs. Together they worked in perfect unison to create something truly special. If you haven’t seen Drive, add it to your watchlist immediately, if for nothing else, just for the music.

Films about AI becoming sentient and taking over are common. Ex_Machina did a phenomenal job of telling a fresh version of this story. As viewers we truly come to care for the lead character Ava, even if we’re not entirely sure of her intentions. The score by Ben Salisbury and the addition of the song “Bunsen Burner” by CUTS help bring Ava’s feelings to life. We feel what she’s feeling: confusion, anger, fear. It’s all here, and it’s perfectly encapsulated by the score. Synthesizers and electronics are commonplace in science fiction films, but from movies released in the last 20 years, none have done it better than Ex_Machina.

This is probably one of the best animated films of all time. WALL-E is Pixar’s 2008 masterpiece about a robot responsible for cleaning up a waste-ravaged Earth. The score was composed by Thomas Newman and includes the original Peter Gabriel song “Down To Earth.” Newman’s score perfectly captures all moods of the film. The title track trudges along with breakneck pace, symbolizing WALL-E’s assembly line clean-up process. “Define Dancing” is a beautiful piece of soaring orchestral strings and blips and bloops. The main characters don’t speak in this film besides reiterating their own names “WALL-EEEE!” and “EVAAAA,” so music plays an extra-special role in the communication between the two robot leads.

The cherry on top is Gabriel's track “Down To Earth.” It’s easily one of his best offerings since the ‘90s.

This is the only X-rated film to win the Academy Award for best picture. Midnight Cowboy tells the story of Joe Buck, a naïve Texan who moves to New York City to make it as a gigolo. While that sounds like a comedy premise, trust me, it’s not. Midnight Cowboy is a film that will pull at your heartstrings, and the score composed by John Barry adds to the effect. A haunting harmonica supplies the main theme and the addition of the song “Everyone’s Talkin’ At Me” by Harry Nilsson has cemented Midnight Cowboy's score as one of the most iconic of the 1960s. It’s a must-see film and a must-hear score that illustrates the power of the human spirit, friendship and resilience against the odds.

No wins for score. Not even nominated, and that’s crazy. 1993 saw John Williams win the award for his work on the other Spielberg mega-hit, Schindler’s List (1993 was a good year for the duo). There have been other instances in the past with the same person being nominated twice in the same year for different films. It’s unclear why Jurassic Park didn’t receive the same love. I feel that if the film had come out the year before or after, it would have been an easy win for best score.

Just listen to the main theme and try not to imagine yourself running with brontosauri and hiding from velociraptors. It’s iconic, and like the best scores of all time, transports you to the film.

Spike Lee’s 1989 masterpiece Do The Right Thing saw no accolades for its music from the academy. It’s unfortunate, because it’s a work of art. Public Enemy's original song “Fight The Power” (which later became a mega-hit for the band), sets the tone for the film. This is a volatile film, full of volatile characters. “Fight The Power” plays as the main theme and adds a feeling of uneasiness when it plays on screen. Juxtaposing the Public Enemy track is the score composed by Spike’s father, Bill Lee. The score alternates between orchestral and jazz. Tracks like “Mookie (Septet)” and “Malcom And Martin” add the jazz undertones and the chaotic scenes become anxiety inducing and the tender scenes even more heartwarming.

Spike Lee is a music aficionado who has spent his career highlighting African American artists, and Do The Right Thing, along with its score, is one of his crowning achievements.

Here’s my most out of left field offering on this list. Tetsuo: The Iron Man is a late ‘80s black and white, Japanese, body horror film. The chances the academy ever would have acknowledged this one are slim. However, the score is not to be swept aside. Crafted by Chu Ishikawa, it offers an intense industrial, almost metal soundtrack that perfectly accompanies the insanity of what’s happening on screen. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails (and future Academy Award-winning score composer) was paying attention.