Oscars: Trent Reznor but no Daft Punk?

Why is Trent Reznor now (unofficially, anyway) the next Danny Elfman whereas Daft Punk didn't even get nominated for the "Tron" soundtrack? As I was listening to the NPR guy go over the nominated scores like he does every year, I kept waiting for Daft Punk, but then I realized they weren't nominated. The curious case of Daft Punk's Oscar omission...

No way were they going to nominate anything about Tron except for the FX or technical related things. And I didn't even notice if it got any nominations there. Reznor's score was for a movie that screams Oscar-bait, while Daft Punk scored a popcorn movie that not even most hardcore sci fi/video game nerds had a whole lot of use for.

I've not heard Daft Punk's score, but even it it's the best thing in the history of recorded music, there was no way the Academy was giving a nomination to the Tron soundtrack.

I disagree on The Social Network being Oscar-bait, when The King's Speech was so much more obviously so. I thought Reznor's soundtrack was fundamental to the emotional content of the film -- I'll just go ahead and admit I think Social Network is one of the best films I've ever seen, and about as accurate a depiction of America as Cold Turkey, which I watched instead of the Oscars last night -- whereas Tron 2.0's soundtrack was less...video game-ish sounding than it should have been. Some good stuff, esp. with the few exciting visuals I thought Tron had -- I need to see it again not in 3-D, which was wasted for the most part -- but not as essential.

If you haven't seen Cold Turkey, with Dick Van Dyke and a cast of dozens of then-famous (1969, finally released in 1971) TV actors, also including Bob and Ray, you are missing one of the darkest and most accurate films about America ever made. And hilarious. Tom Poston has a monologue in this about his drinking problem that is genius in both writing and delivery.

I used Oscar-bait more broadly than is probably technically correct. I just meant it was the sort of movie that gets nominated for awards, not necessarily one that was created specifically for that purpose.

I really couldn't get into the Social Network. . . though I agree that the psuedo-classicist approach of the King's Speech is prime Oscar bait. Sometimes I lose my place in time--wait, did Ben Kingsley or Daniel Day-Lewis or Colin Firth win for some period piece this year? ? ? I thought True Grit and the Fighter were better than both, but that speaks more to my inclinations (from South Boston/have done lots of research on Westerns) than anything.



Post Edited (02-28-11 11:46)

I thought The Social Network was pretty good, but I wasn't crazy about it. Even so, I felt the score was an integral element that greatly enhanced the film. And I don't really care about what Reznor (or Atticus Ross, for that matter) has been up to the past 10-15 years.

But for the most part I'm not a soundtrack/original score person. I enjoy the work of Carter Burwell, Hal Hartley (who scores his own films), Stewart Copeland and Clint Mansell...oh, and Philip Glass.

I'm going to have to check out Cold Turkey...

I remember being sick and not going to school and watching Cold Turkey and being utterly captivated. I'll have to see it again, as I obviously didn't even get half of it being 12.
Just on Clint Mansell, I saw Black Swan the other day and noted he did the score. Has he done all of Aronofsky's films?

I think Mansell is Aronofsky's go-to composer. "Lux Æterna," from Requiem for a Dream is kind of Mansell's trademark piece.