The Film Experience

by Chris Feil

The Oscars aren’t the only big movie music prize on the horizon. Last week we got this year’s Grammy nominees and the Grammy voting committee has clearly been spending a lot of time at the movies this year! Aside from the film categories (more on that in a minute...) soundtracks showed up in major categories in a big way thanks to behemoths Black Panther and A Star is Born.

“All the Stars” from Panther and “Shallow” from Star both made it into the Record and Song of the Year categories, in addition to both getting nominated in the genre performance categories. But the biggest movie moment among the nominees has to be Kendrick Lamar’s nomination in Album of the Year for Black Panther’s soundtrack...

Could a soundtrack be benefitting from Grammy expanding their nomination to 8 per category (an unwieldy number and also not consistent in every category *tosses hands in air*)? Nope, Kendrick Lamar is a perennial nominee in the category - this is his fourth and he had to have been very close for last year’s genius DAMN.. Momentum with Grammy nominees doesn’t quite build the way that it does for eventual Oscar wins, so we’ll see if he can finally pull off the win. Another good omen: the last soundtrack to be nominated (O Brother Where Art Thou in 2002) also won.

Let’s take a look at the film categories...

BEST COMPILATION SOUNDTRACK FOR VISUAL MEDIA

Call Me By Your Name
Deadpool 2
The Greatest Showman
Lady Bird
Stranger Things

Okay okay, so they allow for television too - Boardwalk Empire won in 2012 and over Burlesque, Glee, and Tangled. A Stranger Things win here would also be similarly homophobic (even icky Deadpool 2 has a Celine Dion song!) but it is unlikely. The Greatest Showman is one of the best selling albums of the past year and should safely take this. I believe A Star is Born might have been ineligible, while "Shallow" was due to eligibility deadlines, but no Black Panther is quite odd. But isn't that Lady Bird mention so charmingly in the stealthily musical spirit of the film?

BEST SCORE SOUNDTRACK FOR VISUAL MEDIA

Black Panther - Ludwig Göransson
Blade Runner 2049 - Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer
Coco - Michael Giacchino
The Shape of Water - Alexandere Desplat
Star Wars: The Last Jedi - John Williams

The Grammy eligibilty calendar wreacks havoc on those focused around the Oscar eligibility calendar! This one is harder to predict, but having a big name or being a big movie doesn't hurt. While our preference would lean towards Coco or The Shape of Water for their narrative impact, John Williams may be the most likely given his many many Grammy wins over the years.

BEST SONG WRITTEN FOR VISUAL MEDIA

"All the Stars" - Black Panther
"Mystery of Love" - Call Me By Your Name
"Remember Me" - Coco
"Shallow" - A Star is Born
"This is Me" - The Greatest Showman

So three of last year's Oscar nominees and two likely nominees for this year. Given the widespread love and cultural impact of "All the Stars" and "Shallow" this may be a wild call, but I'd still give the edge to the pop chutzpah and album sales of "This Is Me". Where money goes, Grammy typically does as well. Or maybe "Shallow"'s current dominance will carry over...