There was no small amount of irritation last month when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said that the score for The Dark Knight, attributed to James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer, would not be eligible for Oscar nomination. Five names are credited for the score as a whole. (Howard, Zimmer, music editor Alex Gibson, ambient designer Mel Wesson, and composer Lorne Balfe.) That was too many for the Academy, which would prefer to award one single creator. Which has never been an issue with trifling things like screenplays, but (a) everyone knows writers aren’t worth a shit anyway and (b) you want the Academy to start making sense now?
Now Patrick Goldstein is reporting that the decision has been reversed, making the score eligible for nomination after all. I’m very much on the sidelines of the Batman Oscar race, but of all elements that could be nominated the score is more deserving than most. It was unique and memorable, but also meshed particularly well with the character of the film.
Warner Brothers has been optimistic this would go down — the studio has included the score on it’s ‘for your consideration’ site for some time.