Up against veteran composers like Alexandre Desplat, Hans Zimmer, and also Oscar-winner A.R. Rahman, John Powell’s resume is just as comprehensive and long as Desplat and Zimmer’s. According to IMDB, his first break in scoring happened in 1989, so he’s been around for a while. It’s just taken him a long time to get noticed by the Academy, apparently.
How to Train Your Dragon is an alright film. It’s enjoyable, yes, and I haven’t seen Toy Story 3 so I can’t compare it to that one but it probably won’t win the best animated feature film at the Oscars on Sunday. However, I think John Powell does have a relatively good chance at winning the Oscar for Original Score. When I saw HTTYD, the melody and the score really stuck out to me, particularly the main theme that’s played again and again in the film. I’ve chosen to feature a different track from the film titled “Forbidden Friendship” which I think is really moving and full of some wonderful stuff, not to mention it’s not as popular as the main theme.
I haven’t heard the soundtrack from Rahman or Trent Reznor for The Social Network but from the other three films I’ve seen, it’s between Zimmer and Powell for the Oscar for original score. In the meantime, enjoy this track!
aaron's random musings 