“The King’s Speech” — Alexandre Desplat (from The King’s Speech soundtrack)

Well, I don’t know what to write about tonight and though I could easily spew something random and post it under Random stuff, I’ll push myself to instead write about The King’s Speech instead, since the Oscars were tonight and all.

Alright, so Alexandre Desplat may have lost out to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Social Network (I can’t criticize that decision since I haven’t seen the film nor have heard the score) but that doesn’t mean he did a bad job with TKS.  I’ve posted the main theme from the film, of the same title.  I like the simplicity of the production and the instrumentation that Desplat is so very skilled at doing.  In just under 4 minutes, I feel like he encapuslates the entire emotion, the experience of the film: from the opening, hopeful melody changing into more dramatic, then into the minor key, if you haven’t seen the film before, it’s a good preview of what to expect.

After watching clips of The King’s Speech at the Oscars and hearing the score, I want to see the movie again!  But alas, the confines of school and my so-called life prevent me from venturing out to the theatres.  Guess I’ll just have to listen to the soundtrack on repeat, and continue to want to see the film again until I implode.

Forbidden Frienship — John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon Soundtrack)

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!