To those up in arms about 'Whiplash' not being nominated for Best Original Score,
'Whiplash' is an amazing film. It undoubtedly should be nominated for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. With that said, 'Whiplash' should NOT be nominated for Best Original Score. The film has two songs (the two main musical themes of the film) "Whiplash" and "Caravan" that were optioned for the film. Due to these brilliant pieces of music being optioned, the film is ineligible for Best Original Score because the score indeed is not totally original. This is the Academy standing by their guidelines and no one can fault them for that. The film is superb, as is the music, but it is not original.
To be honest, I'm happy the Academy stood by their morals and made the choice not to include the score just for the sake of including it. I love the music of 'Whiplash'. I adore the film, but in this case, the Academy did the right thing.
We can't criticize the Academy for snubbing films and reward them for cutting corners. If the score for 'Whiplash' was nominated, it would be cutting corners. I love the Oscars. I always have, and I do not always agree with the year's nominations or the year's wins, for that matter. However, in this case, I am happy that they did the right thing. The score not being nominated doesn't make it any less brilliant.
Now, with all this said, I will be very upset if 'Whiplash' is not nominated for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Supporting Actor. If that happens, it appears the credit I so gladly give the Academy for not nominating a score I love, will be retracted for not nominating editing, direction and writing that is more than deserving. Time will tell. The Oscars are a funny thing.
The major thing to remember is that people rarely remember Oscars, but they always remember superb cinema and there is not doubt, 'Whiplash' is superb cinema!
- George McCann
