Golden Globe announced the nominations for 2011 awards. The nominations for ” BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE” are as follows:

1. Alexandre Desplat – The King’s Speech
2. Danny Elfman – Alice In Wonderland
3. A.R. Rahman – 127 Hours
4. Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross – The Social Network
5. Hans Zimmer – Inception

As a big AR Rahman fan, I was delighted to hear about his nomination. I am eagerly awaiting the movie’s release in India but based on the clips I heard on iTunes, my sense is that his work in “127 hours” might be better than the overrated “Slumdog Millionaire”.  Of course, a movie score has to be judged in the context of the movie, so I’ll just have to wait till I see it.

I may not have seen “127 hours” but I have seen three of the other four nominations – “Alice in Wonderland”, “Inception” and “The Social Network” and – and I think Rahman faces much stronger competition this time around. My pick would be Trent Reznor (he of the Nine Inch Nails fame) and Atticus Ross’ score in “The Social Network”. I think of three things when I think about the movie – smart, entertaining and dramatic. I think the movies is smart and entertaining because of the plot and dialogue, and dramatic because of it’s score. The music has almost a physical presence throughout the movie and one of the reasons why “The Social Network” is not just a good movie but a great movie.

Do you think the Danny Boyle-AR Rahman combination is going to win again? What’s your pick?