Oscars 2014: 10 Movies The Academy Should Consider (But Won't)

4. Oblivion - Best Production Design, Best Score

Oblivion is one of 2013's most underrated films. Yes, it's an amalgamation of several previous (read: better) science fiction films, but director Joseph Kosinski created something that was consistently interesting, sleek, and thrilling. Is it the best film of the year? Absolutely not. Will it change the science fiction genre or have much of an impact on movies at all? No. But was it a fun time at the movies? Definitely. The most impressive things about Oblivion were its production design and score. The film looked absolutely fantastic, and Kosinski showed that he has a keen eye for cool sci-fi concepts like the impressive and beautiful Bubble Ship Tom Cruise flies around in. The score was composed by French electronic band M83, and is quite possibly my favorite score of 2013. When asked why he chose M83 for the film, Kosinski stated,

"I went back and I found my first treatment for Oblivion from 2005 and it had listed in the treatment a soundtrack of M83. Obviously the Tron: Legacy collaboration with Daft Punk worked out as good as I would have ever hoped, I wanted to do something similar in that I'm pulling an artist from outside the movie business to create an original sound for this film. Daft Punk's music wouldn't make sense for this movie. It had to be an artist whose music fit the themes and story I was trying to tell. And M83's music I felt was fresh and original, and big and epic, but at the same time emotional and this is a very emotional film and it felt like a good fit."

Kosinski's absolutely right, because the score for the film was unique but also fit the tone he was hoping for. M83's sound is a bit reminiscent of Hans Zimmer, but with a more electronic, sci-fi twist. Definitely worth a nomination, similar to the one Trent Reznor was given (and won) for The Social Network.