r/Oscars Jan 23 '25

News Challengers missed Score and Screenplay. R.I.P.

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722 Upvotes

105 comments sorted by

199

u/FredererPower Jan 23 '25

Should have gotten an Editing and Cinematography nom too.

70

u/Few_Age_571 Jan 23 '25

That tennis ball cam shot alone should’ve seen it thru

-15

u/Realistic_Warthog_23 Jan 24 '25

Gimmicky shit that takes you out of the moment

50

u/KingIemand Jan 23 '25

The fact Wicked beat it in both score and editing is wild to me

12

u/THX450 Jan 23 '25

Wicked’s score is phenomenal, but I keep wondering why it isn’t considered as an adaptation/song score as opposed to an original score.

I wonder if it’s because the original composer, Stephen Schwartz, was involved. Technically at that point it’s the original composer making a revision, not another composer adapting (ignoring John Powell for this argument).

7

u/SmilingSarcastic1221 Jan 23 '25

The songs can’t be nominated - they’re not original.

But just as any other can be nominated or a song and the score, the score to this movie is new. The songs existed in the stage musical; the score did not.

5

u/THX450 Jan 23 '25

The score is certainly inspired by the score from the musical, in some cases direct recreations. But then again, I do think it also has to do with the original composer being involved. If it was just Powell adapting Schwartz’s score, the academy might look at it differently.

In the end though, I’m glad the score got nominated. It’s fantastically orchestrated and performed, richly romantic, and uses leitmotifs to tell the story. Everything a film score should be.

4

u/BarcelonetaE70 Jan 23 '25

The score to Wicked is an amzingly beautiful, captivating score and I am glad it got the nomination.

1

u/resemblingaghost Jan 25 '25

As a nerd in both, hard agree

65

u/Optimal_Goal9102 Jan 23 '25

The cuntyness was too high for them to comprehend

39

u/SirDiesAlot15 Jan 23 '25

They could not handle his strongest potions 

157

u/Marqueemooooon Jan 23 '25

No score nomination is crazy, I really thought it was a lock.

32

u/KingIemand Jan 23 '25

I seriously did NOT expect Wicked to get in over this

20

u/williamtremblay Jan 23 '25

here I was not expecting EP getting in over Challengers

4

u/KingIemand Jan 23 '25

I was already predicting EP for this one. Original musical that's also a major player at best picture? Ofcourse thats not gonna miss! But an adaption of an already existing musical that got no precursors?? Thats shocking

7

u/BarcelonetaE70 Jan 23 '25

Have you listened to the entire score of Wicked (not the soundtrack. The actual score already released on cd)? Have you watched Wicked onstage? The movie's score is an entirely new musical piece, not an adaptation. The only things from the stage musical that they kept in the movie were the songs of course, but the MOVIE SCORE is its own entity and did not appear on the stage show. And it is a fantastic score indeed.

10

u/Professor_Finn Jan 23 '25

Wicked’s score is excellent though

8

u/KingIemand Jan 23 '25

It may be, but it's still an adaption of an already existing musical that includes already existing music. Challengers would have been far more deserving

6

u/Professor_Finn Jan 23 '25

That’s not how the category works though. And Schwartz redid all the music anyway. challengers deserved a nom but not at the expense of Wicked

6

u/KingIemand Jan 23 '25

I mean... Dune got disqualified for reusing too much music. Wickeds similiar, except the music hadn't been used in a movie before

3

u/Professor_Finn Jan 23 '25

From a prior MOVIE like you said. That’s the distinction

7

u/KingIemand Jan 23 '25

I get why one is allowed to compete and the other isn't, but there's no difference in how much of it was original

2

u/BarcelonetaE70 Jan 23 '25

Have you watched the Wicked musical onstage? Have you listened to the Wicked movie score (NOT the soundtrack, but the SCORE)? They are two different entities.

1

u/hikemalls Jan 23 '25

Serious question: do the voters know that only the original parts of the score are eligible, they're not nominating all the Broadway songs?

21

u/WestSideBomber Jan 23 '25

I believe its release date REALLY hurt it. I wish it had released in September like originally planned.

72

u/RDG1836 Jan 23 '25

Challengers nation we lost the battle but time WILL win us the war 😞

40

u/Agent-Two-THREE Jan 23 '25

Absolutely. The Oscars always fucks up somewhere.

Who the fuck prefers the Kings Speech over The Social Network?

13

u/KingIemand Jan 23 '25

My parents...

Though they've gone on record saying they liked Black Swan best that year (wich I seriously didn't expect, they never like movies like that)

2

u/SetzerWithFixedDice Jan 24 '25

It's often in the "they're overdue" category too where the weirdest things happen.

Jamie Lee Curtis is a great character actress, but her win in "Everything Everywhere All at Once" was really a headscratcher if all you did was watch the movies that year for the merits of their performances and weren't watching the awards circuit.

-1

u/rockabillychef Jan 23 '25

I did. Colin Firth is a treasure.

-4

u/Britneyfan123 Jan 23 '25

I think I might have seen one online person (my memory is terrible)

16

u/RatManAntics Jan 23 '25

Thats crazy this film should 100% have won editing and been nominated for score - the only real contender against it for score imo was The Brutalist

14

u/PlanAgreeable8096 Jan 23 '25

The Screenplay was fantastic but I am not surprised it missed for that. However, the score is unmissable for me in terms of that being one of the clearly defining parts of the movie. Genuinely disappointing.

5

u/Hobbies-R-Happiness Jan 23 '25

Probably the only movie for me this year where it drove my emotions and built tension within the scenes.

36

u/insert-originality Jan 23 '25

No score is absurd.

9

u/jsanders4289 Jan 23 '25

Really I think if it came out later in the year it would have done better. Really sad. I enjoyed that movie way more than the nominated films I’ve seen.

24

u/doubleb_43 Jan 23 '25

That score deserved a win, not only a nomination. I'm sad.

9

u/jot-pe Jan 23 '25

No Score?? No Editing??? No CINEMATOGRAPHY???? And Emilia Pérez got noms in all of them?? Wtf is the Academy on this year

18

u/Lacroixboi1 Jan 23 '25

Not getting the score nom is so disrespectful. This soundtrack was my most played album of last year

-16

u/Sharaz_Jek123 Jan 23 '25

Not getting the score nom is so disrespectful

Why?

Isn't the Ross/Reznor shtick getting a little tired?

8

u/Lacroixboi1 Jan 23 '25

To you it might be but this honestly is one of my favorite scores of all time. One of the main reasons the movie has stuck with me so long is the score. The way it blends into the choreo is also fantastic. Curious if you think Emilia Perez is a better option than challengers for a score nomination?

-10

u/Sharaz_Jek123 Jan 23 '25

To you it might be but this honestly is one of my favorite scores of all time.

Jesus.

11

u/BB808BB Jan 23 '25

Emilia Perez got the nominations Challengers should have got.

12

u/reynoldclio Jan 23 '25

in a perfect world. This would actually got score, cinematography, editing, screenplay, supporting actor and picture

10

u/KingIemand Jan 23 '25

Had it released in november, it would've gotten all of those and more

2

u/PSYmon_2040 Jan 23 '25

It's crazy to me that it seems to work that way. Dune 2 is another amazing movie that gets nerfed because it didn't come out on awards season. Then you have countless boring oscarbait movies, like maestro last year, getting in.

1

u/reynoldclio Jan 28 '25

im so pissed it missed costume design, makeup, editing and director. The oscar think the movie directed itself again. I dont get the original score bullshit tho, the score is one of the most beautiful pieces from hans zimmer.

9

u/extrakelpfries Jan 23 '25

this makes absolutely no sense to me. the score practically makes that movie.

5

u/KingIemand Jan 23 '25

They seriously nominated Wicked over this

7

u/farmerpeach Jan 23 '25

Unreasonably upset about this. I can't recall being so disappointed in a snub/series of snubs. Major testament to the power of recency bias.

3

u/shrimptini Jan 23 '25

Oscar’s hate Luca. It’s wild he’s one of the greatest.

3

u/pkfreeze175 Jan 23 '25

I don't think it necessarily deserved a screenplay nomination, but I do think it should have received a best score and best cinematography nomination.

2

u/KingIemand Jan 23 '25

I really thought it wouldbeat out September 5 in screenplay tbh. Oh, and editing too! What happened in that category? Dune didn't even make that one.

5

u/CovfefeFan Jan 24 '25

I will get downvoted but I just saw this for the first time this week and with all the hype around the score, I think it was a bit hit-and-miss (tennis pun unintended). While the soundtrack is great and something I will listen to on Spotify, I felt like sometimes the pulsating energy it brought distracted from some scenes/conversations. Of course it went well with the tennis/hook-up scenes but other times it was too intense for what was actually happening.

2

u/revolver37 Jan 24 '25

I'm with you on this. The Best Score award should be about how well the music supports the story, and Luca was a little too indulgent with its use. 

4

u/magvadis Jan 23 '25

Queer was more interesting so not sure why Challengers is the one with the fanfare other than the cast

6

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/KingIemand Jan 24 '25 edited Jan 24 '25

Wtf man?! Yes, I think Wicked overperformed and that it shouldn't have gotten editing and score (I've no problems with any of its other nominations, wouldn't have been mad at screenplay either). Thus I am an incel???! Fuck off

1

u/GreatestStarOfAll Jan 25 '25

Genuinely curious on your opinions of Wicked’s score and editing.

2

u/dougbp Jan 23 '25

what happens with trent at the academy? they explicitly dont like him?

1

u/revolver37 Jan 24 '25

Uh no. He's been nominated 3 times and won twice. For someone who's been composing film music for less than 15 years he's pretty massive

2

u/Careless-Wrap6843 Jan 23 '25

September 5 is an industry plant! smh

2

u/Suspicious-Average26 Jan 23 '25

Should’ve gotten score, maybe cinematography but I’m fine with it getting snubbed everywhere else because I actually felt it was a style over substance film.

2

u/CPMToX Jan 23 '25

Script didn't deserve a nomination but score should have

2

u/PraetorGold Jan 23 '25

Reminds me of a teen wolf movie poster?

2

u/Chrisgonzo74 Jan 24 '25

Challengers was too OP

4

u/Realistic_Warthog_23 Jan 23 '25

That's ok! The score was just techno and the writing wasn't great!

4

u/Few-Plastic-2940 Jan 24 '25

This was movie was so lame, people liked this?

2

u/Unoriginal-finisher Jan 24 '25

I was disappointed with the flick, admittedly I wanted a hot threeway movie, not some cheeky tennis as a metaphor for sex think piece. I know a lot of people ( mostly women) who loved it. Maybe women are starting to find men on men sexual tension and insinuations as hot as men find girl on girl stuff. I have to agree with most on the score though, it was pretty cool for an art house movie, that could have a got a nomination at least.

6

u/Few-Plastic-2940 Jan 24 '25

Me and my lady watched it and about a hour in, she wanted to turn it off but I said we made this far, we gotta finish it. We thought soundtrack, while it played some bangers, just started playing at the most random of times. Like, the scene with the two guys in the sauna. They’re just talking a whole lot of nothing while house music is playing, there’s so many scenes like that. It made us so annoyed. All characters ended up being shitty so by the end of the movie, we rooted for no one. Zendaya’s acting is again overshadowed by the actor that played her husband, much like on her show Euphoria where she’s always getting out acted by her costars. The ending was also a chore, last 10 minutes of the most obnoxious tennis match of all time. Why was everything slowed down? We both were like “dude, hurry up and finish this shit!” 💀

2

u/Unoriginal-finisher Jan 24 '25

Well there goes my theory on the fairer sex becoming just as debased as us ( but who else’s feet can you lay the success of FIFTY SHADES and MAGIC MIKE at? ). I actually don’t understand the rules of tennis, so I have no idea who won at the end. I was going to google it, but I just didn’t give a shit. I’ll have more fun letting the inevitable porn parody spell it out for me.

1

u/itsnoli Jan 25 '25

This is all the correct take

3

u/Frank_and_Beanz Jan 23 '25 edited Jan 23 '25

Can anyone please explain to me what the score love-in is in regards to the movie? The choices in where it was placed seemed to intrude on the film, not compliment it. And then it was so loud that you can't hear some of the dialogue properly either. The actual score itself is a good choice, but its implementation seemed to ineffective... anyone want to shed some light or do people just push for it because its dance music over a 'sports' movie?

Edit: Ask a question, open a dialogue, and get downvoted lol. Why can't you guys offer an explanation?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '25

[deleted]

2

u/Lacroixboi1 Jan 23 '25

So we’re really supposed to believe the transphobic, xenophobic regressive Emilia Perez is something special by that logic then?

5

u/DipsCity Jan 23 '25

EP is for straight white people to claim allyship

Such a bad movie imo. NONE OF THEM SING WELL is fucking crazy in a musical

2

u/binkysurprise Jan 23 '25

No, Emilia Perez being nominated is terrible because people won't shut about it ever now

2

u/Human-Law1085 Jan 23 '25

Isn’t this kind of an odd point though? You can disagree with Emilia Pérez getting all those nominations and still agree with Challengers not getting a bunch of nominations.

1

u/Lacroixboi1 Jan 23 '25

You definitely can I’m just pointing out that the criteria to make a movie special/ or good doesn’t mean it needs Oscar recognition. I’d personally argue that a bunch of catergories Emilia Perez got nominated for Challengers deserves more but that’s just me

1

u/Ok-Turnip-9035 Jan 24 '25

Bah really

Trent deserved another Oscar nom/ win

1

u/resemblingaghost Jan 25 '25

Deserved at least one acting nom too. Was very late to see this (only just last month) but I’ve watched it 3x since. Score, editing, cinematography are great!

1

u/itsnoli Jan 25 '25

The needle drops were so over the top and annoying. This movie was also marketed as a throuple movie which it absolutely was not. And, while we’re on the subject, does it not bother anyone that Zendaya doesn’t look near old enough to have a child??

1

u/plasticbluepalm Jan 25 '25

Justice for Luca

1

u/Raul_McH Jan 23 '25

I like Anora, but Challengers was a more interesting and compelling and tricky screenplay.

1

u/Top_Fuel4774 Jan 23 '25

I didn’t love this movie but the fact that it missed score is actually mind blowing to me

1

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '25

I’m gonna go full tin foil; Guadagnino walked out of the golden globes when they gave EP best comedy and the academy punished him for it for not “getting with the times” or whatever you wanna call it

1

u/gabagool-n-ziti Jan 23 '25

f*ck emilia perez. i’m SOOO mad about this :/

-9

u/Peekaboopikachew Jan 23 '25

A very overrated film

4

u/Substantial-Week-258 Jan 23 '25

Not to say it was bad either, but it wasn't necessarily Oscar worthy

-1

u/liqou Jan 23 '25

The score was excellent but too derivative of The Social Network. I'd have loved for Reznor-Ross to be nominated for the Queer score.

7

u/Dry-Height8361 Jan 23 '25

Eh, I don’t really see that. Like they both had synths and piano ig, but very different vibes and they interact with the rest of the movie in different ways.

1

u/Bli-munda Jan 23 '25 edited Jan 23 '25

Think so, too!! Whether it was the script or the talent or the director, this movie is a lot more interested in pretty pictures and close-ups of moist lips than it is in telling a story that actually feels emotionally and intellectually real. It was long, superficial, and boring. I almost couldn't stand the 2h plus of blasting techno score.

0

u/Disastrous-Cap-7790 Jan 24 '25

This is honestly embarrassing. The Academy should be ashamed.

-1

u/JoeDynamo28 Jan 23 '25

I really cant figure out why people feel this thing is deserving of oscars, it is absolute dog poop.

5

u/KingIemand Jan 23 '25

Is it bigger dog poop than Emilia Perez?

0

u/JoeDynamo28 Jan 23 '25

Thats hard to say there both such high levels of poop its not even funny.

-2

u/THX450 Jan 23 '25

TBH I gave Challenger’s score a listen and I’m not surprised it didn’t get nominated. Still think the movie should have gotten some nomination though!