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Jonny Greenwood Denied an Oscar Nomination for Some Stupid Reason

Jonny Greenwood plays the blues.Photo: Getty Images

If you’re a Radiohead fan who typically likes to see the most deserving person win in his or her respective Oscar category, then you were probably doubly disappointed by this morning’s nominations. Thanks to an arcane eligibility rule buried deep in the Academy’s playbook, Jonny Greenwood’s awesome score for There Will Be Blood was disqualified from the Best Original Score category because it’s “diluted” by a significant amount of “preexisting music” (in addition to the guitarist’s 35-minutes of original work, Blood’s soundtrack contains 46 minutes worth of pieces by Brahms and Estonian composer Arvo Part, among others). Worst of all is that Paramount Vantage wasn’t notified of the Academy’s decision until Saturday, making it too late for the studio to appeal, or for Greenwood to quickly write an additional hour of music.

Obviously this is ridiculous, as the use of other compositions was clearly necessitated by the movie’s nine-hour (approximate) running time and not Greenwood running out of ideas. And at 35 minutes, it’s at least as long as the scores that did win nominations, like that nap-inducing one from Atonement. Oh well — director Paul Thomas Anderson will just have to be satisfied with Blood’s surprising eight nominations, as Greenwood takes comfort in his huge pile of In Rainbows money.

Jonny Greenwood’s ‘Blood’ score disqualified by AMPAS [Variety]
Earlier: Jonny Greenwood Teaches Radiohead Fans Some Class

Jonny Greenwood Denied an Oscar Nomination for Some Stupid Reason