Da 5 Bloods - 1 nomination

 

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) - Terence Blanchard 

4 Vietnam veterans reunite in country after more than 40 years to honor their fallen leader's death and to dig up millions of dollars worth of gold they buried while in service.  One of the soldiers brings his semi-estranged son on the trip and they have varying degrees of PTSD, and this trip is bringing difficult conversations to the surface.  As the trip continues, the group encounters local NGO workers who become their burden, and attracts the attention of local gangsters who want the gold. Now they are in all out war, and this is the second one they've fought while in Vietnam.  Surviving Vietnam turns out to be a twice in a lifetime challenge for each of these men, and not everyone will make it out of the country alive.

This film is Spike Lee at his best.  Yes, the score is excellent (which is nothing new for a Spike Lee Joint), but the screenplay was even better.  The performances were authentic, the discussions difficult, the cinematography was beautiful (and I think snubbed in that category), and the ensemble somehow was greater than the sum of its parts.  In some ways, I'd even say this film is authentically Lee's voice, and yet stands apart from Spike Lee canon.  There is a love among men in this film that I found breathtaking.

Watch the trailer here.