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The Oscar nominations just came out.
Exciting stuff.
Since Rhapsody deals with music, I'm gonna bypass who got nominated for Best Editing or Best Cinematography and go straight to the Best Song nominations.
Now, most everyone I know makes fun of Oscar-winning songs. I can even include myself in the list of everyone I know. But since Rhapsody lets you easily access pretty much any song whenever you want, I've been able to listen to Oscar-winning songs from many decades past -- both the bad and the good.
Guess what? I've found that there are some real keepers on the list. Burt Bacharach's "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," Dylan's "Things Have Changed," Mercer/Mancini's "Moon River" and Isaac Hayes' "Theme from Shaft" have all made my life better.
Very recently, the Swell Season (pictured above) deservedly won for "Falling Slowly," and they gave a lovely speech during which they didn't thank an endless parade of lawyers, producers and agents (aka the Three Horsemen of the Hollywood Apocalypse). That's how the Oscars are supposed to work.
This year, it's a good sign that the weak theme from Avatar has no chance of winning (it didn't even get nominated). On the other hand, Paul McCartney was nominated a few years back for a throwaway effort, while his lovely movie song from this year was completely ignored by the Academy. (And really, you could have given the statue to "Live and Let Die" back in the '70s, for Pete's sake.) Still, you can't say that the Academy just wants to nominate old guys like Randy Newman every year.
Speaking of the ever-present Randy Newman, let's take a look at this year's Oscar nominees.
Now, let's take a look at some of the songs that could have/should have been nominated, but weren't.
OK. Let's take a break. We've cut out two songs already. "The Weary Kind" truly deserves to be there, and you can't have the Oscars at all without a Randy Newman song, so that leaves only one more Oscar-nominated tune to take out. I'd yank "Take It All." It's not really that terrible, but I'm not sure it works without at least visualizing a striptease. Plus, I'm not sure that just not being terrible earns a nomination. Here are some more-deserving songs that could've been nominated in its place.
Based on what is actually nominated I'm putting my chips on "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart.
Click here to listen to the entire playlist of Oscar-nominated songs and overlooked gems.
- Ryan
Bingham: "The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)"
Holy smokes! This song is really good. It already won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song -- Motion Picture, and it's a true keeper. I thought intimate songs this good weren't supposed to be nominated. Of the Oscar-nominated songs, this one gets my (unwanted, nonbinding) vote.
- Randy Newman: "Down in New Orleans" (performed by Dr. John, from
The Princess & the Frog)
All right, Randy Newman is always nominated, and it's almost always for cartoons. And when he finally won an Oscar, even he joked that it was for his weakest nominated song. That said, this tune is pretty good. I like Dr. John and I like New Orleans. This one for Disney isn't as good as the one that other New Orleans native, Louis Prima, sang for The Jungle Book -- but then, what is?
- Nora Arnezeder: "Loin De Paname" (from Paris 36)
OK, it's kind of neat that this song was nominated. The movie wasn't a hit in the States and the song itself is in French, and foreign-language songs don't get nominated often (though Jorge Drexler deservedly won a few years back for "Al Otro Lado del Rio"). That said, after listening to it a few times, it's already getting old; it's mostly a chorus that just keeps repeating the same thing over and over again. Too bad because the entire soundtrack is actually decent -- kind of has an old Edith Piaf and Django Reinhardt vibe.
- Randy Newman: "Almost There" (performed by Anika Noni Rose, from The Princess & the Frog)
What??? Randy Newman has another nominated song, and it's from the same movie? I admit, both tunes are pretty good -- but still. This one is like an R&B showtune with a New Orleans feel to it; the other is an actual Big Easy song. Hmmm, I guess I'm kind of like the Academy -- I like Randy Newman. But really, two songs from the same picture? One of them has to go.
- Marion Cotillard: "Take It All" (from Nine)
I didn't see the movie, since reviewing the soundtrack for Rhapsody was punishment enough. This one is made to sound like a stripper number. I have no idea if Cotillard actually strips while singing it, but if so maybe that had something to do with it getting a bunch of votes. Supposedly, Cotillard's performance was the only good thing about Nine, and she shoulda been nominated for her fine work in Public Enemy (you made my mother cry in that one, Miss Cotillard). Can we move her over to the acting category?
Now, let's take a look at some of the songs that could have/should have been nominated, but weren't.
- Sad Brad Smith: "Help Yourself" (from Up in the Air)
I really liked this movie and this song is just beautiful; the story behind it is very nice and fits the film's nonflashy, humanistic message. Structurally, it is built around the same kind of circular folk-guitar chords as "The Weary Kind," but I'd still take out one of Randy Newman's songs and put this one in. It doesn't matter which one. Randy, give one spot to this Sad Brad character.
- Mary J. Blige: "I Can See in Color" (from Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire)
This song is a really strong effort. The nice, low-key arrangement lets Blige take center stage with class. Why wasn't this one nominated? I heard the movie is good, but I didn't see it because of its overly long title. Why couldn't they just call it Precious? On the other hand, maybe they should do this with every movie title: Inglourious Basterds: Based on Hundreds of Old War Movies Watched by Tarantino While He Smoked Weed in His House. Anyway, very good song.This replaces the French tune about Panama being far from Paris.
OK. Let's take a break. We've cut out two songs already. "The Weary Kind" truly deserves to be there, and you can't have the Oscars at all without a Randy Newman song, so that leaves only one more Oscar-nominated tune to take out. I'd yank "Take It All." It's not really that terrible, but I'm not sure it works without at least visualizing a striptease. Plus, I'm not sure that just not being terrible earns a nomination. Here are some more-deserving songs that could've been nominated in its place.
- Duffy: "Smoke Without Fire"; Beth Rowley: "You've Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger" (both from An Education)
Here are two young artists who contributed original, retro-style tunes to a movie that gained a bunch of nominations, so why did they get ignored? I looked over the Academy's arcane nominating laws and bylaws and they are very complicated; I think they may have sunk a few of these numbers. By the way, the entire soundtrack to An Education is a keeper, so I'd give it a listen if you haven't already.
- Karen O & the Kids: "All Is Love" (from Where the Wild Things Are)
Where the Wild Things Are made everybody in the Rhapsody editorial deparment cry. This is a neat song, and it reminds me of the Up with People-style songs you heard as a kid (especially if you were a child of the 1970s). Plus, I like it even though Karen O's hairstyle bugs me. It turns me into a grandmother: "Karen, you are such a pretty woman, but why can't you leave that haircut to Dmitri Martin?" Anyway, this song makes me overlook my follicle prejudices, and it makes me wonder why the entire movie got black-balled by the Oscars. As a side note, what the heck is going on when the kids' movies are more interesting and creative than the movies that are intended for adults?
- Jarvis Cocker: "Petey's Song" (from Fantastic Mr. Fox)
This one is pretty weird, but it's funny and it's over really quickly. I kind of like that such a goofy throwaway was put into an animated movie (which are painstakingly slow to make). Plus, I really loved this movie, and the book it's based on was my personal favorite from about age four to age six. The entire soundtrack is strong, and this number fits neatly into the middle of it. Still, it's no "Help Yourself" by Sad Brad Smith.
- Death Cab For Cutie: "Meet Me on the Equinox"; Lykke Li: "Possibility" (both from Twilight Saga: The New Moon)
I didn't see Twilight but I enjoyed the SNL parody of it with all the Frankensteins replacing the vampires. The entire indie-rock soundtrack is a keeper, and supposedly all the tunes were written specifically for the movie. Here are two selections from it. The blogosphere thinks that Thom Yorke should've been nominated, so I passed him over just to see if I kick up any wraithful blogo-dust. Ratings-wise, the Acamedy fell asleep by ignoring these songs -- nominate just one of 'em and the Oscar telecast gains about 39 million tweenage-girl viewers in the U.S.A. alone.
- Emile Welman: "9,000 Days"; Overtone: "Colorblind" (both from Invictus)
I really liked this movie, even though some of it was shot like an old episode of Matlock. Actually, that's one of the things I liked about it. Clint Eastwood doesn't do flashy. I put these tunes in here because neither of them were nominated, even though they live up to the stereotypes of what the Academy supposedly likes. These songs have to do with important issues (history, hope, overcoming adversity, nonviolence, reunification) and they deal with Nelson Mandela, who may be the only politician that is universally loved. Also, I love Clint Eastwood movies, and I like his son's music (when not writing film scores, Kyle Eastwood is a jazz bassist and bandleader). Good intentions aside, either of Randy Newman songs is probably better than either one of these. Darn it!
Based on what is actually nominated I'm putting my chips on "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart.
Click here to listen to the entire playlist of Oscar-nominated songs and overlooked gems.
Portions of album content provided by All Music Guide © 2011 All Media Guide, LLC ® 1999-2011 Rhapsody International Inc.
Thank you for the post, your blog is lovely! I've wanted to watch Where the Wild Things Are since it came out but I haven't had the chance yet. This totally made me want to see it even more!