In Contention

Tag: Best Original Song

  • Listen to Chris Cornell’s ‘The Keeper’ from ‘Machine Gun Preacher’

    I haven’t heard too many great things about Marc Forster’s “Machine Gun Preacher,” which is set for a bow at Toronto next month. I’ve been interested in it mainly for the contribution of Chris Cornell on the soundtrack, as the Soundgarden front man cooked up the original song “The Keeper” for the film.

    I haven’t seen the film so I can speak to how the song is used. It might be used organically within or saved for the closing credits. (Remember, it’s key to understand how a song is used in a film because that impacts perception in the Best Original Song voting.) It’s a rolling little ditty that’s pleasant enough, the kind of acoustic lingering Cornell seems to relish outside of his work with Soundgarden.

    The song was released exclusively today via Cornell’s website with an option to donate to Sam Childer’s Angels of East Africa charity. (Gerard Butler plays Childers in the film.) It will be available for download tomorrow via iTunes. Have a listen to “The Keeper” after the jump.

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  • In praise of the modern movie soundtrack

    I generally try to ignore film opinion pieces I think are fundamentally misguided — à chacun son goût and all that, plus the fact that fighting one mind is generally more trouble than it’s worth — but Ben Walsh’s idle article in The Independent today on the supposed demise of the movie soundtrack does such an absurd disservice to the current landscape of film music that it can’t pass without objection.

    Walsh’s standpoint is a dully nostalgic one: movie scores were so much more memorable in the old days, when greats like John Williams, Ennio Morricone and Danny Elfman (who are all dead, apparently) conjured whistle-ready themes by the dozen, while scores today “seem so completely unmemorable” by comparison.

    His pool of case studies for this assertion is a shallow one — he speaks mainly of the recent Oscar winners by Best Picture, Original Score and Original Song, oddly conflating the last two categories as if the two disciplines are somehow comparable — and even through that narrow prism, his preferences are hard to justify.

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  • ‘Captain America’ keeps the summer sizzling

    So, “Captain America: The First Avenger” wraps up the summer’s superhero slate this week. Yes, we have “Cowboys & Aliens” on the way to keep the general comic book flow going, but Marvel’s other bookend to the summer hits Friday, and, well, I thought it was just (yankee doodle) dandy.

    “Robust” is the word that kept coming to mind while watching the film. You get a lot of bang for your buck here, with action set pieces galore, beefy production values (which might as well include Chris Evans’s physique) and a generous splash of pulp 40s fun to keep it unique throughout.

    I always thought Joe Johnston was the most interesting choice of Marvel’s stable of directors leading up to “The Avengers” next summer. He’s kept an even genre keel all of his career and “The Rocketeer” (20 years old and getting the anniversary treatment soon) is probably the nostalgia hook that really cinched it as a nice call.

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  • Listen to Alan Menken’s ‘Star Spangled Man’ from ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’

    When Alan Menken was tapped last year to provide an original song for Joe Johnston’s “Captain America: The First Avenger,” I had no idea how that made any sense. Not that Menken isn’t able to branch out of his typical milieu, but it just didn’t really compute for this material.

    When I finally saw the film (more when the embargo lifts tomorrow), it all clicked perfectly. “Star Spangled Man” is a rah-rah U.S.O. tune akin to something like “Over There” or what have you, and it’s right up Menken’s alley. So, as it turned out, they wanted him for what he’s best at: song and dance numbers.

    The song — which could earn Menken a record-tying 20th Oscar nomination if the Academy’s music branch thinks it’s deserving — plays over a montage in the film and, given that, will be a stand-out exhibition when they screen the eligible tracks in the context of the various films at year’s end. So, watch out.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: ‘Inception’ dominates below the line

    So, the morning after a terrible prediction record at this year’s Oscars, I’ll try to make some sense of what the Academy told us, and what it means for the crafts artists we got to know along the circuit this year.

    As the evening went on, many people began to wonder if “The Social Network” would triumph in Best Picture. While Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall managed to take Best Film Editing (on their second nomination), the very deserved win for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross in Best Original Score was somewhat surprising. The work trumped Alexandre Desplat for “The King’s Speech,” despite the latter film’s wins in the major categories. Desplat, with four nominations under his belt, could now be considered due, I think.  (Alas, Tom Hooper’s later win for Best Director removed doubts about the Best Picture winner.)

    The Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects categories unsurprisingly went to “Inception,” making Oscar winners of Nolan’s usual crew of Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick, Richard Kind, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, and company. I congratulate them and wish them the best for “The Dark Knight Rises.”

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  • The five categories giving me hell

    With a little over 48 hours until the big night, I find myself in an uncommon state of disarray — my crammed Oscar weekend “To Do” list includes viewing all 15 short nominees in order to make an informed dart-throw of a prediction (stickler that I am, I held out for a theatrical screening), preparing copious supplies of food and alcohol for my second annual hotel-suite Oscar party (sorry, the guest list is full) and somehow finding time to write a final predictions piece.

    Before I can check off that last task, however, I actually have to settle on some final predictions — and despite the presence of solid frontrunners in most key categories, this year is giving me more trouble than most. For a race that, only a couple of weeks ago, seemed smothered in blanket affection for a single film, other possibilities have opened up that unusually equalize the possibilities of both a titanic sweep and a widely splintered share-a-thon.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Final analysis, part two

    Yesterday we began our final look at the 10 crafts categories.  Check out part one here.  Today, the conclusion.  Meanwhile, you can find my final predictions in all categories here.

    Best Music (Original Score)

    Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, despite their atypical approach to film music composition, are very much contenders in this race. Having won the BFCA award and Golden Globe for their work on “The Social Network,” they must be taken seriously. The fact remains, however, that this is not a typical Oscar-winning score.

    Alexandre Desplat has had an amazing run since he broke onto the American scene in 2003 with “Girl With a Pearl Earring.” Four Oscar nominations later, it seems he is poised to win his first statuette for another Colin Firth film, “The King’s Speech.” Being behind the Best Picture frontrunner is a huge advantage. Moreover, its subtle elegance managed to win the BAFTA. Even so, a win is hardly assured as subtlety is actually not frequently awarded here.

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  • Oscarcast loses montages and acting tributes

    Forgive me if this news, from the Hollywood Reporter, is a couple of days old — I’m still catching up on Oscar-related nuggets I missed while I was in Berlin. But I was so pleased by these details relating to Sunday’s telecast that I had to share them.

    I’m on the record as saying I thought last year’s show, produced by Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic, was one of the sloppiest I’d seen in my lifetime of Oscar-watching, and I know a number of others were similarly dismayed. So as far as I’m concerned, the duo steering this year’s ceremony, Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer, would benefit by doing things as differently from Team Shankman as possible — and indeed, that seems to be their MO this year.

    Their first good move came with the reinstatement of the nominated song performances — disrespectfully binned last year to make room for such gems as breakdance routine to the “Hurt Locker” score — though Cohen admits to being “disappointed” the Academy’s music branch didn’t give them a Cher number to work with.

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  • James Franco takes on Cher

    If you’re still sore about Cher and Diane Warren being denied a place on Oscar night for their Golden Globe-winning effort “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” — hey, is there any rule to prevent them busking on the red carpet? — at least take comfort in the knowledge that James Franco feels your pain.

    Franco’s own tuneful rendition of the power ballad appeared on his site yesterday, with the explanatory caption: “They pulled this from the Oscar show. Damn it.” Seem’s whoever’s singing it, the song just can’t catch a break.

  • ‘If I Rise’ music video

    One of the earliest installments of this season’s Oscar Guide covered the Best Original Song category. It could be a tight race, though most are betting on Randy Newman (who we spoke to earlier today) taking his second Oscar, for “We Belong Together.”

    Another strong possibility, especially given its Best Picture nomination, is “127 Hours” landing the win for Dido and A.R. Rahman’s “If I Rise.” It would be Rahman’s third win to date and he’s also nominated for Best Original Score. It seems unlikely for the film to score anywhere else, so it’s not a bad call if you feel like going out onto a limb.

    Fox Searchlight has provided us with the official music video for the film. It’s not the most creative video ever cobbled together, but it gets the word out a little more. Check it out after the jump.

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  • TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: ‘Toy Story 3’ composer and songwriter Randy Newman

    When the Oscar nominations were announced last month, composer Alan Menken almost tied Randy Newman for third-most nominations among living artists.  But Newman inched away, nabbing his own nomination for the song “We Belong Together” (listen) from “Toy Story 3” and thereby maintaining a firm grip on the designation.

    It was Newman’s 20th nomination to date, a healthy run by anyone’s measure.  But it was extra special given his recent history with Pixar Animation Studios, and the voice he has given to the “Toy Story” franchise since its 1995 beginnings.

    He was able to put a bow on the series in his own special way, and should he win the Oscar next weekend, it’ll be his second trophy.  His first also came for a Pixar entry, “Monsters, Inc.,” which netted him the gold in this very same category.

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  • Best Original Song performances are back

    The Academy’s Twitter feed just noted the following:

    You heard it 1st: Best Song performances are back for 83rd #Oscars! Gwyneth Paltrow set to sing…more on the way.

    To which I say: Great.  It was grossly disrespectful, I thought, to suddenly jerk them from the telecast last year (and if you heard some of the things being said of the nominees — by the telecast’s producers — behind the scenes last year, you might have been riled up a bit, too).  I think Ryan Bingham missed out on a great opportunity to reach a global audience with one of the best winners in that category in some time.

    But anyway, obviously they see having someone like Gwyneth Paltrow perform on the show (as she did recently on the CMT awards) as a ratings asset.  Ditto Mandy Moore (who will be performing “I See the Light” with Zachary Levi and Alan Menken).  A.R. Rahman will do “If I Rise” with Florence + the Machine (no Dido) and Randy Newman will be there to belt out “We Belong Together.”

    Check out the Oscar Guide to Best Original Song here.

    [Photo: Screen Gems]

  • WEEKLY WRAP: Nomination week

    • In case you’ve just emerged from a coma, “The King’s Speech” led the Oscar nominations on Tuesday with 12 bids.

    • “The King’s Speech” was also the surprise winner at the Producers’ Guild Awards, drastically shaking up the Best Picture race.

    • In the wake of these developments, Kris adjusted his winner predictions accordingly.

    • In a special mid-week edition of Oscar Talk, Guy and indieWIRE’s Peter Knegt joined Kris and Anne to break down the nominations.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Analyzing the nominees

    So the 83rd Annual Academy Award nominations were finally announced this week, and I did fairly well in handicapping the nominees. Outside of Best Sound Mixing, I never missed more than one nominee in a category. Unfortunately, there were no categories where I scored 100% (apart from Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay). Oh well.

    The massive overall tally for “The King’s Speech” resulted from a plethora of nominations in the crafts fields. “True Grit” and “Inception” got all but one plausible tech nomination (with one very notable exception for each, discussed below). “TRON Legacy”’s tally, on the other hand, has got to be considered a disappointment as must, to a lesser extent, those of “Black Swan” and “127 Hours.” The complete shut-out for “Shutter Island” was also somewhat of a surprise, but other branches saw fit to make Oscar nominees of some unlikely titles.

    Regardless, it was nice to see many deserving crafts artists get their due. With the throat-clearing out of the way, I’ll now give short reactions to – and previews of – each below-the-line field.

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  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Music (Original Song)

    The music branch’s process of nominating in the Best Original Song category changed a few years ago.  Members now screen clips and view contenders as used within the context of their films.  It generally means music used organically has a better shot than the usual closing credits fluff of yore.

    That rule change has also, I think, altered the perception of the award on the annual Oscar telecast.  Last year performances of the contenders were scrapped from the show early on, largely because they weren’t popular hits and the show is all about nailing down a viewership.  Could it happen again?  This year’s line-up is diverse if underwhelming, but now that I think about it, that seems to frequently be the case.

    The nominees are:

    “Coming Home” from “Country Strong” (Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey)
    “If I Rise” from “127 Hours” (Music by A.R. Rahman; Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong)
    “I See the Light” from “Tangled” (Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Glenn Slater)
    “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3” (Music and Lyric by Randy Newman)

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  • 1/28 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Puig hearts Bardem, eclectic slate of tune nominees, Bettany’s ‘Speech’ regret

    • Claudia Puig writes a love letter to “Biutiful” star (and Best Actor nominee) Javier Bardem. [USA Today]

    • Geoff Boucher and Rebecca Keegan note the eclectic flair of this year’s Best Original Score nominees. (More on those later). [The Envelope]

    • The Coen brothers: the cartographers of cinema. [The Guardian]

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Final analysis, part one

    It seems hard to believe that it’s been more than six months since I wrote this year’s introductory Tech Support column ( a dissection of the art direction race). Much has changed since then, naturally, as we are less than a week away from the big day when we find out the nominees for the Oscars this year. Today, I take a final look at the music categories, sound categories and the two categories that have been narrowed down to seven finalists – Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup.

    BEST MAKEUP

    In this utterly bizarre category, virtually any combination of the seven finalists would fail to surprise me as the final three. That said, I’ve had the same top two predicted all year and see no reason to change now: “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Wolfman.” The former had massive box office and very noticeable makeup, whereas the latter is exactly the sort of movie that tends to score here and nowhere else.

    Logic may put “True Grit” or “The Fighter” next in line due to their Best Picture contender status. But as much as these films are loved, they don’t have as showy makeup as the other finalists, and this is a category that often doesn’t care how films are received overall.

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  • 12/27 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Pond on original songs, rigging the ‘Grit’ game, coal for the year’s worst

    • Steve Pond offers his perspective on the Best Original Song race. [The Odds]

    • Jack Giroux talks “Rabbit Hole” with star Sandra Oh. [Film School Rejects]

    • Michael Cieply reveals how a shrewd publicity executive rigged the game in the favor of “True Grit” the first time around. [New York Times]

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