In Contention

Tag: Best Original Song

  • U2 enters the race for Best Original Song with ‘Winter’ from Jim Sheridan’s ‘Brothers’

    U2Last week when canvassing the various FYC sites that are hitting the web as of late, I misspoke (er, mistyped) when I disregarded the eligibility of a certain original song contender in this year’s race.  Allow me to explain.

    U2’s “Winter” did indeed show up on Anton Corbijn’s “Linear,” a short film that accompanied the album “No Line on the Horizon” (which the band is touring vigorously across the US right now).  But I’m told the song was, in fact, written specifically for Jim Sheridan’s “Brothers” and that it will indeed be eligible for consideration in the Best Original Song category.

    The film has been completed for quite some time, mind you.  It took a while for it to secure distribution (though I have no idea why — it’s a fine film).  MGM picked it up maybe a year ago, and over the summer, Lionsgate bought the film in a three-picture distribution deal.  So just because “No Line on the Horizon” has been in stores for a number of months doesn’t mean “Winter” (which isn’t an official track inclusion on the album, by the way) wasn’t conceived far in advance of its release.

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  • Kate Hudson sings in new ‘Nine ‘trailer

    The song “Cinema Italiano,” by the way, is one of the film’s original compositions vying for Oscar glory. Based on this snippet, I think some melody wouldn’t have gone amiss. But that’s me.

  • Listen to Adam Lambert’s ‘Time For Miracles’ from ‘2012’

    Adam LambertOkay, it’s a stretch under the new voting scheme to think that Adam Lambert’s closing credits track “Time For Miracles” from Roland Emmerich’s blow-stuff-up-good entry “2012” would be an Oscar contender, but with the film hitting theaters over the weekend (and with the just-announced news that another big sci-fi entry will have an original tune in the mix) I thought it would be worth it to showcase Lambert’s first single, as we’ve been doing the rest of the year’s Best Original Song contenders.

    And let’s face it — 10 years ago, this would be a sure-fire nominee.  And speaking personally, it’s somewhat nostalgic for that.  It has that epic, Diane Warren-like scope of songs like “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” and “How Do I Live.”  Cheese-fests, sure, but guilty pleasures are allowed in this life.

    The track was written by Alain Johannes and the late Natasha Shneider, each formerly of the Los Angeles indie rock band Eleven.  It’s positioning in the film is clearly a liability, but it’s the kind of thing that would most certainly grab more ratings for the Oscarcast, should it find itself in the mix.

    Have a listen to the song below, which we featured less formally a few weeks back, and tell us what you think.

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  • Leona Lewis to sing ‘Avatar’ theme

    Leona LewisChalk up another contender for Best Original Song. British pop diva Leona Lewis is to sing the (presumably multi-octave-scaling) theme song from James Cameron’s “Avatar.”

    Best known Stateside for her megahit “Bleeding Love,” the 24 year-old chanteuse rose to fame as the 2006 winner of “The X Factor,” the UK’s “American Idol” equivalent — thus making “Avatar” the year’s second sci-fi blockbuster (after “2012”) to turn to a reality-show star for musical duties.

    Empire reports that Lewis is currently shooting the video for the song, a James Horner-penned closing-credits effort titled “I See You (Theme from Avatar).”

    If this all sounds a little 1997, I guess that’s the idea. Lewis is, after all, a latter-day answer to Celine Dion, whose ubiquitous Oscar-winning theme for Cameron’s last film — what was the title again? — was part and parcel of its success. (Of course, times have changed since then, and the Academy looks a lot less kindly on closing-credit tracks these days.)

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  • Listen to Patterson Hood’s ‘Depression Era’ from ‘That Evening Sun’

    Patterson HoodA number of weeks ago I wrote about the original song “Depression Era” from Scott Teems’s “That Evening Sun.” It’s a breathy southern soul tune that, for my money, bests all other original song contenders this year.  But considering the fact that the film will struggle to be seen, and the music branch isn’t likely to appreciate the song’s placement in the film (closing credits), I doubt an original song nomination is on the horizon.

    Regardless, it’s a wonderful piece of work from Drive-By Truckers front man Patterson Hood.  It really captures the atmosphere and sense of catharsis (that word won’t go away this season) that the film establishes (rather modestly, I might add — refreshingly so).

    The Truckers are an Athens, Georgia-based southern rock band, though Hood hails from northern Alabama.  Teems has said the singer/songwriter’s involvement in “That Evening Sun” was a “stamp of approval” to the film’s cultural authenticity.

    Have a listen to “Depression Era” below and tell us what you think.

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  • Listen to Andrea Bocelli’s ‘God Bless Us Everyone’ from ‘A Christmas Carol’

    Andrea BocelliWe’re featuring the year’s Best Original Song contenders when we can here at In Contention, and today, we bring Andrea Bocelli’s “God Bless Us Everyone,” the closing credits track from Robert Zemeckis’s “A Christmas Carol.”

    As mentioned in the past, being the first cue on the closing credits can be a bit of a liability with the new voting paradigm.  “God Bless Us Everyone” plays quite traditionally at the end of the film rather than in the context of the piece, so songs like those from “Crazy Heart,” “Precious” and certainly “Nine” and “The Princess and the Frog” have a leg up here.

    But Bocelli’s song is quite robust.  It’s like a power hymn to the holiday season, packing the considerable punch of the tenor’s vocal gifts.  I’m skeptical of its chances, but despite some rather thin lyrics, it nevertheless sends me headlong into the yuletide spirit.  Have a listen below and tell us what you think of the track.

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: Oscar hosts, Bridges arrives, animated five

    Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart• Oscar season ramped up this week, with the popular selection of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin as this year’s Oscar emcees.

    • This week’s Off the Carpet column surveyed the runners and riders for Best Actor …

    • … only to be immediately outdated as Jeff Bridges and “Crazy Heart” arrived to turn that race on its head.

    • Big news in the Best Animated Feature race, as last-minute entry “A Town Called Panic” ensured we’ll have five nominees.

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  • Andrea Bocelli, Paul McCartney join the race for Best Original Song

    Andrea BocelliCatching up with Robert Zemeckis’s “A Christmas Carol” last night (which I absolutely adored), I noticed the film featured a tune called “God Bless Us Everyone” by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.  Might we have a new contender for Best Original Song?

    Each of Zemeckis’s prior performance-capture efforts included original songs — Josh Groban’s “Believe” from “The Polar Express” and Idina Menzel’s “A Hero Comes Home” from “Beowulf” — but I hadn’t yet heard of the track featured in the new film.  The song is what you might expect, a festive vocal power hymn, the first cue over the closing credits and, therefore, eligible.

    But not a likely nominee, I suppose.  “Believe” made the cut in 2004, but that was before the new voting process.  Where the track is situated will probably not prove intriguing enough to warrant serious consideration.  But nevertheless, it’s a new hopeful in a category that is already more competitive than normal.

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  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 8 — ‘This Is It,’ music branch, ‘Invictus’ and ‘Avatar’ trailers, the Best Actor race and more

    Oscar TalkWe have a belated edition of Oscar Talk for you today.  We apologize for the lateness, but what better way to kick back on a Sunday afternoon than with yours truly and Anne Thompson of indieWIRE’s Thompson on Hollywood?

    In this eighth installment, we actually covered a lot of ground. This week’s topics:

    • With “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” hitting theaters this weekend, we lead off talking brief about the film (which Anne hasn’t seen).

    • With music on the mind, this leads to another quick discussion about the Academy’s music branch, which caused poor Sad brad Smith to preemptively refrain from submitting his moving track “Help Yourself” from “Up in the Air” for consideration this year.

    • Rumors of Neil Patrick Harris hosting the Oscarcast after doing bang-up jobs at the Tonys and Emmys are circulating, and in the wake of Ricky Gervais being tapped to emcee the Golden Globes this year, we spin our wheels on that topic one more time.

    • “Precious” is opening next week, so with that (and Anne’s recent piece concerning Mo’Nique’s behind-the-scenes drama issues) in mind, we talk about whether the film, or the actress herself, has to win a popularity contest this season to gain the Academy’s attention and respect.

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  • ‘Help Yourself’ from ‘Up in the Air’ becomes the latest music branch rule book casualty

    Sad Brad SmithThe music branch of the Academy sure hasn’t done the hard-working awards team at Paramount any favors lately. You might recall the 2007 fiasco surrounding Johnny Greenwood’s score for “There Will Be Blood,” which left his immaculate (some would say year’s-best) work ineligible due to arbitrary, overly subjective fine print concerning the dilution of the original music by pre-existing material.

    Well, lightning strikes twice, as musician Sad Brad Smith has opted out of submitting his soulful, thematically potent track “Help Yourself” from Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air.” We featured the song here earlier in the week.

    The reason, I’m told, is that, though unpublished, a portion of the song existed previously in Smith’s repertoire. As such, the track would not qualify due to the fact that it wasn’t rendered, in full, specifically and originally for the film, as the music branch’s rules stipulate.

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  • Listen to Sad Brad Smith’s ‘Help Yourself’ from ‘Up in the Air’

    Sad Brad SmithIt looks like others are finally coming around to what we reported here over a month ago: Sad Brad Smith’s “Help Yourself” from the film “Up in the Air” is a formidable contender in this year’s Best Original Song race.  EW’s Adam Markovitz does note something we haven’t conveyed yet, however — that director Jason Reitman caught Smith’s act at a Chicago coffee shop on a recommendation and asked him to write something up for the film.  “Help Yourself” is the result, and it’s a fantastic track.

    No, really, I don’t usually dig on this sort of melody.  It seems so dangerously close to being too precious for it’s own good, but pulls back just enough to be a pretty profound piece unto itself.  The tune plays in a marriage sequence that is, really, the emotional heart of the film.  I would love to see Smith nominated and performing on that stage, but you just never can tell with the music branch.

    Anyway, we provided Mary J. Blige’s “I Can See in Color” from “Precious” earlier in the week, so it seemed only right to pass Sad Brad Smith’s track along also.  As always, we’ll continue to keep an eye on this race as it unfolds.

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  • Listen to Mary J. Blige’s ‘I Can See in Color’ from ‘Precious’

    Mary J. BligeLast month we broke the news that Mary J. Blige would be in the thick of this year’s Best Original Song mix with the track “I See in Color” from “Precious.” Mariah Carey’s “100%” was originally going to be featured in the film (and was, in early festival screenings), but when Blige saw the film, it hit her on such a personal level that she wanted to contribute in some way.

    You can imagine the diva dispute that erupted, but things have been settled on that front and Blige’s track, which is featured int he context of the film during a key scene, will be the film’s representation in the category (which could be eliminated entirely, given new voting rules).

    Today I’m happy to offer the song up for your listening pleasure.  It’s raw, certainly emotional and reflects just the kind of honesty contenders in this category tend to lack.  Hear for yourself:

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  • ‘An Education’ for Best Original Song?

    Beth RowleyThis morning I highlighted a few areas where the “An Education” team might want to angle for nominations beyond the slam-dunk that is the Carey Mulligan Express. What I forgot to suggest is that the film could theoretically put itself in the hunt for Best Original Song.

    You could be forgiven for thinking that the lovely, woozy torch ballad “You’ve Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger” — which features prominently in the trailer, as well as twice in the film itself — is a dusty archive find from the early 1960s.

    However, it’s actually a contemporary track co-written and performed especially for the film by 28 year-old British jazz-pop chanteuse Beth Rowley (who appears as a nightclub singer in the film).

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  • Adam Lambert’s ‘Time For Miracles’ from ‘2012’

    So this is the song that Brian May was praising to the high heavens. Okie dokie. If this were the mid-1990s, we might be looking at a nomination. But, as it is…nah.

    (Courtesy: Vulture)

  • Patterson Hood’s ‘Depression Era’ from ‘That Evening Sun’

    Patterson HoodI just finished Scott Teems’s “That Evening Sun,” which, much like Tom Ford’s “A Single Man,” is an impressive feature debut that nevertheless has some developmental issues that prevent a powerful narrative of catharsis from being as affecting as it could have been.

    There is, however, a fantastic original song in the film from Patterson Hood of the Georgia-based band Drive-By Truckers called “Depression Era” that bears consideration because, at least in my view, it might be the best original song I’ve heard in a film this year.  The only problem, of course, is that the tune plays over the final credits of the film, which all but guarantees that it won’t cut it for the music branch (which has increasingly show a preference for songs used within the context of a film in recent years).

    Of course, the film is quite small and will probably end up at the bottom of that screener stack Anne and I were discussing yesterday, but, alas, I feel compelled to mention it.

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  • New ‘Up in the Air’ trailer features original song contender ‘Help Yourself’

    A new trailer has dropped for Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air,” considerably more broad than the one the director conceived as an internet exclusive teaser, but still very much on the nose for the film’s tone and rhythms.  Furthermore, the final moments feature the Sad Brad Smith song “Help Yourself,” which will more than likely be in the hunt for an original song nomination as it plays over a portion of the film, as opposed to the closing credits title track.

    Here’s the new trailer (see it in HD here):

  • WEEKLY WRAP: Festivals, festivals and festivals

    George Clooney in Up in the Air• After weeks of hype, “Up in the Air” landed in Telluride, and delivered. (And finally got a trailer too.)

    • Meanwhile, as some compare director Jason Reitman to Billy Wilder, we interviewed him at the festival.

    • We also got chatty with possible awards contenders Paul Schneider and Venice prize-winner Mark Boal.

    • On the other side of the Atlantic, our Venice coverage continued, including a first look at Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story.”

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  • Best Original Song and the tunes of Disney’s ‘Princess’

    The Princess and the FrogIn just a few weeks here the Best Original Song picture has become clearer and clearer.  We’ve told you about contenders from films like “2012,” “Precious,” “Where the Wild Things Are” and “Up in the Air,” but there’s more coming.  Today: the songs of Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog.”

    You might recall that for two years in a row, three songs from one film were nominated in this category: “Listen,” “Love You I Do” and “Patience” from “Dreamgirls” in 2006 and “Happy Working Song,” “So Close” and “That’s How You Know” from “Enchanted” in 2007.  The Academy took action in June 0f 2008, putting a new rule into effect that limits the number of eligible songs per film to two.

    This is worth keeping in mind in the case of “The Princess and the Frog,” which, to the best of my knowledge, has seven songs in play.  But I’m told only two (naturally) look to get the awards campaign treatment.

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