In Contention

Tag: Best Original Song

  • TECH SUPPORT: The aftermath

    Tech Support at In ContentionSo the nominations have descended upon us. “The Dark Knight,” “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” as expected, all did phenomenally well, garnering seven crafts nominations each. The only absolute shock, in my opinion, was “Wanted” managing to show up in the sound fields.

    Allow me a few comments on each category…

    Best Art Direction
    As expected, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Changeling” and “The Dark Knight” all managed to score nominations.

    My “Frost/Nixon” hunch and “Slumdog Millionaire” gamble, however, were incorrect. Rather, Michael Carlin’s lavish sets for “The Duchess” and Kristi Zea’s recreation of 1950s suburbia on “Revolutionary Road” managed to overcome guild snubs and find a home here.

    Best Cinematography
    My hunch that the guild and the AMPAS branch would not match 5/5 was right on as Tom Stern managed to prevent a second consecutive double nomination for Roger Deakins. Stern’s work on “Changeling” was his sixth collaboration with Clint Eastwood this decade; a nomination seemed inevitable eventually.

    Joining him, as expected, are Chris Menges and Roger Deakins for “The Reader,” Claudio Miranda for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Wally Pfister for “The Dark Knight” and Anthony Dod Mantle for “Slumdog Millionaire.”

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Final preview special, part two

    Tech Support at In ContentionThis is part two of my last glance at the year’s tech category contenders.  For part one, click here.

    Best Music (Original Score)
    Now here is a category where there are no locks. Nonetheless, considering the success of their films and scores in awards season to date, A.R. Rahmen (for “Slumdog Millionaire”) and Alexandre Desplat (for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) seem solid bets.

    Thomas Newman, despite only having a BAFTA nomination to his credit so far in the awards season, often scores when the precursors don’t coming calling so I think he’s in for “WALL-E.” Alternatively, he could get in for “Revolutionary Road.”

    The rest of the Golden Globe nominees strike me as facing challenges. Clint Eastwood has performed well this season with “Changeling” but I am doubtful he will ever be embraced by the music branch. James Newton Howard’s compositions for “Defiance” may be lost with his film while Hans Zimmer’s Globe citation for “Frost/Nixon” seems more like a tribute to the composer, a Globe favorite.

    I would actually wager that Zimmer and Howard have a better opportunity with their fantastic “The Dark Knight” collaboration. Zimmer has been campaigning hard. Even so, I’m skeptical the duo will score. Co-composers receiving Oscar nominations is extremely rare. (Though, in all fairness, so is co-composing.)

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  • Listen to Fox Searchlight’s original song contenders

    We featured Bruce Springsteen’s “The Wrestler” a few weeks back.  It was a feature I wanted to keep up with but I never came back to it for some reason.

    Anyway, Fox Searchlight has made the track available along with A.R. Rahman’s “Jaiho” for your listening pleasure.  Enjoy!

  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Original Song

    Tech Support at In ContentionAs I said a few weeks ago, I would not analyze the last “tech” category until the eligible entries had been announced. Now that the Academy has named 49 finalists for Best Original Song, and with the BFCA and HFPA rattling off their list of nominees (though they are, admittedly, not great predictors), the time seems appropriate to have an in depth look into the category.

    It’s a good mantra to say “there are no locks” in this field. Since the rules were changed three years ago, forcing voters to watch the songs in the context of the movie, some surprises have certainly been in store.  Nonetheless, there are two titles this year I’d be very surprised to see miss the cut.

    The first is Bruce Springsteen’s title track for Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.” One of the most deserving winners ever in this category (for “Streets of Philadelphia”), his ends credits track seems poised to bring him his third Oscar nomination. In addition to the song perfectly fitting the film, it is also simply a great tune.

    I expect Springsteen to battle it out for the win with “Down to Earth,” the “WALL-E” tune from Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman.  Now here is a film whose performance in the precursors has absolutely shocked me (albeit in the best way possible). Gabriel has yet to have a hit with the Academy but he’s never written anything that was so Oscar friendly before either. And while Newman has yet to be nominated for a song, he’s never had a song in contention before and he’s also yet to win for his portfolio of classic scores.

    Admittedly, both these tunes only play at the end of the movie, over the credit roll. This seems to have become a disadvantage in recent years. But I still would be surprised if either title failed to make the cut when all is said and done.

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  • 12/17 Oscarweb Round-up

    Roger Ebert• Jeff Wells knows how to fix “Valkyrie” after the fact. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • John Campea suffers through the worst films of the year. [The Movie Blog]

    • Scientists claim that real-life relationships can’t live up to those in the movies. [Daily Telegraph]

    • Rob Turbovsky says biopics are hijacking real life for narrative gain. [Rope of Silicon]

    • David Poland spends 30 minutes with “Che” star Benicio Del Toro. [The Hot Blog]

    • Kelley L. Carter reports from Monday night’s rainy “Revolutionary Road” premiere. [USA Today]

    • Roger Ebert gets lifetime honorary membership in the DGA. [Associated Press]

    • Reed Johnson covers the making of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” [The Envelope]

    • Mark Olsen, meanwhile, catches up with David Kross and his coming of age in “The Reader.” [The Envelope]

    • Tom O’Neil finally gets around to why Hugh Jackman is the perfect choice for Oscar host. [Gold Derby]

    • Dave Karger makes a sound argument for the Best Picture exclusion of “Doubt” and “Revolutionary Road” with 42 West honcho Cynthia Swartz’s stretch for a counter argument based totally on things that…haven’t happened yet. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Karina Longworth lists the top 10 unreleased films of the year. [Spout Blog]

  • Academy shortlists 49 original songs

    High School Musical 3… and 11 of them (count ’em) are from “High School Musical 3: Senior Year.” That’s over a fifth of the contenders, so I’m guessing the folks at Disney will be pretty mortified if at least one of them doesn’t make the final five.

    And hell, one of them should. I’m not too snobbish to admit that “HSM3” is an immaculately produced entertainment that succeeds squarely on its own terms, and the same goes for its song score. Those songs are certainly a lot more integral to the film than, say, Peter Gabriel’s track for “WALL-E.” Credit where it’s due.

    Otherwise everything that you’d expect to be on the list is there — including the tracks from “The Wrestler,” “Slumdog Millionaire” (nice to see “O Saya” listed as well as “Jai Ho”) and “Synecdoche, New York,” which I know has a lot of fans (myself included) on this site. Elsewhere, I’m happy to see Jenny Lewis’ cute ditty for “Bolt” contending alongside Miley Cyrus’s composition — though to be honest, I’m just happy to see Jenny Lewis in any context.

    Some will be surprised by the exclusion of Jennifer Hudson’s “Sex and the City” ballad “All Dressed in Love,” but it was closing credits filler, and godawful at that.

    As for predictions, one must bear in mind that the Academy has frequently gone its own way in this category over the last few years, nominating songs that weren’t on anyone’s radar, much less any precursor lists. (Think “Raise It Up” last year, or the French-language “Look to Your Path” in 2005.)

    I’m thinking Norah Jones’ pretty, easygoing “The Story” from the otherwise ill-fated “My Blueberry Nights” will be right up their alley: throwback sound, credible middle-of-the-road artist, story-serving song from a film with a strong musical theme. Bullseye.

    I’ve also been predicting for months that the rousing title song from “Trouble the Water” will surprise in this category, so I’m chuffed to see it crop up here. It’s a terrific hip-hop track with a great story behind it — it’s by Kimberly Rivers Roberts, the struggling rap artist whose remarkable personal narrative, overcoming the horrors of Hurricane Katrina, forms the heart of the film. It’d be pretty damn inspiring to see her perform on the Oscar stage come February, and I have a hunch the Academy’s music branch (who have become more receptive to hip-hop in recent years) will feel the same way.

    Full list after the cut.

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  • Will ‘The Wrestler’ bring The Boss a second Oscar?

    Bruce SpringsteenIt’s been 13 years since Bruce Springsteen was nominated for an Oscar (1995 for the title track to Tim Robbins’s “Dead Man Walking”) and two more since he’s taken the award home (1993 for “Streets of Philadelphia”).  With little in the way of competition beyond songs like “Rock Me Sexy Jesus” from “Hamlet 2” and the “High School Musical 3” soundtrack (okay, Peter Gabriel’s “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E” is a definite threat), the question becomes, Will The Boss win statuette number two?

    I’m thinking it’s a great possibility, especially when you consider the story behind the track.  As Mickey Rourke has been telling journalists who’ll listen, and as he said to me during our interview last month, the actor sat down to write Springsteen a letter after falling out of ouch for over a decade.  Springsteen took a look at the film and went to work on a blue-collar track to go along with the story, all the while director Darren Aronofsky not fully grasping how big a deal that was.

    Aronofsky wasn’t a big Boss fan and didn’t really get the connection the performer has with his fans until Rourke took him to a concert and Aronofsky finally got it.  “Hey, they really like this guy,” he told Mickey.  Nothing like a little innocence to go along with Aronofsky’s undeniable intellect.

    Anyway, Springsteen said he wanted to do the song for Rourke because he wanted to help the actor get back up on his feet after a crashed-and-burned career.  It was touching for Rourke, no matter whether jaded journalists want to question his sincerity.

    Yesterday Fox Searchlight sent out the musical particulars of theire films “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The Wrestler,” including original scores by A.R. Rahman and Clint Mansell respectively.  Also in the mix were the original tunes “Jaiho” from “Slumdog” and, of course, “The Wrestler.”  But this version was much more souped up than the original version you hear over the credits of the film.  Indeed, it takes on an epic scope, manifying the impact of the film in your mind (have a listen to the new version here or at the bottom of the post).

    Anyway, I think it’s clear this race will be between Gabriel and Springsteen, two legends throughout the generations.  At the end of the day, could Springsteen walk away with that second Oscar bookend? Listen to the new version and decide for yourself:

    [display_podcast]

  • Take that, Oscar: Grammy nominates ‘Dark Knight’ duo

    The Academy’s petty disqualification of Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s score for “The Dark Knight” from Oscar contention has already caused much gnashing of teeth on these pages, so here’s something to compound the embarrassment.

    It seems the Grammy voters are rather less fussy. Zimmer and Howard’s work was nominated yesterday in the category of (deep breath now) Best Score Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media. (Still with me? Good.)

    And hey, look who joins them on the list: none other than Jonny Greenwood for “There Will Be Blood,” who of course won last year’s Oscar because the work was simply too groundbreaking to be ignored. Oh right, except he didn’t, because he was disqualified. Sensing a pattern here?

    We shouldn’t be surprised by now that a voting body unrelated to the field of film should exhibit more common sense than AMPAS’ music blue-hairs, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

    Joining Greenwood, Zimmer and Howard on the list are three more 2008 contenders, Thomas Newman for “WALL-E,” Ramin Djawadi (surprise!) for “Iron Man” and John Williams (yawn) for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”

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  • Thanks for waiting

    Sorry for ducking out yesterday — it was a Saturday of multiple distractions. Normal service to resume shortly.

    In the meantime, for your listening pleasure, here’s “O… Saya,” the sensational A.R. Rahman/M.I.A. cut from the “Slumdog Millionaire” soundtrack. It won’t get anywhere near Oscar night, of course — though I’m brazenly predicting that the film’s exuberant Bollywood-inspired closer, “Jai Ho,” will not only be nominated for Best Original Song, but will win.

    Still, close your eyes, listen to this and imagine M.I.A. on the Kodak stage instead of, say, Miley Cyrus or  whatever drek they choose to nominate instead.

  • Clint Eastwood growls through the opening of Best Original Song contender

    Gran TorinoI like Clint.  I really do.  I’m sticking up for him against all this timidity regarding his “cranky old guy” performance in “Gran Torino” because I know the role is something special.  Despite considering his recent string of success to be the most overrated era of any filmmaker’s career, I’m glad he’s out there making movies.  In the face of sudden disgust with his latest film, “Changeling,” I went to bat for him and even thought it to be his best work in quite a while.

    Basically, I’m no Clint basher.  But even I have to stop and wonder why the hell he’s singing in the opening verse of this Best Original Song contender for “Gran Torino.”  Suddenly I have the ole’ Adam Sandler sketch in my head: “There all gonna laugh at you!”

    Have a listen…if you dare (apologies for the crude recording…had to do it manually and I’m knee deep in holiday packing):

    [display_podcast]

  • 11/27 Oscarweb Round-up — THANKSGIVING EDITION

    • EW rounds up eight memorable Thanksgivings at the movies. “The Ice Storm” wins for me. No contest. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Anne Thompson on the indies hoping to score in the acting races. [Variety]

    • Dave Karger lays out the Oscar prospects for “Milk” and “Australia.” [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Todd Martens reports on some alternative Best Original Song contenders. Yay for Jenny Lewis. Boo for Mariah Carey. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Miyazaki’s “Ponyo on the Cliff” has an English-language voice cast. Step up Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon and Tina Fey. [The Guardian]

    • Some Oscar predictions from the ever-perspicacious pen of Nick Davis. [Nick’s Flick Picks]

    • And Brad Brevet weighs in with some updated picks of his own. [Rope of Silicon]

    • A.O. Scott calls “Milk” a “marvel.” I’m starting to think we might have our winner here. [New York Times]

    • Uh, so apparently TomKat are remaking “Last Tango in Paris.” April Fools’ Day was, like, eight months ago, but whatever. [SpoutBlog]

    • Finally, just to cheer you up on your day of gratitude, Hollywood is doomed. [Forbes]

    Sorry, I made it as festive as I could. Happy Thanksgiving, y’all.

  • Thumping ‘Slumdog’ soundtrack to be released

    Cover of Slumdog Millionaire original motion picture soundtrackThank God.  I was hoping Fox Searchlight would find a way to market this amazing material.  It worked well for them last year, albeit in the grungy, alt-rock vein.  But the music in “Slumdog Millionaire” is like a two-hour celebration, and it’s dying to be collected.

    The track listing, from MTV, has a lot of the A.R. Rahman stuff, of course (all of it exciting).  But M.I.A. pops up on there as well.  “Paper Planes” is put to great use in a montage that you wish would never end mid-film.

    The final track, as expected, is “Jai Ho,” the Bollywood number Searchlight is hoping will make some noise in the Best Original Song category.

    Check out the full story at MTV.  Here’s the track listing:

    1. “O… Saya” Performed by A R Rahman & M.I.A.
    2. “Riots” by A R Rahman
    3. “Mausam & Escape” by A R Rahman
    4. “Paper Planes” Performed by M.I.A.
    5. “Paper Planes” DFA REMIX Performed by M.I.A.
    6. “”Ringa Ringa” by A R Rahman featuring Alka Yagnik & Ila Arun
    7. “Liquid Dance” by A R Rahman featuring Palakkad Sriram & Madhumitha
    8. “Latika’s Theme” by A R Rahman featuring Suzanne
    9. “Aaj Ki Raat” Performed by Sonu Nigam, Mahalaxmi Lyer & Alisha Chinoi
    10. “Millionaire” by A R Rahman featuring Madhumitha
    11. “Gangsta Blues” by A R Rahman featuring BlaaZe & Tanvi Shah
    12. “Dreams on Fire” by A R Rahman featuring Suzzanne
    13. “Jai Ho” by A R Rahman featuring Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah & Mahalaxmi Iyer

  • WEEKLY WRAP: ‘Milk’ unveiled, London winds down, Halloween horror

    It’s been a quieter seven days after the upheaval we’ve seen in the race lately, but here’s how things went down:

    • “Milk” and “Frost/Nixon” finally unspooled for the LA crowd…

    • … and boy, some people don’t take kindly to criticism of either flick.

    • Meanwhile, “Doubt” kicked off the AFI Fest…

    • … while the London Film Festival drew to a close, showcasing “Che” and “The Wrestler” along the way. Check out our assorted reviews and “best in show” wrap-up.

    • ‘Tis the season to be scared shitless… the 20 all-time best horror films, as assembled by our team.

    • Christopher Nolan offers pretty much the final word on “The Dark Knight,” while some wonder if he can complete a Batman hat-trick.

    • The British Independent Film Awards revealed their nominees… “Hunger” and “In Bruges” are sitting pretty.

    • Best Sound Editing gets its week in the sun at Tech Support.

    • Looking at some new blood in this year’s tepid Best Original Song race.

  • New original song contenders from ‘Madagascar,’ ‘Truth’

    Madagascar: Escape 2 AfricaIt looks like that rather flimsy Best Original Song category is finding a few more contenders to hopefully erase the embarrassment of last year’s nominees (three for “Enchanted,” nothing for “Into the Wild” — at least “Once” took the gold).

    First up, will.i.am and Hans Zimmer have cranked out four new tracks for “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” which, if the competition falls apart, could find a place at the table.

    It also looks like Rod Lurie’s “Nothing But the Truth” will sport a new tune over the closing credits, a soulful little number by Coby Jones called, well, “Nothing But the Truth.”

    Lurie supplied us with the track (which he co-wrote with Jones) over the weekend.  Have a listen:

    [display_podcast]

    I like it.  Jones and Lurie might find some trouble going up against another low-key number from Bruce Springsteen of all people, but there isn’t much in the way of quality competing for a spot in this category so maybe it could squeeze in alongside The Boss and Peter Gabriel.

    Fox Searchlight is also high on the Bollywood-inspired “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” and with “High School Musical 3” dominating the box office over the weekend…who knows?  Meanwhile Jon Brion’s “Little Person” from “Synecdoche, New York” has its fans (none of which are likely to be Academy members), while one of my favorite tunes of the year is — yes — Huey Lewis’s “Pineapple Express.”  Sue me.

    More on the Best Original Song predictions chart.

  • Studios can solicit with music CDs once again

    A press release from the Academy indicates new rules for the music branch.  It seems campaigners will be allowed to send CDs directly to voters, a change from recent regulations that forced members to vote based on their reaction to track usage in the context of a film.

    Last year, the AMPAS tried a “bake-off” scenario, where voters had to come view film clips showcasing the musical numbers in order to vote on the Best Original Song category.  But attendance was apparently too low and the Academy is buckling once again (Gold Derby’s Tom O’Neil points this out here).

    The real issue this raises is the typically lax sense of responsibility within the Academy.  These cpeople can’t even be bothered to view the content in its intended form, therefore, they don’t take their roles as Academy members seriously.  Quite frankly, it’s sickening, and hardly news, but it’s also a whole other can of worms.

    Here’s a bit from the release:

    For 2008, CDs of eligible scores may be distributed to voting members of the Music Branch anytime prior to the nominations announcement on Thursday, January 22, 2009. Following the announcement, the nominated scores may be distributed to all voting members of the Academy. In both cases, each music track must be titled, include the name of the composer(s) and be identical to the music used in the finished film. The CD may contain only music written by the eligible composer(s). Music written by other composers, licensed music or music that is otherwise ineligible for award consideration is not permitted.

    CDs of nominated songs also may be distributed to all voting members, following the same guidelines as for nominated scores. Distribution of eligible songs prior to the nominations announcement is not permitted, though as a result of a rule change announced in June, the Academy itself will be sending DVDs containing film clips featuring the songs to Music Branch members during the nominations balloting phase. The DVDs will contain the same clips to be screened at the annual voting event at which branch members may cast their nominations ballot in person.

    More at the Academy’s official site.

  • ‘Quantum of Solace’ theme is out

    It’s finally landed. “Another Way to Die,” the theme song recorded by Jack White and Alicia Keys for the latest installment of the Bond franchise, made its radio debut earlier today — listen to it here and see what you think.

    I must say, on first listen, I’m a little disappointed. Perhaps it’s a grower. But for all the gutsy guitar riffs and atmospheric build-up, I found any clear melody — the bedrock of all the best Bond compositions from “You Only Live Twice” to “Nobody Does It Better” — distinctly lacking. And Keys’ presence is so muted, I’m not sure what the point of the duet was.

    I have a feeling we won’t be seeing this performed on Oscar night. Your thoughts?

    (EDIT: Thanks to Bradley Porter for sending me the full song, sans DJ intrusion. I will try and amend the post to include the song, but technical issues fail me at the moment.)

  • A taste of ‘Another Way to Die’

    Jack White is reportedly none too pleased about this, but an instrumental sample of “Another Way to Die,” his much-awaited Bond theme on which he duets with Alicia Keys, has been revealed in a new ad for Coke Zero.

    The ad, a promotional tie-in which finds the soft drink rebranded as Zero Zero 7 (geddit?) is a fairly low-rent knockoff of a typical Bond credit sequence, but the music is terrific — sounds like White has married his own guitar sound with a throwback to John Barry brassiness. If the vocals are this good, it could be the best Bond theme in some time.

  • TECH SUPPORT: Pre-Fall Contenders

    Tech Support at In ContentionWhile this week is rightly being most noted by awards-watchers for the Toronto International Film Festival, I’m actually going to go a bit of a different route today. I will be sure to comment on the movers and shakers of TIFF next week as the dust begins to settle, however.

    In a couple of weeks, I’ll start exploring each of the technical categories, one at a time, examining the potential contenders.  But right now, I think it’s a good time to look back on the contenders we’ve already seen.

    Many of the highest profile films of the year could garner nominations in the major categories at the Oscars. Heath Ledger’s classic turn in “The Dark Knight” seems almost certain to score recognition. (In my opinion, the film has much more potential than just Ledger, though that will depend on the reception of films we’ve yet to see.)

    Penelope Cruz’s work  in “Vicky Christina Barcelona” is bound to come into play during the awards season, with writer Woody Allen not too far behind. Films like “Frozen River” and “The Visitor” could wind up in contention for the performances of Melissa Leo and Richard Jenkins.

    Not to mention Andrew Stanton’s beautiful “WALL-E,” which may have had its “summer favorite” buzz stolen by “The Dark Knight,” but that does not take away from the prestige the Pixar name brings. (Though the minimal dialogue may prove a problem in garnering a screenplay nomination.)

    But as I noted in a column here two years ago, the pre-Fall months can be a major source of nominations in the crafts categories.

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