In Contention

Tag: Peter Gabriel

  • The Academy opens the doors to 134 new members

    Seth RogenThe headline says it all.  After bringing in 105 new members last year, the Academy has just announced a new list of 134 names to join their ranks.

    Actors include Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Jeffrey Wright (woo-hoo!), James McAvoy, Casey Affleck (who should have been brought in after his 2007 nomination), James Franco, Michael Cera and Seth Rogen, as well as, of course, all of the first-time nominees from last year’s season.  I was rather surprised to see Brendan Gleeson only now getting the invite.

    A big huzzah to director Rod Lurie, who made the cut in the directors branch, along with last year’s big winner Danny Boyle and animator Henry Selick, among others.  And another tip of the hat to Clint Mansell (robbed blind for his “Fountain” score two years ago), who joined the composers’ ranks along with Peter Gabriel (another guy I figured would have been in long ago) and last year’s winner in both music categories, A.R. Rahman.

    Neither here nor there, since now we’re getting to inside baseball, but a big shout-out to Paramount’s Megan Colligan, who was allowed passage in the public relations arena.

    Check out the full list after the jump.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Final predictions

    Tech Support at In ContentionAfter six months of Tech Support previews and interviews, the films have arrived, the nominations have been announced and the guilds, the critics and BAFTA have all announced their preferences.  Today we take a final look at the races before the envelopes are opened on Sunday.

    BEST ART DIRECTION
    After guild and BAFTA wins, I would say “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” has cemented its frontrunner status in this category. Spanning decades of the 20th Century, Donald Graham Burt’s production design was impossible not to notice and gave us gorgeous backdrops for its character’s predicaments.

    The other nominees all have the odds stacked against them, whether similar work has been seen before (Michael Carlin’s “The Duchess” and Kristi Zea’s “Revolutionary Road”), is just not showy enough (Nathan Crowley’s “The Dark Knight”) or the nominee is otherwise along for the ride (James Murakami’s “Changeling”).

    Will win: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
    Could win: “The Duchess”
    Should win: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

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  • WEEKLY WRAP: BAFTAs, Berlin, pre-Oscar jitters

    Aside from two major precursors, it’s been a slow week for news — which leads to a lot of prediction second-guessing.

    • “Slumdog” swept at the BAFTAs, which also put new wind in Mickey Rourke’s sails. We live-blogged it here.

    • The “Slumdog” streak inevitably continued at the WGA Awards, where “Milk” picked up some hardware too.

    • This week’s Off the Carpet column was just eager to move on already.

    • Taking a closer look at the often inscrutable Best Documentary Short race.

    • Speaking of documentaries, we wondered if a win for “Man on Wire” is the foregone conclusion that people think it is.

    • On a similar tack, do we have a real race in the Best Foreign Language Film category?

    • In a bit of a blow to next week’s Oscarcast, Peter Gabriel has nixed his participation.

    • A survey of some of the industry’s top DPs suggests that “Slumdog” looks like the one to beat for Best Cinematography too.

    • Should we be mindful of a third possibility in the Best Actor race?

    • Perhaps another underdog, “Frozen River,” has hidden strengths in the competition.

    • Away from the Oscar beat, the Berlinale continued its quiet progress, with Stephen Frears’ “Chéri” possibly one to watch.

  • Peter Gabriel pulls out of performing at the Oscars

    Peter GabrielHmm, I totally agree with him on principle but at the same time, it’ll be a shame for him to not grace Oscar’s stage.  Especially since he’s likely to win the award:

    I was delighted when Down to Earth was nominated for an Oscar. I was also pleased to have been asked to perform the song in the Oscar ceremony. However, in recent discussions with the Producers, it became clear that despite there being only three nominees, only 60-65 seconds was being offered, and that was also in a medley of the three songs. I don’t feel that is sufficient time to do the song justice, and have decided to withdraw from performing.

    I fully respect and look forward to the Producers’ right to revamp the show. Even though song writers are small players in the film making process, they are just as committed and work just as hard as the rest of the team and I regret that this new version of the ceremony is being created, in part, at their expense.

    I still very much look forward to attending the ceremony.

    The news first dropped at Peter Gabriel’s official website via video message, though Nikki Finke apparently thinks she had it as an exclusive.

    Somebody call up Phil Collins…

  • 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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  • 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:

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    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.

  • 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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  • Step right up…Best Original Song is there for the taking

    Steve Coogan in Hamlet 2Generally around this time of year I start to compile a list of original songs for consideration in our charts…but I have to say, I’m having a hell of a time coming up with a respectable roll call.

    What have we got so far this year?  Peter Gabriel’s “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E” seems to be the best shot at the moment.  That is, of course, unless the Academy isn’t keen on the closing credits usage (as mentioned here).

    The “Sex and the City” soundtrack has quite a few original numbers, right?  (I steered clear.)  I think the Jennifer Hudson track “All Dressed Up in Love” is the smart money.

    Focus Features is going to put some effort behind “Rock Me Sexy Jesus” from “Hamlet 2.”  It could make its way through a thin field or on the goodwill of being a laugh riot alone.

    What else?  “The Call” from “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian?”  Wasn’t there an original track from “My Blueberry Nights?”

    I know for a fact that Paramount Vantage won’t have anything to push for “Defiance” or “Revolutionary Road.”  It’s probably for the best since they were (unfairly) ignored for their efforts last year on behalf of Eddie Vedder.  I’m doing some more checking, but just based on what we’ve seen this year, is there ANYTHING worth considering?

    Studios take note: here’s your chance to dive into the fray in at least one category.  Talk about a wasteland…

    Any ideas?

  • Peter Gabriel’s road to Oscar

    Peter GabrielI just spent a pleasant four minutes watching Peter Gabriel’s ground-breaking “Sledgehammer” video from 1985, which Patrick Goldstein smartly linked to recently at The Big Picture.

    It’s one of those things…I haven’t watched “Sledgehammer” since the early 90s, when MTV still had a fingertip’s grasp on relevance.  Those weekend music video countdowns were the stuff of legend when I was a kid.  Two days counting down the top 100 videos of all time?  Forget about it, I parked it in front of the tube for the duration.

    “Take on Me,” “Thriller,” “Vogue,” “Losing my Religion,” “Need You Tonight,” “You Might Think,” “Money For Nothing” and perhaps the last truly great music video of an era that crashed and burned with Hype Williams and the like, “Virtual Insanity.”  “Sledgehammer” held court in the greatest of company, always in the top five or six.

    Goldstein is responding to a recent Fred Goodman story in the New York Times regarding Gabriel’s innovative thinking, not only in the creative sector, but in the business sector.  Consider Goodman’s lede:

    When Charles Grimsdale, a British investor, started the Internet music venture OD2 in 1999, he had a hard time persuading large record companies to license their music. But when he approached the rock musician Peter Gabriel about putting his music catalog online, he got a very different response: Mr. Gabriel was not only willing, he also wanted to take a stake in the company.

    And here’s Goldstein:

    At 58, Gabriel is a graybeard by pop music standards, but he’s been incredibly far-sighted in his ability to anticipate huge changes brought about by new technology. In 1999, when record companies were still trying to protect their lucrative CD business by preventing fans from downloading music on the Internet, a British investor couldn’t persuade any record labels to license their music catalogs to his new Internet venture, called OD2. When he contacted Gabriel, the artist not only offered up his catalog of songs but promptly invested in the company itself, which later sold for $40 million.

    Gabriel is at the forefront of Oscar talk this year for his work on Pixar’s “WALL-E.”  Specifically, his closing credits tune “Down to Earth” could be in the derby for Best Original Song.

    However, the Academy has shown a tendency of shying away from tracks relegated to a film’s credit roll, opting instead for songs that work organically with their respective films, paying close attention to how they are utilyzed, not simply the merit of the tunes themselves.

    Then again, an argument could be made that the closing credits sequence of “WALL-E” carries a narrative weight that is imperative to the story.  (You can give it a listen over the “WALL-E” trailer here.)

    In any case, I wonder if the industry goodwill reflected in Goldstein and Goodman’s pieces could go a long way for Gabriel during the season.  His is a vigorous creative spirit that deserves whatever accolades might be bestowed.

    Soon enough we’ll get the Best Original Song chart up and rolling.  Still waiting on contenders to show themselves.

  • Peter Gabriel: Best Original Song contender?

    Reading through David Poland’s mid-Disney presentation…thing…I was reminded of a potential Best Original Song contender that slipped my mind in recent months.

    Peter Gabriel is working on a song for Disney’s “Wall-E,” and it could be a contender to watch as the season unfolds. Of course, Poland reports that it is a closing track (I wasn’t aware of this), and since the rule shift a few years back, closing tracks don’t find much head-way unless they’re used in some way elsewhere in the film to creative purpose.

    In any case, it’d be great to have Gabriel back in the fold. He hasn’t been too prevalent in the cinema world since his superb score for Rabbit-Proof Fence” in 2002. And who can forget his unexpected work in “The Last Temptation of Christ” two decades ago? I don’t know why, but he seems like a perfect fit for “Wall-E.”

    Chalk him up as a possibility.