In Contention

Tag: Winter

  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Original Song

    Jeff Bridges in Crazy HeartOver the last five months, Gerard has diligently canvassed and re-canvassed the various crafts categories here at In Contention.  The one category we have held back on all this time, as contenders have slowly fallen into place, was Best Original Song.  Today, it’s time to dig into the field.

    This has turned into something of a banner year for original songs in feature films.  We’ve had the great pleasure of bringing a number of hopefuls to you via our “listen to” posts, and look forward to continuing that into the new year.  But inevitably, frontrunners are bound to show up, and I think we can successfully narrow the field now.

    Before diving in, it’s worth reiterating the voting process in this category.  I’ll simply let the Academy’s rule book speak for itself:

    “An original song consists of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the motion picture. There must be a clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition (not necessarily visually presented) of both lyric and melody, used in the body of the motion picture or as the first music cue in the end credits.

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  • Listen to U2’s ‘Winter’ from ‘Brothers’

    U2A few weeks ago we told you about U2’s “Winter,” an original track from Jim Sheridan’s “Brothers.” Today we’re happy to feature the tune as we have a number of other contenders in the race for Best Original Song.

    “Winter” was conceived originally for the film.  Confusion has popped up as to whether that was the case, what with the tune accompanying the Irish band’s album “No Line on the Horizon” in conjunction with an Anton Corbijn short film.  But when Sheridan set about making “Brothers,” he in fact asked his old friends to cook something up for the film.

    In my opinion, it’s bottom-tier U2, full of a number of ideas that form a menagerie more than a cohesive song.  The lyrics are a bit too on the nose for my taste, too, but they’re clearly written for the narrative of the film.  The song comes in at the end of the film, over the credits, so it could be a tough sell for those reasons.

    Have a listen below and tell us what you think.

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  • 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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