In Contention

Tag: You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me

  • 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.

    (more…)

  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Original Song

    I guess I’ve been pretty hard on the Best Original Song category this year. It’s not like any given year tends to have a deluge of impressive fodder up for consideration or anything, but on the whole, outside of a concentration of contenders that have a fighting chance at recognition, it just seems to be an uninspired lot of tracks in the mix for 2010.

    Before diving into the fray, some quick reminding. The music branch’s rules are always in flux and over the last couple of years they have shifted, perhaps rightly, into a frame of assessing songs as they are used within the context of a given film. Let’s look at the official language from the Academy’s rules and eligibility literature:

    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.

    (more…)

  • Listen to Cher’s ‘You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me’ from ‘Burlesque’

    Cher and the Academy Awards made for an interesting mix over 20 years ago when she took home a Best Actress Oscar for “Moonstruck.” Though it was probably her threads that grabbed more headlines the next day.

    This year, the singer is back in the awards mix, though for her vocal talents (which have never been recognized by the Academy, interestingly enough — though I’m not sure there have been many opportunities).  Cher is part of the ensemble of Steven Antin’s musical “Burlesque” and belts out the power ballad “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” at a key moment in the context of the film.  Cha-ching.

    Not only that, the song was also written by Dianne Warren, who has been nominated for six Academy Awards (going all the way back to “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” from “Mannequin”).  And she has yet to win.

    (more…)