Best Original Song Oscar- What Happened?

One of the traditionally most ridiculous categories to predict, beyond the short films, is the Best Original Song Oscar.

The big complaint this year is that three songs from Enchanted got nominated. Now, I understand that Alan Menken has history on his side: eight wins for Disney standards like "Under the Sea," "A Whole New World," and "Colors of The Wind" from The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Pocahontas, respectively. So I actually went to YouTube and checked out the three songs. "So Close" is okay- kind of a cheese-ball ballad that really feels dated to me, but I could see why it's nominated, at least in a year with a Randy Newman Pixar song or something. But both "That's How You Know" and "Happy Working Song" are complete pieces of fluff- pale imitations of earlier Disney musical songs that are absolutely nothing special.

The August Rush song, "Raise It Up," is nice and soulfull- but honestly some of the after-school rap lyrics are honestly cringe inducing. Also, children singing is very hit or miss for me.

So here are my choices, from the original list of 59, for what I'd vote for.

"Do You Feel Me" - Diane Warren (perf. by Anthony Hamilton)
from American Gangster



Randomly sung during a nightclub scene in Ridley Scott's all-but overlooked crime drama, this song left an immediate impression- it could have been any random seventies cover, but Diane Warren (an Oscar song giant herself) captured the soul of the era, and Anthony Hamilton delivers it. No offense to Amy Adams' singing voice, but come on.

"My Hands Are Shaking" - Sondre Lerche
from Dan In Real Life



If I had known that Norwegian troubadour Sondre Lerche composed the score and wrote several songs for Dan in Real Life, I probably would have gotten off my ass and seen it. As it is, you shouldn't have to be a former Beatle to get an Oscar nomination for a pop song.

"Pop! Goes My Heart" - Andrew Wyatt (perf. by Wyatt and hugh Grant)
from Music and Lyrics



Good song? Yeah, it's cheesy and captures the era. But mostly, how awesome would it be to see this performed at the Oscars? (assuming there is an Oscars).

"Guaranteed" - Eddie Vedder
from Into the Wild



Usually I'm not the biggest Eddie Vedder fan, but this seems to fit the mood of the story perfectly. What's with the Academy not liking pop stars anyway? This getting the shaft, after winning the Golden Globe, is pretty strange on the heels of both Vedder's and Johnny Greenwood's late-breaking disqualifications for Best Score.

And finally, the only one of the academy's five I agree with:

"Falling Slowly"- Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
from Once



Curiously, this song seems like it shouldn't have been nominated, as per the Academy's bitchy rules (it was written well before the film, and even released on Hansard and Irglova's "The Swell Season"). But as long as the voters were ignorant enough of it to nominate it, there's no way it should lose.

I would be well more pissed than any other Oscar fiasco (including Crash over Brokeback Mountain, Titanic over L. A. Confidential, anything) if "Falling Slowly" doesn't win the statue.

American Ganster Review

Hey look, I missed two days again! I'm gonna blame the WGA Strike for that one.

Anyway, why haven't you seen American Gangster yet? Are you really that busy? Are you dead inside?

You should really leave work right now and go catch a matinee. It's definitely an awards contender and one of the best movies of the year. Real quick, if you've been living under a rock: Denzel Washington plays a badass Harlem druglord that loves his momma, Russell Crowe is a womanizing cop and a bad father, but doesn't take bribe money so he's assigned to bring Washington down.

The whole thing's directed by Ridley Scott, who knows his soul music surprisingly well for a septuagenarian white-guy. The cast is rounded out by plenty of great bit players: Chiwetel Ejiafor, Josh Brolin, Cuba Gooding Jr., and a couple of rappers, apparently. There's really not a wrong note in the bunch, either- even Cuba Gooding Jr.'s recent scenery-chewing ethos is put to good use as a rival, flamboyantly flashy drug lord that Washington has to put in his place.

American Gangster takes a meticulous first hour to build up, and the two leads don't really cross paths for a long time- in fact, Crowe's team of agents doesn't even suspect that a black man is in charge of the new drug ring until over halfway through. But Washington's journey from driver to overlord and Crowe's Serpico-like quiet righteousness within the police force could fill up separate movies by themselves, so it's only sweeter when they become unlikely allies near the films end.

As many other, professional reviewers have noted, American Gangster takes great strides to avoid glamorizing Washington's character, both by showing his ridiculous temper, and the effect that heroin has on the people that use it. And the "paradoxical" morals of the two main characters makes it more than a simple crime movie about good v. evil. It helps, of course, that it's all based on real life, and makes me want to read various crime-lord biographies right after the credits roll.

The public has spoken as well, and it looks like we might have the only blockbuster to be recognized come awards season. Don't miss it.

Seriously, why are you still sitting there?

When to See It: Yesterday

Fall Movie Preview

Apologies for the hiatus in posting- my girlfriend’s little brother was killed in a car wreck. Yeah. It makes movies seem less important, obviously, but then again we did go see Shoot ‘Em Up to distract ourselves. And it worked.

So here are the movies this fall that I’m most excited about, one per month:

September: Eastern Promises

This one will have a review soon. Because what’s not to like? It has Aragorn (though if I ever met Viggo Mortensen I would say “I loved you in G. I. Jane!” just for the awkwardness), Naomi Watts, David Cronenberg, the guy that wrote Dirty Pretty Things, and Vincent Cassel.

The runner up for September is probably The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand, or whatever it’s called, now that’s it’s getting good reviews (or at least Terrence Mallick comparisons, which is enough for me). But that’s assuming that it actually comes to Milwaukee before September’s over.

October: The Darjeeling Limited

If you don’t like Wes Anderson movies, at this point that’s mostly your problem. For me, Bottle Rocket was one of the first movies I watched over and over and went to see at midnight (also it holds a special place in my heart because I used to watch it with my mom on the IFC channel), and the scene at the end of The Life Aquatic (Spolier Alert) when Steve sees the Jaguar Shark and wonders aloud “Do you think he remembers me?” gets me teary-eyed every time. I even wrote a college paper about The Life Aquatic. I got an A on it.

So of course I’m stoked for this movie. But I guess Wes Anderson is a taste that is for some reason difficult for other people (and critics) to acquire.

October’s runner up is probably Michael Clayton, because Clooney’s dependable enough. We Own the Night is out pending critical reception, and regarding Things We Lost in the Fire I’m torn between my hatred for Halle Berry (see X-Men 3: The Last Stand), and my respect for director Susanne Bier’s previous film, After the Wedding.

November: American Gangster

Come on, people. Watch the trailer. Everyone is stoked for this movie. Even Jay-Z was inspired. I’d also like to point out the expert use of music in both this trailer and The Darjeeling Limited’s trailer, above. Really makes all the difference.

November’s runner up is a tie, as my love for both the Coen brothers and Neil Gaiman is enriched by No Country For Old Men and Beowulf, respectively.

December: The Golden Compass

This is pretty much by default. I mean, I was gonna try and look cool and say I was really excited about Francis Ford Coppola’s new film Youth Without Youth until I realized I don’t really give a crap about Apocalypse Now or even (gasp!) the Godfather films. And if I ever own a Francis Ford Coppola film, it’ll probably be to get my girlfriend Peggy Sue Got Married.

But I like fantasy epics, and Daniel Craig, so I’m in line for this one. For a runner up, I’ll go with Clooney again, as his third directorial feature, Leatherheads, comes out. I’m not terribly sold on the premise, or old-timey football in general, but I really liked The Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night and Good Luck, so I’m optimistic.