As a (masochistic) project, I watched any and all You Tube videos of this year eligible songs. (Of the 59 eligible, I'd guess there were 45 on the site.)
The Musical Branch really blew it this year. Bob Dylan's "Huck's Tune" from Lucky You is a great song, recalling prime late 60s early 70s laidback Dylan. It's far superior to any of the nominees.
Rufus Wainwright's "Another Believer" from Meet The Robinsons is endearing, it's kind of a throwback to the throwbacks to British Hall or American vaudeville numbers some bands did in the 60s ("When I'm 64" is an example).
EVen though it was written (I believe) by Diane Warren, American Gangster's "DoYou Feel Me" is a pretty good old school soul song. And "Let's Duet" from Dewey Cox is a very funny Johnny Cash/June Carter parody full of clever, if sophomoric, dounle entendres.
Over all, though, most of them were pretty awful, a melange of power pop love songs, simple guitar strummers and any number of celtic based anthems (for fantasy and adventure films) clearly inspired by Enya.
Most unusual contenders: “Atkozott Egy Elet,” “O, Atyam!” and “Eleg!” all from “56 Drops of Blood.” Which turns out to be a film recording of a Hungarian stage musical apparently about freedom fighters against the Comunist regime.
Categories One-By-One: Original Song
The new format of voting does that.
From the oscar website
3. In the Original Song category, Music Branch members shall meet to screen clips of the eligible songs and vote on the achievements. Following the screening of the clips, voting shall be conducted as follows:
Nominations will be determined by an averaged point system of voting using 10, 9.5, 9, 8.5, 8, 7.5, 7, 6.5 or 6. Only those songs receiving an average score of 8.25 or more shall be eligible for nomination. There may not be more than five nor fewer than three nominations.
Presumably, those three songs were the only ones with an average above 8.25
From the oscar website
3. In the Original Song category, Music Branch members shall meet to screen clips of the eligible songs and vote on the achievements. Following the screening of the clips, voting shall be conducted as follows:
Nominations will be determined by an averaged point system of voting using 10, 9.5, 9, 8.5, 8, 7.5, 7, 6.5 or 6. Only those songs receiving an average score of 8.25 or more shall be eligible for nomination. There may not be more than five nor fewer than three nominations.
Presumably, those three songs were the only ones with an average above 8.25
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barrybrooks8
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OscarGuy
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But the thing is, sometimes end-credit songs can be as important to a film as the film itself. I know some won't agree, but Into the West is the perfect example of this. It's a beautiful song and when you listen to the lyrics, it actually talks about the journey to the Undying Lands, which is where the film ends. So, the song is an extension of the film without visuals. I would think it unfair not to allow that kind of song to compete. Songs that don't have any bearing on the film (like most of those rock/pop/hip-hop/alternative song scores that basically just throw a bunch of unnecessary and plot-unrelated songs into a film just to sell some albums.).
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
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Mister Tee
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For many years people have complained about songs winning or being nominated that were barely connected to their movies -- once the original musical died as a Hollywood staple, the over-the-credits tune became the most common winner. This new regimen seems an attempt to correct that the long-standing gripe, but, in the process, it seems to negate all those decades in between. Lots of excellent choices (recently, Things Have Changed) would have failed to meet the new standard.
I guess the worst part is, this decision appears to have been made in the dark, without sufficient consultation, and alot of people feel cheated by the change as a result.
Edited By Mister Tee on 1203112522
I guess the worst part is, this decision appears to have been made in the dark, without sufficient consultation, and alot of people feel cheated by the change as a result.
Edited By Mister Tee on 1203112522
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HarryGoldfarb
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Damien wrote:Longtime participants in the Oscar game seem even more incensed than usual this year, not so much about the missing-in-action rock 'n' rollers as about the nomination process that eliminated them, especially the bakeoff system for choosing song nominees (now in its third year) that requires branch members to attend a marathon screening of all the entered songs.
The nature of the bakeoff itself poses problems for certain entrants. The "Enchanted" songs were fully staged musical numbers. "Once" was all about making music. The nominated gospel tune from "August Rush" was performed during an "emotionally moving" scene, said one attendee, thus giving it an advantage in the balloting. Oscar historian Damien Bona ("Inside Oscar") points out that the Vedder songs "are basically over shots of Emile Hirsch in the woods or driving. When they're judged that way, rather than just listening to the songs themselves, they don't have the same resonance. "The intent (of the rule) is to make the best use of the song in a movie," Bona adds. "That explains why 'Hairspray' wasn't nominated -- they only submitted one song, and it was over the closing titles. It should be a lesson: If your song is over the end titles, you should come up with something else."
Then shouldn't the category be renamed "Best Musical Moment in a film"? It looks more like an Mtv thing... what's wrong with this people?
Damien wrote:Veteran composers and songwriters who attended the bakeoff indicated privately that they were dismayed by the quality of many of the songs in contention. One attendee said he heard plenty of "guitar arpeggios, plain voice, no production" in many cases and found them dull and same-sounding.
Veteran... doesn't it mean of certain age? then probably hearing and enjoying an Eddie Vedder tune will be out of question.
I don't know, everything in this things is about subtle issues. There is no perfect way to judge who's better than who, but certainly this is not the best way to judge the "Best Songs written specifically for a movie". Now, they're not judging if the song is the best, but instead how the song is being used in the film... strange. You can write the best-best song specifically for a movie but if it is not used in a "particular - effective" way then you won't even be nominated!. Then we eventually will have "Best use of pre-recorded music in a film", "Best use of non original but not yet recorded music in a film", "Best use of non recorded but also not original music in a film", "Best use of a non-original song in a film" and so on and this will become as long as a Grammy list!
"If you place an object in a museum, does that make this object a piece of art?" - The Square (2017)
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anonymous1980
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From Variety:
Acad music branch courts controversy
Song bakeoff seen by many as unfair
By JON BURLINGAME
Every year at this time, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' music branch is the biz's favorite whipping boy -- mainly because everyone has an opinion about music, and when the nominations don't match the talked-about favorites, the blogosphere goes nuts.
This season, the hottest topics were the last-minute disqualification of Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood's love-it-or-hate-it score for "There Will Be Blood"; the failure of any of Pearl Jam guitarist Eddie Vedder's songs for "Into the Wild" (one of which has already won a Golden Globe) to receive a nod; and the 11th-hour debate over whether the nominated song for "Once" was, in fact, written for the movie. (It was, branch leaders determined.)
Longtime participants in the Oscar game seem even more incensed than usual this year, not so much about the missing-in-action rock 'n' rollers as about the nomination process that eliminated them, especially the bakeoff system for choosing song nominees (now in its third year) that requires branch members to attend a marathon screening of all the entered songs.
An added factor this year -- which has irritated studio execs, marketers and award-season consultants -- is the ban on CD mailings to Acad members. Music-branch executive committee members say they will "revisit" this decision, which suggests it could be overturned.
Wall Street Journal pop music critic Jim Fusilli doesn't take issue with Greenwood's disqualification, the result of a close check of the film's musical content, which revealed 35 minutes of new music versus 46 minutes of pre-existing music (by Brahms and Arvo Part, plus two earlier Greenwood compositions). That's a clear violation of Oscar eligibility rules (which ban "scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other pre-existing music").
What bothers him is what appears to be an inconsistency of application of Acad rules, citing last year's Gustavo Santaolalla win for "Babel" despite the presence of considerable nonoriginal music. "You had all of these songs from other sources that appeared, and yet that didn't seem to prevent the Academy from looking at the score as a whole," he says.
Greenwood's omission does bug Entertainment Weekly music writer Chris Willman. "What score are people talking about this year but the Greenwood score?" he asks. "If a score's originality comes in under the qualifying mark, all I can say is, better to reward a score that has 15 minutes of brilliant original music than a lousy one that runs for two hours."
Both writers are also irritated by the lack of an "Into the Wild" nom for Vedder, especially given the three nods in the song category for "Enchanted" songwriters Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.
Veteran composers and songwriters who attended the bakeoff indicated privately that they were dismayed by the quality of many of the songs in contention. One attendee said he heard plenty of "guitar arpeggios, plain voice, no production" in many cases and found them dull and same-sounding.
The nature of the bakeoff itself poses problems for certain entrants. The "Enchanted" songs were fully staged musical numbers. "Once" was all about making music. The nominated gospel tune from "August Rush" was performed during an "emotionally moving" scene, said one attendee, thus giving it an advantage in the balloting.
Oscar historian Damien Bona ("Inside Oscar") points out that the Vedder songs "are basically over shots of Emile Hirsch in the woods or driving. When they're judged that way, rather than just listening to the songs themselves, they don't have the same resonance.
"The intent (of the rule) is to make the best use of the song in a movie," Bona adds. "That explains why 'Hairspray' wasn't nominated -- they only submitted one song, and it was over the closing titles. It should be a lesson: If your song is over the end titles, you should come up with something else."
Complains one longtime observer: "There is no logic to showing clips. They don't make actors watch clips of other actors -- three minutes of Daniel Day-Lewis in 'There Will Be Blood' -- or ask production designers or editors to do this." In the case of "Hairspray," he says, the song "summarizes the entire feeling of the movie."
Music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas expresses surprise at the omission of both Vedder and Sondre Lerche ("Dan in Real Life") in the best song category. "It's certainly a subjective process, and a terrible shame that those two artists -- who are clearly important in the pop world and also resonate in the film world -- weren't nominated."
She thinks a rule modification, or possibly a new category, is in order, "to honor the composer or music producer or whoever is intertwining songs and score. If you're using Arvo Part artfully (a reference to use in "There Will Be Blood") and it's the perfect pairing that we all search for, then I'm not sure why it should be disqualified."
For their part, the music-branch governors defend the rules and the process. In the song category, says Charles Bernstein, "The award is given not just for the quality of the music, but how the music affects the storytelling, the drama, the film itself. In order to make that judgment, it's necessary to hear the music in the context of the film." Fellow governor Bruce Broughton points out that "we're pretty aware of the complaints and disgruntled people and (issues of) fairness." Adds Bernstein: "Each year we reconsider the effects of all these things. We always try to guard the integrity of the process."
Charges that the music branch is out of touch with contemporary music don't wash, Bona says, "because over the last decade or so, they have nominated some cutting-edge people" including rapper Eminem ("8 Mile"), hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia ("Hustle & Flow") and singers Elliott Smith ("Good Will Hunting") and Aimee Mann ("Magnolia"). "It's really about the voting process."
He recalls Bette Midler's no-nonsense explanation of the music rules at the 1982 ceremonies: "Best original song is a song that was actually written for the picture and not just some piece of junk the producer found in the piano bench, you dig?"
Acad music branch courts controversy
Song bakeoff seen by many as unfair
By JON BURLINGAME
Every year at this time, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' music branch is the biz's favorite whipping boy -- mainly because everyone has an opinion about music, and when the nominations don't match the talked-about favorites, the blogosphere goes nuts.
This season, the hottest topics were the last-minute disqualification of Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood's love-it-or-hate-it score for "There Will Be Blood"; the failure of any of Pearl Jam guitarist Eddie Vedder's songs for "Into the Wild" (one of which has already won a Golden Globe) to receive a nod; and the 11th-hour debate over whether the nominated song for "Once" was, in fact, written for the movie. (It was, branch leaders determined.)
Longtime participants in the Oscar game seem even more incensed than usual this year, not so much about the missing-in-action rock 'n' rollers as about the nomination process that eliminated them, especially the bakeoff system for choosing song nominees (now in its third year) that requires branch members to attend a marathon screening of all the entered songs.
An added factor this year -- which has irritated studio execs, marketers and award-season consultants -- is the ban on CD mailings to Acad members. Music-branch executive committee members say they will "revisit" this decision, which suggests it could be overturned.
Wall Street Journal pop music critic Jim Fusilli doesn't take issue with Greenwood's disqualification, the result of a close check of the film's musical content, which revealed 35 minutes of new music versus 46 minutes of pre-existing music (by Brahms and Arvo Part, plus two earlier Greenwood compositions). That's a clear violation of Oscar eligibility rules (which ban "scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other pre-existing music").
What bothers him is what appears to be an inconsistency of application of Acad rules, citing last year's Gustavo Santaolalla win for "Babel" despite the presence of considerable nonoriginal music. "You had all of these songs from other sources that appeared, and yet that didn't seem to prevent the Academy from looking at the score as a whole," he says.
Greenwood's omission does bug Entertainment Weekly music writer Chris Willman. "What score are people talking about this year but the Greenwood score?" he asks. "If a score's originality comes in under the qualifying mark, all I can say is, better to reward a score that has 15 minutes of brilliant original music than a lousy one that runs for two hours."
Both writers are also irritated by the lack of an "Into the Wild" nom for Vedder, especially given the three nods in the song category for "Enchanted" songwriters Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.
Veteran composers and songwriters who attended the bakeoff indicated privately that they were dismayed by the quality of many of the songs in contention. One attendee said he heard plenty of "guitar arpeggios, plain voice, no production" in many cases and found them dull and same-sounding.
The nature of the bakeoff itself poses problems for certain entrants. The "Enchanted" songs were fully staged musical numbers. "Once" was all about making music. The nominated gospel tune from "August Rush" was performed during an "emotionally moving" scene, said one attendee, thus giving it an advantage in the balloting.
Oscar historian Damien Bona ("Inside Oscar") points out that the Vedder songs "are basically over shots of Emile Hirsch in the woods or driving. When they're judged that way, rather than just listening to the songs themselves, they don't have the same resonance.
"The intent (of the rule) is to make the best use of the song in a movie," Bona adds. "That explains why 'Hairspray' wasn't nominated -- they only submitted one song, and it was over the closing titles. It should be a lesson: If your song is over the end titles, you should come up with something else."
Complains one longtime observer: "There is no logic to showing clips. They don't make actors watch clips of other actors -- three minutes of Daniel Day-Lewis in 'There Will Be Blood' -- or ask production designers or editors to do this." In the case of "Hairspray," he says, the song "summarizes the entire feeling of the movie."
Music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas expresses surprise at the omission of both Vedder and Sondre Lerche ("Dan in Real Life") in the best song category. "It's certainly a subjective process, and a terrible shame that those two artists -- who are clearly important in the pop world and also resonate in the film world -- weren't nominated."
She thinks a rule modification, or possibly a new category, is in order, "to honor the composer or music producer or whoever is intertwining songs and score. If you're using Arvo Part artfully (a reference to use in "There Will Be Blood") and it's the perfect pairing that we all search for, then I'm not sure why it should be disqualified."
For their part, the music-branch governors defend the rules and the process. In the song category, says Charles Bernstein, "The award is given not just for the quality of the music, but how the music affects the storytelling, the drama, the film itself. In order to make that judgment, it's necessary to hear the music in the context of the film." Fellow governor Bruce Broughton points out that "we're pretty aware of the complaints and disgruntled people and (issues of) fairness." Adds Bernstein: "Each year we reconsider the effects of all these things. We always try to guard the integrity of the process."
Charges that the music branch is out of touch with contemporary music don't wash, Bona says, "because over the last decade or so, they have nominated some cutting-edge people" including rapper Eminem ("8 Mile"), hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia ("Hustle & Flow") and singers Elliott Smith ("Good Will Hunting") and Aimee Mann ("Magnolia"). "It's really about the voting process."
He recalls Bette Midler's no-nonsense explanation of the music rules at the 1982 ceremonies: "Best original song is a song that was actually written for the picture and not just some piece of junk the producer found in the piano bench, you dig?"
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
Thanks for posting the links. Even though I saw Enchanted I had no recollection of "So Close." And now I know why -- could a song be any more bland? Well, the August Rush song is pretty bland too -- and poor Freddie Highmore, he's not aging too well.
I'd vote for "Happy Working Song," the one truly original song in the group, although I expect "Falling SLowly" to take it.
I'd vote for "Happy Working Song," the one truly original song in the group, although I expect "Falling SLowly" to take it.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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anonymous1980
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Nominees:
"Falling Slowly" from Once
"Happy Working Song" from Enchanted
"Raise It Up" from August Rush
"So Close" from Enchanted
"That's How You Know" from Enchanted
I've linked youtube clips of the performances.
I've listened to all 5 and I can definitely say they nominated 1 great song ("Falling Slowly"), 2 pretty good songs ("Happy Working Song" and "That's How You Know") and 2 "meh" songs.
I'm predicting it will be between "That's How You Know" and "Falling Slowly".
I predict "Falling Slowly".
Edited By anonymous on 1202663060
"Falling Slowly" from Once
"Happy Working Song" from Enchanted
"Raise It Up" from August Rush
"So Close" from Enchanted
"That's How You Know" from Enchanted
I've linked youtube clips of the performances.
I've listened to all 5 and I can definitely say they nominated 1 great song ("Falling Slowly"), 2 pretty good songs ("Happy Working Song" and "That's How You Know") and 2 "meh" songs.
I'm predicting it will be between "That's How You Know" and "Falling Slowly".
I predict "Falling Slowly".
Edited By anonymous on 1202663060