did you see the little montage they did during the Oscar broadcast about Best Song? of course, it focused mainly on recent winners; the hokey dreck that's passed off as 'inspirational'. even the President's Choice was abruptly edited! i say Balls to all of that, though. it's one of the biggest throw-away categories, in my opinion, because rarely are good choices made. with the exceptions of Eminem and Three 6 Mafia, they're always safe, always saccharine. and even the aforementioned rap artists, their inclusion seems both "willfully defiant" and expected. does that make sense? it's like Let's Give These Underdogs the Award Because We Want It To Seem Like We're Tuned-In To Pop Culture... yet still, Randy Newman has received 20 nominations.
film music is very important to me, as you know. looking now at a list of Best Song Winners and nominees, i can truly say i can only stand behind a few:
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (by Burt Bacharach and Hal David) from Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
"Take My Breath Away", written by Giorgio Moroder and performed by Berlin, Top Gun, (the production seals the deal)
and "Shaft" by Issac Hayes
safe? not really... those first two might sound cheesified but given the context of the movies they were in ("Raindrops" in a cowboy picture, and "Breath Away" in a testosterone fueled jock movie, to which "Danger Zone" was a better fit) i think these songs are just as daring as any. and "Shaft" is simply badass.
but Best Soundtrack should also be considered. it sickens me that Trent Reznor won for basically having a boy's choir sing Radiohead's "Creep", and tinkering longingly on a piano. could i nominate something better? yes. Clint Mansell, who did Black Swan, did a wonderful job of weaving Tchaikovsky throughout his own narrative score and was robbed of a nomination. hell of a lot better interplay between source and product than Reznor's self-indulgent bullshit.
here's a short list of notable Best Original Score winners:
The Omen, Jerry Goldsmith, 1976
Purple Rain, Prince (Best Original Song Score), 1984
'Round Midnight, Herbie Hancock, 1986
The Godfather, Part II, Nino Rota, 1974
and Butch Cassidy, Burt Bacharach, 1969
it should be noted that they may have given Ennio Morricone a lifetime achievement award a few years ago, presented by an inebriated Clint Eastwood, but the Almighty Academy never graced him with an actual Oscar. nominated only three times, although having scored hundreds of films, he was beaten by good company (Moroder, Hancock, and somebody i don't know).
so here i will pay tribute to Il Maestro, with a hat trick of three of my favorite songs.
couldn't find the song by itself, so enjoy the trailer!
and one for for good luck, a film and score which are severely underrated
should we do film music all week? i think so!
LRV, b
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