The Last Cinema Standing Countdown to the Oscars is your guide to the Academy Awards. We will cover each of the categories in depth, talk about history and what the award truly means, and predict some winners. Check back all month as we make our way to the big show, one category (each as important as the next) at a time.
Best Original Song
The nominees are:
“Down to Joy” from Belfast, by Van Morrison
“Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto, by Lin-Manuel Miranda
“Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days, by Diane Warren
“Be Alive” from King Richard, by Beyoncé and Dixson
“No Time to Die” from No Time to Die, by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
Raise your hand if you are sick of me complaining about the Best Original Song category every year. … My hand is up, too. It is the worst, and it never gets any better. To twist the knife a little more, given the current circumstances – eliminating categories from the show and pandering to the most general possible audience – it is the least likely category to be left on the cutting room floor.
Just look at the talent lined up for the show this year: Billie Eilish, Beyoncé, Van Morrison, Reba McIntire (singing the Diane Warren song), and internationally known Colombian singer Sebatián Yatra (singing his track from Encanto). Massive stars, all, to one degree or another.
Not only are we getting all of these performers on the show, we will be getting an extra song performance from Encanto, the Academy announced this week. With producers likely bereft at the idea Disney submitted “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto instead of the No. 1 pop hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” they seem to have said, ‘Screw it,’ and added “Bruno” to the performances. So, not only are we forgoing filmmakers and craftspeople who are nominated, we are also getting extra performances of songs that are not nominated. Just brutal, brutal decision making by the Academy every step of the way here.
“Dos Oruguitas” (Encanto) – Miranda should already have the EGOT. To go with his three Tony Awards, two Emmys, and three Grammys, he should have won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 2016 for “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana. It remains the best original song from a movie this century. “Dos Oruguitas” does not quite rise to that level – what could? – but it is a brilliant track from one of our most accomplished songwriters.
Deployed beautifully in the film, it tells the story of how the Familia Madrigal became who they are and the trauma they suffered to get there. It is probably the best song of the bunch – depending on your love of classic Van Morrison – but apart from that, it is the only song that exists in the true spirit of the award. It is a lovely song, thematically rich, and meaningful to the plot of the film. Give this man his damn Oscar.
“Be Alive” (King Richard) – Let’s just say right off the bat that Beyoncé is obviously one of the most famous individuals in the world, and the Academy is lucky to have her on the show. There absolutely will be people who tune into the broadcast just to see her perform, so mission accomplished for the show’s producers.
In general, I am not a fan of songs that play over the end credits being nominated for an Oscar, though the use of “Be Alive” is quite rousing at the end of King Richard, with song playing over footage of the real Venus and Serena Williams. Outside that context, though, it is a wonderful track. Beyoncé performs it powerfully, and the lyrics are a poignant ode to pride in family, community, and self.
“No Time to Die” (No Time to Die) – Of the 25 official James Bond movies, six have been nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars, which actually feels a bit light given the perceived cultural relevance of each new “Bond Theme.” That said, this is the third consecutive 007 picture to be so honored by the Academy, with the previous two (Skyfall and Spectre) actually winning the award. This song, by Billie Eilish and brother Finneas O’Connell is not as good as “Skyfall,” but it is miles better than “Spectre,” and as the concluding theme of Daniel Craig’s run as the character, it hits all the right notes.
Eilish is the youngest person ever to write and record a Bond theme, which is a neat bit of trivia. This song is in a particularly odd situation – it was released in anticipation of the film in February 2020, but due to the pandemic, the release date of the movie kept getting pushed back. So, now, the song has been out for more than two years, it won a Grammy more than a year ago, and the Academy is just now getting the chance to recognize it. Weird times, indeed.
“Down to Joy” (Belfast) – I was a little surprised to learn this is Van Morrison’s first Academy Award nomination, but he has not done much work for films. His style certainly lends itself to the medium, but he has mostly avoided Hollywood. Surely, he was drawn to this film about growing up in Ireland during The Troubles due to a personal connection to the material – though Morrison has said his family left Ireland just before the war. The song is fun, lighthearted, and an all-around feel-good listen that fits perfectly within the mood of the film director Kenneth Branagh is making.
Unfortunately, Morrison has come out several times and in major ways as a COVID denier. He went so far as to release a trio of songs questioning the science around COVID-19 and undermining the need for health and safety measures. Worse, the Academy has decided not to require vaccinations for presenters and performers on the broadcast, and though no one will confirm, it appears the likely reason is to lure Van Morrison onto the stage. Everything else aside, the producers are actually risking people’s health for ratings. There is no good way to spin that.
“Somehow You Do” (Four Good Days) – At a certain point, one really has to feel for the Music Branch – not me, I don’t have any sympathy for a branch that so consistently gets this category wrong. Members really, really love Diane Warren, and they seem positively desperate to get her an Oscar. This is the fifth consecutive year in which Warren has received a nomination and seventh out of the previous eight. She has 12 total nominations and no wins. She probably could have won for “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” from Armageddon or “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” from Mannequin, but she didn’t. So, here we are in an endless cycle of nominating not very good work every year just to try to get her over that hill.
This brings us to “Somehow You Do,” which not only is not very good, but it is actually quite bad. More than that, it is part of a pretty bad movie. Ironically, the song’s lack of subtlety is kind of a perfect fit for the generically somber addiction drama that is Four Good Days. Once again, Warren will be a bridesmaid, and even if I can muster no sympathy for the Music Branch, I do feel a little bad for Warren having to get dressed up every damn year just to lose an award.
The final analysis
We talked about Diane Warren. That’s not going to happen. Van Morrison, even without the cloud of COVID denial hovering over him, is probably in fourth place for this award – though if he pulls off a surprise win, all hell will break loose among the commentariat. So, we are down to two massive stars and one massively successful soundtrack.
Speaking of which, I probably did not make it clear enough above how big of a cultural phenomenon the Encanto soundtrack has become. If Lin-Manuel Miranda had not already proved himself by getting a Broadway musical cast album to chart with Hamilton, this would be all the evidence we need that the man is a genius. Consider: The soundtrack album reached No. 1 in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
It is the only Disney soundtrack to produce multiple top 10 hits, with “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” reaching No. 1 and “Surface Pressure” hitting No. 8. Every original song on the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100, with nominated track “Dos Oruguitas” peaking at No. 36. As a result of all this, Miranda reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 Songwriters list for the first time in his career. I mention all of this only to say that Beyoncé and Billie Eilish do not eclipse Miranda and the Encanto soundtrack as much as one might think.
For the win, star power does matter, and Beyoncé cannot be counted out. The recent track record of Bond themes suggests Eilish has a puncher’s chance. If the nominated Encanto song had been “Bruno,” it would be over, the massive popularity of that track likely carrying the day. Instead, Miranda chose to submit “Dos Oruguitas” because he felt it better represented the spirit of the film. That is commendable, but it makes this more of a race than it needed to be. That said, I fully expect Miranda to be holding that gold statue at the end of the night.
Will win: “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto
Should win: “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto
Should have been here: “Just Look Up” from Don’t Look Up
Next time: Best Animated Feature
No comments:
Post a Comment