Wednesday, February 14, 2007

2007 Oscar Preview- Day 1: Music

Original Score
The Nominees are: Babel, The Good German, Notes on a Scandal, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Queen
Who’s Missing: I am shocked that The Departed was overlooked here. While much of the movie is made up of songs there is still a traditional score that flows throughout the film and hits all the right notes in terms of suspense of tension.
Who Should Win: I’ve only seen Babel and Pan’s Labyrinth as I write this so I feel like I should choose between those two but since I’m a huge Steven Soderberg and George Clooney fan, I’m going to pull for The Good German as this is the only nomination their film received.
Who Will Win: Babel is the type of crappy intellectual soundtrack that always gets recognized. I despised the composer’s tactic of changing the score to accommodate the location; I get it we’re in Morocco or Mexico or wherever, since I’ve been watching the whole movie, I don’t need to be hit over the head with musical cues. Of course that’s the type of “smarts” that always seems to play well to the Academy.

Original Song
The Nominees Are: Listen- Dreamgirls, Patience- Dreamgirls, Love You I Do- Dreamgirls, Our Town- Cars, I Need To Wake Up- An Inconvenient Truth
Who’s Missing: I really hate the fact that this category is limited to original songs. Music selection is such an important part of a film and just because it’s not original doesn’t mean that the artist and director should not be recognized for it. However since we can’t change the system I’ll go with Cobra Starship’s title track from Snakes on a Plane as the best original song that was ignored.
Who Should Win: I don’t like Beyonce as a person, at least based on how she presents herself in the public eye. However I think Listen is an amazing song and her performance transforms her character in Dreamgirls from being eye candy to having some actual depth. The beauty of this winning is that it would acknowledge a Beyonce song without have to acknowledge her, since she was left out of the nomination itself because only so many song writers could be credited for the work.
Who Will Win: It seems like Dreamgirls should walk away here based on the number of nominations however one should never count out a Disney/Pixar song. I think Patience and Listen will split the Dreamgirls votes and that will pave the way for Our Town to sneak out a surprise win.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

There should be a new category. Best use of The Rolling Stones's music. Maybe this way Scorcesse could finally win an Oscar. I feel that along with his refined eye he also has great taste in music. Bravo Martin for again using the greatest rock n' roll band ever to help in our movie experience.