Okay, the Oscars rarely have anything to do with good filmmaking. It’s a clique thing with insiders giving awards to fellow insiders or to indie darlings or to something that just made oodles of cash. Now don’t get me wrong, I’d never miss an Oscar show. It’s like a car crash on the side of the road, you just gotta slow down and watch. But the part of the Oscar show that always proves most painful to endure yet also the most irresistible to make fun of is the Best Song Category. OMG! The production numbers bring the Oscar show to a grinding halt and with only a few exceptions, the songs all blur into bland annoying muzak that rarely if ever has any connection to the films they are in (these songs usually play over the end credits).
So, seeing as this is the most vile of the awards categories, I thought I would provide the list of eligible songs that the Academy just sent out. I have to admit that there are a couple of gems that I wouldn’t mind seeing nominated like “We Love Violence” from “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus” or “Stu’s Song” from “The Hangover.” Now those are nominees I could get behind! And Stu’s song kind of sticks in your head. (I wonder why Alan’s little car song about friends isn’t eligible though.) There’s also this intriguing entry “The Word Is Love” from “Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!” I think I’d like to see a big production number from that film on the awards show.
But for every “We Love Violence” there are dozens of “The Princess and the Frogs” romantic slop or Hannah Montanas regurgitated pop slop or pretentious U2 songs delivering politically correct messages. Personally, I'd eliminate this category if only because it might mean that fewer films would add superfluous songs to films that have absolutely no need for them.
But here are this year’s eligible entries so you can decide for yourself if there’s any tune worth highlighting and honoring. My prediction is that “Nine,” “Invictus,” “Brothers,” and “The Princess and the Frog” will be the Academy’s choices. Feel free to check back and give me crap if I’m wrong.
“All Is Love” from “Where the Wild Things Are”
“Almost Over You” from “My One and Only”
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“AyAyAyAy” from “The Maid”
“Back to Tennessee” from “Hannah Montana The Movie”
“Being Bad” from “Duplicity”
“Blanco” from “Fast & Furious”
“Brothers in Arms” from “Brothers at War”
“Butterfly Fly Away” from “Hannah Montana The Movie”
“Cinema Italiano” from “Nine”
“Colorblind” from “Invictus”
“Depression Era” from “That Evening Sun”
“Don’t Walk Away” from “Hannah Montana The Movie”
“Dove of Peace” from “Bruno”
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Fly Farm Blues” from “It Might Get Loud”
“Forget Me” from “I Love You, Beth Cooper”
“God Bless Us Everyone” from “Disney’s A Christmas Carol”
“Here” from “Shrink”
“Hideaway” from “Where the Wild Things Are”
“Hoedown Throwdown” from “Hannah Montana The Movie”
“I Bring What I Love” from “Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love”
“I See You” from “Avatar”
“(I Want to) Come Home” from “Everybody’s Fine”
“If You’re Wondering” from “The Lightkeepers”
“Impossible Fantasy” from “Adventures of Power”
“Innocent Child” from “Skin”
“Invictus 9,000 Days” from “Invictus”
“Legendary” from “Tyson”
“Let Freedom Reign” from “Skin”
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36”
“Ma Belle Evangeline” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“My One and Only” from “My One and Only”
“Na Na” from “Couples Retreat”
“Never Knew I Needed” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“New Divide” from “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
“New Jersey Nights” from “Adventures of Power”
“New York Is Where I Live” from “Did You Hear about the Morgans?”
“No Time for Love” from “Simon & Malou”
“One Day” from “Post Grad”
“Only You” from “The Young Victoria”
“Other Father Song” from “Coraline”
“Petey’s Song” from “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” from “Ponyo”
“Possibility” from “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”
“Raining Sunshine” from “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
“Running Out of Empty (Make Ourselves at Home)” from “Lymelife”
“Smoke without Fire” from “An Education”
“Somebody Else” from “Crazy Heart”
“Stu’s Song” from “The Hangover”
“Take It All” from “Nine”
“Through the Trees” from “Jennifer’s Body”
“Trust Me” from “The Informant!”
“Un Bouquet des Violettes” from “New York, I Love You”
“We Are the Children of the World” from “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“We Love Violence” from “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart”
“When You Find Me” from “Adam”
“Winter” from “Brothers”
“The Word Is Love” from “Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!”
“You Got Me Wrapped around Your Little Finger” from “An Education”
“You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home” from “Hannah Montana The Movie”
“You’ve Been a Friend to Me” from “Old Dogs”
