Best Song Finalists

Well, we have another precursor list. The Academy has announced their list of 39 finalists for Best Song, which are:

"The World I Knew" from "African Cats"
"Lay Your Head Down" from "Albert Nobbs"
"Star Spangled Man" from "Captain America: The First Avenger"
"Collision of Worlds" from "Cars 2"
"Dakkanaga Dugu Dugu" from "DAM999"
"DAM999 Theme Song" from "DAM999"
"Mujhe Chod Ke" from "DAM999"
"Rainbird" from "Dirty Girl"
"Keep On Walking" from "The First Grader"
"Where the River Goes" from "Footloose"
"Hello Hello" from "Gnomeo & Juliet"
"Love Builds a Garden" from "Gnomeo & Juliet"
"Bridge of Light" from "Happy Feet Two"
"The Mighty Sven" from "Happy Feet Two"
"Never Be Daunted" from "happythankyoumoreplease"
"Hell and Back" from "Hell and Back Again"
"The Living Proof" from "The Help"
"Coeur Volant" from "Hugo"
"It's How We Play" from "I Don't Know How She Does It"
"When the Heart Dies" from "In the Land of Blood and Honey"
"Ja Nao Estar" from "José and Pilar"
"The Keeper" from "Machine Gun Preacher"
"Life's a Happy Song" from "The Muppets"
"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets"
"Pictures in My Head" from "The Muppets"
"Summer Song" from "The Music Never Stopped"
"Imaginary Friends" from "Olive"
"Sparkling Day" from "One Day"
"Taking You with Me" from "Our Idiot Brother"
"The Greatest Song I Ever Heard" from "POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold"
"Hot Wings" from "Rio"
"Let Me Take You to Rio" from "Rio"
"Real in Rio" from "Rio"
"Shelter" from "Take Shelter"
"Gathering Stories" from "We Bought a Zoo"
"Pop" from "White Irish Drinkers"
"Think You Can Wait" from "Win Win"
"The Backson Song" from "Winnie the Pooh"
"So Long" from "Winnie the Pooh"

Well, some of these are sure fire, others are long shots, others you look at and probably say WTF? Well, I'll be back to give my thoughts in a minute. (Gotta make the 1:35 of Hugo!)

*EDIT* Okay, Hugo wasn't at the theater. I was pissed. Then mom took Steph and I to lunch, which was nice, but then I had to endure holiday shopping...not so nice. Either way, I'm at home and I'm going to unleash my frustration on the thing I love the most: movie awards.

Okay, first and foremost, DAM999 has absolutely no chance whatsoever, so that's out. Haven't heard of it, no one's talking about it, It's out, plain and simple. Same for Jose and Pilar, Dirty girl, The First Grader, Hell and Back Again, Olive and White Irish Drinkers.

As for the others, it seems to be a battle for who has the next amount of no chance. African Cats, Cars 2, happythankyoumoreplease, I Don't Know How She Does It, In the Land of Blood and Honey, Our Idiot Brother and POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

Now, for movies I think can pull an upset like those songs from Paris 39 or August Rush, they would have to be movies that are ABOUT music, so movies like The Music Never Stopped or Footloose might have a chance. I know, I know, saying Footloose has a chance is like speaking blasphemy, and I'll be honest, it is, but sometimes, it needs to be said to keep surprises from being...surprising.

Then there's the other director who's known for his great soundtracks: Cameron Crowe and his film We Bought a Zoo. Now, this may be a financial disappointment come Oscar time, but don't count it out. Crowe knows his music and he has a loyal fan base, so I'm not counting it out.

Also, keep an eye on Sparkling Day from One Day, because it has a soundtrack boasting music from Elvis Costello and name recognition goes a long way with the Academy. So this one could sneak in.

Ditto Machine Gun Preacher's song The Keeper, which managed a surprise nomination from the Golden Globes. And with Chris Cornell as the singer/songwriter of this tune, it could be in the running. However, the Globe's track record for matching up songs is VERY slim, so it may wind up the same route as Shakira's song from Love in the Time of Cholera, Despedira.


Now, for other movies that could sneak in because of their prestige:

I'm holding out on Star Spangled Man from Captain America because of the number of times it was performed in the movie and it's a pretty good tune that both sets the time period and the mentality. It's upbeat and fun, but it also has a wit of biting satire in it, which I love satire, so I'm not ready to put it in the "no hope" category yet. Call it personal bias, but I like it.

Take Shelter has been getting some strong critical buzz lately. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if an acting or screenplay nomination would be out of the question. So, that may carry over to Best Song here, but it all depends on how strong the love for this movie is. Same for Win Win.

Coeur Volant from Hugo. That was a sweet song at the end of the credits of the movie...I have no idea what they were saying, but it sounded so sweet. Yet, that may work against it as it is both a foreign language song AND an end credits song. The Academy's music branch has been trying to restrict songs to ones that "used in the body of the motion picture or as the first music cue in the end credits". That's one of the factors that I think cost "I See You" from Avatar getting nominated, so this song from Hugo is going to have a REAL uphill battle. If it gets nominated, expect Hugo to win Best Picture.

The animated films.

Cars 2 is out. Randy Newman won last year, this movie isn't as well loved, so it's out. As for the songs from Rio, they may be catchy, but I'm not which ones are being heavily promoted. And I still haven't seen it yet, so I'm not sure which song works best with the film. I don't think it's out, necessarily, but I don't think it's very strong. Happy Feet 2 has Bridge of Light performed by Pink, so that may have a chance, but the movie's lackluster performance is going to be a STRONG factor against this movie's chances for anything. Winnie the Pooh's song So Long was nominated for a Grammy, but they are the worst source to use to predict the Oscar's song nominees. If it has a chance, it's for this song, but don't hold your breath.

Now, as for Gnomeo and Juliet, it's chances for Best Song are pretty likely, if only because of (wait for it) the name recognition behind it. Elton John wrote both songs and he and Lady Gaga performed Hello Hello, which has been nominated for both the Golden Globe AND Broadcast Film Critics Awards, so it's chances are pretty high for that song to be nominated.

That leaves the following:

ALL of the songs from The Muppets. If the Academy didn't impose that idiotic rule back in 2008 that only two songs, then I'd say look for all three to be nominated. (TWO IS THE NUMBER OF THE NOMINEES AND THE NUMBER OF SONGS FROM MOVIES TO BE NOMINATED IS TWO! NO MORE NO LESS! YOU SHALL NOT NOMINATE THREE! FOUR IS RIGHT OUT!)...but I digress.

Instead, we are assured that Life's a Happy Song is in, but if a second one is to be nominated, what's it going to be? Is it going to be the emotionally charged Pictures in my Head or is it going to be the funny but surprisingly deep existential pondering song Man or Muppet? My personal choice is Man or Muppet, but I wouldn't count out the nostalgia of seeing Kermit the Frog performing on stage again, the first time since he performed Rainbow Connection at Oscars in 1979. (Screw you, Norma Rae, THIS was the better song!)...digressing again...


The song from Albert Nobbs, Lay Your Head Down may have a chance. I'm definitely not counting it out, but support for the film (outside of the performances of Glenn Close and Janet McTeer) have definitely been waning. I still think it's one of the stronger chances, but that's only because we don't have more recognizable songs this year to choose from. (I personally blame the Academy's music branch, but that's for another rant.)

The Living Proof from The Help is a solid lock. If you're going to pick anything from this list, pick that one. Sure fire Best Picture nominee, getting really good buzz and co-written by one of the Academy's people to nominate: Thomas Newman. (Note: nominate, never won)

So, that about does it for these finalists. What do I think will get nominated from this bunch? Well, as of December 20th, 2011, the ones that I think have the best chance are:

"Hello Hello"; Gnomeo and Juliet
"Life's a Happy Song"; The Muppets
"The Living Proof"; The Help
"Man or Muppet"; The Muppets
"Sparkling Day"; One Day

With "Lay Your Head Down", something from "Rio" or "Summer Song" pulling an upset.