OVP: Best Original Song (2001)
The Nominees Were...
"If I Didn't Have You," Music & Lyric by Randy Newman, Monsters, Inc.
"May It Be," Music & Lyric by Enya, Nicky Ryan, & Roma Ryan, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
"There You'll Be," Music & Lyric by Diane Warren, Pearl Harbor
"Until," Music & Lyric by Sting, Kate & Leopold
"Vanilla Sky," Music & Lyric by Paul McCartney, Vanilla Sky
My Thoughts: We are closing in on the end of the 2000's when it comes to the Oscar Viewing Project, as we are on our 21st season (and I suspect, for the sake of synergy, I'm going to finish 2000 next for the write-ups). For several categories, like Visual Effects & Makeup, you're going to see a significant distance between the films we've been profiling in the 21st Century compared to that when we start moving into the 1990's and earlier. For Best Song, though, we're going to see a different dynamic. 2001was one of the first years where only one of these songs was a proper pop culture hit, and most of them were forgettable add-on songs to hit movies. In the 1980's & 90's, this would've read as a paltry list of nominations...in 2001, it was signaling that this was the norm.
The one giant hit in the bunch was "There You'll Be" from Pearl Harbor, a song you couldn't get into your car without hearing in the summer of 2001. This is also, notably, the last really hit song that Diane Warren had, despite getting an Amy Adams-number of Oscar nominations (in some cases, for better songs) in the years since. The song is fine-it's a pretty ballad from Faith Hill at a time when pretty ballads were falling out of fashion, and it plays as an end credits song that only tangentially connects to a subpar romance. The song is catchy (Warren at her peak was someone who knew exactly how to make a radio hit), but it's not very good, and doesn't stand out in this lineup other than being recognizable.
Speaking of artists who were much bigger in the 1980's, Sting wrote his second consecutive Oscar nominee for Kate & Leopold. This is another background/credits song, one that doesn't connect to the plot as well. Sting, like Warren, is someone who knows how to write a memorable & catchy song, but this is not an example. This song is overwritten, the waltzing nature of it is a bit too melancholy for the plot itself (which has a properly happy ending, even if it's a weird one), and I don't think it fits the movie at all. It's also got too much verse...it feels a bit too plodding, and almost a parody of a Sting song.
While we're slagging off British icons, we might as well address the bore that is Paul McCartney's "Vanilla Sky." The movie itself is, like all of the ones we've covered, not good, though at least here a little bit of confusion should make sense since Vanilla Sky makes no sense. However, McCartney with another end credits song, makes this too bouncy and not dark enough to fit the movie we'd just seen. The lyrics are properly nonsensical (a liberty he takes too much with), but it also doesn't have much connection other than him repeatedly saying "Vanilla Sky." It honestly feels like they gave McCartney, one of the best songwriters in the history of pop music, a few minutes to write a song, and didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't very good (or turn down the chance to have a McCartney song close out their movie).
Randy Newman comes with the fourth end credits song, but this is one that feels genuinely connected to the film at-hand (it helps it's the first good movie we've gotten to so far). The song isn't sung by Newman, but instead by the two lead actors of the movie (John Goodman & Billy Crystal), so it comes across like something that you got out of the characters themselves, the closest we are to fully latching the characters onto these songs. I think it's catchy and fun-Newman's songs are not really my jam (I think he has some good hits, but most of his movie music feels like bottom-of-the-piano-bench stuff), and given he won the Oscar for this, it's nice he won for a decent tune.
The final song is Enya's "May It Be," which has aged well (other than Faith Hill's Pearl Harbor ballad, you'd be most likely to remember this song because it became synonymous with the series). It's not sung by a character or throughout the movie, but it does sample chunks of the Howard Shore score (or vice versa), and it's a genuinely good piece of music. Enya is the perfect choice to lilt us into the world of Tolkien, and feels like she's matching the film's energy. Given the icons writing these songs, it's kind of amusing that someone who spent a chunk of the 1990's as a punchline might have pulled off the best lyrics.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Golden Globes went with "Until" as their winner, beating "May It Be," "There You'll Be," "Vanilla Sky," and "Come What May." The Grammys have different eligibility windows, so they had the opportunity to nominate 2001 movies in two different years. In the first year, they nominated "There You'll Be" (which lost) while in the second they gave the statue to "If I Didn't Have You," atop 2001 contenders "May It Be" and "Vanilla Sky." In terms of sixth place, I'm assuming it was "All Love Can Be," a song that came from Best Picture winner A Beautiful Mind, a song by Charlotte Church (briefly a big deal in 2001), as "Come What May" was ruled ineligible.
Songs I Would Have Nominated: You'll be seeing "Come What May" on my My Ballot even if Oscar ruled it ineligible, because I think the rationale (that it was initially intended for Romeo & Juliet but wasn't used for it) feels especially arbitrary given that it's the emotional crux of the film it's in-Oscar nominated a lot of crap in 2001 when one of its Best Picture nominees had a genuine classic in its walls.
Oscar’s Choice: In something of a surprise, Randy Newman won after a long drought. In hindsight (given Newman would win in 2010) this would've been a really easy Oscar to give to Diane Warren, and would've been for a proper hit (her last), particularly since it's she or McCartney who are in second place here.
My Choice: Enya, and it ain't close. I've spent most of 2001 hemming and hawing between a lot of worthy nominees, but she's the only one that's bringing the greatness in this bunch, and should've been a slam dunk winner. Monsters Inc, Pearl Harbor, Vanilla Sky, and Kate & Leopold follow (in order).
Those are my thoughts-how about yours? Are you someone who thought Randy Newman's time had come, or were you all about the Enya? We all are aware that Diane Warren is never actually winning an Oscar unless she write a song that's a hit on-par with "There You'll Be," right? And do you agree with me that "Come What May" was robbed on a technicality? Share your thoughts below!
No comments:
Post a Comment