Tag: Best Song Oscar (1-10 of 13)

Jan 10 2013 01:32 PM ET

Seth MacFarlane joins elite list of Oscar hosts-slash-nominees

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Image Credit: Bob D’Amico/Getty Images

Congratulations, Seth MacFarlane — you’ve just become a historical footnote.

The Family Guy creator was nominated for an Oscar this morning, when Ted‘s “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” snagged a spot in the Best Song category. That makes MacFarlane the sixth person in Oscar history to both host and be nominated for a competitive award during the same ceremony. More importantly, MacFarlane is the only person who’s managed to achieve this feat while serving as the event’s solo host.

Host-slash-nominees — hominees? — are more common at Emmys or the Tonys than the Oscars, since those other ceremonies are more likely to be hosted by performers who work in the same medium as the awards being given. It’s interesting, then, that only two years have passed since a same-night Oscar nominee last took the stage as host — in 2011, Best Actor contender James Franco tested his emcee skills with co-host Anne Hathaway at the 83rd annual awards. (And we all know how that turned out.)

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Jan 26 2012 05:30 PM ET

Oscars 2012: Music branch chief Bruce Broughton on this week's controversial Best Song noms

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Image Credit: Lester Cohen/WireImage.com

One of the big stories of this week’s Oscar nominations was the announcement that, for the first time in history, only two songs have been given the nod in the Best Song category: Bret McKenzie’s “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets and the Rio number “Real in Rio,” which was co-written by legendary Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes. Below, Bruce Broughton, who is chair of the Academy’s Music Branch Executive Committee, explains how just a brace of songs came to receive noms and why the situation might prompt a rule change.

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Jan 25 2012 06:56 PM ET

Sergio Mendes says a 'Rio' sequel 'looks like it's going to happen'

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Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes has said that a sequel to last year’s animated, avian-centric hit Rio “looks like it’s going to happen.” Rio was released last April and grossed $143m at the U.S. box office. Yesterday, Mendes was nominated in the Best Song Oscar category for co-writing the Fox film’s song “Real in Rio.”

Mendes told the Associated Press that Rio director Carlos Saldanha may tie the sequel to the 2014 World Cup, which is being hosted by Brazil. “I think the plan is for the movie to come three or four months before the World Cup,” said Mendes. “Fox has been talking about [it] and it looks like it’s going to happen. We’re going to have a meeting I think next week and Carlos is coming to tell us the story, and it looks like it’s a go.”

A spokesperson for Fox confirmed the company was interested in turning Rio into a franchise but said no deals had been made at present.

Read more:
Oscars 2012: Why did only two tunes get nominated in the Best Song category?
‘Muppets’ songwriter Bret McKenzie talks about facing off against Sergio Mendes in the Best Song Oscar race: ‘I’m hoping we have a drum battle on the red carpet!’

Jan 25 2012 12:01 PM ET

Oscars 2012: Why did only two tunes get nominated in the Best Song category?

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There’s one thing that’s even less easy than being green: being nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar. For the first time in the history of the Academy Awards, only two tunes made the cut this year: “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets and the Rio track “Real in Rio.” “I thought it was going to be more songs,” says legendary Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes, who co-wrote the Rio tune. “On the other hand, I’m glad it’s just two!” The two-tune showdown certainly increases his odds against Flight of the Conchords member Bret McKenzie, who penned “Man or Muppet.”

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Jan 24 2012 05:57 PM ET

'Muppets' songwriter Bret McKenzie talks about facing off against Sergio Mendes in the Best Song Oscar race: 'I'm hoping we have a drum battle on the red carpet!'

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BRET-MCKENZIE

Image Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Because of the 487 hour (approx.) time difference between Los Angeles and New Zealand, Bret McKenzie was asleep when it was announced his Muppets movie tune “Man or Muppet” had been nominated for an Oscar. “My phone was ringing hot,” says the Kiwi and Flight of the Conchords member about discovering the news. “Then I checked my email. I had a lot of emails.”

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Sep 16 2011 08:32 PM ET

'The Swell Season' trailer looks like a real-life sequel to 'Once'

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Once upon a time, two musicians made a movie, fell in love, won an Oscar, and then…who knows? You will if you catch the upcoming documentary The Swell Season, directed by Nick August-Perna and Chris Dapkins. The film follows Once stars Glen Hansard (pictured) and Marketa Irglova’s meteoric rise after “Falling Slowly” won the 2008 Oscar for Best Original Song. Watch your old friends frolic in the ocean and debate the merits of fame in the trailer: READ FULL STORY »

Jan 25 2011 08:43 AM ET

Oscar nominations are in: 'The King's Speech' rules with 12 nods

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oscar-awardImage Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty ImagesThe Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences unveiled its nominations for the 83rd annual Academy Awards. The King’s Speech led the way with 12 nominations, and the Coen brothers’ western, True Grit, scored 10. Check out the list below, follow-up with Dave Karger‘s take, then head over to PopWatch to let us know who you think got snubbed.

BEST PICTURE
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone READ FULL STORY »

Nov 24 2010 10:05 AM ET

Alan Menken discusses 'Tangled' and the past, present, and future of the animated musical

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Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Alan Menken has won more Oscars — eight! — than anybody else alive. And no wonder. When you think of the smash hits that revived Walt Disney Animation, starting with The Little Mermaid in 1989 and continuing with Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, it’s impossible to separate the movies from the music. “Under the Sea,” “Part of Your World,” “Be Our Guest,” “Friend Like Me,” “A Whole New World” — they’re the stuff high school glee clubs are made of. Menken, with lyricists Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, gave us all of these ear confections, winning over audiences and the Academy in the process. But history can take unexpected turns, and the art form Menken once dominated, that of hand-drawn Broadway-style animated musicals, has all but vanished. Now, he’s prepped his next revolution: the first CG-animated film that’s also a full, break-into-song musical, Walt Disney Animation’s Tangled, opening today. EW talked to Menken about his unrivaled career, his work on Tangled, and why Disney has chosen not to market it as a musical.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: In some ways, Tangled is a landmark film. It’s the first complete musical for a CG-animated film.
ALAN MENKEN: It’s the first to even attempt it. I knew that going in, but I always felt Pixar would attempt a “break into song” musical. The closest they came was with “When She Loved Me” in Toy Story 2, but that was still just montage material.

Was it more challenging to compose music for a CG-animated film as opposed to a hand-drawn film?
To compose, no. Do people respond to CGI, though, in the same way they respond to hand-drawn? In the case of Tangled, I think the name Disney on it makes all the difference. It gives permission to the fact that it is a musical. Having a tradition is a great thing to work within, and maybe today [it] is the only way to really land musically dramatic work. People have to already be comfortable with the form. READ FULL STORY »

Feb 16 2010 03:31 PM ET

Best Song nominees won't perform at Oscars

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From Mike Fleming over at Deadline.com comes the news that Oscar telecast producers Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic have decided not to invite the nominees for Best Original Song to perform at the big show. I’m surprised at the decision, but then I’m not. I’ve lamented the lack of any well-known songs in the Oscar race of late, and even though I’m a fan of front-runner “The Weary Kind,” T-Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham’s theme from Crazy Heart, I can’t say I’ll miss hearing the performances of any of the other nominees (“Take It All” from Nine, “Loin de Paname” from Paris 36, and two numbers from The Princess and the Frog). You’ll recall that last year, telecast producers Larry Mark and Bill Condon allowed only 90-second performances from each of the songs, causing nominee Peter Gabriel (“Down to Earth” from Wall-E) to back out of his appearance. This is just the next step in my mind. Clearly Shankman and Mechanic are aiming for a more audience-friendly production, and they’re apparently willing to break from tradition in order to achieve it.

What do you all think? Should the Best Song nominees be included every year? Or do they need to be of higher overall quality (or popularity) to deserve such choice airtime?

Photo credit: Bob Charlotte/PR Photos

Feb 2 2010 08:48 AM ET

Oscar nominations announced: 'Avatar,' 'Hurt Locker' lead with nine each

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Here are the nominees in the 10 major categories for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. Avatar and The Hurt Locker each scored nine nominations. The winners will be announced on March 7. In the meantime, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter (@davekarger) for Academy Award updates between now and the Oscar ceremony.

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Eight of the 10 Producers Guild nominees repeated here. Invictus and Star Trek were replaced by A Serious Man and, in one of the morning’s biggest surprises, The Blind Side, which had received no guild nominations or critics prizes other than for Sandra Bullock’s performance. Clearly all the Sandra love buoyed the film. As expected, The Hurt Locker, Avatar, Inglourious Basterds (8 nods), Precious (6 nods), and Up in the Air (6 nods) led the pack, while Up becomes only the second animated film ever to be nominated for Best Picture. Star Trek, meanwhile, did score a total of four nominations but just couldn’t muscle into Best Picture. That’s the best news for Avatar, which still may have a hard time beating The Hurt Locker.

Best Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

These are the five SAG nominees, so nothing surprising here. Morgan Freeman was the only possible weak link, but none of the guys on the bubble—Viggo Mortensen, Matt Damon, Ben Foster, Robert Downey Jr.—had enough oomph. How can Jeff Bridges lose? I’d say Jeremy Renner is the only one who can upset him (like Adrien Brody for The Pianist).

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Another repeat of the SAG nominees. The Young Victoria‘s Emily Blunt had a shot at displacing Helen Mirren, but clearly the older voters responded well to The Last Station. The Blind Side‘s Best Picture nomination (compared to no other nods for Julie & Julia) means Bullock has the edge. Who’da thunk it?

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

A bunch of talented gents were overlooked here: Alec Baldwin, Christian McKay, Alfred Molina, Peter Sarsgaard, and Anthony Mackie, to name just five. As I’ve stated before, this race was over before it ever began.

Best Supporting Actress
Penélope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo’Nique, Precious

Here we have the only variance from SAG in the individual acting races, as Maggie Gyllenhaal stole Diane Kruger’s slot. And even though Julianne Moore failed to earn a SAG nod for A Single Man, I’m still surprised the Academy didn’t give her a fifth career nomination.

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

The five DGA nominees repeated here, fending off competition from the likes of Neill Blomkamp and Lone Scherfig. But these five films are so far out in front that no one else really had a shot. It’s Bigelow’s to lose.

Best Original Screenplay
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson & Tom McCarthy, Up
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

As with Titanic, James Cameron failed to earn a screenplay nomination for Avatar. The Messenger duo stole the fifth slot from the adorable (500) Days of Summer guys. With Hurt Locker and Basterds in the running, this may be the tightest major race of the year.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche, In the Loop
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell, District 9
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
Nick Hornby, An Education
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

If there’s a shock here, it’s the inclusion of the little-seen In the Loop over Fantastic Mr. Fox. But the writers branch often goes for a sharp British indie, so maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised.

Best Animated Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Best Foreign Language Film
El Secreto do Sus Ojos (Argentina)
Un Prophete (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)
Ajami (Israel)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)

The rest of the categories are after the jump.

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