Best Original Song - 1970

"Whistling Away the Dark" from Darling Lili sung by Julie Andrews

Movie Synopsis: A World War I version of Mata Hari.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? Yes.
Is it important to the plot? Um...she's performing.
Is it pleasing to the ear? A-.

"For All We Know" from Lovers and Other Strangers sung by Larry Meredith

Movie Synopsis: A dysfunctional family reunites for a wedding.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the opening/end credits)? Yes.
Is it important to the plot? The importance of tradition.
Is it pleasing to the ear? A.

"Til Love Touches Your Life" from Madron sung by Richard Williams and Jan Daley

Movie Synopsis: A nun, the only survivor of an Indian massacre of a wagon train, is taken in by a cantankerous old gunfighter.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the opening/end credits)? N/A.
Is it important to the plot? N/A.
Is it pleasing to the ear? C-.

"Pieces of Dreams" from Pieces of Dreams sung by Peggy Lee

Movie Synopsis: A shocking love story (according to the tagline) that involves a priest.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the opening/end credits)? N/A.
Is it important to the plot? N/A.
Is it pleasing to the ear? C.

"Thank You Very Much" from Scrooge sung by Anton Rodgers, Albert Finney and Chorus

Movie Synopsis: A cantankerous, greedy man is visited by three spirits on Christmas Eve.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the opening/end credits)? Yes.
Is it important to the plot? Yes...showing Scrooge's development.
Is it pleasing to the ear? D. (In the spirit of Oliver!...ugh.)



So what won?
"For All We Know" from Lovers and Other Strangers

What would I have voted for?
"For All We Know" from Lovers and Other Strangers

Give me a break. Like I'm not going to pick the Carpenters song.

Analysis
Overall, a meh year...although I do really like "Whistling Away the Dark". 1970 is very much an extension of the 60's, which is to be expected. "For All We Know" was an actual radio hit after the Carpenters covered it. Karen and Richard actually decided to record it after seeing Lovers and Other Strangers. After the song was nominated for the Oscars they weren't allowed to perform at the ceremony because they hadn't appeared in film that year (a now defunct Academy rule). But they got to perform the next year...so look forward to 1971!

Best Original Song - 1941

"Out of the Silence" from All-American Co-Ed sung by Frances Langford

Movie Synopsis: An all girl school and an all boy school war with one another while two of their students fall in love.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? Yes.

Is it important to the plot? Um, the love interest (I think) is headed toward her while she is singing.

Is it pleasing to the ear? C.

"Blues in the Night" from Blues in the Night sung by William Gillespie and reprised by Stan Wrightman

Movie Synopsis: A blues singer and her band get involved with gangsters.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? Yes.

Is it important to the plot? Probably...

Is it pleasing to the ear? C-.

"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy From Comany B" from Buck Privates sung by The Andrews Sister

Movie Synopsis: Two convicts choose the army over jail.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)?Yes.

Is it important to the plot? Don't think so...

Is it pleasing to the ear? B.

"Baby Mine" from Dumbo sung by Betty Noyes

Movie Synopsis: A baby elephant with big ears is ostracized by the other circus elephants until he discovers a secret talent.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? Yes.

Is it important to the plot? Well, it shows how much Mrs. Jumbo misses her baby.

Is it pleasing to the ear? A.

"The Last Time I Saw Paris" from Lady Be Good sung by Ann Southern

Movie Synopsis: A pair of divorced song writers remarry.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? I think...

Is it important to the plot? Uh...

Is it pleasing to the ear? C-.

"Dolores" from Las Vegas Nights sung by Bert Wheeler

Movie Synopsis: A vaudeville act inherits an old, beat-up building and decides to try to turn it into a hip new nightclub

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? N/A

Is it important to the plot? N/A

Is it pleasing to the ear? N/A

"Be Honest With Me" from Ridin' on a Rainbow sung by Bert Wheeler

Movie Synopsis: When the showboat hits town, two men use the parade as a distraction to rob the bank.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? N/A

Is it important to the plot? N/A

Is it pleasing to the ear? B-

"Chattanooga Choo Choo" from Lady Be Good sung by Tex Beneke, Paula Kelly, The Modernaires, The Nicholas Brothers, and Dorothy Dandridge

Movie Synopsis: A pianist falls in love with a Norwegian refugee who later stages an ice show. 

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? Many times...

Is it important to the plot? Well...

Is it pleasing to the ear? C.

"Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye" from You'll Never Get Rich sung by The Four Tones

Movie Synopsis: A man caught in his boss's indiscretions escapes to the army.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? Yes.

Is it important to the plot? N/A

Is it pleasing to the ear? C.








---------------------------------------------------------------
So what won?
"The Last Time I Saw Paris" from Lady Be Good

What would I have voted for?
"Baby Mine" from Dumbo.

I'm sucker for the Disney songs, I'll admit. However, this is such a beautiful song, and sad moment in the movie. Does it really move the plot forward? Eh...no, but it gives us some definite emotion.


Analysis
1941 had two songs that I believe are 40's standards: "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and "Chattanooga Choo Choo", neither of which won. It's interesting to see which songs have stood the test of time and which ones are even remembered. "The Last Time I Saw Paris" kind of sucks and I doubt the average schmo has ever heard it, and yet, it claims 1941.

Best Original Song - 1966

"A Time For Love" from An American Dream sung by Jackie Ward

Movie Synopsis: A TV talk-show host who may have killed his wife finds himself being pursued by both the police and a gang of hoods.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? Yes.

Is it important to the plot? Night club song.

Is it pleasing to the ear? C.

"Alfie" from Alfie sung by Cher

Movie Synopsis: A cockney womanizer learns the hard way about the dangers of his actions.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? End credits.

Is it important to the plot? Uh...

Is it pleasing to the ear? C+.

"Born Free" from Born Free sung by Matt Monro

Movie Synopsis: A game warden and his wife raise a lion cub and then must free her into the wild when she comes of age.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? N/A.

Is it important to the plot? Thematic.

Is it pleasing to the ear? B-.

"Georgy Girl" from Georgy Girl sung by The Seekers

Movie Synopsis: A homely but vivacious young woman dodges the amorous attentions of her father's middle-aged employer while striving to capture some of the glamorous life of her swinging London roommate

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? N/A.

Is it important to the plot? Lyrics apply.

Is it pleasing to the ear? A-.

"My Wishing Doll" from Hawaii sung by Unknown

Movie Synopsis: A rigid missionary takes his wife to Hawaii to convert the natives.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? N/A

Is it important to the plot? N/A

Is it pleasing to the ear? N/A




So what won?
"Born Free" from Born Free

What would I have voted for?
"Georgy Girl" from Georgy Girl.

A radio hit!!!

Analysis
A pretty average year. I'm disappointed I couldn't find "My Wishing Doll."

Best Original Song - 1994

"Look What Love Has Done" from Junior sung by Patty Smyth

Movie Synopsis: As part of a fertility research project, a male scientist agrees to carry a pregnancy in his own body

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? I don't know.

Is it important to the plot? Uh...

Is it pleasing to the ear? C-.

"Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" from The Lion King sung by Kristle Edwards, Joseph Williams, Sally Dworsky, Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella

Movie Synopsis: Tricked into thinking he killed his father, a guilt ridden lion cub flees into exile and abandons his identity as the future King.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? Yes.

Is it important to the plot? Yes, it shows Simba and Nala falling in love.

Is it pleasing to the ear? A.

"The Circle of Life" from The Lion King sung by Chorus

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? Yes.

Is it important to the plot? Yes, it presents the underlying theme of the whole movie.

Is it pleasing to the ear? A-.

"Hakuna Matata" from The Lion King  sung by Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Jason Weaver and Joseph Williams

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? Yes.

Is it important to the plot? Yeah, it shows Simba a new philosophy on life so he can let go of his guilt.

Is it pleasing to the ear? A-.

"Make Up Your Mind" from The Paper sung by Randy Newman

Movie Synopsis: Daily life and drama surrounds a newspaper staff.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? N/A.

Is it important to the plot? N/A.

Is it pleasing to the ear? N/A (Although, since it's Randy Newman...probably pretty low).

So what won?
"Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" from The Lion King

What would I have voted for?
"Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" from The Lion King

Gotta go with the love ballad!


Analysis
For the second time, three songs from one film were nominated. And for the second time, the votes were not split, leaving the fourth place song to win. The song from Junior is horribly 90's and forgettable. The fact that I could find a song from 1994 on Youtube also speaks volumes about "Make Up Your Mind." The right song one this year. Go Academy!

Best Original Song - 2004

"Look to Your Path" from The Chorus sung by Chorus

Movie Synopsis: The new teacher at a severely administered boys' boarding school works to positively effect the students' lives through music.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? I think so.

Is it important to the plot? Since it's about a choir, my guess is yes.

Is it pleasing to the ear? C-.

"Al Otro Lado Del Rio" from The Motorcycle Diaries sung by Jorge Drexler & Leo Sidran

Movie Synopsis: The dramatization of a motorcycle road trip Che Guevara went on in his youth that showed him his life's calling

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? Maybe.

Is it important to the plot? Could be.

Is it pleasing to the ear? D-.

"Learn to Be Lonely" from The Phantom of the Opera sung by Minnie Driver

Movie Synopsis: A disfigured musical genius, hidden away in the Paris Opera House, terrorizes the opera company for the unwitting benefit of a young protégée whom he trains and loves.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? End credits and score.

Is it important to the plot? No...Oscar bait. (These damn greedy musicals!)

Is it pleasing to the ear? B+.

"Believe" from The Polar Express sung by Josh Groban

Movie Synopsis:

On Christmas Eve, a doubting boy boards a magical train that's headed to the North Pole and Santa Claus's home.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? End credits and score. (Please correct me if I'm wrong on this).

Is it important to the plot? Uh...whimsy?

Is it pleasing to the ear? A.

"Accidentally in Love" from Shrek 2 sung by Counting Crows

Movie Synopsis: Princess Fiona's parents invite her and Shrek to dinner to celebrate her marriage. If only they knew the newlyweds were both ogres.

Does it appear in the movie (i.e. other than the end credits)? Yes.

Is it important to the plot? It shows Shrek and Fiona in their honeymoon period.

Is it pleasing to the ear? A.

So what won?
"Al Otro Lado Del Rio" from The Motorcycle Diaries

What would I have voted for?
"Accidentally in Love" from Shrek 2.

Again, this is another "real" song. It played on the radio a shit ton back in '04. And it's catchy as hell.


Analysis
I believe this is the first year (so far?) to have two foreign language songs be nominated in the same year. And, it's the first time since 1960 that a foreign language song won...so good for those foreigners. However, the French and Spanish songs are the two out of the five that I don't care for. I'm ashamed that the pathetically melodic "Learn to Be Lonely" even got a nomination. (I may like it, but it didn't deserve it!)

Videography - Lady Gaga (Part II - The Fame Monster)

Lady Gaga's second album, The Fame Monster, was a nine track album-ette released in late 2009. Despite its length, the album is full of powerful dance hits that the artist thought could be released as it's own album instead of adding bonus tracks to The Fame.

Order: 7

Title: "Bad Romance"

Album: The Fame Monster (2009)

Song Premise: A woman wants everything, the good and the bad, that comes with being in a relationship.

Video Premise: Lady Gaga emerges from a podlike coffin and dances around. She is force fed vodka and then sold to the highest bidder in the Russian mafia. However, she burns him alive with her flame thrower brassiere.

Comments: "Bad Romance" is one of my favorite Lady Gaga songs. It is melodramatic, as is the video. However, I don't think it fits. I like the concept of the video, but I don't think it belongs with this song. But what's done is done. I like the prostitution elements.

Order: 8

Title: "Telephone" (with Beyonce)

Album: The Fame Monster (2009)

Song Premise: A woman is bothered by her boyfriend's constant calling while she is partying at a club.

Video Premise: Oh boy...here we go. In this sequel to the "Paparazzi" video, Lady Gaga is led to a cell in a "Prison for Bitches" by two butch prison guards. She is stripped naked and one of the guards comments, "I told you she didn't have a dick." Then we see Gaga's day to day life in prison where she makes out with another prisoner in the exercise yard. Finally, Gaga answers a phone call from Beyoncé who plans to bail her out of jail. Then there is dancing with other inmates. Eventually Gaga is released and Beyoncé is waiting for her in the "Pussy Wagon" from Kill Bill. The two exchange dialogue and drive to a diner where Beyoncé's asshole boyfriend is waiting for her. She grows tired of it, and poisons him. Meanwhile, Gaga makes a sandwich and then mixes poison into all the dishes at the diner. While everyone is dead, Gaga and Beyoncé dance around the corpses and then escape into the desert. The video ends with "To Be Continued..."

Comments: Well...holy shit. This is certainly an epic video in the sense of size and scope. Does it make sense with the context of the song? Hell. No. Should it? Lady Gaga doesn't think so.  I guess we should never expect the lyrics of her songs to have any final effect on her videos. I think that's a shame. Not that "Telephone" has her deepest lyrics, mind you. I just think that maybe Lady Gaga would come up with her video concepts and then write lyrics to match them instead of getting our hopes up. Overall, you can tell that the singers are into every minute of it. And it's definitely something you would never expect from Beyoncé. There's so much effort put into every single frame, it's hard to dislike the "Telephone" video.

Order: 9
Title: "Alejandro"
Album: The Fame Monster (2010)
Song Premise: A woman is accosted by many Hispanic suitors.
Video Premise: The video begins with many soldiers sleeping in a cabaret and then cuts to different soldiers doing a dance/march. As the song begins, Gaga is leading a funeral procession, carrying a heart on a pillow. When the lyrics begin, she is sitting on a throne watching dancers perform an elaborate routine outside. Soon, Gaga is dancing and simulating sex with three men on twin beds intercuts with scenes of Gaga as a nun in a red latex habit. More dancing, similar to Bob Fosse's Cabaret. Then Gaga is wearing a bra  with AR-15 rifle barrels. In another scene, she struggles with her dancer and is undressed. The video ends with her dressed as the nun, the film burning away from her face outwards.


Comments: I won't lie. When I first watched it, I didn't get it. In fact, I had to look up the meaning (which I hate!!!). Anyway the director said this: "[The video is] about a woman's desire to resurrect a dead love and who can not face the brutality of her present situation. The pain of living without your true love." Okay...right. The whole thing is overlong. The video is almost double the length of the song, even. That's not to say I don't like it. I do, well, parts of it. Overall, it's a fantasy of Gaga's life after her lover has died. It doesn't have to make perfect sense. It's a mish-mash of desires.

Videography - Lady Gaga (Part I - The Fame)

Lady Gaga has been yet another one of my musical phases, so I decided to do her videography. After the release of her most recent video, "Telephone", I felt it was necessary to view the development of her music video style and how it got to be at this epic, ten minute place with stunning visuals that no other artist can get away with.

Order: 1

Title: "Just Dance"

Album: The Fame (2008)

Song Premise: Despite being drunk, phoneless, keyless, and manless, the narrator decides to just (you guessed it) dance the night away.

Video Premise: Lady Gaga and gang go to a house party that is seemingly dead. Everyone is awakened when Gaga puts on some new tunes and the young fashionable sociables  drink, dance, and look fashionable while doing so.

Comments: Honestly, this video is pretty much everything you would expect it to be. The song is about partying. The video is about partying. Although the quit editing and big cast make it visually stimulating. This is certainly the most glamorous house party I've ever seen (which I know doesn't say much about my social life!) Also, I found the 70's era architecture to be believable. Poor kids in their 20's are likely to rent homes from that era.

Order: 2

Title: "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich"

Album: The Fame (2008)

Song Premise: The song is about being poor yet having a sense of entitlement and ego. You're rich if you think you are...basically.

Video Premise: In an empty mansion, Gaga frolics around, writhes around in a huge pile of money, and dances while her friends occasionally frolic with her.

Comments: The "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich" video is quite similar to the "Just Dance" video because it shows Gaga and her friends in a similar context and setting with no real point. Unlike its predecessor, this song could have a deeper video. Instead, it's kind of a carbon copy which, unfortunately, cheapens the song.

Order: 3

Title: "Poker Face"

Album: The Fame (2008)

Song Premise: The narrator muses how she can get men hot and bothered, but really has no heart or meaning behind her actions whether to continue physically or emotionally.

Video Premise: Lady Gaga emerges from a pool by a mansion. She attends a party where she and several men and women play a game of strip poker. Various dancing and random shots.

Comments: "Poker Face" is the first video to really get, ahem, Gaga. There are several random, WTF moments that, at least to the viewing audience, have absolutely nothing to do with the song. Like, Great Danes? Why? I guess, why not is the better question. Strip poker is inevitable but I can't help but feel the lyrics weren't fully utilized.

Order: 4

Title: "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)"

Album: The Fame (2008)

Song Premise: A woman, very sweetly, ends her relationship after she meets someone new.

Video Premise: In an Italian-American 50's-esque New York, Lady Gaga chats with her friends, is then she is shown in a housewife role, and then heckled by well meaning men.

Comments: This is definitely the lightest of all of Lady Gaga's videos, and perhaps the least sexual. At times it feel it could be a Britney video from the late 90's...with weirder clothing. It's fun and not at all heavy handed. There really isn't a point which makes me wonder why it was chosen as a single.

Order: 5

Title: "LoveGame"

Album: The Fame (2008)

Song Premise: A woman wants to have sex...yeah, that's pretty much it.

Video Premise: Lady Gaga dances in the subway station, then inside the subway, then she makes out with one of the security guards.

Comments: Simple and sexual...just like the song. Need I say more?

Order: 6

Title: "Paparazzi"

Album: The Fame (2008)

Song Premise: A woman claims she is a man's biggest fan and to follow him like paparazzi.

Video Premise: Lady Gaga is making out with her boyfriend in their mansion. He takes her outside on the balcony. When she refuses to pose for the paparazzi's cameras, he pushes her off the side. She survives, but returns home in a wheelchair. Through dance, she recuperates. Meanwhile, the video is intercut with shots of dead/murdered supermodels and Lady Gaga in a four-way with a trio of musicians. At the end, Gaga is still with her boyfriend but she poisons his drink and then turns herself into the police. Fame is hers once again as she goes to prison.

Comments: Oh, how I love videos about fame! Why? I have no idea, but I do love this video. It's one of my favorites of all time. Interestingly, it doesn't have much to do with the lyrics of a woman sickeningly devoted to a man. It still deals with paparazzi, most definitely, but on another level. Again, the visuals really get me. I like the dead super models. I like the revenge. I like the extended cinematic beginning. Props!

Book Survey...because I need a break from writing.

1) What author do you own the most books by?
Judy Blume. I own pretty much everything of hers except her picture books and the ones concerning Fudge.

2) What book do you own the most copies of?
I own two copies of Wuthering Heights, but I wish I owned more.

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
No, real people end their sentences in prepositions all the time.

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
I will always carry a pedophilic torch for Jeff Davidson from the Linda Series.

5) What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)?

It's a tie between Wuthering Heights and Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
We Hate Everything But Boys.

7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?

I never finish bad books.

8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Wuthering Heights.

9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
I don't think there is a book in existence that EVERYONE would like, so I wouldn't force it on anyone. However, I think most teenage girls could only benefit from reading Forever... by Judy Blume.

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
Judy Blume. There. I said it.

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is begging for a remake. A non-musical, non-Gregory Maguire inspired remake.

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie? 

You know, I love movies, so I can't think of a novel I like that I wouldn't want to see on the big screen.

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
Once I dreamt I was a hobbit as was my current object of affection. But I think this was more movie inspired.

14) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
Want to Trade Two Brothers for a Cat? by Linda Lewis

15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
Night by Elie Weisel. I had to read it in 8th grade English. Most depressing two months ever.


16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
I've never seen a Shakespeare play, but I 've been in Hamlet (which was pretty standard) and then I played Celia in a modernized western version of As You Like It. Yeah...here's a picture for proof.

17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
I don't know, but it seems I would like French more.

18) Roth or Updike?

I like the Witches of Eastwick...movie.

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?

????

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare.

21) Austen or Eliot?
Austen has better films.

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
I haven't actually read any Dickens or Austen.

23) What is your favorite novel? 

Wuthering Heights.

24) Play?
Damn, I really like Peter Pan.

25) Poem?
The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.

26) Essay?
I am not scholarly.

27) Short Story?
"The Company of Wolves" by Angela Carter

28) Work of nonfiction?
Anything to do with film history.

29) Who is your favorite writer?

Judy Blume.

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Ooh, anyone who uses the same plot over and over again and just changes the character names.

31) What is your desert island book?
Wuthering Heights yet again.

32) And... what are you reading right now?
The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell. Not enough sex.