The Film Experience

Now that Skyfall has been declared eligible can Adele finally break the unofficial NO NOMS FOR BOND thing that's been going on forever?As you may have heard, 75 songs have qualified for consideration for Oscar's Best Original Song Category...and not just from animated films. I love this category in my more imaginary moments neither because of what's been nominated over the years (ewww) nor any belief that songwriting is a particularly valid "filmmaking achievement". I only love it for its potential to provide my favorite night of the year with some entertaining interludes -- I love acceptance speeches but you gotta break the night up for variety's sake. Sadly, Oscar has been mucking with this category for so long that it almost never reaches its potential of providing 5 awesome short breaks from people standing at podiums, preferrably while also letting various celebrities sing live to us. In the year of Les Miz it will be a great shame if there isn't live singing on Hollywood's High Holy Night.

But I keep the dream alive and pray that one day some Academy executive will realize that the only thing the category is good for is putting celebrities on stage in a different context than acceptance speeches or merely to introduce yet another mind-numbing montage of something that has nothing to do with the films we happen to be celebrating this annum. So with that in mind, I'm placing in ALL CAPS the performer of the song if it's somebody who it would immediately enrage if they chose not to invite them to sing it to us so that they could shove all the songs into one medley for, like, Miley Cyrus to sing or something (remember how obsessed the Oscars were with having Miley Cyrus present there for awhile?! Yeah, that was... well, let's not dwell.)

LIST AND MORE AFTER THE JUMP

ELIGIBLE SONGS
bold text indicates official music video or the scene from the film embedded

"For You" from "Act of Valor" - KEITH URBAN (critics choice nominee)

Imagine all the reaction shots from Nicole Kidman!

"Metaphorical Blanket" from "Any Day Now" - RUFUS WAINWRIGHT
"Let It Rain" from "Being Flynn" - BADLY DRAWN BOY
"Learn Me Right" from "Brave"
"Touch the Sky" from "Brave"
"Airport" from "Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best"
"Come on Girl" from "Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best"
"Someday" from "Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best"
"Protect the King" from "Brooklyn Castle"
"California Solo" from "California Solo"
"Casa De Mi Padre" from "Casa De Mi Padre" -CHRISTINA AGUILERA
"Del Cielo" from "Casa De Mi Padre"
"Yo No Se" from "Casa De Mi Padre"
"No Other Plans" from "Celeste and Jesse Forever"
"Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice" -SCARLETT JOHANSSON & JOSHUA BELL
"By the Light of the Moon" from "Crossroad"
"The Sambola! International Dance Craze" from "Damsels in Distress"

Oooh, they could have Greta Gerwig introduce it & do it!
Prep us for her Frances Ha! Oscar run next year?

"When You Comin' Home" from "Darling Companion"
"Death by China" from "Death by China"
"Delhi Safari" from "Delhi Safari"
"Ancora Qui" from "Django Unchained"
"Freedom" from "Django Unchained"
"100 Black Coffins" from "Django Unchained"
"Who Did That to You?" from "Django Unchained" -JOHN LEGEND
"How Bad Can I Be?" from "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax"

"Let It Grow" from "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax"
"Thneedville" from "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax"
"Ain't No Train" from "Downtown Express"
"You Don't Have to Be a Star" from "Fame High"
"Jose's Martyrdom" from "For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada"
"Strange Love" from "Frankenweenie" -KAREN O

"Voodoo" from "Halloween Party"
"Luna Nascosta" from "Hidden Moon"
"Song of the Lonely Mountain" from "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Abraham's Daughter" from "The Hunger Games" -ARCADE FIRE
"Master of the Seas" from "Ice Age Continental Drift"
"We Are" from "Ice Age Continental Drift"
"Looking for a Sign" from "Jeff, Who Lives at Home"
"From Here to the Moon and Back" from "Joyful Noise" -DOLLY PARTON

"He's Everything" from "Joyful Noise"
"I'm Yours" from "Joyful Noise"
"Wide Awake" from "Katy Perry: Part of Me" -KATY PERRY

"Cosmonaut" from "Lawless" -EMMYLOU HARRIS
"Beaten Up and Broken Down" from "Least among Saints"
"Suddenly" from "Les Misérables" - HUGH JACKMAN
"Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi"
"When I Grow Up" from "Losing Control"
"Love Always Comes as a Surprise" from "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted"
"Ladies of Tampa" from "Magic Mike" - MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY AND HIS ASSLESS PANTS
"The Baddest Man Alive" from "The Man with the Iron Fists"
"This Gift" from "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" -GLEN HANSARD & MARKETA IRGLOVA

The Odd Life of Timothy Green was atrocious but how sweet would it be to have the Once duo back on the Oscar stage?

"Still Alive" from "Paul Williams Still Alive" -PAUL WILLIAMS (that'd make a great Oscar moment since he was once a regular)
"Dotted Line" from "People Like Us" -LIZ PHAIR
"Snake Eyes" from "Promised Land"
"Razors.Out" from "The Raid: Redemption"
"I'm Not Leaving" from "Re:Generation"
"Still Dream" from "Rise of the Guardians" - RENEE FLEMING
"Undercover Love" from "Rock of Ages"

"Big Machine" from "Safety Not Guaranteed"

Mark Duplass at the Oscars? That'd be unexpected. But Ryan Miller sings it on the soundtrack.

"I Be Here" from "Saint Dracula"
"I Have Secrets" from "Saint Dracula"
"Skyfall" from "Skyfall" -ADELE

They've ignored Bond films for ANYTHING for almost my entire lifetime. If Adele gives the series a nom here we'll surely get to see her perform AND Bond will get his first nom in 30 years

"Breath of Life" from "Snow White and the Huntsman" -FLORENCE & THE MACHINE

"Gone" from "Snow White and the Huntsman"
"One Wing" from "Sparkle"

"Not Running Anymore" from "Stand Up Guys"
"Feel Love" from "Struck by Lightning"
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from "Ted"
"Never Had" from "10 Years"
"Dull Tool" from "This Is 40" - FIONA APPLE
"She Won't Let Go" from "Until They Are Home"
"Kiss Me Goodbye" from "Virginia"
"Anything Made of Paper" from "West of Memphis"
"Hashishet Albi" from "Where Do We Go Now?"
"When Can I See You Again?" from "Wreck-It Ralph"

One of the frustrating things about this category is that even if you have a good song and good singer -- take Fiona Apple and "Dull Tool" -- it is sometimes used so extraneoussly to the movie that it would be super weird to vote for it. Apple's song is just tossed off wrecklessly as background music in a stupid bike/car scene in This is 40 if I remember correctly. I much prefer end credit songs that play in full to half-assed uses of songs you barely notice within a movie. However, if you build a whole scene around a song and the song is good, you really deserve to be a part of the discussion of Oscar + Song. So FYC: Dolly Parton's gorgeous lullaby "From Here to the Moon and Back" from the otherwise supernoisy and obnoxious Joyful Noise.

Which songs are you rooting for? Or perhaps you'd like the category demolished for good?