Well it's that time of the year again blog-readers... awards season! And as promised, I'll be blogging my first of mutiple entries today about my picks for Sunday's broadcast of the Golden Globes. But first a few comments, disclaimers, and ground-rules: The Globes have traditionally been second only in prestige to the Oscars, but of late, due to a combination of inability to accurately predict Academy voters' picks and a well-publicized scandal, they have become slightly less consequential to the climate of the awards season.
Now as previously stated, Globes voters have been rather off the past few years (not just as a forecast for the Oscars, but also in that they err on the side of favoring the financially successful as opposed to the artistically sound in the way of nominees). So I want to put out the disclaimer that I will not be commenting as to what should have been nominated; I will only be addressing the nominee groups as they are. Also, as some of you may know, the Globes not only present awards for acheivement in films but also for excellence in televion broadcasting. Since this is a blog concerned only with film, I won't be making predictions in any of the television categories. And with that, we shall begin (starting today's blog with Best Song and in the days to come working up to the Best Picture categories):
Best Original Song:
Masterpiece - W.E.
Director Madonna both wrote and performed this song for her film. I have yet to see the film and Roger has yet to review it. But the song plays like a slow techno-infused love ballad and isn't particularly notable lyrically. And unless W.E. has a running theme involving works of art, the song doesn't seem acutely relevant to this particular plotline. It certainly doesn't deserve a win or possibly even a nomination.
The Living Proof - The Help
This is the only movie in this category that I have actually seen to date. The film itself has a lovely score and this song feels like it was written to be a part of it rather than as an afterthought. It was cowritten and performed by Mary J. Blige and is sung as though by the film's heroine Aibilene Clark. This song manages balancing the task of remaining plot specific while still expressing universal themes. It is my favorite to win and would be a shu-in were it not competing during a year with songs from music icons Madonna and Elton John (and what with the Globes' fame and box-office loving voters...).
Lay Your Head Down - Albert Nobbs
Having not seen the film, I don't know if this song is incorporated into the movie itself or simply played over the credits. It is a beautiful lullaby and Glenn Close (who plays the movie's namesake) actually wrote the lyrics herself. But (knowing the film's story, though I haven't seen it) it doesn't neccessarily seem specific to this plotline... a lovely entry nonetheless.
The Keeper - Machine Gun Preacher
This Chris Cornell song is extremely plot-specific to the point where it seems to be unable to "synecdochize" it's themes and message to the greater human experience. Also weakened by its country/ folk-y montone sound, this seems an unlikely nominee and an even less likely winner.
Hello Hello - Gnomeo & Juliet
I haven't seen this movie. I have no desire to see this movie. Shtick and Shakespeare don't go together and I'm unwilling to be convinced otherwise. But the song is by Elton John. And the Golden Globes love them some Elton John. The song is fun and pop-y but mostly just left me wishing I was listening to John's track from The Lion King. This one doesn't deserve a win.
Best Original Score:
The Artist
A silent film like The Artist, by nature, relies heavily on its musical score in order to tell its story. And the score it has is perfectly befitting. Like the film it plays during, it broadly conveys emotion while still expressing nuance -all without ever using a word. It heightens and revels in the films melodrama, suspense, joy, and sorrow alike. My only complaint is its use of the score from Vertigo's climax.
I love and deeply admire Alfred Hitcock's film resume; and like Roger, I personally rank Vertigo among his top three. Hitchcock was a master at working with composers to create haunting, iconic, and memorable musical scores. And Vertigo has one of the best. Recognizing it in The Artist immediately brought on the same nostalgia that much of the film had already inspired in me.
But by incorporating such an iconic piece of music that no one could ever hope to better or even equal, Hazanavicius and Bource (the film's director and composer respectively) invite and even force comparison to their own film's score, thus belittling its originality. Up until the point of Vertigo's score's inclusion, Bource had demonstrated his ability to freshly pay homage to a film era while maintaing an air of musical originality. But by using Vertigo's score, he seemingly downgrades his to one of replication rather than innovation. In spite of "the replication" late in the film, The Artist still boasts a jubilant and impressive score, and of the two films I've seen in this category, it's the clear front-runner.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won last year's Oscar in this category for their understated score for The Social Network , thus stealing it from the rightful winner: Hans Zimmer's emotive and potent score for the brilliant Inception. Reznor and Ross reteamed this year to write the score for Fincher's next project - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo... and it's anything but understated. Its loud techno beats distract from the plotline, creating musical suspense during expository scenes where nothing is being led up to. Rather than aiding the film in creating its atmosphere, it reaches from the background to overpower everything that's going on in the foreground. The one high point is the opening credits sequence (a la 007) and the music used there isn't even original. The film is a disappointment (musically and otherwise), you're better off catching the original.
The other three nominees in this category are Hugo, War Horse, and W.E. - none of which have I seen. All three are films that take place on a large grandiose scale and as such invite sweeping cinematic scores that would be worthy of nomination. This will be the last categorical set of nominees included in today's post. Stay tuned between now and Sunday for more Globes posts!
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