Best Original Song: A Categorical History (2001-2005)
And — the 2000s. Here’s where you really see why everyone asks what happened to this category.
2001: ”IF I DIDN’T HAVE YOU” from Monsters, Inc.
“Until…” from Kate & Leopold
“May It Be,” from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
“There You’ll Be,” from Pearl Harbor
“Vanilla Sky,” from Vanilla Sky
Analysis: This, to me, comes down to Enya and Randy Newman. And since Newman didn’t have an Oscar by this point, I’m taking him. It’s close, though. Love me some Enya. (Seriously. If Newman has an Oscar, I don’t vote for him here. Enya wrote the best song.)
My Vote: ”If I Didn’t Have You”
Rankings:
5. “Until…”
4. “Vanilla Sky”
3. “There You’ll Be”
2. ”If I Didn’t Have You”
1. “May It Be”
2002: ”LOSE YOURSELF,” FROM 8 MILE
“I Move On,” from Chicago
“Burn It Blue,” from Frida
“The Hands That Built America,” from Gangs of New York
“Father and Daughter,” from The Wild Thornberrys Movie
Analysis: This is tough for me. I love the Eminem and I love the U2. But I’ll give it to Eminem. Inject some fucking life into this category.
My Vote: ”Lose Yourself”
Rankings:
5. “Burn It Blue”
4. “Father and Daughter”
3. “I Move On”
2. “The Hands That Built America”
1. “Lose Yourself”
2003: ”INTO THE WEST,” FROM THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
“Scarlet Tide,” from Cold Mountain
“You Will Be My Ain True Love,” from Cold Mountain
“A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow,” from A Mighty Wind
“Belleville Rendez-Vous,” from The Triplets of Belleville
Analysis: No contest.
My Vote: ”Into the West”
Rankings:
5. ”You Will Be My Ain True Love”
4. “Belleville Rendez-Vous”
3. “Scarlet Tide”
2. ”A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow”
1. “Into the West”
2004: ”AL OTRO LADO DEL RÍO,” FROM THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES
“Vois sur ton chemin (Look To Your Path),” from The Chorus
“Learn to Be Lonely,” from The Phantom of the Opera
“Believe,” from The Polar Express
“Accidentally in Love,” from Shrek 2
Analysis: This is awful. I’ll take Counting Crows, because at least that’s fun. This is just, awful.
My Vote: “Accidentally in Love”
Rankings:
5. “Vois sur tom chemin”
4. “Al otro del rio”
3. “Believe”
2. “Learn to Be Lonely”
1. “Accidentally in Love”
2005: ”IT’S HARD OUT HERE FOR A PIMP,” FROM HUSTLE & FLOW
“In the Deep,” from Crash
“Travelin’ Thru,” from Transamerica
Analysis: Three Six Ma-fia! How can you not vote for them? Come on. Scorsese got his Oscar. It’s all good now.
(Though I’ll admit — Dolly wrote a hell of a song. A bit of a shame, but come in, it’s fun! I bet she wouldn’t have been that happy to get that award. Look at this. You want to see people this happy to win.)
My Vote: “It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp”
Rankings:
3. “In the Deep”
2. “Travelin’ Thru”
1. “It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp”
- – - – - – - – - -
I love that we end with Three Six Mafia.
Okay, tomorrow we hit the rest of the dog shit that has become this category (with one or two decent years in there to remind us that there is still hope.
Fuck it, let’s end again with it, because it’s so goddamn fun:
I’ve never been one for rap, so I can’t agree with you on It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp and Lose Yourself (though Lose Yourself is damn good, I just love U2 too much to pass them up). Anyway, we commence with the “deserving unnominated” which is an unfortunate name because movie songs these days just suck. Yes, the Academy does make atrocious decisions all of the time with what they nominate out of what they’re given, but most of the time the alternates aren’t very good either.
2001: Come What May from Moulin Rouge! performed by Kidman and McGregor
2002: Here I Am from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron performed by Bryan Adams
2003: Man of the Hours from Big Fish performed by Pearl Jam
2004: none, which really sucks given how awful the category is to begin with
2005: Wunderkind from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe performed by Alanis Morissette; A Love That Will Never Grow Old from Brokeback Mountain performed by Emmylou Harris
July 20, 2012 at 2:54 pm