The State of Movie Music

The Motion Picture Academy has listed the 59 songs from which the Academy's music branch must select five to be Oscar nominees for Best Song. I don't envy these voters; from the entire list I could only find two -- "Come So Far (Got So Far To Go)" from "Hairspray" and "Baby Don't You Cry" from "Waitress" -- that I would even think of uploading to my iPod. Having said that I have yet to see "Enchanted," which has three entrees here and I have heard the musical numbers from the film are first class. Nor have I seen "Grace Is Gone" and the title song from that film is on the list. If that is the same "Grace Is Gone" that was recorded by the Dave Matthews Band, then I would vote for that one as well. (As this tune was composed by none other than Clint Eastwood, I imagine a lot of folks from the music branch will be voting for it too.)

Incidentally, has anyone out there seen this "August Rush" movie that has four songs on the list, the most from any one film? And is the song from "The Last Mimzy" the one by the Doors?

There also seems to be an unwritten rule of late that at least one nominee must come from an animated film. This year, three animated films, "Beowulf," "Shrek the Third" and "Ratatouille" each have one song in contention. Since only one of those three, "Ratatouille," is likely to be nominated for best animated feature (the other two nominees should be "Persopolis" and "The Simpson's Movie"), I'm betting on "Le Festin" getting a nod.

The complete list follows:
"Do You Feel Me" from "American Gangster"
"At the Edge of the World" from "Arctic Tale"
"Someday" from "August Rush"
"This Time" from "August Rush"
"Raise It Up" from "August Rush"
"Break" from "August Rush"
"Nothing's There" from "Badland"
"The Devil's Lonely Fire" from "Badland"
"A Hero Comes Home" from "Beowulf"
"The Stars of Orion" from "Berkeley"
"Say" from "The Bucket List"
"To Be Surprised" from "Dan in Real Life"
"My Hands Are Shaking" from "Dan in Real Life"
"I'll Be OK" from "Dan in Real Life"
"December Boys" from "December Boys"
"So Close" from "Enchanted"
"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted"
"Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted"
"Atkozott Egy Elet" from "56 Drops of Blood"
"O, Atyam!" from "56 Drops of Blood"
"Eleg!" from "56 Drops of Blood"
"A Dream" from "Freedom Writers"
"Lyra" from "The Golden Compass"
"Good Luck Chuck" from "Good Luck Chuck"
"Shut Me Out" from "Good Luck Chuck"
"I Was Zapped by the Lucky Super Rainbow" from "Good Luck Chuck"
"Grace Is Gone" from "Grace Is Gone"
"Lullabye for Wyatt" from "Grace Is Gone"
"Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)" from "Hairspray"
"The Tale of the Horny Frog" from "The Heartbreak Kid"
"China Doll" from "Honeydripper"
"It Will Stay With Us" from "The Hottest State"
"Never See You" from "The Hottest State"
"Society" from "Into the Wild"
"Guaranteed" from "Into the Wild"
"Rise" from "Into the Wild"
"First Amendment Blues" from "Larry Flynt: The Right To Be Left Alone"
"Hello (I Love You)" from "The Last Mimzy"
"Despedida" from "Love in the Time of Cholera"
"Huck's Tune" from "Lucky You"
"Little Wonders" from "Meet the Robinsons"
"Another Believer" from "Meet the Robinsons"
"Way Back into Love" from "Music and Lyrics"
"PoP! Goes My Heart" from "Music and Lyrics"
"Ordinary People" from "Music Within"
"Pretty Much Amazing" from "Nancy Drew"
"Falling Slowly" from "Once"
"If You Want Me" from "Once"
"Le Festin" from "Ratatouille"
"Land of Quiet Poems" from "Resurrecting the Champ"
"Love Will Still Be There" from "September Dawn"
"Royal Pain" from "Shrek the Third"
"Rule the World" from "Stardust"
"Before It's Too Late (Sam and Mikaela's Theme)" from "Transformers"
"Baby Don't You Cry" from "Waitress"
"Beautiful Ride" from "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story"
"Walk Hard" from "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story"
"Let's Duet" from "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story"
"Back Where You Belong" from "The Water Horse"