Indiewire: Does Muppets Most Wanted Have Oscar "Best Song" Potential?

[Muppet Master]

Facepalm.

You actually saw the Lego Film, right?

Love how that's the song that gets the hate and not the same maudling crap that usually wins the awards. In fact, Everything is Awesome's probably the only song from a movie people have actually seen. I'm disappointed too, but considering the other nominations, the Academy has it's head up itself for going for the artsy fartsy cred. Last time I checked, they didn't even nominate Paul Williams's work in Book of Life. It's a somber song in a fun movie, and it's probably a LOT deeper than the other entries here.

Blame the Academy, not The Lego Movie. And never forget "Rainbow Connection" lost to some forgettable crap from Norma Jean or Nora Joan or whatever that thing no one remembers is called.

The movie is fine, anyways a muppet song probably would not have won anyways sadly, they always lose to some mediocre song.

 

[Drtooth]

Then you KNOW why "Everything is Awesome" sounds like it was written by a Kindergartener, right? Hint hint?

 

[jvcarroll]

Facepalm.

You actually saw the Lego Film, right?

Love how that's the song that gets the hate and not the same maudling crap that usually wins the awards. In fact, Everything is Awesome's probably the only song from a movie people have actually seen. I'm disappointed too, but considering the other nominations, the Academy has it's head up itself for going for the artsy fartsy cred. Last time I checked, they didn't even nominate Paul Williams's work in Book of Life. It's a somber song in a fun movie, and it's probably a LOT deeper than the other entries here.

Blame the Academy, not The Lego Movie. And never forget "Rainbow Connection" lost to some forgettable crap from Norma Jean or Nora Joan or whatever that thing no one remembers is called.

Batman's song from the Lego Movie was totally robbed!! LOL!

 

[Drtooth]

But he has money, so that makes things a little better.

 

[Muppet Master]

Then you KNOW why "Everything is Awesome" sounds like it was written by a Kindergartener, right? Hint hint?

Ya, I get it, the whole part made, because the animators wanted a break, still the song is not really anything oscar worthy.

 

[Drtooth]

Neither was "Real in Rio" and there was a huge chance Man or Muppet would have lost to that.

Stop blaming the Lego Movie for the Academy's short sightedness.

 

[Muppet Master]

I am pretty sure it took about five minutes to write that song.

 

[Drtooth]

Know why it sounds like that? It's supposed to. Much like how the favorite TV show in Legoland is "Where are my Pa-a-a-a-a-ants?" Somehow, I can't help think the satire is lost on you. Also, listen to current pop music. It's actually worse. We have a real song with lyrics that go "Why you got to be so Rude? I gonna Marry you anyway." It most definitely sounds like a 3 year old wrote it. Or Latka from Taxi.

The song (as well as Where are my Pants) are pretty subversive retorts on social conformity and lowest common denominators, all wrapped up in the package of the universe was built by a kid. It has much more depth than the other songs plucked out of the same liberal/white guilt movies so Hollywood looks like it cares and pumps out another Adam Sandler comedy with racist jokes. But you know the ironic kind of racism. Right? Right?

I'm starting to think Disney didn't even bother submitting anything from MMW. I forget... was there an original song in Big Hero 6?

Also, Paul Williams wrote (at least the music for) a pretty good song from Book of Life that got snubbed. Though I guess the Glen Campbel one's probably good. One of them really sounds like it's going to be a terrible attempt at world music because one of them always gets slapped in there.

 

[Princeton]

I don't see why this is the big outrage when it took Man or Muppet to give the Muppets a win. Didn't they lose to some lousy song from a Sally Field movie?

The song is called "It Goes Like It Goes" and it may only seem lousy to you because it beat out "Rainbow Connection", but I encourage you to look at it through the Academy's perspective. "Rainbow" is schmaltz for the sake of it, and that kind of a song rarely wins an Oscar. Then you have the Norma Rae song, which is absolutely saying something relevant to a 1979 audience.

Now let's go forward two years to when "The First Time It Happens" was nominated and lost to "The Best That You Can Do". I will admit that that song, while catchy, is overrated, but the score to GMC is my least favorite Muppet film score, so you're not going to hear me complain about that.

Which brings us to the Bret Mckenzie era of Muppet songs. Bret hit the nail on the head when he said that an Oscar-winning song is only as good as the visual that goes along with it. And let's face it, that's the one thing that TM11 has on MMW.

 

[jvcarroll]

The song is called "It Goes Like It Goes" and it may only seem lousy to you because it beat out "Rainbow Connection", but I encourage you to look at it through the Academy's perspective. "Rainbow" is schmaltz for the sake of it, and that kind of a song rarely wins an Oscar. Then you have the Norma Rae song, which is absolutely saying something relevant to a 1979 audience.

Now let's go forward two years to when "The First Time It Happens" was nominated and lost to "The Best That You Can Do". I will admit that that song, while catchy, is overrated, but the score to GMC is my least favorite Muppet film score, so you're not going to hear me complain about that.

Which brings us to the Bret Mckenzie era of Muppet songs. Bret hit the nail on the head when he said that an Oscar-winning song is only as good as the visual that goes along with it. And let's face it, that's the one thing that TM11 has on MMW.

Yes, but who remembers "It Goes Like It Goes," who wrote it, who sung it or what film it came from without looking it up? Very few people is the answer to that. Of course, that is of no consequence of its artistic merit, but neither rare the Oscars really. As for my taste, it's okay I guess. It kind of blends in with the rest of the disaffected tunes of the 70's. There's nothing wrong with that. I just rarely listen to that sort of thing unless it's uptempo and sung by somebody like Joe Strummer.

I take objection with the classification of "Rainbow Connection" as schmaltz. It's sweet and sentimental and poses a question based on a false premise that there's some sort of great abundance of songs about rainbows, but it's certainly not schmaltz. Come on! By that measurement, everything the Muppets have done is schmaltz and that notion is kind of offensive.

It's clear that the Oscars, award shows and most of the awards they give are largely political and out of touch in relation with the average viewer. Heck, even with the avid cinemaphile. They're just good fun and should be taken as nothing more.