![]() And when it comes to this disappointing “Cinderella,” attitude is pretty much the only thing it’s got. It’s potent stuff, distended piano outro and all, but attitude only gets you so far. Menzel’s voice is obviously unassailable, and she flexes it more than I would’ve thought possible during a song that lasts for a mere two minutes before it turns into a pumpkin. With a rollicking cheese-rock chorus that’s slathered around a sharp lyric (“This treasure you found, bury it / The only way out, marry it / That shadow of doubt, carry it / Carry it down to your grave”), “Dream Girl” is a lot zestier and more self-possessed than anything else in the movie. “Dream Girl” - Idina Menzel & Laura Veltz (from “Cinderella”) # I’ve got some bad news for anyone who thought an animated movie about a showbiz-obsessed koala voiced by Matthew McConaughey would be the thing to finally reignite U2’s creative spark (but, on a semi-related note, I have some excellent news for everyone who’s been itching to watch teenage porcupine Scarlett Johansson cover the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Heads Will Roll”). ![]() “Your Song Saved My Life” - U2 (from “Sing 2”) # Don’t expect to hear it on TV next March, either). ![]() It’s a warm and pleasant “welcome back” that plays over footage of contemporary Belfast, and Van Morrison would absolutely love to perform it for you in a crowded theater at the height of the Omicron outbreak (perhaps the outspoken singer’s grievances over government-imposed health measures explain why “Down to Joy” is not available to listen to on YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, Tidal, or anywhere outside of the first minutes of Branagh’s movie. Not only is Kenneth Branagh’s ode to his Troubled childhood in late ’60s Ireland bursting with Van Morrison classics like “Days Like This” and whatever the other ones are called, but the film also opens with a new song that sounds exactly like them. “Down to Joy” - Van Morrison (from “Belfast”) # Nominating her for yet another mall ballad with no chance of winning would be an exercise in cruelty - something the Academy can almost never resist. The 2021 variant was penned for the tone-deaf Glenn Close and Mila Kunis opioid drama “Four Good Days,” it’s called “Somehow You Do,” and while the lack of “standing” or “fighting” suggests Warren might be newly inspired, anyone well-versed in recent Oscar history knows better than to fall into that trap.Ī sleepy lite country ode to resilience performed by Reba McEntire (whose voice is as rich and soulful as ever), “Somehow You Do” is a flavorless strum-and-bass ditty full of bot-worthy lyrics like “You’ve been brought to your knees / But there’s better days ahead / You’ll be back on your feet again.” At this point, the perseverance shown in Warren’s forever quest for an Oscar is more visceral and convincing than anything in her songs. Sometimes it feels as if Warren’s annual contributions to the end credits of would-be awards bait are simply new strains of the same old song. Every year the legendary tunesmith submits another assembly-line fight song called “Stand Up for Something” or “I’ll Fight” or “Standing With You” or “Stand Up I’ll Fight Something With You,” only with different singers and a slightly different arrangement of verbs and pronouns. ![]() I’d hate to sound like a broken record when dismissing the latest Diane Warren song in contention for an Oscar (she’s been nominated 12 times, without a single win to show for even her worthiest efforts), but she certainly didn’t spare us that same courtesy while writing it. “Somehow You Do” - Diane Warren (from “Four Good Days”) # Related Oscars 2023: Best Original Song Predictions ‘Lift Me Up’ Rises to Frontrunner Status in Best Original Song Race Related The Best Film Sound of 2022 The 15 Best Vampire Movies Ever Made 15. Here are all 15 songs still eligible for Best Original Song at the Oscars next March, ranked from worst to best. Other big names didn’t fare quite as well - and this year’s joke song is barely worth a smirk - but any category that puts Sparks in the same conversation as Reba McEntire while still making room for the acoustic indie sweetness of “CODA” can’t be all bad.
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