Oscar quiz

Big Magilla
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Re: Oscar quiz

Post by Big Magilla »

Thanks, Uri, but it was BJ who got the Sally Hawkins sing-along in The Shape of Water. My Renée Fleming reference was apparently beside the point. 8)
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Re: Oscar quiz

Post by Uri »

As you stated, Magilla, you're all nocturnal creatures, as far as I'm concerned.

I was having a good night sleep and then had to tend to my father, whose carer has a day off today. Having a walk, him with his walker and I with wy cane (more for the show then anything - I'm doing fine) was rather amusing. But now I'm all yours.

You cracked my riddle - and then some. Yes, my intention was naming films in which Oscar winning song were sang onscreen by one or more of the characters. Sally Hawking sings/whispers You'll Never Know in TSoW, Imelda Staunton (beautifully) leading most of the cast of Peter's Friends in singing The Way You look Tonight, Stewart rendering Over the Rainbow, Martin singing Tree Coins in that transportation film, Swinging on a Star being sang by Willis and Aialo and used as key element in the plot of Hudson Hawk, and alas, Nia Vardalos, in a lame comedy about American tourists in Greece, singing - what else - Never on Sunday.

I avoided more obvious titles - Lullaby of Broadway (the Doris Day film), White Christmas, and initially, the live remake of Beauty and the Beast.

And as I assumed, there are quite a few more examples out there.
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Re: Oscar quiz

Post by Big Magilla »

Now that you mention it, I do recall the moment in which Ewan McGregor sung it in the film.

I had checked out the IMDb. soundtrack listing where it is listed as part of a sequence without crediting the singer.
The Original BJ
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Re: Oscar quiz

Post by The Original BJ »

Big Magilla wrote:I also missed "Up Where We Belong" in Moulin Rouge!
What likely obscured this for you and Mister Tee if you Googled it is the fact that it's part of the "Elephant Love Medley," which is how it's listed on the soundtrack. But I've seen the movie enough times to have thought of it instantly without looking.
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Re: Oscar quiz

Post by Big Magilla »

Here's a "tear your hair out" comment from an Amazon.com review of The Shape of Water soundtrack:

"There is a singer named Renee Fleming featured here. She lends her talents with a song entitled "You'll Never Know". This song really touches my heart."

The next reviewer had to explain that the song is also heard in the film from its source, Hello, Frisco, Hello, and that it won the 1943 Oscar for Best Song. No attempt was made to explain who Renée Fleming is.
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Re: Oscar quiz

Post by Big Magilla »

I also missed "Up Where We Belong" in Moulin Rouge!
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Re: Oscar quiz

Post by Mister Tee »

The Original BJ wrote:My initial thought (after Tee listed those other movies that qualified), was a movie featuring a previous Oscar-winning song that was actually SUNG by someone who appears in the movie (not just on the soundtrack). So my thoughts all qualified there -- Moulin Rouge ("Up Where We Belong" sung by MacGregor/Kidman), My Best Friend's Wedding ("The Way You Look Tonight" sung by a pair of singers at the reception), Amy (Winehouse singing "Moon River"), White Christmas (a whole gang singing "White Christmas"), and Distant Voices, Still Lives (the pub performance of "Buttons and Bows").
This is disillusioning to me, but Google apparently has its limits. I Googled "Songs sung in..." for most of those films, found extensive lists at the links, yet none of the songs you note turned up. Moulin Rouge had about 30 songs listed, "Up Where We Belong" not among them. My Best Friend's Wedding has "I Say A Little Prayer" and others, but not "The Way You Look Tonight". And the only non-Winehouse-written song listed as part of the Amy soundtrack was "Body and Soul" (her duet with Tony Bennett). That's why I said I didn't see how your picks fit; I was working on faulty information (and no memory). Apologies.
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Re: Oscar quiz

Post by OscarGuy »

I now understand where I come into this. I had asked Magilla if he could remember "You'll Never Know" being re-recorded for Shape of Water because someone had submitted it as a nominee for the OFTA award (several someones as a matter of fact). I didn't recall Hawkins singing it in the fantasy sequence, but it was re-recorded over the closing credits, sung by Renee Fleming, so it was technically eligible.
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The Original BJ
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Re: Oscar quiz

Post by The Original BJ »

My initial thought (after Tee listed those other movies that qualified), was a movie featuring a previous Oscar-winning song that was actually SUNG by someone who appears in the movie (not just on the soundtrack). So my thoughts all qualified there -- Moulin Rouge ("Up Where We Belong" sung by MacGregor/Kidman), My Best Friend's Wedding ("The Way You Look Tonight" sung by a pair of singers at the reception), Amy (Winehouse singing "Moon River"), White Christmas (a whole gang singing "White Christmas"), and Distant Voices, Still Lives (the pub performance of "Buttons and Bows").

But then I wondered if the further qualification was that it had to be sung by an Oscar-recognized actor. (I guess "recognized" would be a way to include both nominees/winners and Steve Martin's honorary prize). I think that fits all of the films Uri originally mentioned (though I have never seen My Life in Ruins and can't find anything online to show how it qualifies, I assume Dreyfuss or Vardalos must sing something). (I sort of assumed that Elisa singing "You'll Never Know" in the fantasy qualified as sung by Hawkins in The Shape of Water.)

So if THAT'S the case, then White Christmas would still qualify (Bing Crosby singing), and Moulin Rouge would too (though that could be debated, because Nicole Kidman isn't actually singing any of the "Up Where We Belong" lyrics, but new lyrics to that music).

That's what I got.
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Re: Oscar quiz

Post by Big Magilla »

My interpretation is that the Oscar winning song has to be newly sung in the newer film. It doesn't have to be sung by an Oscar winner.

I somehow forgot about "Baby, It's Cold Outside" being sung by the cast in Elf which would indeed make it part of the select group. I thought you guys were referring to Louis Prima's recording of "Pennies from Heaven" which was an Oscar nominee, but not a winner. My apologies.

Even though Renée Fleming doesn't appear in The Shape of Water, her recording of "You'll Never Know" was done for the film and is, in fact, an OFTA nominee for Best Adapted Song.
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Re: Oscar quiz

Post by Mister Tee »

All right: I'll lead off, since I was first to take a stab.

Uri said "one of you did mention the fact that makes TSoW part of this list of films" in reviewing Shape of Water. I went back and looked the thread over, and the only thing that jumped out was something I'd noted: that "You'll Never Know" had appeared in another Oscar-winning movie (the answer there was Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore). "You'll Never Know" was of course an Oscar-winning song. I quickly remembered the rendition of "The Way You Look Tonight" in Peter's Friends (my main memory was Staunton, but it was a group effort), and then flashed on Steve Martin embarrassing himself by singing "Three Coins in a Fountain" on the bus. So, I figured I had my answer (Uri later throwing in 2017's Beauty and the Beast made it seem obvious): Oscar-winning songs used in later movies.

(As noted, I hadn't seen Hudson Hawk or My Life in Ruins. And Uri had to give me a link to show me that Jimmy Stewart sang a bit of "Over the Rainbow" in The Philadelphia Story.)

My "these, too" list were other movies that featured previously-Oscar-winning songs:

Zoe Deschanel sang "Baby, It's Cold Outside" in Elf. (And, parenthetically, seems to have single-handedly put the song on the Christmas perennial list. I'd never thought of the song as a holiday favorite, but this past season I heard it played among carols on three separate occasions.)

"Moon River" played while Cruise and Kyra Sedgwick danced at the prom in Born on the Fourth of July.

"Never on Sunday" was played in a scene in Greece in Munich.

Keaton/Finney's daughters sang "Fame" while riding in the car in Shoot the Moon. (This was, of course, self-referential, as Fame and Shoot the Moon were both Alan Parker films.)

Uri said he understood why I had Munich there, but it didn't fit his criteria. I took this to mean the song had to be sung, not merely heard instrumentally, which is why I eliminated Munich and Born on the Fourth of July.

What I was gleaning from the Magilla/FilmFan colloquium was a suggestion the song had to be sung by an actor nominated for an Oscar -- certainly Imelda Staunton (or Thompson/Branagh) fit that criteria, as does Jimmy Stewart. But Steve Martin doesn't. If you change that to "won an Oscar", Martin can be included, uneasily, thanks to his Honorary award, but then Sally Hawkins can't -- nor can Danny Aiello, who, I find strictly through Googling, dueted with Bruce Willis on "Swingin' on a Star" in Hudson Hawk. (I'm assuming William Holden was part of the group-sing of "Buttons and Bows" in Sunset Boulevard -- something I'm astounded FilmFan remembered, but which checks out. As for My Life in Ruins, it's got an Oscar-winning actor -- Richard Dreyfuss -- but the only familiar music listed as part of the soundtrack is the Zorba theme, so Uri's going to have to explain that one.)

And what any of this has to do with Renee Fleming remains a complete mystery to me.
Last edited by Mister Tee on Fri Feb 09, 2018 9:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Big Magilla
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Re: Oscar quiz

Post by Big Magilla »

I think Uri would be delighted to see our reasoning, but I don't want to go first.
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Re: Oscar quiz

Post by The Original BJ »

Do we think Uri would be upset if we just started to explain away some of our reasoning?
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Re: Oscar quiz

Post by Big Magilla »

The Original BJ wrote:I can't follow the Renee Fleming line of reasoning either.

It's specific to the film.
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Re: Oscar quiz

Post by The Original BJ »

Big Magilla wrote:
Mister Tee wrote:
If Renee Fleming is the answer, I have no idea what the question is.

Which is to say, the working theory I'd developed for why you and FilmFan think Elf doesn't qualify would not fit with Renee Fleming.
You've almost got it. There is a difference between Fleming and her counterpart in Elf that shouldn't be too difficult to figure out.
I can't follow the Renee Fleming line of reasoning either.
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