Oscar telecast to feature tribute to movie musicals of the last decade
But it's a missed opportunity to showcase the form's evolution
"Chicago"
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Academy Awards telecast producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have already announced plans, in the 50th year of James Bond, to offer 007 a tribute at this year's show. It dovetails nicely with the release of "Skyfall," and I imagine the two were giddy that Adele was nominated for her theme song. Indeed, they were quick to announce that she'll be on the show to perform the tune.
Today it's been announced that the Oscarcast will feature a tribute to three movie musicals of the last decade. That would be Broadway hits-turned Oscar nominees "Chicago," "Dreamgirls" and "Les Misérables." It's a shame they felt a need to limit it to a decade, though. Why not an expansion of considerations for the musical in the modern era? Then you could include films like "Moulin Rouge!," "Dancer in the Dark," "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," etc.
And why be so vanilla as to limit it to these three even within that span? The producers are quoted jointly in the press release as saying that "the musical as a motion picture genre has had a remarkable renaissance in the last decade," but that isn't limited to the big, glitzy films. And even if it were, the exclusion of "The Phantom of the Opera," "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" and "Nine" (each of them Oscar nominees) is a bit odd.
Again, it's just a bit limiting to be a celebration of a "renaissance" without touching on the evolution of the form itself. Something like "Pitch Perfect" deserves to be included in this, you know?
Anyway. I guess it was a nice thought.
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2012-2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Adapted Screenplay
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupHoustonRufus
January 25, 2013 at 3:43PM EST Reply to CommentOh jeez. I agree. There always seems to be at least one oscar tribute that seems random and ill-conceived. This doesn't really make sense to me. I'm not sure I get it. And Chicago won Best Picture. What more of a tribute does it need? Again, I don't get it.
gregel
January 25, 2013 at 4:10PM EST Reply to CommentHmmm, Chicago - a movie Zaden and Meron executive produced and always tried to take more credit on than they deserved. Dreamgirls - a movie they wanted to produce but didn't. Same old, same old with these two. Surprised there isn't a Hairspray moment in the show.
RichardZ
January 25, 2013 at 4:27PM EST Reply to CommentIt's to celebrate an ShureFire way to win a Supporting Actress Oscar. I'm having my fingers crossed for next year: The Women of Woody Allen. And yet another way to win a Supporting Actress Oscar.
/3rt
January 25, 2013 at 4:28PM EST Reply to CommentThis will just make the ceremony longer. Boo!
JLPatt No true Oscar fan would complain about a ceremony being too long.
January 25, 2013 at 7:02PM ESTKristopher Tapley ^^^ Bullshit.
January 25, 2013 at 10:01PM ESTDerek 8-Track So long as the content is good, I agree with jlpatt. The longer the better. Minus the part where I have to wake up at 6am the next day.
January 25, 2013 at 11:10PM ESTRichardZ
January 25, 2013 at 4:28PM EST Reply to CommentSome people liked Rent.
The Dude
January 25, 2013 at 5:09PM EST Reply to CommentChicago is a terrible film, it needs a tribute like I need a kick in the nuts.
Andrej
January 25, 2013 at 5:09PM EST Reply to CommentI would have loved to see Once thrown into that mix, to contrast the razzle dazzle and dance numbers from those three movies with its homely but heartfelt presentation.
It got adapted for Broadway anyway, so it wouldn't have been an impossible match-up. Oh well.
The Dude This was the EXACT same thing that popped into my head. Seems weird not to include it, especially since the darned thing won the Best Song Oscar...
January 25, 2013 at 5:37PM EST...While I see why they would want to do a tribute (the form is experiencing a bit of a Renaissance), only focusing on those 3 features just seems plain odd. I'd have at least included Once and Sweeney Todd (regardless of personal opinions on the film, it was one of the most critically acclaimed the year it came out and is considered by quite a few people as upper-tier Burton).
sosgemini Came here to so say this and to point out how awesome it would be to have Dancer In The Dark's "In The Musical" bookend tributes to the other films. Too bad this year's producers seem to be going for banal.
January 25, 2013 at 6:47PM ESTPatryk
January 25, 2013 at 5:17PM EST Reply to CommentThese three were actually hits. Do they need to be further honored by Oscar? I guess it could be worse. They could be shoving "Rent," or "Nine," at us to further illustrate how far the Hollywood musical has evolved over the last decade. Zzzzzzz.
daveylo
January 25, 2013 at 7:21PM EST Reply to CommentMaybe they will change this after thinking it over. I like the idea of saluting musicals but not just these 3.
daveylo Hairspray and Mamma Mia were hits. I agree Once would be fun.
January 25, 2013 at 7:24PM ESTHans
January 25, 2013 at 7:45PM EST Reply to CommentWill this be separate from the Les Mis cast performance that was reported earlier? And...didn't we already have a tribute to musicals the year Hugh Jackman hosted (and, really, not a bad one at that)? I'm still hoping we get performances from all the song nominees.
Danny
January 25, 2013 at 11:33PM EST Reply to CommentMaybe these three will be excerpted in a live performance, preceded by a clip reel showcasing some of the other musicals.
That may also be how "Suddenly" gets its live performance, while Adele singing "Skylight" concludes the Bond tribute. And voila, 3 of the 5 nominated songs have already been included in the evening's events. the other three get a medley slot of their own.
That's my guess as of now at least.
Danny I meant "2 of the 5 nominated songs..." obviously...
January 26, 2013 at 12:44AM ESTd2
January 26, 2013 at 2:37AM EST Reply to Comment3 words: Across the Universe. That is all.
GlennAU
January 26, 2013 at 3:12AM EST Reply to CommentCHICAGO isn't even from the last decade! It was a 2002 release meaning it's been 11 years. Right? 2002-2012 actually covers 11 years. Why not stretch it one year more and include MOULIN ROUGE! Grrr.
January 26, 2013 at 3:48AM ESTTJ Or a couple more and include South Park, probably the best musical of the last 20 years.
January 26, 2013 at 11:35AM ESTDefinitely the funniest, anyway.
jen
January 26, 2013 at 9:10AM EST Reply to CommentWhat about " Once " ? I will never forget how the two leads from " Once," blew away the Oscar audience with their stellar performance. Oh, and, I forgot about the cast from " Hustle & Flow ." That would be a great t.v. moment. Maybe the Oscar producers only listed some of the films that will be part of the musical tribute, because they have some surprise musical performances from other movies.