![]() Just take a look at the slate of best picture nominees. Whatever the reason, this year's Oscar contenders capture many ways in which music infuses everyday life, reflecting and even shaping its turning points. And probably, music's central presence on screens via TikTok to YouTube is pushing the paradigm too. The influence of streaming television is definitely part of the reason - that more genre-fluid realm offers many examples of how songs and images can meld to tell stories. Maybe, as my colleague Sheldon Pearce once said to me, it's because many great music writers are now working as music supervisors. ![]() Maybe it's because today's most interesting filmmakers are mostly Xers and millennials who grew up with music videos showing them how songs could work in a visual medium. This isn't wholly new, but its dominance among this year's most notable films heralds a watershed moment. What's happening is a shift, I think, from the use of songs as mostly background (or as the diversions known as "plot-stoppers") to their integration into cinematic language itself. These peak musical moments deserve to be recognized. Filmmakers in 2023 are truly realizing the narrative power of songs. But today songs in movies go even further in uncovering how listening feels and what experiencing music with others can do. Current examples abound, reflecting auteur filmmaking from the 1960s to the present day. (Sorry, Diane, Gaga and Rihanna, I still think you're all awesome but this is sleepy stuff.) I'm referring to filmmakers using songs to get at the heart of moviemaking, and of the human experience, in scenes that let the music take over, almost like a character, certainly as a catalyst. Here's why: 2022 was a truly great year for songs in the movies, and I'm not talking about power ballads running over end credits. But beyond that, when songs come up I'll be throwing microwave popcorn at my TV screen. I know I'll cheering if (when!) India's massive film industry gets its first big nod from Hollywood since Slumdog Millionaire's "Jai Ho" won 15 years ago. Oscar-nominated songs that are actual hits or otherwise catch fire have taken the little golden man time and time again, while their competitors fade into oblivion. Stephen's rankings show that it's a typical lineup, with one song - this year it's RRR's instant Tollywood classic "Naatu Naatu" - that resonates both within and beyond its cinematic frame likely to win against four that barely anyone noticed. And our pal Stephen Thompson shed some light on what is decent about the best songs bunch. The best score grouping is in great shape, as All Songs jedi Robin Hilton has recently shown readers. ![]() I'm here to argue the obvious: The Academy is getting its best song category all wrong. ![]() But just in case you're only feeling partially exercised at the evening's pending legit controversies and fashion disasters, let me give you one more reason to sharpen your hashtags. Īre you ready to hate-watch the Academy Awards? In our time of memeable, marketable outrage, dunking on Hollywood's Biggest Night is as predictable a pastime as questioning Leo di Caprio's dating choices. This essay was originally published in the NPR Music newsletter subscribe here. A still from Aftersun, one of this year's Oscar nominees that truly realizes the narrative power of songs. ![]()
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