Diane Warren: Relentless is playing the festival circuit chronicling the prolific songwriter’s life. Directed by Bess Kargman, the documentary’s subject is no stranger to Oscar attention.
In 1987, Warren received her first Academy nod for Original Song with “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” from Mannequin (performed by Starship). Yesterday she nabbed her 16th (!) nomination with “The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight (performed by H.E.R.). In between there’s been well-known tunes like Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me” from Up Close & Personal and Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” from Armageddon. In recent years, her tracks were nominated from pictures in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. What do they all have in common? None of them took home the gold. The Academy did give Warren an honorary Oscar in 2022.
It would be quite a story if a doc about her life ended up earning Oscar glory. Apparently her well-known status as an Academy loser is covered. Don’t count on it happening. At 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, reviews are fine but not strong enough to be a contender. Yet there’s a caveat. “Dear Me” (sung by Kesha) is the main song in the pic and the full version was released today. You can hear snippets in the trailer. I wouldn’t be surprised based on history if it makes the cut in Original Song marking Warren’s 17th try. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…
Disney’s streaming service combines humans and familiar faces voicing creatures this weekend with the release of The One and Only Ivan, based on the 2012 children’s book by K.A. Applegate. Directed by Thea Sharrock, the family friendly fantasy features Bryan Cranston, Ramon Rodriguez, and Ariana Greenblatt in front of the camera. Stars including Sam Rockwell, Angelina Jolie, Danny DeVito, Helen Mirren, Brooklyn Prince, and Chaka Khan (!) lend their voices as gorillas, elephants, and dogs.
In what is now a familiar story on this blog, Ivan was intended for theatrical release last Friday before the COVID-19 pandemic altered the plans. It is now hitting the Disney+ service this weekend. Why an Oscar Watch post for this unlikely contender? Fair question as even a Visual Effects nod is probably a long shot. Reviews out today are decent, but not overwhelmingly positive with a current 64% Rotten Tomatoes score.
There is, however, a solid shot for Ivan to come under Academy consideration and that’s with Original Song. It was announced this week that Diane Warren has written the track “Free” that will play over the end credits. Performed by Charlie Puth, the song is another possibility in a lengthy list of Warren’s works that could vie for a nomination.
Diane Warren has been nominated in the Original Song race 11 times over four decades. This began with “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” from 1987’s Mannequin and runs through last year with “I’m Standing with You” from Breakthrough. In between, we have massive hits like Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me” from Up Close and Personal and the Aerosmith ballad “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” from Armageddon in the 90s. Despite the multitude of nods, Warren has never made the trip to the podium.
I doubt that “Free” would earn her the win, but a 12th nomination is certainly feasible. It remains to be seen how this particular category will play out in the coming months. Billie Eilish’s title track for the upcoming 007 adventure No Time to Die will likely make it in the final five.
Bottom line: Original Song could mark the one and only nod for Ivan next year. My Oscar Watch posts will continue…
Continuing with my recaps of the movie summers from 30, 20, and 10 years ago – we arrive at 1998. If you missed my post recounting the 1988 season, you can find it right here:
1998 was a rather astonishingly sequel lite summer with only one making up the top ten moneymakers. And while 2018 will be known for its Avengers phenomenon, it was a much different story with Avengers two decades ago.
Behold my synopsis of the top 10 hits, along with other notables and flops:
10. The Mask of Zorro
Domestic Gross: $94 million
He may be playing Pablo Picasso on TV now, but Antonio Banderas had a significant hit (alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins) in this tale of the famed swashbuckler. A less successful sequel would follow in 2005.
9. Mulan
Domestic Gross: $120 million
Disney’s 36th animated feature (with a voice assist from Eddie Murphy) didn’t reach the heights of titles like Aladdin or The Lion King, but the Mouse Factory has already commissioned a live-action version slated for 2020.
8. The Truman Show
Domestic Gross: $125 million
Jim Carrey’s first major big screen foray outside of zany comedy, Peter Weir’s reality show pic garnered critical acclaim for the film itself and the star’s performance.
7. Lethal Weapon 4
Domestic Gross: $130 million
The final teaming of Mel Gibson and Danny Glover (with Chris Rock and Jet Li joining the mix) made slightly less than part 3 and was generally considered rather mediocre, especially considering the heights that the franchise started from.
6. Godzilla
Domestic Gross: $136 million
Coming off the massive success of Independence Day, Roland Emmerich’s tale of the giant green monster was expected to possibly be summer’s biggest hit. It came in well below expectations with critics and audiences. A better regarded version arrived in 2014.
5. Deep Impact
Domestic Gross: $140 million
Our first asteroid disaster flick on the list came from Mimi Leder with a cast including Tea Leoni, Elijah Wood, and Robert Duvall. Moviegoers loved their asteroids 20 years ago.
4. Dr. Dolittle
Domestic Gross: $144 million
Eddie Murphy was still in popular family guy mode with this remake of the Rex Harrison animal tale. A sequel would follow in 2001.
3. There’s Something About Mary
Domestic Gross: $176 million
The Farrelly Brothers had the comedic smash of the summer in this effort that made Ben Stiller a huge star and had a showcase role for Cameron Diaz’s talents.
2. Armageddon
Domestic Gross: $201 million
Our second asteroid pic (this one from Michael Bay) comes with Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, and Liv Tyler… and an Aerosmith ballad that played all season long.
1. Saving Private Ryan
Domestic Gross: $216 million
Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed World War II drama with Tom Hanks has one of the most intense first scenes in cinematic history. It was considered the Oscar front-runner until it lost in an upset to Shakespeare in Love.
And now for some other notable films:
The X-Files
Domestic Gross: $83 million
Bringing David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson’s alien themed FOX TV show to the big screen turned out to be a profitable venture. An ignored sequel would follow 10 years later.
Blade
Domestic Gross: $70 million
The vampire-centric Wesley Snipes flick spawned two sequels and major cult status.
Out of Sight
Domestic Gross: $37 million
Its box office performance was middling, but Steven Soderbergh’s romantic crime pic showed George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez at their best. Critics dug it.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Domestic Gross: $10 million
Not a success at the time, but Terry Gilliam’s wild ride featuring Johnny Depp as Hunter S. Thompson created a serious following in subsequent years.
And now for some flops:
Six Days, Seven Nights
Domestic Gross: $74 million
Harrison Ford was flying high off the success of Air Force One one summer earlier, but audiences and reviewers weren’t as kind to this action comedy with Anne Heche.
Snake Eyes
Domestic Gross: $55 million
Likewise, Nicolas Cage experienced a trilogy of mega hits during the two previous summers with The Rock, Con Air, and Face/Off. This one from Brian De Palma didn’t impress nearly as much.
The Avengers
Domestic Gross: $23 million
Not THOSE Avengers, ladies and gents. This big screen adaptation of the 1960s TV series with Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, and Sean Connery landed with a thud in August. No sequels here.
54
Domestic Gross: $16 million
Mike Myers was coming off a little something called Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery when this pic about the famed NYC nightclub opened. Critics weren’t kind and crowds didn’t turn up.
BASEketball
Domestic Gross: $7 million
Trey Parker and Matt Stone rarely create something that isn’t massively successful – like “South Park” and The Book of Mormon. This sports comedy is the rare exception, though it has developed a following since.
And there you have it – the summer of 1998! Look for 2008 shortly…
A growing trend in movies for the past few years (and a bit beyond) is the musical biopic that incorporates one of the band or artist’s songs into the title. The latest example will come out this fall with BohemianRhapsody, the behind the scenes story of Queen.
2019 will bring us Rocketman with Taron Egerton as the legendary Elton John.
We’ve seen this trend in years past. For instance, the 1980s saw LaBamba about Richie Valens.
The 1990s gave us Angela Bassett in her Oscar nominated role playing Tina Turner in What’sLoveGottoDoWithIt?
In 2005, we had WalktheLine with Joaquin Phoenix in his Academy nominated turn as Johnny Cash and Reese Witherspoon winning as June.
More recent ones have been in the hip hop world with StraightOuttaCompton (N.W.A.) and AllEyezonMe (Tupac Shakur). There’s also GetOnUp with Chadwick Boseman as the Godfather of Soul, James Brown.
So this got me thinking. What would be some other movie/song titles if certain iconic musicians got their biopic? For this blog post’s purposes, I tried to focus on artists where I feel a big screen treatment on them is at least feasible. In other words, while RicoSuave might be a spectacular title, I don’t envision two hours on Gerardo coming anytime soon.
There is already a Madonna flick reportedly in the works and it takes its name not from a tune, but from one of her tours – BlondAmbition. I suppose MaterialGirl or LikeaPrayer could have worked, but BlondAmbition is just about perfect.
Some choices seem obvious. You gotta call the Bon Jovi story LivinonaPrayer, after all. And MyWay seems like the natural fit for Frank Sinatra. And BorntoRun for Bruce Springsteen. And there’s PianoMan for Billy Joel.
It doesn’t end there. Respect (Aretha Franklin) and FireandRain (James Taylor).
When it comes to some recently dearly departed legends, Prince presents a challenge because you can’t call it PurpleRain. And a number of his other massive hits don’t fit. WhenDovesCry is probably the name the studio would go for considering it’s his biggest hit. Personally, I rather like the thought of MyNameisPrince, taken from his Love Symbol album of 1992.
With Michael Jackson, Thriller would work but it’s hard to imagine ManintheMirror not being the choice.
For David Bowie, Starman seems like the winner, but that’s also the name of a fairly well-known 1980s science fiction effort starring Jeff Bridges. That may not matter, but if so, SpaceOddity or simply calling it ZiggyStardust might fit.
Tom Petty? How about FreeFallin or RunninDownaDream. George Michael? Faith or Freedom. Whitney Houston? Tough one. Perhaps a studio would want IWillAlwaysLoveYou. Maybe SoEmotional works as well.
Some bands have more than one title that seem appropriate. Aerosmith has three great ones: DreamOn, SweetEmotion, or WalkThisWay. With AC/DC – BackinBlack or Thunderstruck.
Guns n Roses is an interesting one. WelcometotheJungle is fantastic, but it was just the subtitle for the blockbuster Jumanji reboot. In this matter, you might have to go with their album name AppetiteforDestruction, which is ideal.
Metallica could have ForWhomtheBellTolls or EnterSandman. Nirvana might have SmellsLikeTeenSpirit as the studio choice, but I’m a little partial to ComeAsYouAre.
I like RunninwiththeDevil for Van Halen and I suppose StairwaytoHeaven would be the choice for Led Zeppelin.
Let’s move off rock. How about Britney Spears? That may depend on what direction the studio goes. It could be Toxic or Stronger. Maybe BabyOneMoreTime instead.
Stevie Wonder? Superstition or SirDuke are possibilities, but I like HigherGround.
With Bob Marley, maybe GetUp, StandUp or OneLove.
Circling back to hip hop, FightthePower is the clear pick for Public Enemy and the same may hold true for MamaSaidKnockYouOut with LL Cool J.
And then there’s my favorite… the Rick James biopic SuperFreak. Why hasn’t this been made already?
I could go on, but you get the idea. Let’s see if any of these suggested titles end up playing out in the future. Maybe there will be surprises… BarbieGirl: TheAquaStory, anyone?
Today on the blog, I continue on with my listing of the Top Ten Summer Hits from years past. I’ve already gone over both 1987 and 1997. If you missed those entries, you can find them here:
On this Throwback Thursday, we travel back a decade to 2007 to find what was burning up the charts in a summer where comedies like Knocked Up and Superbad were making us laugh, the Transformers franchise was just beginning, and Spider-Man 3 was overwhelming us with too many villains and Tobey Maguire dancing.
As I have with these posts before, I’ll rank them on my own (not exactly refined) musical scale of 1 (summer bummer) to 10 (summer fire) and let you know whether or not said song resides on my Apple Music playlist.
Let’s get to it!
10. “Make Me Better” – Fabolous feat. Ne-Yo
Brooklyn MC Fabolous starting making hits in 2001 and this Timbaland produced and string heavy track featuring Ne-Yo is one of his biggest. Timbaland always delivers good beats. It’s decent, though nothing too memorable.
My Rating: 6 and a half
Is It On My Apple Music?: No
9. “Bartender” – T-Pain feat. Akon
Like many of Mr. Pain’s tracks, this is made for careless nights at the club and in that sense, it’s perfect acceptable. Like some of those nights, however, you may have forgotten it by morning.
My Rating: 6
Is It On My Apple Music?: No
8. “Makes Me Wonder” by Maroon 5
The first single from Maroon 5’s long-awaited second album, this was actually their first #1 hit (a bit surprising considering the smashes from their debut release). It’s a catchy as heck pop concoction with Adam Levine’s fine vocals.
My Rating: 8 and a half
Is It On My Apple Music?: Yes
7. “Beautiful Girls” by Sean Kingston
Jamaican artist Kingston scored a huge one hit wonder here with this reggae tinged ode to a girl he loves. The lyrics are really quite disturbing if you think about them at all, but summer songs are all about enjoying them with the top down and this pretty much delivers.
My Rating: 6 and a half
Is It On My Apple Music?: No
6. “The Way I Are” by Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson
Grammatical issues aside, the second single from mega-producer Timbaland’s Shock Value album is a synth heavy standout jam. My goodness – this man was on fire in the mid 2000s.
My Rating: 8 and a half
Is It On My Apple Music?: Yes
5. “Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin’)” – T-Pain feat. Yung Joc
And now for the lead single from Mr. Pain’s second smash album. It’s another club anthem meant for quick consumption on a night out and it’s a notch above #9 “Bartender”.
My Rating: 6 and a half
Is It On My Apple Music?: No
4. “Hey There Delilah” by Plain White T’s
The signature tune from these Illinois rockers, this track was inescapable a decade ago. The ballad’s rating here perhaps suffers from its overexposure, but it does get in your head.
My Rating: 7
Is It On My Apple Music?: No
3. “Party Like a Rockstar” by Shop Boyz
The first and only hit from these Atlanta rappers, “Rockstar” merged the sounds of hip hop and rock that first gained exposure two decades earlier with Aerosmith and Run DMC. It’s the most downloaded ringtone of 2007. It’s not “Walk This Way”, but it’s fun.
My Rating: 6 and a half
Is It On My Apple Music?: No
2. “Big Girls Don’t Cry” by Fergie
The fourth single off her debut album and the third #1 from it, Black Eyed Peas songstress Fergie slowed it down here with this ditty. Truthfully, it was never among my favorite tracks that were singles but maybe I just gravitated toward other hits like “London Bridge”, “Glamorous”, and “Clumsy”. Still it’s solid. By the way, if that guy Fergie is romancing in the video looks familiar – that would Milo Ventimiglia or Jack from TV’s “This Is Us”.
My Rating: 7 and a half
Is It On My Apple Music?: No
1. “Umbrella” by Rihanna feat. Jay-Z
Now we’re talking! One of Rihanna’s best cuts, this was actually rejected by Britney Spears. Oops. With a fine assist from Mr. Shawn Carter (who co-wrote), “Umbrella” features a towering beat and is one of the endlessly played tracks that somehow doesn’t get old. It deserves its accolades.
My Rating: 10
Is It On My Apple Music?: Yes
Well, that does it folks! The last ten, twenty, and thirty years of summertime hits. Next summer – get ready for 1988, 1998, and 2008. And hitting the blog within days will be reviewing the movie summers of 1987, 1997, and 2007. Stay tuned!
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