Karen O, U2, Will Butler, Owen Pallett, Pharrell Nominated For Oscars
The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences just announced this year’s Oscar nominations, and amidst the big categories and the surprises (Philomena for Best Picture?), Chris Hemsworth read the nominations for Best Original Song. One of those nominees was Yeah Yeah Yeahs leader Karen O, whose solo track “The Moon Song” was one of the emotional centerpieces of Spike Jonze’s movie Her. Karen wrote the music, and she and Jonze wrote the lyric, so they’re both nominated for the song. (Jonze, a music video legend long before he started making movies, is a triple-nominee this year. He’s also up for Best Original Screenplay, and Her was a surprise nominee for Best Picture, so he’s up for that one, as well, in a producer’s role.) Meanwhile, Arcade Fire recorded the score for Her, and Owen Pallett and Arcade Fire’s Will Butler are up for the Best Original Score nomination. (There aren’t any big iconic scores in that category this year, so they stand a decent chance of winning and getting Arcade Fire halfway to an EGOT.) In the Best Original Song category, “The Moon Song” is up against “No Ordinary Love,” U2’s Golden Globe-winning song from Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, as well as the Frozen anthem “Let It Go” (already my daughter’s favorite song ever), Pharrell’s Despicable Me 2 song “Happy,” and the title song from the movie Alone Yet Not Alone. The full list of nominees is here, and the award ceremony will be broadcast 3/2 on ABC.