Author Topic: Christian Movie Theme Song’s Oscar Nod Befuddles Hollywood Elite  (Read 744 times)

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Christian Movie Theme Song’s Oscar Nod Befuddles Hollywood Elite
Well-known Christian author, speaker, and quadriplegic Joni Eareckson-Tada performs the song, which combines the characteristics of an old spiritual and a modern hymn.
The Aquila Report
Written by Jeff Koch, WNS | Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Mainstream media outlets erupted in confusion and indignation Thursday over a surprise Oscar nomination for Best Song. “Alone Yet Not Alone,” the theme song for an independent Christian film of the same name, edged out a long list of songs by mainstream artists and will face off against the likes of U2 and Pharrell Williams, as well as the hit song from Disney’s Frozen. A sample of those who might consider themselves snubbed: Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, Ed Sheeran for his performance of “I See Fire” from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and many others.

The Huffington Post reported that while the Oscar announcement offered several surprises, including the lack of a nomination for Tom Hanks or Emma Thompson, it was this Best Song nomination that really had them “scratching their heads.”  Evidently the movie’s release didn’t “merit an entry at BoxOfficeMojo.com, which tracks movies’ ticket-sale revenues, or any reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.” A press release for the film specified that the movie had a limited seven-day run in September in a handful of cities, with a national roll-out scheduled for February. According to the release, the film is “based on a true story” set during the French and Indian War. Two young girls from a German immigrant family are “captured by the Delaware Indians” and have to maintain hope amidst separation from their family.

Other journalists are not just confused but crying foul. They imply the nomination was procured through influence rather than merit, pointing to the position of the film’s musicians: 10-time Emmy winner Bruce Broughton composed the music, and until 2012 served as a “governor” for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He also specifically headed up the academy’s music branch for several years. William Ross, who is the conductor for this year’s Academy Awards orchestra, composed the film’s overall score. (He also led the orchestra last year.)

Deadline Hollywood reports that Broughton engaged in regular and irregular campaigning for the song. At first he tried to get press attention through publicists. When that failed he “started making phone calls to colleagues urging them to consider the song.”

On the other hand, Hollywood Reporter acknowledged that “it is not uncommon for members of the academy’s board of governors to receive Oscar nominations,” and cited Kathryn Bigelow’s win for Zero Dark Thirty while serving as a governor. Also, Todd Martens in the Los Angeles Times admits that an argument for the song’s nomination could be made based on the fact that it’s a “recurring theme” in the film. Still, said Martens, “it’s hard to overlook such connections when the film virtually came out of nowhere to score an Oscar nomination.” According to Christianity Today, the film’s producer, Ken Wales, ascribed a completely different source for the Oscar nomination: “By the grace of God.”

Well-known Christian author, speaker, and quadriplegic Joni Eareckson-Tada performs the song (see video clip below), which combines the characteristics of an old spiritual and a modern hymn. In bright, surprisingly clear and beautiful tones, Eareckson-Tada sings about a struggle she probably knows well: “I will not be bent in fear / He is the refuge I know is near.”

In an email, Eareckson-Tada declined to comment on the controversy surrounding the song’s nomination, focusing instead on the providence of recording it in the first place: “A quadriplegic with limited lung capacity is the least likely candidate to record a song for a movie … but isn’t that just like God to display his glory through utter and complete weakness; for that I’m deeply grateful.”



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWVyVMbSzM4
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Online Lando Lincoln

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Re: Christian Movie Theme Song’s Oscar Nod Befuddles Hollywood Elite
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2014, 04:38:02 pm »
Beautiful.  Simply beautiful.

I can only imagine that those who are perturbed over the nomination of this song are okay with the big items of the day going invisible.  We are so upside down, it seems.
There are some among us who live in rooms of experience we can never enter.
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Re: Christian Movie Theme Song’s Oscar Nod Befuddles Hollywood Elite
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2014, 04:45:39 pm »
More about Joni, for any unfamiliar with her story.
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Re: Christian Movie Theme Song’s Oscar Nod Befuddles Hollywood Elite
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2014, 12:51:31 am »
'Alone Yet Not Alone': Eligibility of Oscar-Nominated Song Challenged by Snubbed Rival (Exclusive)
 12:54 PM PST 1/23/2014 by Scott Feinberg 
Hollywood Reporter



Despite a charge that "Alone" should be disqualified because the movie in which it appears was not advertised as the rules require, the Academy says it met the requirements and the song will remain in the race.

"Alone Yet Not Alone," the surprise Oscar nominee for best original song, is not eligible for Academy consideration, representatives of a rival song that was not nominated are contending. But the song's nomination will not be revoked and it will remain in the race, a spokesman for the Academy tells The Hollywood Reporter.

When Oscar nominations were announced Jan. 16, the inclusion of the song -- which features music by Bruce Broughton, a former member of the Academy’s board of governors who represented the music branch from 2003-2012, and lyrics by Dennis Spiegel -- raised eyebrows and even triggered outrage among some. It is featured in a film of the same name that received a very small release -- an independently produced faith-based feature about 18th century colonists struggling to survive in the Ohio Valley that generated very little attention -- and still beat out much-higher-profile competition. The song is performed in the film by Joni Eareckson Tada, a prominent, quadriplegic Evangelical minister.

In the latest development, a charge has been raised that the movie failed to meet the advertising requirements stated in the Academy’s rules for eligibility and that the Academy is not enforcing the strictest reading of those rules because of Broughton’s involvement with the song.

In the wake of the nominations, a public relations firm representing a song that wasn’t nominated hired a private investigator to look into the song’s eligibility. The firm, which offered details of its findings to THR, refuses to be named.

The investigator emailed the producers of Alone, presenting himself as a researcher doing a piece about the Oscar nominations, to ask if the movie was advertised in the print media during its Oscar-qualifying run.

Under the Academy's rule 2e, to be eligible for Oscar consideration a movie must be "advertised and exploited during its Los Angeles County qualifying run in print media." Alone’s Oscar-qualifying run took place at the Laemmle Town Center 5 in Encino, where it screened once daily at 9:55 p.m. from Nov. 15 through Nov. 22.

The Alone producers, in turn, forwarded the inquiry to their PR firm, Rogers & Cowan, which acknowledged that the producers "did not purchase any advertising for the one-week L.A. release" of the film.

In response to a query from THR abut the issue, Academy officials conducted an internal inquiry and found that while the producers themselves did not run ads for the film, the showtimes for the film's screenings were advertised by the Laemmle Town Center 5 theater. "A showtime listing meets our eligibility requirements," an Academy spokesperson said.
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Re: Christian Movie Theme Song’s Oscar Nod Befuddles Hollywood Elite
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2014, 12:54:17 am »
The movie sounds interesting. Wonder if it will make it to one of the movie channels.
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Re: Christian Movie Theme Song’s Oscar Nod Befuddles Hollywood Elite
« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2014, 07:09:49 pm »
Just saw this on Facebook:

By: Joni Eareckson Tada
 Jan. 30, 2014
 30 Comments
 Joni's Posts, In the Media

  During the last couple of weeks, I've had to occasionally pinch myself and wonder, "Is the song I recorded 'Alone Yet Not Alone' really up for an Oscar nomination?!" Well, it turns out that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences just rescinded its nomination. The board of governors felt that the songwriter (who was a former Academy governor) may have unduly influenced certain members. But amidst this wild roller coaster of a ride, "I will praise [the Lord] more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long" (Psalm 71:15).

 Aren't you glad some things don't change?! Like the higher plans of our wonderful, sovereign Lord . I am grateful that this media flurry has, no doubt, generated interest in the release of Alone yet Not Alone which will be out in theaters this June!
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