'Wish We Had Written That' - A Best Original Song Game

Today we turn the blog over to Tom Mizer, one half of the songwriting team Mizer & Moore...

Curtis Moore & Tom Mizer photographed by Xanthe Elbrick

by Tom Mizer

The Contestants: Tom and Curtis have been songwriting partners since meeting at Northwestern University. This may or may not have been before computers were required at college. 

The Oscar Winning Song Game: Without looking in advance, the contestants will receive a range of Oscar Winning Best Songs. They will each have 30 seconds to peruse the list. When time is up, they will text the other the song “they wish they had written.” After years of working together, will their choices match? If not, they will have a short period to discuss and convince the other of the wisdom of their selection, hopefully arriving at an agreement. This may end their partnership.

Ladies and gentlemen, the transcript begins:

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10 years, 10 unforgettable Oscar moments

by Cláudio Alves

We may quibble and despair over the Oscars but we still tune in every year and love them despite it all. If we didn't, why would we obsess over predictions, rejoice at worthy victors or grimace when injustices occur? Looking back at the last decade of the awards, there are many indelible moments that energized us and made us applaud, that had us at the edge of our seats, crying through a heady mix of surprise and mirth.

Honorable mentions and a top ten list after the jump...

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We Like the Suits, Mr. Bond

by Murtada Elfadl

My favorite thing about Daniel Craig’s reign as James Bond that started with Casino Royale (2006) are his tight tight suits. They are just tight enough to allow movement yet showcase his trim buff body as the slinky spy from the British Isles. Behold

And let’s see him in action...

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Showbiz History: Mahalia Jackson, The Terminator, Cary Elwes and More...

5 random things that happened on this day (October 26th) in film history...

1881 The Gunfight at the OK Corral lasted just 30 seconds on this day but it's been immortal since via the movies and television where it's been depicted dozens of times, most famously in Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957) and Tombstone (1993).

1911 Mahalia Jackson, one of the all time greatest singers, born in New Orleans. You know what is weird in this day and age when you can find so many film clips on the internet. There is still no decent clip of her singing "Trouble of the World" from the Douglas Sirk masterpiece Imitation of Life (1959) online. Just multiple blurry filmed off the TV renditions...

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Beauty vs Beast: Take My Spouse, Please

Jason from MNPP here with this week's edition of Beauty vs Beast, pitting cinema's good guys and bad guys against each other in a polling orgasm of gorgeous vicious oneupmanship! And you'll forgive me for getting a wee bit over-passioned there with my adjectives since this week I'm surrounding us with two of the most gorgeous creatures to ever grace the big screen, much less the marital bed -- this Friday the cinematic supernovas Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt are reuniting on-screen in Jolie's most recent directorial effort, the swooning-in-sunglasses drama By the Sea. (You can read what Nathaniel had to say about the film here.) It's been ten full years since the last time the stars combined their movie star wattage onto one fortunate screen, and that's where we look for this week's contest...

PREVIOUSLY Last week we bonded with James & Co. (bonded, get it, ha ha, sigh) in honor of the latest 007 flick (Did you see it this weekend? Thoughts?) -- looking back at Skyfall it was Daniel Craig himself who left us shaken and stirred over Bardem's baddie, taking about 63% of your vote. Said tom:

"In this case, I vote for Bond. the first half of the movie was just building up the character of Silva and when we finally meet him, disappointment. That isn't completely Bardem's fault, but no vote from me."