Hello, everybody! Yesterday we've listened to the second favorite to win the Best Song Oscar, Mystery Of Love, from the movie Call Me by Your Name. Today we'll get to hear the #1 favorite.
Coco, the new animated hit from Pixar, is also the favorite for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. The song, Remember Me, performed by Miguel and featuring Natalia Lafourcade, is the Best Song frontrunner. It is, indeed, a catchy and pleasant tune:
Speaking of animation, there are two eligible songs from Cars 3. Both could make the top 5, even though they probably won't. The first one is Ride, performed by ZZ Ward and featuring Gary Clark Jr.:
The second one is Run That Race, performed by Dan Auerbach:
Let's leave the cartoons for now and visit another kind of film that often features noteworthy songs, the documentary feature. Chasing Coral is the follow-up to Chasing Ice, which managed to get its theme song nominated. Will lightning strike twice? It's unlikely but not impossible. The song is Tell Me How Long, performed by Kristen Bell:
Another documentary that impressed viewers this year is City of Ghosts, about the Syrian tragedy, the situation in Raqqa in particular. I've seen it and it's great. Jackson Greenberg & H. Scott Salinas wrote the film's effective music, while the song in question, Broken Wings, features the voice of Wasfi Massarani. Listen to it here: Broken Wings
The documentary song most likely to be nominated, however, comes from another Syrian-themed documentary, Cries from Syria. Prayers For This World features the fabulous Cher, as well as The West Los Angeles Children's Choir. It is written by Oscar multi-nominee Diane Warren:
Pharrell Williams is no stranger to the Oscars - he was nominated for his multi-million-selling hit, Happy, from Despicable Me 2. The time came for Despicable Me 3 - and Pharrell once again has an eligible song, which is called There’s Something Special. Will it make the top 5? It's not that easy, but it could...
One of my favorite eligible songs this year comes from Kathryn Bigelow's Detroit, a tense fact-based drama set during the 1967 Detroit riots. The song is It Ain’t Fair and is performed by The Roots & Bilal. It would be nice if it were to be nominated:
The new Alexander Payne film, Downsizing, wasn't as well received as his previous ones, but it still may make a play for the Oscars (a Best Supporting Actress nomination is a possibility). The eligible song, A Little Change In The Weather, performed by The Swingles, probably won't, but then again...
Drawing Home is a Canadian movie. Its theme song, Stars In My Eyes, is sung by the amazing Judy Collins, accompanied by Aled Jones. It probably won't make it to the final five. The youtube video is geo-blocked for me, but perhaps you can listen to it:
... Otherwise, you can catch it on Deezer.
Father Figures is a badly-reviewed comedy, but it features a sympathetic song by Jason Mraz, Can’t Hold Out On Love:
Another pop heavyweight, Nick Jonas, performs the song Home, from yet another animated movie, Ferdinand:
Finally for today, a song from The Glass Castle, a movie with good actors (Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts) that didn't quite come through. Its featured song, however, Summer Storm, performed by Joel P. West, is eligible, although not really a contender:
Before I leave you, I want to do something that I should have already done. Since I've started writing for this blog, almost two years ago, I didn't really know what I was doing; I used to write short pop culture stories in the comments' section of TheBackLot, in Snicks' unforgettable daily column. Then TheBackLot was sold to click-merchants and dismantled - and I thought, that would be that. Then an Internet friend whom I never met, but both love and trust, Georgios P, suggested that I start my own blog. He explained how I should go about it because I was clueless. The people that enjoyed what I was writing in TheBackLot became the first readers of my blog, then came my Facebook friends. Then Georgios P (again) introduced me to a Facebook group through which I became acquainted with new and interesting people - who in turn began reading GayCultureLand, then introduced me to new people and new groups and we eventually arrived to today, with almost ten times as many readers as when all this began. (Still very few comments though.)
Since I have always depended on the kindness of strangers, I feel the need to thank all these Facebook groups that were kind enough to let me post the links to my GCL stories, thus allowing more people to become acquainted with our blog. Also, all these groups are highly interesting, so, if you're a Facebook user, I suggest that you join some of (or all of) these groups. They're all worth it.
Let's begin with my friend Rafi, an amazing artist who manages two groups: Queer artists:
... and Gay Art:
Both groups are mainly places of expression for many very talented queer artists. You will definitely enjoy both and get to see some fantastic paintings too. Which are often quite erotic.
My friend Tony manages a lot of groups. The battleship is Gay Universe:
Gay Universe features LGBT+ news, both light and serious, the portraits of gay artists and links to stories that will surely interest you. Tony also caters to specialized groups. If you love the movies, then there's Movie Madness!:
If you are a TV person, then there's TV Universe:
If you like music (which you surely do, since you're reading my blog), Tony has a group for each decade. 20s 30s 40s Music goes back almost a century:
Fabulous 50s takes us to the birth of Rock'n'Roll:
Who doesn't like the 60s? 60s Society certainly does:
Also the 70s - that's my decade. If it's yours too, join 70s Music Mania:
I know that most of you love the 80s. 80s Pop and Country Music Group is for you:
Then there are the younger ones, who made their music connections in the 90s. For them, there's 90s Music Central:
Finally, for our youngest members, 2000s Music Central deals with 21st-century music:
Then there are those groups that are not gay, but they are gay-friendly. They are comprised of sensitive and talented people and are definitely worth checking out. Two excellent web radio stations can be accessed through these groups. First, there's Simple Radio, administered by Nikos:
Then there's Caravan 4 Interlandia, which is Stelios' baby:
Both of them have excellent DJs who play exceptional music from all over the world. Give them a try.
If you like the movies and can read Greek (or don't mind using Google Translate) because many of the posts are in Greek, there's Σινεφίλ (Cinephile):
It's a huge group of people sharing info, photos and their views on movies. There is democracy at work - the administrators stay discreetly in the background, so it's the members who mostly offer their knowledge and opinions. You will agree or disagree, enter into arguments, but you won't be bored. I know one of the administrators, Nikolaos, an inspired and inspiring man.
From a group with tens of thousands of members to a group of about a 100. Yet Welcome 2 Tzapan, administered with style and substance by Panos & Lefty, is a beautiful corner for souls that feel that they don't belong, a kind of safe haven. It's here:
Finally, if you are French-speaking or like French culture like I do (judging by the huge increase of visits from France, I'm sure many of you do), then I suggest that you join SOCIETE HELLENIQUE DE FRANCOPHILOPHONIE. Angelo & Stathis are two very cultured men and they will be your guides on a lovely voyage:
To all these groups (and a couple more that I don't mention since they have not yet consented to it) I say a very big "thank you!" Thank you for embracing me as a member, thank you for letting me post the links to my GCL stories, thank you for surrounding me with love and acceptance, thank you for introducing me to people that I'm proud to have met.
As to all of you who read this blog - you make me dream that maybe I can make a difference, even if it is just one person. And that, my friends, is a very precious sentiment.
