“LOST STARS” FROM BEGIN AGAIN
Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois
These may be the first Academy Award nominations for songwriters Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois, but director John Carney previously saw his feature “Once” produce a Best Original Song winner in 2006-2007, titled “Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansgard and Markéta Irglová of The Swell Season. So whatever collaborative freedom that Carney instills in his musical artists is clearly working.
Performed separately by Keira Knightley and Adam Levine throughout the feature, “Lost Stars” is the perfect song to come out of “Begin Again”. It’s the stepping off point between the two characters and eventually brings their relationship full circle. Not to mention Levine makes the song his own, not just a song that highlights the film, but a song that is worthy of being played on repeat.
What’s its competition? Since its nomination was a bit of a surprise for some (I predicted it to get nominated), anything is fair game in this category. My gut tells me “Glory” from “Selma” will be the one to beat, already with a Golden Globe award. “Selma” is also nominated for Best Picture which means more Academy members will be seeing that film and could likely support the film in any way it can. Since “Selma” likely won’t be winning Best Picture, the only other place to honor the film is through the song.
// Produced by Anthony Bregman, Tobin Armbrust, & Judd Apatow // Directed by John Carney //
// Dated Viewed: Thursday, January 15th, 2015 // DVD // 44 films – 39 days //