8. Best Original Song - Star-Spangled Man, Captain America: The First Avenger
One of the great things about Captain America: The First Avenger is how it transports you to another time, a time when just about every corner of the USA was coloured red, white and blue, and when cheery optimism came as naturally as Nazi-hating bloodlust. God knows whether this time ever really existed, but Captain America does a great job at immersing you in it, patriotic theme tune and all. Star-Spangled Man, the original song by Alan Menken and David Zippel that features in The First Avenger, is both a perfect send-up of the gung-ho patriotism found in wartime propaganda and a catchy ditty evoking long-lost innocent days of yore. But seeing as the Oscars are allergic to superhero movies, Star-Spangled Man wasn't even nominated in 2012, the year it was eligible for Best Original Song. Most years, the Academy is crying out for tunes from new movies just to make up the numbers in its enormously outdated Best Original Song category. In 2012, they couldn't even be bothered to include the one from the comic book movie, instead opting for forgettable tracks from Life Of Pi and Ted.
Brogan Morris
Contributor
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
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