For the 2007 Cue Awards, not only did we continue the process of rating each and every nominee to determine the winner, but you, the visitor also had the opportunity to do the same.   Now the Cues Awards reflect Tracksounds from both sides of the browser!

Now, when it comes to all of the awards of "award season," judging by the reactions of some, it's clear to me that sometimes we forget that each award reflects the rules and tastes of the presenters or those who have an official vote.  Whether it is the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Screen Actors Guild, The Academy of Motion Picture and Sciences, the International Film Music Critics Association, or this site - the award represents the tastes and opinions of the voters...which may not reflect the tastes of those who "watch" to see who wins what.  

As much as you or I may disagree with the eventual winners of any particular award, that disagreement, no matter how ardent, does not invalidate the award at all.  As spectators though, it is our right to whine and moan about how we hated the nominees and despised the winner.  So if you are hating these winners, go on whine.  It's your right, but the award stands tall amidst all wailing. In the case of the Cues, it certainly means more to us, the presenters, than it does the recipients; however, I have to believe that our winners are just loving all of the attention and new-found publicity they have received as a result of winning their respective Cue! ;)

It is then fool-hearty, at best, for those not involved in the award process to whine and moan at how the winners or even the nominees are "incorrect" or "completely wrong."  They are neither wrong or incorrect in anyway shape or form - according to the voters.  Of course, we all love to cheer and love to boo - it is a part of fandom. Still, it remains that organizations award to hand out to whomever they please.

In the end, while some awards could "make" a recipient's career, most are just a few minutes of interesting distraction:  something to talk about at the water-cooler, on a message board, or a chat room.  For those who seem to lose their grip because they so strongly disagree with nominees or winners of such awards, it would do you well to exert your energies elsewhere and simply take these awards at face value and eek out some sort of enjoyment in them or have good conversation about them. 

Ok.  Rant complete.  Now, when it comes to this years awards....I have to say that I was most shocked at the number of eventual winners that were not my personal #1 choices.  It's a little frustrating, but I find the collective award process much more interesting.

AND NOW THE PURPLE DUST OF TWILIGHT TIME...
As much as I enjoyed the film and Ilan Eshkeri's score, I was quite pleasantly surprised at the number of STARDUST and it's composer received this year.  The amount of buzz around the film, score and composer was nothing grand in early 2007, but clearly there are others out there who also feel that this was one of the better scores of 2007.

"I AM . . . RATATOUILLE"
I expected BEOWULF to do much better than it did.  It was nominated several times but came away with nothing.  The biggest surprise loss for Beowulf was the loss to RATATOUILLE in the Best Animated Film category.

GAME ON!
Perhaps the most competitive category in 2007 was the BEST SCORE FOR VIDEO GAME.  Just so happens that my personal favorite, LAIR, did win, but I could have seen it easily going to BIOSHOCK or HALO 3.

BAD OR WORSE?
It was a toss-up for me in the DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE YEAR category.  Had THE LAST MIMZY taken this prize home, I'd been completely fine with it, but SPIDEY taking home the trophy did bring a strange satisfaction to me...as that trilogy remains one of the most over-rated of all time.  It's hard to put all of the blame on CHRISTOPHER YOUNG, as his talents are well-known, but he certainly didn't have much of a film to work with - the worst of the three, at that.

SOUNDS OK. LOOKS EVEN BETTER!
The 300 special edition cover was indeed nice...but in terms of regular releases I thought SEA OF DREAMS was captivating...and one the did not make the nomination list from early 2007, MISS POTTER, was interesting as well.

QUANTITY OR VERSATILITY?
After analyzing the results, it became apparent that MICHAEL GIACCHINO had done something never done before.  He was nominated in all three sub-genres:  Film (Ratatouille), TV (Lost), and Video Game (Medal of Honor:  Airborne).  Something like this surely warrants this award, but alas I noticed this too late and voted accordingly.  Still, its nigh to impossible to refute that JAMES NEWTON HOWARD doesn't deserve OUSTANDING COMPOSER.