Best original song nominee list missing a few songs of note

By most criteria, Paul McCartney and U2 have little reason to regard French composers Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas with envy.

But Tuesday, Wagner and Thomas scored an Oscar nomination for best original song -- for “Loin de Paname” from the little-seen French movie “Paris 36” -- while neither “Winter,” U2’s contribution to the soundtrack of Jim Sheridan’s “Brothers,” nor McCartney’s “I Want to Come Home,” from the family dramedy “Everybody’s Fine,” finagled a place in the academy balloting.

And those were hardly the only notable omissions for original song. One anticipated contender, R&B diva Mary J. Blige’s “I Can See in Color,” from “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” was also snubbed. As were two of the most talked about songs from Rob Marshall’s adaptation of the Broadway musical “Nine” -- those performed by Kate Hudson and best supporting actress nominee Penélope Cruz.

Instead, “Take It All,” a torch song written by Maury Yeston and belted out by Marion Cotillard in “Nine,” received the nod. And two of Randy Newman’s songs for the animated feature “The Princess and the Frog” -- “Almost There” and “Down in New Orleans” -- will also compete for the Oscar.

Ryan Bingham was also nominated for “The Weary Kind (Theme from ‘Crazy Heart’)” with his collaborator, “Crazy Heart” soundtrack composer T Bone Burnett.

chris.lee@latimes.com