The Oscars are fast becoming nonsensical, pretentious, and meaningless.  This year the Academy apparently could only find two songs worthy of their nomination.  This actually means that they only found one song deemed worthy, because of the 39 songs they sorted through this year, only one garnered an average score of 8.25 and above.  The other was chosen simply because they needed a competitor, and by default  the next highest-scored composition was selected.  The question is which song was chosen first.  The Academy has (shamefully) not been kind to past Muppet movies.  The first three Muppet movies from the early 70’s and 80’s were nominated four times, all for music:  two for score and two for song;  none of them brought home a statuette.  The music from the revival The Muppets cannot hold a candle to the music of the classic era, including the “The Muppet Show.”  Why “Man or Muppet” was chosen over two vastly superior songs from The Muppets is a mystery.  “Life is a Happy Song,” which won the Broadcast Film Critics Award for Best Song of the Year, is much more catchy and spirited (plus it’s sung by Amy Adams).  Kermit the Frog’s “Pictures in My Head,” especially when viewed within the context of the film, is downright poignant and loaded with subtext and imagery that anyone who is old enough to remember the original “Muppet Show” — or the 70’s & 80’s in general — will get misty-eyed.  “Man or Muppet” is repetitive and lyrically over-simplistic (perhaps defining the recent Academy anyhow).  The “Rio” number is much more complex and involved, and given The Muppets’ past lack of success with the Academy, seems to have the edge to take home the Oscar for Best Original Song.  Why can’t the Academy pick the usual five songs?  There are more than enough worthy compositions, including the aforementioned superior songs from The Muppets.  The answer is as simple as their selection-process:  The Academy is unreliable, unpredictable, and should rarely be depended on to help determine what is and what is not a good movie (or music).