Film Music Reporter

Two new movies are opening nationwide this week:

Already in theaters since Wednesday is the action thriller The November Man directed by Roger Donaldson and starring Pierce Brosnan, Luke Bracey, Olga Kurylenko, Eliza Taylor, Caterina Scorsone, Bill Smitrovich and Will Patton. Marco Beltrami (World War Z, Scream, The Wolverine, 3:10 to Yuma) has composed the film’s original music. Varese Sarabande has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music digitally earlier this week. A CD version will be released on September 9. Check out our previous article for the full album details and visit Beltrami’s official website to listen to a couple of full tracks from his score.

Opening nationwide today is the horror thriller As Above, So Below directed by John Erick Dowdle and starring Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge, Francois Civil, Marion Lambert, Ali Marhyar, Cosme Castro and Hamidreza Javdan. The film’s original music is composed by Keefus Ciancia (Nashville, Saving Grace, Diana, The Motel Life). No word on a soundtrack release. To learn more about the movie, which follows a team of explorers that ventures into the catacombs that lie beneath the streets of Paris and uncovers a dark secret, check out our scoring assignment article.

Opening semi-wide in around 350 theaters is the biographical drama Cantinflas directed by Sebastian del Amo and starring Oscar Jaenada, Michael Imperioli, Ilse Salas, Luis Gerardo Mendez, Gabriela de la Garza, Adal Ramones and Ana Layevska. Roque Banos (Evil Dead, The Machinist, Sexy Beast, Oldboy) has composed the film’s original music. Movic Records has released a soundtrack album featuring three tracks from the composer’s score, as well as songs by such artists as Denise Gutiérrez, Aleks Syntek, Mauricio Sánchez and Enrique Bunbury. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details.

Opening in select cities and on VOD is the caper comedy Life of Crime directed by Daniel Schechter based on Elmore Leonard’s novel The Switch and starring Jennifer Aniston, John Hawkes, yasiin bey (aka Mos Def), Mark Boone Junior, Isla Fisher, Will Forte and Tim Robbins. The film’s original music is composed by The Newton Brothers (Oculus, Detachment, Pawn Shop Chronicles, High School). Varese Sarabande has released a soundtrack album featuring the composers’ score, as well as an instrumental version of Hearts on Ice by Jordan Galland earlier this week. Check out our previous news article for the full soundtrack details.

Also opening in limited release is the  hybrid animated/live action movie The Congress directed by Ari Folman and starring Robin Wright, Harvey Keitel, Jon Hamm, Paul Giamatti, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Danny Huston. Max Richter (The Leftovers, Disconnect) who previously scored Folman’s Oscar-winning animated feature Waltz with Bashir has composed the film’s original music. Milan Records has released a soundtrack album featuring Richter’s score, as well as cover versions of the songs Forever Young and If It Be Your Will performed by Robin Wright. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details.

Also opening in select cities is the prison drama Starred Up directed by David Mackenzie and starring Jack O’Connell, Ben Mendelsohn and Rupert Friend. The film’s original music is composed by Mackenzie and Tony Doogan. Good Grace has released a soundtrack album featuring the movie’s score earlier this week. Check out our previous news article for the full album details and to learn more about the film, which follows a troubled 19-year-old who ends up in the same prison as his father and is being released by Tribeca Film.

Another limited release this week is the drama The Last of Robin Hood written and directed by Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmore and and starring Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon and Dakota Fanning. Nick Urata (Crazy, Stupid, Love, I Love You Phillip Morris, Ruby Sparks) has composed the film’s original music. No soundtrack album has been announced yet. The Last of Robin Hood chronicles Hollywood star Errol Flynn’s last couple of years, including his liaison with an aspiring actress, Beverly Aadlan. The drama premiered at last year’s Toronto Film Festival and is being released by Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Also opening in select cities is the horror thriller The Damned directed by Victor Garcia and starring Peter Facinelli, Sophia Myles, Nathalia Ramos and Sebastian Martinez. The film’s original music is composed by Frederik Wiedmann (Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Son of Batman, Hostel III). Lakeshore Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music earlier this week. To learn more about the soundtrack and the movie, check out our previous article, where you can also listen to audio clips.

Opening in New York and on VOD today before expanding to other markets is the indie comedy drama Last Weekend directed by Tom Dolby & Tom Williams and starring Patricia Clarkson, Zachary Booth, Joseph Cross, Chris Mulkey and Judith Light. Stephen Barton (Jennifer’s Body, Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont) has composed the film’s original music. No word yet on a soundtrack release. Last Weekend follows a matriarch who asks her adult sons to visit their Lake Tahoe home for a final weekend before she sells it. The dramedy premiered at this year’s San Francisco Film Festival and is being released by IFC Films. Visit the official movie website for more information.

Another limited release this weekend is the horror thriller Jamie Marks Is Dead written and directed by Carter Smith and starring Cameron Monaghan, Noah Silver, Morgan Saylor, Madisen Beaty, Judy Greer and Liv Tyler. The film’s original music is composed by Francois-Eudes Chanfrault. No soundtrack album has been released. Jamie Marks is Dead centers on a tragic death that forges a supernatural bond among three small town teenagers. The thriller premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and is being released by Gravitas Ventures. To learn more about the film, visit the official Facebook movie page.

Also opening in limited release is the Hungarian drama The Notebook directed by Janos Szasz and starring Ulrich Thomsen and Ulrich Matthes. Johann Johannsson (Prisoners, The Theory of Everything, Personal Effects) is the film’s music director. No word on a soundtrack release. The Notebook follows two 13-year-old twins who were abandoned by their parents during World War II and forced to live with their cruel grandmother in a village on the Hungarian border. The movie, which was the Hungarian entry for this past season’s foreign-language Oscar, is being distributed by Sony Pictures Classics. To learn more about the drama, visit the official movie website.