Antonio Sanchez was honored with the Critics’ Choice Movie Award in the Best Score category for his music for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Birdman at tonight’s 19th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. The other composers nominated in the Best Score category were Alexandre Desplat for The Imitation Game, Johann Johannsson for The Theory of Everything, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross for Gone Girl and Hans Zimmer for Interstellar.
Month: January 2015
‘Playing It Cool’ Soundtrack Details
Lakeshore Records has announced a soundtrack album for the romantic comedy Playing It Cool. The album features the film’s original music composed by Jake Monaco (Let’s Be Cops, Struck by Lightning). Also included are tracks by Andrew Feltenstein & John Nau (Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Casa De Mi Padre) and Brian Kim. The soundtrack will be released digitally on February 10, 2015 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Check out audio clips after the jump. Playing It Cool is directed by Justin Reardon and stars Chris Evans, Michelle Monaghan, Aubrey Plaza, Topher Grace Giovanni Ribisi, Luke Wilson, Ioan Gruffud, Martin Starr, Ashley Tisdale and Philip Baker Hall. The movie centers on a man disillusioned by love who meets an engaged woman and feigns a platonic relationship in order to keep seeing her as he tries to conquer her heart.
‘Strange Magic’ Soundtrack Announced
Hollywood Records will release a soundtrack album for the animated feature Strange Magic. The album features the songs from the film performed by the movie’s voice cast. Marius de Vries serves as the project’s musical director and has picked numerous popular songs from the past six decades. He also composed the original score for the Lucasfilm production. The soundtrack will be released digitally on January 20, 2015. A physical version is set to be released on February 17, 2015 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Audio clips can be checked out here. Strange Magic is directed by Gary Rydstrom and features the voice talent of Alan Cumming, Evan Rachel Wood, Kristin Chenoweth, Maya Rudolph, Sam Palladio, Meredith Anne Bull, Alfred Molina, Elijah Kelley, Bob Einstein and Peter Stormare.
Academy Awards Nominations Announced
This morning, the nominations for the 87th Academy Awards were announced. Here are the music-related nominations:
Best Original Score:
- The Grand Budapest Hotel – Alexandre Desplat
- The Imitation Game – Alexandre Desplat
- Interstellar – Hans Zimmer
- Mr. Turner – Gary Yershon
- The Theory of Everything – Johann Johannsson
‘Black Sea’ Soundtrack Details
Back Lot Music will release a soundtrack album for the thriller Black Sea. The album features the film’s original music composed by Ilan Eshkeri (Stardust, Layer Cake, Still Alice, The Young Victoria). The soundtrack will be released digitally on January 20, 2015 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Audio clips can be checked out after the jump. Black Sea is directed by Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, State of Play) and stars Jude Law, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, David Threlfall, Konstantin Khabenskiy, Sergey Puskepalis, Michael Smiley, Grigory Dobrygin, Sergey Veksler and Sergey Kolesnikov. The movie follows a rogue submarine captain who pulls together a misfit crew to go after a sunken treasure rumored to be lost in the depths of the Black Sea.
‘Mortdecai’ Soundtrack Details
Lionsgate Records will release the official soundtrack album for the action comedy Mortdecai. The album features the film’s original music composed by Geoff Zanelli (Disturbia, Hitman, Ghost Town, The Odd Life of Timothy Green) and Mark Ronson, including the original songs Johanna performed by Miles Kane and Heart’s a Liar performed by Rose Elinor Dougall. The soundtrack will be released digitally on January 20, 2015 and is now available for pre-order on iTunes, where you can also listen to audio clips. La-La Land Records will release a physical version of the soundtrack. Visit Amazon to pre-order the CD. Mortdecai is directed by David Koepp and stars Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Munn, Jeff Goldblum and Paul Bettany. The movie follows a debonair art dealer and part time rogue who must traverse the globe in a race to recover a stolen painting rumored to contain the code to a lost bank account filled with Nazi gold.
Carter Burwell to Score Jason Bateman’s ‘The Family Fang’ and the Coen Brothers’ ‘Hail, Caesar!’
Carter Burwell has signed on to score the upcoming comedy The Family Fang. The film marks the second directorial feature effort of Jason Bateman following last year’s Bad Words and stars the actor himself, alongside Nicole Kidman and Christopher Walken, The movie is based on a novel by Kevin Wilson and follows two siblings who grew up in a performance artist family and learn the hard way about the differences between real life and art when their parents inexplicably disappear David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole, Oz the Great and Powerful) has written the screenplay. Daniela Taplin Lundberg & Riva Marker (The Kids Are All Right, What Maisie Knew) are producing the project for Red Crown, alongside Leslie Urdang & Dean Vanech (Beginners,Thanks for Sharing) for Olympus Pictures, Kidman & Per Saari (Rabbit Hole) for Blossom Films and Bateman & Jim Garavente for Aggregate Films.
BMI to Present Composer/Director Roundtable at 2015 Sundance Film Festival
Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) has announced the 17th annual Composer/Director Roundtable and 13th annual Snowball during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. BMI’s roundtable entitled Music & Film: The Creative Process will take place on Tuesday, January 27 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Filmmaker Lodge (550 Main Street, 2nd Floor Park City, Utah 84060). The conversation will be moderated by Doreen Ringer Ross, Vice President, Film/TV Relations and focus on the relationship between composer and director. The participants will discuss what goes into creating a successful film score, the ingredients of an effective composer/director relationship, the Sundance Film Festival experience and more.
Heitor Pereira Scoring ‘The Moon and the Sun’
Heitor Pereira is composing the music for the upcoming historical fantasy adventure The Moon and the Sun. The film is directed by Sean McNamara (Soul Surfer, Raise Your Voice, Spare Parts) and stars Pierce Brosnan, William Hurt, Benjamin Walker, Kaya Scodelario, Pablo Schreiber and Bingbing Fan. The movie is based on the novel of the same title by Vonda N. McIntyre and tells the story of how French king Louis XIV tries to achieve immortality by stealing the life force from a mermaid. McNamara is also producing the project with Bill Mechanic (Coraline), Hong Pang, Wei Han, Paul Currie and David Brookwell (Soul Surfer).
‘Planet of the Apes’ Television Series Soundtrack Released
La-La Land Records has released a new soundtrack release for the Planet of the Apes television series based on the 20th Century Fox sci-fi feature franchise starring Roddy McDowall, Ron Harper and James Naughton. The album features selections from the show’s original music composed by Lalo Schifrin (Mission: Impossible, Enter the Dragon, Rush Hour, Dirty Harry), as well as additional music written by Earle Hagen and Richard LaSalle. The 2-CD set features over 2 hours of music from 9 different episodes of the series. To check out the full soundtrack album and to order the release, visit the label’s official website, where you can also listen to audio clips.