Category: Film Music News

Weekly Film Music Roundup (December 26, 2014)

Four new movies opened nationwide on Christmas Day:

unbrokenOpening in most theaters is the drama Unbroken directed by Angelina Jolie and starring Jack O’Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Miyavi, Garrett Hedlund and Finn Wittrock. The film’s original music is composed by Alexandre Desplat (The King’s Speech, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Queen, The Grand Budapest Hotel). Parlophone Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music, as well as the original song Miracles performed by Coldplay. Check out our previous news article for the full soundtrack details, to listen to audio clips and to learn more about the film.

into-the-woodsAlso opening wide is the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Into the Woods directed by Rob Marshall and starring Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Tracey Ullman, Christine Baranski and Johnny Depp. The movie features songs composed by Stephen Sondheim (Sweeney Todd). Walt Disney Records has released two different soundtrack albums for the film featuring the songs performed by the movie’s cast. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full details of both the regular soundtrack and a 2-CD deluxe edition.

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Weekly Film Music Roundup (December 19, 2014)

Three new movies are opening nationwide this weekend:

hobbit-3Already playing in theaters since Wednesday is the fantasy adventure The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies directed by Peter Jackson and starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, Hugo Weaving and Orlando Bloom. The film’s original music is composed by Howard Shore (The Silence of the Lambs, Hugo) who also scored the previous Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings movies. WaterTower Music has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music in two editions. For the full album details, check out our soundtrack announcement. Also visit Film Music Society, Collider and TheOneRing.net for recent interviews with the composer about his work on the final installment in the series.

secret-of-the-tombAlso opening wide is the sequel Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Dan Stevens, Rebel Wilson and Ben Kingsley. The film’s original music is composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, The Croods, The Avengers). Varese Sarabande has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music digitally earlier this week. A CD version is set to be released on January 6. Check out our previous news article for the full album details and to learn more about the film.

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Guild of Music Supervisors Awards Nominations Announced

guild-of-music-supervisorsThe Guild of Music Supervisors announced the nominations for its 5th Annual awards ceremony, which will take place on Wednesday, January 21, at Mack Sennett Studios in Hollywood. The awards will recognize outstanding Music Supervisors in 14 categories representing Motion Picture, Television, Games, Trailers and Advertising. Below are the nominations for some of the major categories. For the full list of nominations, visit the organization’s official website.

Best Music Supervision in Motion Picture – Motion Picture Over 25M

Guardians of the Galaxy – Dave Jordan
Annie – Matt Sullvivan & Wende Crowley
Get On Up – Bud Carr & Margaret Yen
The Book of Life – John Houlihan
Into the Woods – Paul Gemignani and Michael Higham

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Critics’ Choice Movie Awards Nominations Announced

criticschoiceThe Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) has announced the nominations for the 20th Critics’ Choice Movie Awards this morning. The nominations in the Best Score category are:

The Imitation Game – Alexandre Desplat
The Theory of Everything – Johann Johannsson
Gone Girl – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Birdman – Antonio Sanchez
Interstellar – Hans Zimmer

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Weekly Film Music Roundup (December 12, 2014)

Two new movies are opening nationwide this weekend:

exodusExpected to top the weekend box office is the biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings directed by Ridley Scott and starring Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Aaron Paul, Ben Mendelsohn, John Turturro, Sigourney Weaver and Ben Kingsley. The film’s original music is composed by Alberto Iglesias (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Constant Gardener) Sony Classical has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music, as well as a couple of tracks written by additional composers Harry Gregson-Williams and Federico Jusid. Check out our previous news article for the full album details and to learn more about the film.

top-fiveAlso opening wide is the comedy Top Five written and directed by Chris Rock and starring himself, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Hart, Tracy Morgan, Cedric The Entertainer, JB Smoove, Sherri Shepherd, Anders Holm, Romany Malco and Leslie Jones. Questlove and Ludwig Goransson have composed the film’s original score. Def Jam Recording has released a soundtrack album featuring the songs from and inspired by the film by artists including Jay Z & Kanye West, DMX, Public Enemy, LL Cool J, The Roots, Rakim and Salt-N-Pepa. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details.

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Academy Announces 114 Original Scores in Oscar Race

oscars3The Academy of Motion Pictures Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the eligible movies in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 87th Academy Awards. The 114 eligible scores along with the composer are listed below in alphabetical order by film title.

“American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs,” Vivek Maddala, composer
“Anita,” Lili Haydn, composer
“Annabelle,” Joseph Bishara, composer
“At Middleton,” Arturo Sandoval, composer
“Atlas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt?,” Elia Cmiral, composer
“Bears,” George Fenton, composer
“Belle,” Rachel Portman, composer

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Academy Announces 79 Original Songs in Oscar Race

oscarsThe Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has announced the short list of 79 songs that are in contention for nominations in the Original Song category for the 87th Academy Awards. During the nominations process, all voting members of the Music Branch will receive a Reminder List of works submitted in the category and a DVD copy of the song clips. Members will be asked to watch the clips and then vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements in the category. The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominations for final voting for the award. A maximum of two songs may be nominated from any one film. The nominations will be announced on January 15, 2015.

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LA, NY and Boston Film Critics Announce Winners of Best Music in Film 2014

inherent-vice-ptaA couple of major local critics associations have been announced their winners for this year’s movies. Jonny Greenwood’s music for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice was honored by both the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Boston Society of Film Critics, while Mica Levi’s music for Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin was singled out by the LA Film Critics and the Boston Online Film Critics Association. For a full list of winners, click on each group’s name below.

Los Angeles Film Critics Association:

Best Music Score: Inherent Vice – Jonny Greenwood & Under the Skin– Mica Levi (tie)

New York Film Critics Online:

Best Use of Music: Get On Up – The James Brown Story

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57th Grammy Awards Nominations Announced

grammysThe nominations for the 57th Grammy Awards have been announced. Here are the nominations in the film music-related categories:

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media

  • Frozen (Christophe Beck) – Walt Disney Records
  • Gone Girl (Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross) – Columbia Records
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel (Alexandre Desplat) – ABKCO Music & Records
  • Gravity (Steven Price) – WaterTower Music
  • Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman) – Walt Disney Records

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