Category: Film Music News

Weekly Film Music Roundup (July 18, 2014)

July 18, 2014 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music News 0 comments

Tags: Chris Ridenhour, Étienne Charry, I Origins, Mark Mancina, Michael Andrews, Mood Indigo, Nathan Whitehead, Persecuted, Phil Mossman, Planes: Fire & Rescue, Rob Simonsen, Sex Tape, The Purge: Anarchy, Will Bates, Wish I Was Here

Three new movies are opening nationwide this weekend:

Opening in most theaters is the animated sequel Planes: Fire & Rescue directed by Bobs Gannaway and featuring the voices of Dane Cook, Julie Bowen, Stacy Keach, Brad Garrett, Danny Mann, Teri Hatcher and Ed Harris. Mark Mancina (Tarzan, Twister, Brother Bear, Speed) who previously scored last year’s original film has composed the film’s original score. Walt Disney Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music, as well as the original song Still I Fly performed by Spencer Lee and three songs by Brad Paisley. Check out our previous article for the full album details and to learn more about the film.

Also opening wide is the thriller sequel The Purge: Anarchy written and directed by James DeMonaco and starring Zach Gilford, Michael Williams, Kiele Sanchez, Frank Grillo and Carmen Ejogoro. The film’s original music is composed by Nathan Whitehead who also scored last year’s original film. Back Lot Music has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score earlier this week. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details. Also check out interviews with Whitehead about his work on the film on TheB Screening Room and the Blumhouse Blog.

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Charles Bernstein Rejoins Academy Board

July 18, 2014 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music News 0 comments

Tags: Academy Awards, Charles Bernstein

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that composer Charles Bernstein has rejoined the Academy’s Board of Governors after a hiatus. He joins composers Charles Fox and Arthur Hamilton as a governor for the Academy’s music branch. The Academy’s 17 branches are represented by three governors, who may serve up to three consecutive three-year terms. Terms are staggered so that each branch elects or reelects one governor each year. For the full list of elected governors, click here.

Francis Lai to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Ghent Film Festival

July 18, 2014 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music News 0 comments

Tags: Francis Lai, World Soundtrack Awards

Francis Lai has been selected as the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement award at the closing-night gala of the 14th World Soundtrack Awards at the Ghent Film Fest on October 25, 2014. The composer is best known for his score for 1970’s Love Story, for which he received an Academy Award, as well as a Golden Globe and Grammy Award nomination. His other scoring credits include such titles as A Man and a Woman, Bilitis, Live for Life and Dark Eyes. Selections of the composer’s music will be performed live by the Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Dirk Brosse at the event. Among the composers that were previously honored with the award are John Barry, Marvin Hamlisch, Pino Donaggio Giorgio Moroder and Angelo Badalamenti. In addition, Jef Neve’s music for the Flemish drama series In Flanders Fields will also be performed at the World Soundtrack Awards, accompanied by footage from the show.

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Weekly Film Music Roundup (July 11, 2014)

July 11, 2014 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music News 0 comments

Tags: A Long Way Down, Boyhood, Dario Marianelli, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Justin Small, Keegan DeWitt, Land Ho!, Laurent Eyquem, Michael Giacchino, Ohad Benchetrit, Rage, Road to Paloma, Tokarev

Only one new movie is opening nationwide this week:

Expected to top the weekend box office is the sci-fi adventure sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes directed by Matt Reeves and starring Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smith-McPhee, Enrique Murciano and Kirk Acevedo. The film’s original music is composed by Michael Giacchino (Up, Star Trek, Lost) who previously collaborated with the director on Cloverfield and Let Me In. Sony Masterworks has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music. Check out our previous article for the full details and click here to listen to audio clips. Also visit Reddit for a recent AMA with Giacchino and Reeves about their work on the film.

Opening in limited release is the indie drama Boyhood written and directed by Richard Linklater and starring Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater and Ethan Hawke. The film doesn’t feature an original score. Nonesuch Records has released a soundtrack album including the songs featured in the movie by artists such as Coldplay, Vampire Weekend, Bob Dylan, Arcade Fire, Wilco, The Black Keys, Gnarls Barkley, The Flaming Hips, Jeff Tweedy, The Hives, Cat Power and Paul McCartney & Wings. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details.

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2014 Emmy Nominations Announced

July 10, 2014 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music News 1 comment

Tags: Emmy Awards, Emmy Nominations

The nominations for the 66th Emmy Awards were announced this morning. Here are the music-related categories:

Outstandig Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score):

Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey – Standing Up in the Milk Way – Music by Alan Silvestri
Downton Abbey – Episode 8 – Music by John Lunn
Game of Thrones – The Mountain and the Viper – Music by Ramin Djawadi
House of Cards – Chapter 26 – Music by Jeff Beal
True Detective – Form and Void – Music by T Bone Burnett

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Ken Thorne (1924-2014)

July 9, 2014 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music News 0 comments

Tags: Ken Thorne

Ken Thorne has passed away at age 90. The British composer scored numerous features and television movies and shows over a career spanning more than four decades, including the sequels Superman II and Superman III directed by Richard Lester and starring Christopher Reeve. He received an Academy Award for his adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s music for the 1966 film version of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He also was honored with an Emmy Award nomination for the original song For a Love Like You from the 1995 TV drama A Season of Hope. In addition, he was Grammy-nominated alongside John Lennon, George Harrison and Paul McCartney for his score for 1965’s Help!. Thorne’s other feature credits include the 1976 comedy The Ritz and the 1967 war comedy How I Won the War starring Michael Crawford & John Lennon, both for Richard Lester, 1968’s Inspector Clouseau starring Alan Arkin, 1985’s The Protector starring Jackie Chan and 1984’s Lassiter starring Tom Selleck.

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Weekly Film Music Roundup (July 4, 2014)

July 4, 2014 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music News 0 comments

Tags: America, Bryan E. Miller, Christopher Young, Deliver Us from Evil, Earth to Echo, Geoff Zanelli, Joseph Trapanese, Joshua Abrams, Life Itself, Michael Andrews, Nick Urata, Premature, School Dance, Tammy

Three new movies opened nationwide this past Wednesday:

Opening in most theaters is the comedy Tammy directed by Ben Falcone and starring Melissa McCarthy, Susan Sarandon, Allison Janney, Gary Cole, Mark Duplass, Dan Aykroyd, Kathy Bates, Toni Collette and Nat Faxon. The film’s original music is composed by Michael Andrews (Donnie Darko, Bridesmaids, The Heat). WaterTower Music has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music, as well as two songs by Possum Creek earlier this week. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details and to listen to audio clips.

Also opening wide is the family sci-fi adventure Earth to Echo directed by Dave Green and starring Teo Halm, Brian “Astro” Bradley, Reese Hartwig and Ella Linnea Wahlested. Joseph Trapanese (Oblivion, The Raid, Tron: Uprising) has composed the film’s original music. Relativity Music Group has released a soundtrack featuring the composer’s score, as well as the song Worlds Away performed by Dia Frampton. Click here for more information and also visit Film Music Magazine for an interview with Trapanese about his work on the film. The label has also announced a separate soundtrack featuring the film’s songs by artists including Mowgli’s, This Will Destroy You, Big Data and Chiddy Bang. Check out our previous article for the full album details.

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Hans Zimmer to Be Honored at Zurich Film Festival

July 1, 2014 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music News 4 comments

Tags: Hans Zimmer, Zurich Film Festival

Hans Zimmer will be honored with a a special Lifetime Award at the Zurich Film Festival. The Academy Award-winning composer will receive the award on October 1, 2014 during a public event at the Tonhalle Zurich. The event will also feature the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich performing the works of the Golden Eye for ‘Best International Film Music 2014’ finalists, as well as excerpts from some of Hans Zimmer’s most legendary scores, including those for The Lion King and Gladiator. Zimmer whose other scores include The Dark Knight, Inception, Driving Miss Daisy, The Last Samurai, Pirates of the Caribbean, and most recently, Man of Steel, Rush and 12 Years a Slave, has a personal connection to Switzerland, having attended private school there in his teens.

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Weekly Film Music Roundup (June 27, 2014)

June 27, 2014 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music News 4 comments

Tags: Andrew Lockington, Begin Again, Craig Wedren, Gregg Alexander, Ibrahim Maalouf, John Dragonetti, Marco Beltrami, Matt Novack, Postman Pat: The Movie, Rupert Gregson-Williams, Siddharth, Snowpiercer, Steve Jablonsky, The Internet's Own Boy, They Came Together, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Yves Saint Laurent

Only one new movie is opening nationwide this weekend:

Guaranteed to top the weekend box office is the sci-fi action adventure Transformers: Age of Extinction directed by Michael Bay and starring Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Jack Reynor, Nicola Peltz, Sophia Myles, Bingbing Li, Titus Welliver and TJ Miller. The film’s original music is composed by Steve Jablonsky (Ender’s Game, Battleship) who previously scored Bay’s last five features, including the previous three Transformers movies. A soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score is expected to be announced soon. Imagine Dragons have written the original song Battle Cry for the film, which is now available to download as a single here. Also visit YouTube for a video interview with Jablonsky about his work on the film visit Hitfix for another interview with the composer. To learn more about the film, visit the official movie website.

Opening in Los Angeles and New York before expanding nationwide is the musical comedy drama Begin Again written and directed by John Carney and starring Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Adam Levine, Hailee Steinfeld, James Corden, Ceelo Green and Catherine Keener. 222 Records in partnership with Interscope Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the songs from the film written by Gregg Alexander, who also provided the film’s original score, as well as Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lashley, Nick Southwood, Rick Nowels, John Carney and Glen Hansard and performed by the film’s cast. For the full album details and to learn more about the film, check out our soundtrack announcement.

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Frank Ilfman Wins Saturn Award for ‘Big Bad Wolves’

June 27, 2014 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music News 0 comments

Tags: Big Bad Wolves, Frank Ilfman, Saturn Awards

Frank Ilfman was honored with a Saturn Award last night at the 40th annual Saturn Awards in Burbank, presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. The composer won the prize in the Best Music category for his score for the Israeli thriller Big Bad Wolves, which was also recognized in the Best International Film category, and accepted his award in person. The other nominated composers were Danny Elfman (Oz the Great and Powerful), John Williams (The Book Thief), Brian Tyler (Iron Man 3, Now You See Me) and Howard Shore (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug). Ilfman’s score for the thriller, which was released in the U.S. earlier this year by Magnolia Pictures, is available on MovieScore Media and Kronos Records. For the full list of Saturn Award winners, click here.