Category: Film Music News

Weekly Film Music Roundup (January 25, 2012)

Three new movies are opening wide this weekend:

hansel-and-gretelExpected to top the weekend box office is the fantasy action adventure Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters directed by Tommy Wirkola and starring Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen and Peter Stormare. The film’s music is composed by Atli Orvarsson (Vantage Point, The Eagle, The Fourth Kind). A soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music is now available digitally and will be released next month on La-La Land Records. For audio clips and more information about the release, check out our previous article. For interviews with Orvarsson about his work on the film, visit Film Music Magazine, ASCAP’s website and Film Music Media.

parker-soundtrackAlso opening wide this weekend is the action thriller Parker directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte and Michael Chicklis. The film’s score is composed by David Buckley (The Town, The Forbidden Kingdom). A soundtrack album featuring Buckley’s music is now available digitally and will be released next week on Varese Sarabande. To learn more about the film and listen to audio clips from each track on the album, check out our soundtrack announcement.

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Adele to Perform ‘Skyfall’ at Oscars

skyfallThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has announced today that Adele will perform the Oscar-nominated title song from the latest James Bond movie Skyfall at the 85th Academy Awards ceremony. The song, written by Adele and Paul Epworth, is the first Bond theme ever to debut in Billboard’s Top 10 and the first to be nominated for an Oscar since For Your Eyes Only in 1981. Adele’s exclusive Oscar show performance will be the first time she will have performed Skyfall anywhere live and will also mark her first television performance in the US since the Grammys last year. Skyfall is nominated in the Best Original Song category, along with songs from Life of Pi, Les Miserables, Chasing Ice and Ted. Oscars for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.

Weekly Film Music Roundup (January 18, 2013)

Three new movies are opening in wide release this weekend:

mamaExpected to top the weekend box office is the supernatural thriller Mama directed by Andy Muschietti and starring Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier and Isabelle Nellsse. The film’s music is composed by Fernando Velazquez (The Impossible, Devil). Quartet Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score earlier this week. For the full album details and to listen to audio clips, check out our soundtrack announcement, where you can also learn more about the film and watch the trailer.

broken-city-soundtrackAlso opening wide is the crime thriller Broken City directed by Allen Hughes and starring Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Kyle Chandler, Barry Pepper, Natalie Martinez, Jeffrey Wright, Justin Chambers, James Ransone and Griffin Dunne. The film’s music is composed by Atticus Ross (The Social Network, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Claudia Sarne and Leopold Ross who have previously scored The Book of Eli for Allen Hughes and his brother. Metropolis Music Group has released a soundtrack album featuring the movie’s score. For audio clips and to learn more about the album, visit our previous article.

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Mychael Danna Wins Golden Globe for ‘Life of Pi’

Mychael Danna has received his first Golden Globe Award for his score for Ang Lee’s Life of Pi. The composer has also just received an Academy Award nomination for both score and the song Pi’s Lullaby earlier this week. Check out Danna’s acceptance speech after the jump. The other composers nominated in the category were John Williams (Lincoln), Alexandre Desplat (Argo), Dario Marianelli (Anna Karenina) and Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil & Johnny Klimek (Cloud Atlas).

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Weekly Film Music Roundup (January 11, 2013)

Two new movies are opening wide this weekend:

gangstersquadOpening in most theaters is the action drama Gangster Squad directed by Ruben Fleischer and starring Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Emma Stone, Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi and Michael Pena. The film’s score is composed by Steve Jablonsky (Transformers, Battleship). WaterTower Music has released a soundtrack album featuring songs Jonny Mercer & The Pied Pipers, Imelda May, Pee Wee King, Kitty Daisy & Lewis, Peggy Lee, Delta Rae and St. Vincent. Click here for the full details and audio clips. Varese Sarabande has released a separate album featuring Jablonsky’s score. The soundtrack is now available digitally and will be released on January 22, 2013 on CD. Visit our previous article for more information.

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John Williams Wins Critics’ Choice Movie Award for ‘Lincoln’

John Williams was honored with the Critics’ Choice Movie Award in the Best Score category for his music for Steven Spielberg’s historical drama Lincoln at tonight’s 18th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. The other composers nominated in the Best Score category were Alexandre Desplat (Argo, Moonrise Kingdom), Mychael Danna (Life of Pi) and Jonny Greenwood (The Master). Williams is also nominated for a Golden Globe, a BAFTA Award and has just received his 49th Academy Award nomination earlier today. The composer’s soundtrack for Lincoln is available on Sony Classical.

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CAS Nominations Announced

The Cinema Audio Society has announced the nominees for the 49th Annual CAS Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing. Since last year, scoring mixers are included in the awards. In the Motion Pictures – Live Action category, the scoring mixers honored include Jonathan Allen for the movie musical Les Miserables, Shawn Murphy for Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln (scored by John Williams) and Simon Rhodes for the James Bond film Skyfall (scored by Thomas Newman). In the Motion Pictures – Animated category, the nominated scoring mixers are Andrew Dudman for Pixar’s Brave (scored by Patrick Doyle), Dennis Sands for Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie (music by Danny Elfman), Shawn Murphy for Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (score by John Powell), Peter Cobbin for Dreamworks Animation’s Rise of the Guardians (music by Alexandre Desplat) and Alan Meyerson for Disney’s Wreck-It-Ralph (scored by Henry Jackman).

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Cutting Edge Group Acquires Varèse Sarabande Record Label

varesesarabandeThe New York Times and Variety are reporting that the Cutting Edge Group and its partner Wood Creek Capital Management have acquired the soundtrack record label Varèse Sarabande. With the purchase of the label, Cutting Edge will extend its portfolio that includes the management of music rights, the representation of composers and upfront investment in the music for films. According to the article, the plan for Varèse Sarabande is to increase its output by half to at least 60 soundtracks a year under the new ownership. It is expected that the label will release most or all of the soundtracks for the films that Cutting Edge will be working on. Among the upcoming projects that Cutting Edge is involved in are Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects, which features a score composed by Thomas Newman, as well as Taylor Hackford’s Parker scored by David Buckley. Both scores will be released on the Varèse label.