Category: Film Music News

Weekly Film Music Roundup (January 4, 2013)

Only one movie is opening in wide release this weekend:

texaschainsaw3dOpening in over 2600 theaters is the horror sequel Texas Chainsaw 3D directed by John Luessenhop (Takers, Lockdown) and starring Alexandra Daddario, Tania Raymonde, Thom Barry, Dan Yaeger and Trey Songz. The film’s music is composed by John Frizzell (Alien: Resurrection, Legion, The Roommate). No soundtrack album has been announced at this point. The movie is set immediately after the original film and follows a young woman who travels to Texas to collect an inheritance that includes Leatherface. To learn more about the Lionsgate release, visit the official movie website.

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Weekly Film Music Roundup (December 28, 2012)

Three new movies have opened nationwide earlier this week on Christmas Day:

lesmiserablesTopping the box office on Christmas Day was the movie musical Les Miserables directed by Tom Hooper and starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Samantha Barks, Eddie Redmayne, Colm Wilkinson, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen. Universal Republic has released a soundtrack album featuring the film’s songs composed by Claude-Michel Schonberg, with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and produced and arranged by Anne Dudley. Also included is the new original song Suddenly composed by Schonberg and featuring lyrics by Alain Boublil. To find out more about the soundtrack and film, check out our previous article.

django-unchainedAlso performing well in wide release is the western Django Unchained written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz. Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. Loma Vista Recording has released a soundtrack album featuring a couple of new original tracks, including 100 Black Coffins by Rick Ross and produced by and featuring Jamie Foxx, Who Did That To You?  by John Legend, Ancora Qui by Ennio Morricone and Elisa, and the duet Freedom performed by Anthony Hamilton and Elayna Boynton. Also included are other tracks from classic soundtracks by such composers as Morricone, Jerry Goldsmith, Luis Bacalov and Riz Ortolani. For the full track list, check out our soundtrack announcement.

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Richard Rodney Bennett (1936-2012)

Richard Rodney Bennett has passed at age 76 on Christmas Eve in New York. The composer was born in 1936 and raised in Budleigh Salterton, Devon. Throughout his career, he has received three Academy Award nominations for his scores for John Schlesinger’s 1967 drama Far from the Madding Crowd starring Julie Christie & Terence Stamp, the 1971 historical drama Nicholas and Alexandra directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and Sidney Lumet’s 1974 mystery drama Murder on the Orient Express based on the novel by Agatha Christie. He also received two Grammy Award nominations for the latter two films. He was also honored with numerous BAFTA nominations and won the award for Murder on the Orient Express. His other film credits include John Schlesinger’s Yanks starring Richard Gere, Sidney Lumet’s Equus starring Richard Burton, the romantic comedy Indiscreet starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman and the 1994 hit comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral directed by Mike Newell and starring Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell.

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Weekly Film Music Roundup (December 21, 2012)

Five new movies are opening wide this week:

Opening today is the thriller Jack Reacher directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, Werner Herzog, David Oyelowo and Robert Duvall. The film’s music is composed by Joe Kraemer who previously scored the director’s 2000 film The Way of the Gun. La-La Land Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score digitally earlier this week. The release date for the physical version is set for early January. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details.

Also opening today is the comedy drama This is 40 written and directed by Judd Apatow and starring Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, John Lithgow, Megan Fox, Iris Apatow, Maude Apatow, Melissa McCarthy, Jason Segel, Robert Smigel, Charlyne Yi and Albert Brooks. The film’s original score is composed by Jon Brion (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). A soundtrack album featuring one score track by the composer, as well as the film’s songs by artists including Norah Jones, Fiona Apple, Graham Parker and Lindsey Buckingham (all produced by Jon Brion), Wilco and Ryan Adams has been released on Capitol Records. To check out the track list and learn more about the film and music, visit our previous article.

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Palm Springs Festival to Honor Mychael Danna

Mychael Danna will be honored with the Frederick Loewe Music Award at the 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival. The composer will be receiving the award for his work on Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, for which he already received a Golden Globe, as well as a Broadcast Film Critics Association Movie Award nomination. Danna composed the score and has also co-written the original song Pi’s Lullaby for the film. Past recipients of the Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing include Alexandre Desplat, Danny Elfman, Howard Shore and Randy Newman. Danna will be be recognized at a gala on January 5, 2012 at the Palm Springs Convention Center along with other honorees Richard Gere, Bradley Cooper, Helen Mirren, Sally Field, Helen Hunt, Naomi Watts, Robert Zemeckis, Tom Hooper and the cast of Argo.

Alexandre Desplat Wins Satellite Award for ‘Argo’

Alexandre Desplat has won his first Satellite Award in the Original Score category for his music for Ben Affleck’s Argo at tonight’s 17th Annual Satellite Awards ceremony at the Intercontinental Hotel in Beverly Hills. He was previously nominated for his two scores for the final two Harry Potter movies. The other composers nominated in the category were Dario Marianelli (Anna Karenina), Thomas Newman (Skyfall), Jonny Greenwood (The Master) and John Williams (Lincoln). In the Original Song category, Claude-Michel Schonberg, Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil received the honor for the song Suddenly from Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables.

Ravi Shankar (1920 – 2012)

Musician and composer Ravi Shankar passed away today at a San Diego hospital at age 92. His best known work for film is his score for Richard Attenborough’s 1982 Oscar-winning biopic Gandhi, which he composed with George Fenton and for which he received an Academy Award, as well as a Grammy and BAFTA nomination. His other film scoring credits include the 1968 drama Charly starring Cliff Robertson and Claire Bloom and Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy. He was honored with three Grammy Awards for his music besides his film work and collaborated with such artists as violinist Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison of The Beatles. Shankar is the father of Grammy Award-winning singer Norah Jones and sitar player Anoushka Shankar.

Academy Announces 75 Original Songs in Oscar Race

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has announced the short list of 75 songs that are in contention for nominations in the Original Song category for the 85th 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 nominations will be announced on January 10, 2013.

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Critics’ Choice Movie Awards Nominations Announced

The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) has announced the nominations for the 18th Critics’ Choice Movie Awards this morning. The nominations in the Best Score category are:

Argo – Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi – Mychael Danna
Lincoln – John Williams
The Master – Jonny Greenwood
Moonrise Kingdom – Alexandre Desplat

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