Focus Features has published the complete scores of its major awards contenders this season. Among the titles is Gus Van Sant’s drama Promised Land, which features music composed by Danny Elfman. To listen to the score, visit Focus Features’ For Your Consideration website. The film starring Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Rosemarie DeWitt, Hal Holbrook, Scoot McNairy, Titus Welliver and Frances McDormand also features an original song, Snake Eyes, written by Kenneth A. Pattengale and Joseph Edward Ryan, which is being pushed for awards consideration. No soundtrack release has been announced yet.
Category: Film Music News
Weekly Film Music Roundup (November 16, 2012)
Guaranteed to top the weekend box office is the final part in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 directed by Bill Condon and starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. The film’s music is composed by Carter Burwell. Summit Entertainment, Chop Shop Records and Atlantic Records have released a soundtrack album featuring the songs from and inspired by the film by artists including Passion Pit, Ellie Goulding, Green Day and Feist. Check out our previous article for the full album details. The label will also release a separate soundtrack featuring Burwell’s score on November 27. Click here for the full details. Also visit Examiner for an interview with the composer on his work on the film, as well as his official website for his notes and comments on the score.
Opening in limited release is the comedy drama Silver Linings Playbook directed by David O. Russell and starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Julia Stiles, Jacki Weaver and Chris Tucker. Danny Elfman has composed the film’s score. Sony Masterworks has released a soundtrack featuring the songs featured in the film by Stevie Wonder, Alabama Shakes, alt-K, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Rare Earth and Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash, as well as two tracks by Elfman. Check out our soundtrack announcement for audio clips. Also available is a separate album featuring Elfman’s full score. Audio clips and more information can be checked out here.
Richard Robbins (1940-2012)
Richard Robbins has passed away at age 71 on Nov. 7 of Parkinson’s disease at his home in Rhinebeck, N.Y. The composer who is best known for scoring most Merchant-Ivory films was born on Dec. 4, 1940, in South Weymouth, Mass.. He received two Academy Award nominations in 1993 and 1994 for Howard’s End and The Remains of the Day starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. He also was honored with a BAFTA for 1985’s A Room with a View starring Maggie Smith and Helena Bonham Carter. His other film credits for director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant include 1998’s A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries, 2003’s Le Divorce starring Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts and his last score in 2005 for The White Countess starring Ralph Fiennes and Vanessa Redgrave.
Bret McKenzie to Write New Songs for ‘The Muppets 2’
Producer Todd Lieberman has revealed in an interview with Collider (via The Playlist) that he will be returning to write new songs for Disney’s upcoming sequel The Muppets 2. McKenzie has written the original songs for last year’s hit reboot of the franchise and ended up winning an Academy Award for the song Man or Muppet. James Bobin (Flight of the Conchords) who directed the first part is returning to direct the sequel. He is also co-writing the script with Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall). It has recently been announced that Christoph Waltz will play an interpol agent. Lieberman is producing again with David Hoberman (The Fighter, The Proposal). No word yet on whether composer Christophe Beck will also be returning to write the score. The Muppets 2 is set to be released towards the end of 2013.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (November 2, 2012)
Three new movies are opening nationwide this weekend:
Expected to top the weekend box office is the animated feature Wreck-It-Ralph directed by Rich Moore and featuring the voice talent of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch. The film’s score is composed by Henry Jackman (X-Men: First Class). Walt Disney Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the score, as well as one track by Skrillex who wrote some of the in-game music and other songs featured in the film. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full details. Also click here for a number of video interviews with Jackman about his work on the project. Attached to the film is the animated short Paperman, which features an original score by Christophe Beck.
Also opening wide is the drama director Robert Zemeckis and starring Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood, John Goodman, Melissa Leo and James Badge Dale. The director’s regular musical collaborator Alan Silvestri (Back to the Future, The Avengers) has composed the film’s original score. No soundtrack album has been released yet, but the score is available to listen to on Paramount Pictures’ Awards website. For more information about the film, visit our previous article. Also check out a short interview with the composer in Beatweek about his latest project.
Alan Silvestri’s ‘Flight’ Score Available Online
The full score for Robert Zemeckis’ drama Flight has been made available online by Paramount Pictures. The music is written by Academy Award-nominated composer Alan Silvestri who has worked with the director for almost three decades on movies including Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Cast Away and The Polar Express. To listen to the full score, visit Paramount’s awards site. The track titles contain some minor spoilers. As the movie features just a little over 20 minutes of score, no soundtrack album has been announced yet. Flight starring Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, Bruce Greenwood, John Goodman, Melissa Leo and James Badge Dale tells the story of an airline pilot with substance abuse issues who saves 98 lives when a damaged engine threatens an airplane flight.
Video Game Soundtrack Roundup (November 2012)
A couple of soundtracks for major video game titles have recently been announced:
Available now from Ubisoft Music is the soundtrack album for Assassin’s Creed III. The album features the game’s music composed by Lorne Balfe (Megamind, The Dilemma) who previously co-scored last year’s Assassin’s Creed: Revelations with Jesper Kyd. The soundtrack is now available to download on Amazon. Audio clips are available after the jump. Assassin’s Creed III has just been released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 earlier this week and a Wii and Microsoft Windows version is coming out in November. To learn more about the fifth title in the Assassin’s Creed series, visit the official game website.
‘Call of Duty: Black Ops II’ Soundtrack Announced
Activision will release a soundtrack album for the first-person shooter game Call of Duty: Black Ops II. The album includes the main theme composed by Trent Reznor (The Social Network), as well as more than 2 hours of the game’s score composed by Jack Wall (Mass Effect, Myst III & IV). The soundtrack will be released digitally on November 13, 2012 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Audio clips, as well as a video featuring footage from the recording sessions at Abbey Road Studios in London (via IGN) are available after the jump. Call of Duty: Black Ops II is the ninth title in the Call of Duty series and the sequel to 2010’s Black Ops game (scored by Sean Murray and Kevin Sherwood). The video game will be released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows on November 13, 2012.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (October 26, 2012)
Four new movies are opening nationwide this weekend:
One of the most talked about and ambitious film of the season is the epic adventure drama Cloud Atlas directed by Tom Tykwer and Andy & Lana Wachowski and starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant. The film’s music is composed by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil. WaterTower Music has released a soundtrack album featuring the score earlier this week. For the full album details and to listen to audio clips, check out our previous article. Also visit Film Music Magazine for an audio interview with the composers and ASCAP’s website for another interview with Klimek and Heil.
Also opening wide is the horror sequel Silent Hill: Revelation 3D based on the video game, directed by Michael J. Bassett and starring Sean Bean, Deborah Kara Unger, Radha Mitchell, Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harington, Carrie-Anne Moss and Malcolm McDowell. Jeff Danna and Akira Yamaoka who preciously scored the first installment in the series have written the music for the film. Lakeshore Records will release a soundtrack album digitally on October 30 and physically on December 18. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details.
Alberto Iglesias Named Film Composer of the Year 2012 at World Soundtrack Awards
Alberto Iglesias was chosen as Film Composer of the Year 2012 at the World Soundtrack Awards 2012, tonight’s closing event of the 39th Ghent Film Festival. Iglesias also received an award for his score for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy in the Best Original Film Score of the Year 2012 category. The composer’s other scores of the past year include The Monk (Le Moine) and Pedro Almadovar’s The Skin I Live In (La Piel Que Habito). In the Discovery of the Year category, Brian Byrne was awarded for his score for Rodrigo Garcia’s Albert Nobbs starring Glenn Close. The composer also received an award for the original song Lay Your Head Down from Albert Nobbs, which features lyrics by Glenn Close and is performed by Sinead O’Connor. The Public Choice Award went to Abel Korzeniowski for his music for Madonna’s W.E..