Daily Film Music News
A couple of major local critics associations have been announced their winners for this year’s movies today. Check out the film music-related picks below. Ludovic Bource’s music for the black-and-white romance The Artist has been chosen by both the New York Film Critics Online and the Boston Society of Film Critics. For a full list of winners, click on each group’s name below.
Los Angeles Film Critics Association:
Best Film Score: Hanna – The Chemical Brothers
Runner-Up: Drive – Cliff Martinez
Two new movies are opening in wide release this weekend:
Expected to top the weekend box office is the ensemble romantic comedy New Year’s Eve directed by Garry Marshall and starring Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Biel, Sarah Jessica Parker, Halle Berry, Robert De Niro, Sofia Vergara, Jon Bon Jovi, Hilary Swank, Lea Michele, Zac Efron, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Josh Duhamel, Seth Meyers, Hector Elizondo, Abigail Breslin, Michelle Pfeiffer and Katherine Heigl. A soundtrack album featuring the songs from the film has been released by WaterTower Music on Tuesday. For the full track list and audio clips, visit our previous article. John Debney has written movie’s score, but no score album has been released so far. Check out two videos from the recording of the score and of a song written by Debney (performed by Alison Sudal and with lyrics by Glen Ballard) on YouTube.
Also opening wide is the comedy The Sitter directed by David Gordon Green and starring Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell, Ari Grayner, Erin Daniels, Jessica Hecht and Method Man. The film’s score is written by David Wingo and Jeff McIlwain. A soundtrack album featuring one track from the score, as well as the songs from the movie by artists including The Sugarhill Gang, Slick Rick, Cluts, Pharcyde, The Jungle Brothers and Raphael Saadiq has been released on Sony Music earlier this week. For the full details and to listen to audio clips, check out our soundtrack announcement.
Deadline is reporting that Hans Zimmer and Pharrell Williams have been set to supervise the music for the 84th Academy Awards ceremony next February. They will be serving as music consultants, which will be the first time both of them are involved in the production of the awards show. Brian Grazer and Don Mischer are producing next year’s ceremony. Grazer has worked Zimmer on several movies, including Frost/Nixon, The DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons. Zimmer has announced a few months ago that he will be sitting out as a contender at this year’s Oscar race despite having a number of qualifying movies, including Rango and the upcoming Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Zimmer has been nominated for nine Academy Awards and has received the award once in 1995 for The Lion King. Williams has co-scored last year’s animation hit Despicable Me, which marked his film scoring debut. The 84th Academy Awards will be airing on February 26, 2012 on ABC.
The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood has announced the nominations for the 39th Annual Annie Awards. Here are the music-related nominees:
Music in a Feature Production
Ludovic Bource has won the European Film Award for his score for Michel Hazanavicius‘ black-and-white romance The Artist in the European Composer cateogory at tonight’s EFA Night 2011. The composer accepted his first European Film Award in person at the EFA ceremony in Berlin. The other composers nominated in the music category were Alexandre Desplat for The King’s Speech, Alberto Iglesias for The Skin I Live In (La piel que habito) and Mihály Vig for The Turin Horse (A Torinoi Lo). Bource is also considered to be one of the frontrunners for this season’s Academy Awards. Bource’s soundtrack for The Artist has been released by Sony Classical. For the full details of the album including audio clips, check out our soundtrack announcement. For the full list of EFA winners, visit the official European Film Awards website.
While there are no movies opening wide this weekend, a number of films are receiving a limited release:
The most talked about movie opening this week is the drama Shame directed by Steve McQueen and starring Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale, Nicole Beharie and Hannah Ware. The film’s score is composed by Harry Escott. A soundtrack album featuring three tracks from the score, as well as several songs from the film performed by artists including Blondie, Howlin’ Wolf and actress Carey Mulligan will be released on December 6 by Sony Music. Visit our soundtrack announcement for the full album details, including audio clips.
Receiving an Oscar qualifying run this weekend before opening wider next year is the drama The Lady directed by Luc Besson and starring Michelle Yeoh and David Thewlis. The film’s music is written by the director’s regular musical collaborator Eric Serra. A soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score, as well as the song Soldier of Love by Sade has been released overseas by Strategic Marketing Group. No domestic release has been announced yet, but to find out how import the album and learn more about the album, visit our previous article.
The nominations for the 54th Grammy Awards have been announced. Here are the nominations in the film music related categories:
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
Three new movies opened in wide release this past Wednesday:
The film released in most theaters this Thanksgiving weekend is the new movie adaptation of The Muppets directed by James Bobin and starring Amy Adams, Jason Segel and Chris Cooper. The film’s score is written by Christophe Beck and Bret McKenzie serves as the project’s music supervisor and has also written several songs for the movie. To find out more about McKenzie’s work on the film, check out interviews in the New York Times, TWoP and The Hollywood Reporter. A soundtrack album featuring the songs from the film has been released on Walt Disney Records. To find out more about the album, visit out our previous article. No release of Beck’s score has been announced at this point. To learn more about Beck’s contributions to the film, check out an article in Variety.
Also opening wide is the family movie Hugo directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Asa Butterfield, Chloe Moretz, Sascha Baron Cohen, Jude Law, Emily Mortimer, Ben Kingsley, Ray Winstone and Christopher Lee. Howard Shore has composed the music for the film. A soundtrack album including the composer’s score has been released on his own label Howe Records last Tuesday. For more information and audio clips, visit our soundtrack announcement. Also check out Shore’s official website for an interview with the composer about his work on the film and a recent article in Variety to learn more about his latest collaboration with Scorsese.
Two new movies are opening in wide release this weekend:
Opening in most theaters is the fourth part of the Twilight series, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 directed by Bill Condon and starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Dakota Fanning, Michael Sheen, Anna Kendrick and Ashley Greene. The film’s score is composed by Carter Burwell who has scored his second movie for the franchise. A soundtrack album with the songs from the film, plus one track from Burwell’s score has already been released by Atlantic Records. For audio clips and more information about the album, visit our previous article. The label will also be releasing a separate soundtrack featuring Burwell’s music on December 13. For the full details, check out our soundtrack announcement.
Also opening wide is the animated film sequel Happy Feet Two directed by George Miller and featuring the voice talent of Elijah Wood, Pink, Robin Williams, Hank Azari, Benjamin Flores, Elizabeth Daily, Sofía Vergara, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Hugo Weaving and Anthony LaPaglia. John Powell has written the score and also produced the songs for the film. Some of the other composers well known in the film music community who are involved in the music for the project include T Bone Burnett and David Hirschfelder. A soundtrack album including both songs and Powell’s score has been released on Watertower Music. Audio clips and more details can be checked out in our previous news article.
Three new movies are opening in wide release this weekend:
Expected to top the weekend box office is the 3D action adventure Immortals directed by Tarsem Singh and starring Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, Stephen Dorff, Isabel Lucas, Freida Pinto, Luke Evans, Kellan Lutz and John Hurt. The film’s music is composed by Trevor Morris. Relativity Music Group has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score. For audio clips and more information about the release, visit our soundtrack announcement. For a video from the recording of the score, click here and also check out audio interviews with Morris about his work on the film on Film Music Magazine and Scorenotes.
Also opening wide is the historical drama J. Edgar directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer, Judi Dench, Stephen Root, Josh Lucas, Dermot Mulroney and Jeffrey Donovan. Eastwood has also written the score for the film. No soundtrack album has been announced, but the score can be listened to on Warner Bros’ Awards website. To learn more about the movie, visit our previous article.