US composer Elliot Goldenthal will receive a lifetime achievement award at the upcoming 24th World Soundtrack Awards (Wsa), Film Fest Gent’s annual film music awards ceremony.
Goldenthal is most renowned for his Oscar, Golden Globe and Wsa-winning score for Frida, as well as scoring Interview With The Vampire, Heat, Batman Forever, Michael Collins, Titus and Across The Universe across his accomplished career.
He will be presented with his award on October 16 at the Wsa ceremony and concert in Ghent, in which a selection of Goldenthal’s work will be performed by the Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Dirk Brossé.
Goldenthal,...
Goldenthal is most renowned for his Oscar, Golden Globe and Wsa-winning score for Frida, as well as scoring Interview With The Vampire, Heat, Batman Forever, Michael Collins, Titus and Across The Universe across his accomplished career.
He will be presented with his award on October 16 at the Wsa ceremony and concert in Ghent, in which a selection of Goldenthal’s work will be performed by the Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Dirk Brossé.
Goldenthal,...
- 4/24/2024
- ScreenDaily
There’s an old, old joke about the prestigious New York City concert venue Carnegie Hall, which opened in 1891.
“How do you get to Carnegie Hall?”
“Practice, practice, practice.”
Over the past 130 years, such renowned composers as Antonin Dvorak, Richard Strauss, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Philip Glass and Milton Babbitt debuted their works at the Carnegie.
The new Netflix documentary “American Symphony,” which has been Oscar shortlisted for best documentary, best original score and song, follows Academy and multiple Grammy Award-winning composer/musicians/singer Jon Batiste as he prepares to debut his first symphony at Carnegie Hall while his wife Suleika Jaouad battles a recurrence of leukemia. The heart-on-your-sleeve documentary ends with the triumphant premiere Sept. 22, 2022, that even a power outage on stage couldn’t top. Variety noted in its review: “It wasn’t just the story of America, and its collage-like charms and vices. This was also Batiste’s story,...
“How do you get to Carnegie Hall?”
“Practice, practice, practice.”
Over the past 130 years, such renowned composers as Antonin Dvorak, Richard Strauss, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Philip Glass and Milton Babbitt debuted their works at the Carnegie.
The new Netflix documentary “American Symphony,” which has been Oscar shortlisted for best documentary, best original score and song, follows Academy and multiple Grammy Award-winning composer/musicians/singer Jon Batiste as he prepares to debut his first symphony at Carnegie Hall while his wife Suleika Jaouad battles a recurrence of leukemia. The heart-on-your-sleeve documentary ends with the triumphant premiere Sept. 22, 2022, that even a power outage on stage couldn’t top. Variety noted in its review: “It wasn’t just the story of America, and its collage-like charms and vices. This was also Batiste’s story,...
- 1/2/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
A version of this story about Laura Karpman and “Ms. Marvel” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Drama and Limited Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
The lead character in “Ms. Marvel” is Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old Pakistani-American girl from New Jersey who happens to be a huge fan of the Avengers and who develops special powers and becomes a superhero herself. Obviously, that gave composer Laura Karpman a lot to think about when she wrote her Emmy-nominated score (and theme music) for the series, which stars Iman Vellani as the title character.
“We wanted it to have a young, hip sound at times,” said Karpman, a Juilliard-trained composer whose other work includes the movies “Paris Can Wait” and “Resort to Love” and the TV series “Lovecraft Country” and “Why We Hate,” for which she won an Emmy in 2020. “We wanted it to have a recognizable kind of Marvel sound.
The lead character in “Ms. Marvel” is Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old Pakistani-American girl from New Jersey who happens to be a huge fan of the Avengers and who develops special powers and becomes a superhero herself. Obviously, that gave composer Laura Karpman a lot to think about when she wrote her Emmy-nominated score (and theme music) for the series, which stars Iman Vellani as the title character.
“We wanted it to have a young, hip sound at times,” said Karpman, a Juilliard-trained composer whose other work includes the movies “Paris Can Wait” and “Resort to Love” and the TV series “Lovecraft Country” and “Why We Hate,” for which she won an Emmy in 2020. “We wanted it to have a recognizable kind of Marvel sound.
- 8/23/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Spike Lee and the photographs, album covers, movie posters, letters, books, costumes and film memorabilia that have inspired him will be explored through a new immersive exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum.
Spike Lee: Creative Sources will offer an in-depth look at the individuals, places and influences that have shaped the Oscar winner’s work. Running Oct. 6, 2023 to Feb. 4, 2024 and organized by Kimberli Gant, a curator of modern and contemporary art, with Indira A. Abiskaroon, curatorial assistant, modern and contemporary art at the Brooklyn Museum, the installation will feature over 300 objects displayed thematically in seven sections, each of which will feature a clip from one of Lee’s films.
“By making Lee’s collection accessible to the public, this showcase celebrates his legacy while honoring his deep connection to Brooklyn, a place that has been an integral part of his storytelling,” Gant said in a statement.
The seven sections of influences span Black history and culture,...
Spike Lee: Creative Sources will offer an in-depth look at the individuals, places and influences that have shaped the Oscar winner’s work. Running Oct. 6, 2023 to Feb. 4, 2024 and organized by Kimberli Gant, a curator of modern and contemporary art, with Indira A. Abiskaroon, curatorial assistant, modern and contemporary art at the Brooklyn Museum, the installation will feature over 300 objects displayed thematically in seven sections, each of which will feature a clip from one of Lee’s films.
“By making Lee’s collection accessible to the public, this showcase celebrates his legacy while honoring his deep connection to Brooklyn, a place that has been an integral part of his storytelling,” Gant said in a statement.
The seven sections of influences span Black history and culture,...
- 7/10/2023
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Composer Bear McCreary discusses a few of his favorite movies with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Wolf Man (1941) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s Wolf Man movie power rankings
Host (2020)
Gremlins (1984) – Glenn Erickson’s 4K Blu-ray review, Tfh’s 30th anniversary celebration
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Total Recall (1990)
Robot Monster (1953) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary
Cat-Women Of The Moon (1953)
The Man With The Golden Arm (1955) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary
The Ten Commandments (1956) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary
The Swarm (1978) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings
Batman (1989)
Dick Tracy (1990)
Looney Tunes: Back In Action (2003) – Mike Schlesinger’s trailer commentary
Chinatown (1974) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary
The Professor And The Madman (2019)
Hollywood Boulevard (1976) – Jon Davison’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
Do The Right Thing (1989) – Allan Arkush...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Wolf Man (1941) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s Wolf Man movie power rankings
Host (2020)
Gremlins (1984) – Glenn Erickson’s 4K Blu-ray review, Tfh’s 30th anniversary celebration
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Total Recall (1990)
Robot Monster (1953) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary
Cat-Women Of The Moon (1953)
The Man With The Golden Arm (1955) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary
The Ten Commandments (1956) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary
The Swarm (1978) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings
Batman (1989)
Dick Tracy (1990)
Looney Tunes: Back In Action (2003) – Mike Schlesinger’s trailer commentary
Chinatown (1974) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary
The Professor And The Madman (2019)
Hollywood Boulevard (1976) – Jon Davison’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
Do The Right Thing (1989) – Allan Arkush...
- 12/6/2022
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
“Nothing excites me more than the lack of a genre,” reveals four-time Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman about his latest score for Noah Baumbach‘s anticipated “White Noise.” For our recent webchat he adds, “as I started working on the film, people would ask me, how would you describe this movie? I don’t know how to describe it. It’s cynical, but it’s not, It’s satirical, or social satire, but it’s not a social satire. It’s romantic, but it’s not a romance. It’s got thriller elements, but it’s definitely not a thriller. So I have no idea how to describe it. That to me is very exciting.” We talked with Elfman as part of Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2022/2023 awards contenders. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
See dozens of interviews with 2022/2023 awards contenders
“White Noise” is...
See dozens of interviews with 2022/2023 awards contenders
“White Noise” is...
- 11/13/2022
- by Rob Licuria
- Gold Derby
Hollywood in the early 1970s was unkind to many of the industry's surviving golden-age legends. The smartest of the bunch had either retired, moved to television, or segued to supporting roles in disaster films. Unlike our current era, there wasn't much nostalgia for the good old days. The '50s and '60s were a time of social upheaval during which Black Americans struggled mightily to fight and win basic civil rights. Meanwhile, the Vietnam War was only getting bloodier. People were not in the market for old-fashioned entertainment. They wanted edgier, angrier movies. Those who wanted more of the same could stay home and watch the same when it reran on the afternoon movie.
Where did this leave John Wayne, the Western icon who'd become the big-screen personification of everything that was right (morally and politically) about America at the time? After scoring his first Best Actor Oscar as the alcoholic U.
Where did this leave John Wayne, the Western icon who'd become the big-screen personification of everything that was right (morally and politically) about America at the time? After scoring his first Best Actor Oscar as the alcoholic U.
- 9/24/2022
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Exclusive: Six finalists were announced today for the richest prize in documentary film—the 4th Annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film.
A grant of 200,000 will go to the winning film to support final production, distribution and marketing of the documentary. In addition, a runner-up will receive 50,000, and up to four finalists will earn a 25,000 grant. The Better Angels Society, the Library of Congress, and the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation established the award in 2019 to recognize “one late-stage documentary that uses original research and compelling narrative to tell stories that bring American history to life using archival materials.”
Among the finalists are Bella, a film about the late New York Congresswoman Bella Abzug; Philly on Fire, a film about the infamous Move bombing in 1985, in which Philadelphia police dropped two explosive devices onto a row of buildings occupied by a controversial African American group, killing 11 people including six children,...
A grant of 200,000 will go to the winning film to support final production, distribution and marketing of the documentary. In addition, a runner-up will receive 50,000, and up to four finalists will earn a 25,000 grant. The Better Angels Society, the Library of Congress, and the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation established the award in 2019 to recognize “one late-stage documentary that uses original research and compelling narrative to tell stories that bring American history to life using archival materials.”
Among the finalists are Bella, a film about the late New York Congresswoman Bella Abzug; Philly on Fire, a film about the infamous Move bombing in 1985, in which Philadelphia police dropped two explosive devices onto a row of buildings occupied by a controversial African American group, killing 11 people including six children,...
- 7/26/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
CBS News is rebranding its streaming channels as CBS News Streaming Network, with a new slate of programming featuring more of the network’s broadcast talent, including a Person to Person series hosted by Norah O’Donnell and Gayle King tapped to anchor the first of new CBS Reports documentary projects.
Other shows include new weekly series featuring others from the CBS Mornings franchise, including Tony Dokoupil, Tracy Smith, Lee Cowan, Michelle Miller, Dana Jacobson and Jeff Glor, as well Steve Hartman and Ben Tracy. Live reports will come from a new 4,000-square-foot studio at the CBS Broadcast Center, with heavy use of LEDs and touchscreen monitors. There also will be new graphics and music for the line up.
Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon last year were named presidents and co-heads of a combined CBS News and Stations, and they have made a number of changes to bolster streaming across the divisions.
Other shows include new weekly series featuring others from the CBS Mornings franchise, including Tony Dokoupil, Tracy Smith, Lee Cowan, Michelle Miller, Dana Jacobson and Jeff Glor, as well Steve Hartman and Ben Tracy. Live reports will come from a new 4,000-square-foot studio at the CBS Broadcast Center, with heavy use of LEDs and touchscreen monitors. There also will be new graphics and music for the line up.
Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon last year were named presidents and co-heads of a combined CBS News and Stations, and they have made a number of changes to bolster streaming across the divisions.
- 1/24/2022
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
There aren’t many stains on the legacy of consummate conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, best known as the long-running maestro, front and center, for the New York Philharmonic beginning in the 1950s. But in January 1970 one curious controversy briefly turned Bernstein’s life into a tabloid fixture when Tom Wolfe wrote a New York Magazine essay skewering a benefit party Bernstein held in his home for the Black Panthers as the stuff of “radical chic” — a term the “Bonfire of the Vanities” writer coined to describe a certain strain of limousine liberalism. The party convened the liter- and glitterati of 1970s New York City to support one of the politically active Bernstein’s many causes, but critics like Wolfe interpreted the event as misguided. Wolfe went so far as to call it “slumming.”
The compassionate new documentary “Bernstein’s Wall” spends about five minutes on this episode, clearly a...
The compassionate new documentary “Bernstein’s Wall” spends about five minutes on this episode, clearly a...
- 9/6/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Leonard Bernstein’s closeted sexuality provides a vaguely salacious hook for “Bernstein’s Wall,” a documentary about his life and achievements that devotes time to his liaisons with men before and during his marriage to actress Felicia Montealegre.
But with newly discovered archival footage, much of which Bernstein narrates himself, documentarian Douglas Tirola (“Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead”) creates an engaging overview of an artist and activist that throws down a considerable dramatic gauntlet — perhaps, more than anything, for the biopic of the composer and conductor that Bradley Cooper is currently cowriting, directing, producing and starring in for Netflix.
Its feverishly edited volume of concert footage and first-person interviews occasionally delivers a slightly dizzying chronology of Bernstein’s life and times, but Tirola does an exceptional job of showcasing the irrefutable truth that he contained a few more multitudes than most.
Starting with Bernstein’s Boston upbringing as the son of...
But with newly discovered archival footage, much of which Bernstein narrates himself, documentarian Douglas Tirola (“Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead”) creates an engaging overview of an artist and activist that throws down a considerable dramatic gauntlet — perhaps, more than anything, for the biopic of the composer and conductor that Bradley Cooper is currently cowriting, directing, producing and starring in for Netflix.
Its feverishly edited volume of concert footage and first-person interviews occasionally delivers a slightly dizzying chronology of Bernstein’s life and times, but Tirola does an exceptional job of showcasing the irrefutable truth that he contained a few more multitudes than most.
Starting with Bernstein’s Boston upbringing as the son of...
- 9/2/2021
- by Todd Gilchrist
- The Wrap
“The Comey Rule,” based on former FBI Director James Comey‘s book “A High Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership,” was the first dramatization of the Trump presidency, but the Showtime miniseries from Billy Ray was not meant to take sides — and the music had to reflect that.
“The most important thing about story, as I was talking to Billy, was really it was a story about a man — Comey — who has an idealistic love of the institution. He has a sort of romantic idea about the high and lofty ideals to which that institution should aspire,” composer Henry Jackman tells Gold Derby at our Meet the Experts: TV Composers panel (watch above). “And just when he gets the post of his life, it happens to coincide with political events that are so difficult and impossible to manage that he ends up in absolutely extraordinary and impossible situations. So it’s...
“The most important thing about story, as I was talking to Billy, was really it was a story about a man — Comey — who has an idealistic love of the institution. He has a sort of romantic idea about the high and lofty ideals to which that institution should aspire,” composer Henry Jackman tells Gold Derby at our Meet the Experts: TV Composers panel (watch above). “And just when he gets the post of his life, it happens to coincide with political events that are so difficult and impossible to manage that he ends up in absolutely extraordinary and impossible situations. So it’s...
- 6/8/2021
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
As surely as the ball drops in Times Square, the beginning of every new year always yields a new movie in which Liam Neeson is armed and wronged, which brings us to 2021 and “The Marksman.”
Granted, Neeson’s reign as an action hero of a certain age has yielded at least one genuinely worthwhile film (“The Grey”) alongside some delightfully trashy collaborations with director Jaume Collet-Serra. “The Marksman,” alas, plods along without any sense of vitality or absurdity; director and co-writer Robert Lorenz (“Trouble With the Curve”) has spent much of his career working almost exclusively with Clint Eastwood, so it’s not a stretch to surmise that this vehicle was crafted to follow in the well-worn path of “Gran Torino” and “The Mule.”
Neeson certainly brings more warmth and empathy to the character, but the film itself plays like an amalgam of action-movie clichés (drink every time someone says “the cartel”), with some too-little,...
Granted, Neeson’s reign as an action hero of a certain age has yielded at least one genuinely worthwhile film (“The Grey”) alongside some delightfully trashy collaborations with director Jaume Collet-Serra. “The Marksman,” alas, plods along without any sense of vitality or absurdity; director and co-writer Robert Lorenz (“Trouble With the Curve”) has spent much of his career working almost exclusively with Clint Eastwood, so it’s not a stretch to surmise that this vehicle was crafted to follow in the well-worn path of “Gran Torino” and “The Mule.”
Neeson certainly brings more warmth and empathy to the character, but the film itself plays like an amalgam of action-movie clichés (drink every time someone says “the cartel”), with some too-little,...
- 1/12/2021
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
The representatives for the use of music in Aaron Copland’s estate say that they are reviewing Donald Trump’s team’s use of the late composer’s Hoe-Down in a video that touted his administration’s accomplishments.
The music was featured in the campaign-like spot that the president posted on Monday.
pic.twitter.com/g4NoRxSnQ5
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2020
Copland, who died in 1990, bequeathed a large part of his estate to the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, which operates grant programs and gives the greenlight for the use of his music via classical music publisher Boosey & Hawkes.
“The Aaron Copland Fund for Music does not permit the use of Copland’s music in any form of political advertising, and neither the Copland Fund nor Boosey & Hawkes were asked for permission before the video was posted,” said Carol Ann Cheung, a spokesperson for the publisher.
Cheung said...
The music was featured in the campaign-like spot that the president posted on Monday.
pic.twitter.com/g4NoRxSnQ5
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2020
Copland, who died in 1990, bequeathed a large part of his estate to the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, which operates grant programs and gives the greenlight for the use of his music via classical music publisher Boosey & Hawkes.
“The Aaron Copland Fund for Music does not permit the use of Copland’s music in any form of political advertising, and neither the Copland Fund nor Boosey & Hawkes were asked for permission before the video was posted,” said Carol Ann Cheung, a spokesperson for the publisher.
Cheung said...
- 12/30/2020
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
For many dozens of Norman Lloyd’s closest friends, one of the most highly anticipated events of every year has long been the great character actor Norman Lloyd’s birthday party on November 6. The countdown to 100 was a much-relished slow-motion occasion, but Norman has long since put that milestone in the rear-view mirror. Still vigorous, mentally alert and blessed with a booming voice that could doubtless still be heard from the back row of a large theater’s second balcony, Norman a few days ago turned 106. Olivia de Havilland long ran a close second to Norman in Hollywood’s longevity department but, with her death last July, Norman has the field all to himself. It will certainly be a while until any Hollywood figure now in their 90s will threaten the actor’s record.
Although Norman continues to receive visitors at his cozy, tree-enshrouded home on the Westside, the usual boisterous November 6 gathering at a generous neighbor’s place was clearly not possible this year. Instead, over the weekend he presided over a crowded Zoom affair to accommodate the many guests he normally encounters in person. Then on Monday, my son Nick and I were joined by Los Angeles Film Critics Association president Claudia Puig and her husband Jerry Taylor to present Norman with a special new Legacy Award, recognizing Norman’s exceptional contributions to film and the arts over a nearly nine-decade career. Among the highlights encompassing his 1930s stage work with the likes of Pierre Fresnay, Elia Kazan, Joseph Losey, Orson Welles, John Houseman and Aaron Copland; his film debut as the villain who fell from the Statue of Liberty in Alfred Hitchcock’s Saboteur; and his extensive subsequent work in film, theater and television (most famously in for his long run as Dr. Auschlander in St. Elsewhere) decades afterwards (his final film appearance—to date—came in Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck in 2015).
As is his custom during these socially dismal days, Norman receives visitors while sitting at a table in his breakfast room, which opens upon an outdoor patio where his guests can sit. One is required to speak loudly and clearly — something Norman does as a matter of habit, having been well trained to pitch his voice to the back of the most cavernous theaters. He also inspires one to match him in the unfashionable art of precise enunciation, at which he excelled on Monday as he enthused about Joe Biden’s victory.
But most of Norman’s thoughts and comments focused on another Brit-made-good, Charlie Chaplin. Norman recalled how he was taken to Chaplin’s home one day in the early 1940s to play tennis and was soon not only a regular on Chaplin’s court but also an actor in Limelight. Norman boomed out memories of the one Hollywood figure he considered a true genius for a good 20 minutes, many of them centering upon tennis (they were evidently very well matched).
If you listen to the brief accompanying snippet, you’ll get a sense of Norman’s continued dedication to theatrical enunciation and diction.
Although Norman continues to receive visitors at his cozy, tree-enshrouded home on the Westside, the usual boisterous November 6 gathering at a generous neighbor’s place was clearly not possible this year. Instead, over the weekend he presided over a crowded Zoom affair to accommodate the many guests he normally encounters in person. Then on Monday, my son Nick and I were joined by Los Angeles Film Critics Association president Claudia Puig and her husband Jerry Taylor to present Norman with a special new Legacy Award, recognizing Norman’s exceptional contributions to film and the arts over a nearly nine-decade career. Among the highlights encompassing his 1930s stage work with the likes of Pierre Fresnay, Elia Kazan, Joseph Losey, Orson Welles, John Houseman and Aaron Copland; his film debut as the villain who fell from the Statue of Liberty in Alfred Hitchcock’s Saboteur; and his extensive subsequent work in film, theater and television (most famously in for his long run as Dr. Auschlander in St. Elsewhere) decades afterwards (his final film appearance—to date—came in Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck in 2015).
As is his custom during these socially dismal days, Norman receives visitors while sitting at a table in his breakfast room, which opens upon an outdoor patio where his guests can sit. One is required to speak loudly and clearly — something Norman does as a matter of habit, having been well trained to pitch his voice to the back of the most cavernous theaters. He also inspires one to match him in the unfashionable art of precise enunciation, at which he excelled on Monday as he enthused about Joe Biden’s victory.
But most of Norman’s thoughts and comments focused on another Brit-made-good, Charlie Chaplin. Norman recalled how he was taken to Chaplin’s home one day in the early 1940s to play tennis and was soon not only a regular on Chaplin’s court but also an actor in Limelight. Norman boomed out memories of the one Hollywood figure he considered a true genius for a good 20 minutes, many of them centering upon tennis (they were evidently very well matched).
If you listen to the brief accompanying snippet, you’ll get a sense of Norman’s continued dedication to theatrical enunciation and diction.
- 11/11/2020
- by Todd McCarthy
- Deadline Film + TV
At 86, Oscar-Winning Composer Dave Grusin Is Ready to Tour Again When the Covid-19 Pandemic Subsides
Oscar-winning composer, Grammy-winning arranger, jazz pianist and bandleader, pioneer in the digital recording world: Dave Grusin could retire on his laurels. But at 86, he’s itching to get back on the road and perform again.
“Oh, if they ever let us,” he tells Variety from his Montana ranch. “Not to have anything to do, it’s disconcerting to say the least.” Adds Grusin’s longtime bandmate, guitarist Lee Ritenour: “He’s gotten used to it, traveling the world and being appreciated. I think he enjoys that.”
And yet, if the pandemic continues to torture artists throughout 2021, there are still all those Grusin soundtracks to appreciate: the fragile beauty of “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” (1968), the atmospheric colors of “Three Days of the Condor” (1975), the hymn-like simplicity of “On Golden Pond” (1981), the delightfully upbeat “Tootsie” (1982), the Mexican folk influences of “The Milagro Beanfield War” (1987), the late-night jazz of “The Fabulous Baker Boys...
“Oh, if they ever let us,” he tells Variety from his Montana ranch. “Not to have anything to do, it’s disconcerting to say the least.” Adds Grusin’s longtime bandmate, guitarist Lee Ritenour: “He’s gotten used to it, traveling the world and being appreciated. I think he enjoys that.”
And yet, if the pandemic continues to torture artists throughout 2021, there are still all those Grusin soundtracks to appreciate: the fragile beauty of “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” (1968), the atmospheric colors of “Three Days of the Condor” (1975), the hymn-like simplicity of “On Golden Pond” (1981), the delightfully upbeat “Tootsie” (1982), the Mexican folk influences of “The Milagro Beanfield War” (1987), the late-night jazz of “The Fabulous Baker Boys...
- 11/6/2020
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
“The Glorias,” now streaming on Amazon Prime, tells the story of feminist icon Gloria Steinem, her troubled home life as a child, her travels through the decades, and her rise to prominence as a leader in the women’s movement.
It fell to New York composer Elliot Goldenthal to musicalize that journey. The director, Julie Taymor, is his longtime partner, and he has scored all seven of her films, winning a 2002 Oscar for the Mexican-flavored music of “Frida.”
Surprisingly, electric guitars are featured throughout the score, although there are moments of jazz and orchestral textures as well. The composer was inspired by Taymor’s images of the bus carrying young Steinem out west. “The big sky, the stretched-out highway, and these really simple, major-chord guitar strums” felt to him like a modern-day version of Aaron Copland’s symphonic Americana of the mid-20th century.
Goldenthal turns to jazzier sounds, notably...
It fell to New York composer Elliot Goldenthal to musicalize that journey. The director, Julie Taymor, is his longtime partner, and he has scored all seven of her films, winning a 2002 Oscar for the Mexican-flavored music of “Frida.”
Surprisingly, electric guitars are featured throughout the score, although there are moments of jazz and orchestral textures as well. The composer was inspired by Taymor’s images of the bus carrying young Steinem out west. “The big sky, the stretched-out highway, and these really simple, major-chord guitar strums” felt to him like a modern-day version of Aaron Copland’s symphonic Americana of the mid-20th century.
Goldenthal turns to jazzier sounds, notably...
- 9/30/2020
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Daniel Walber's series on Production Design. Click on the images to see them in magnified detail.
What is the wallpaper of the Common Man? It’s a strange question, but Barton Fink is a strange movie. The titular writer (John Turturro) is a man consumed by passion for the clichéd unsung hero, though he would never go so far as to actually ask a Common Man what he thinks. His obsession is really with the idea of the Common Man, abstract and waiting to be tossed onstage or slapped onto the blank canvas of a movie screen.
In his defense, the Common Man was not yet a cliche when Fink arrived in Hollywood, sometime in 1941. Henry Wallace’s famous “Century of the Common Man” speech wouldn’t be delivered until May of 1942, inspiring Aaron Copland to write his “Fanfare for the Common Man” soon after. Maybe someday the Coen Brothers will make a sequel,...
What is the wallpaper of the Common Man? It’s a strange question, but Barton Fink is a strange movie. The titular writer (John Turturro) is a man consumed by passion for the clichéd unsung hero, though he would never go so far as to actually ask a Common Man what he thinks. His obsession is really with the idea of the Common Man, abstract and waiting to be tossed onstage or slapped onto the blank canvas of a movie screen.
In his defense, the Common Man was not yet a cliche when Fink arrived in Hollywood, sometime in 1941. Henry Wallace’s famous “Century of the Common Man” speech wouldn’t be delivered until May of 1942, inspiring Aaron Copland to write his “Fanfare for the Common Man” soon after. Maybe someday the Coen Brothers will make a sequel,...
- 7/22/2020
- by Daniel Walber
- FilmExperience
Carter Burwell is the musical force behind many of your favorite movies, beginning in 1984 with his debut “Blood Simple,” also his first collaboration with the Coen Brothers, who he’s worked with steadily ever since. He’s only been nominated for Oscars twice, for Todd Haynes’ “Carol” and Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” and has never won. But he did scoop up an Emmy for Todd Haynes’ lush 2011 miniseries “Mildred Pierce,” and now is back on the small screen with scores for Apple TV+’s flagship drama “The Morning Show” and Netflix’s satire “Space Force,” positioning him prominently among the ranks of the streaming swell underway in 2020.
“At this particular moment in time when we’re experiencing a sort of streaming wars, there’s just a tremendous amount of production going on, and a lot of money flooding into it,” Burwell said in a phone interview out of New York.
“At this particular moment in time when we’re experiencing a sort of streaming wars, there’s just a tremendous amount of production going on, and a lot of money flooding into it,” Burwell said in a phone interview out of New York.
- 7/9/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Carter Burwell is best known for his film scores — earning Oscar nominations for “Carol” (2015) and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017) — so much so that even his agent thinks he’ll turn down TV opportunities. “My agent usually assumes I’m going to say no to television and shows, and it’s usually a safe assumption, but I am such a big such of Greg Daniels’ work that I said, ‘Yeah, I’d like to talk to him,’” Burwell shared on Gold Derby’s Meet the Btl Experts: Composers panel (watch above) about how he joined “Space Force.”
An “Office” reunion between Daniels and Steve Carell, “Space Force” is a comedy, but you might not be able to tell if you listen to its score in isolation. Going against type of what you’d consider “comedy scores,” Burwell created a traditional, militaristic and aspirational theme for the series, which chronicles the newly formed Space Force,...
An “Office” reunion between Daniels and Steve Carell, “Space Force” is a comedy, but you might not be able to tell if you listen to its score in isolation. Going against type of what you’d consider “comedy scores,” Burwell created a traditional, militaristic and aspirational theme for the series, which chronicles the newly formed Space Force,...
- 6/23/2020
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
Lennie Niehaus, who went from Stan Kenton sideman to Clint Eastwood’s movie composer during a nearly 60-year career in music, died Thursday at his daughter’s home in Redlands, Calif. He was 90.
Niehaus’s two dozen films for Eastwood include original scores for the best picture-winning Western “Unforgiven,” the Charlie Parker biopic “Bird” and the popular romantic drama “The Bridges of Madison County.”
The two met in 1953 at California’s Fort Ord, when the two were in the Army during the Korean Conflict. “I used to play jazz jobs at one of the beer clubs on the base, and Clint was tending bar,” Niehaus wrote in an essay about the actor-director for his 1996 American Film Institute Life Achievement Award. “I used to go off post and play in a little jazz club in nearby Santa Cruz on Sunday afternoons, and he would be there.”
Niehaus’s Army service interrupted...
Niehaus’s two dozen films for Eastwood include original scores for the best picture-winning Western “Unforgiven,” the Charlie Parker biopic “Bird” and the popular romantic drama “The Bridges of Madison County.”
The two met in 1953 at California’s Fort Ord, when the two were in the Army during the Korean Conflict. “I used to play jazz jobs at one of the beer clubs on the base, and Clint was tending bar,” Niehaus wrote in an essay about the actor-director for his 1996 American Film Institute Life Achievement Award. “I used to go off post and play in a little jazz club in nearby Santa Cruz on Sunday afternoons, and he would be there.”
Niehaus’s Army service interrupted...
- 6/1/2020
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Rosanne Cash has won the 2021 Edward MacDowell Medal, though the prize ceremony in her honor won’t take place until August 8th, 2021 due to the coronavirus.
Named after the composer Edward MacDowell, the MacDowell Medal honors artists who have made significant contributions to American culture. Previous winners include Georgia O’Keeffe, John Updike, Leonard Bernstein, Joan Didion, Philip Roth, David Lynch and more. Cash is the 61st recipient of the award.
“To be included in a list with Aaron Copland, Eudora Welty, Toni Morrison, and so many more distinguished artists, is...
Named after the composer Edward MacDowell, the MacDowell Medal honors artists who have made significant contributions to American culture. Previous winners include Georgia O’Keeffe, John Updike, Leonard Bernstein, Joan Didion, Philip Roth, David Lynch and more. Cash is the 61st recipient of the award.
“To be included in a list with Aaron Copland, Eudora Welty, Toni Morrison, and so many more distinguished artists, is...
- 5/18/2020
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Released early in 1972, a time when concept albums were regularly being delivered to record stores, The Ballad of Calico checked all the boxes. Narrative storyline with songs sung in the voices of characters? Check. Cover packaging that made it look more like a scrapbook than an album? Check. Accompanying booklet laying out the concept? Check. Symphonic fanfare that opens the album and is reprised at the end? Check. All of it spread over two LPs, just like Tommy and Jesus Chris Superstar? Double check.
The only thing abnormal about it...
The only thing abnormal about it...
- 3/23/2020
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
Washington, D.C. — Political chatter was kept to a minimum Sunday night as the Kennedy Center Honors presented elaborate tributes to “Sesame Street” — made more poignant by the death of legendary puppeteer Caroll Spinney earlier in the day — as well as Sally Field, Linda Ronstadt, Earth, Wind and Fire and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.
The gala, in its 42nd year, once again capped a weekend of festivities that included a banquet on Saturday night at the U.S. State Department. Excluded for the third straight year was any participation by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, either as hosts of a traditional Sunday afternoon reception at the White House or attendees at the gala. It’s a workable arrangement for all given the president’s unpopularity within the arts and entertainment communities.
In their fifth year as producers of the Honors, White Cherry Entertainment’s Ricky Kirshner and...
The gala, in its 42nd year, once again capped a weekend of festivities that included a banquet on Saturday night at the U.S. State Department. Excluded for the third straight year was any participation by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, either as hosts of a traditional Sunday afternoon reception at the White House or attendees at the gala. It’s a workable arrangement for all given the president’s unpopularity within the arts and entertainment communities.
In their fifth year as producers of the Honors, White Cherry Entertainment’s Ricky Kirshner and...
- 12/9/2019
- by Paul Harris
- Variety Film + TV
Sally Field, Linda Ronstadt, Earth, Wind & Fire, Michael Tilson Thomas and Sesame Street were honored Sunday night at the Kennedy Center Honors, but what was all the more apparent was the tone of the show: A holiday season respite at one of D.C.’s most polarized moments. As the impeachment of President Donald Trump moves forward, among those attending were some of its most visible figures, like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose decision to open an inquiry led to this moment, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is among the administration figures defying congressional subpoenas. Also present: Chief Justice John Roberts, who would preside over a Senate trial.
A couple of times during the ceremony, host LL Cool J made oblique references to political divisions. He told the crowd of lawmakers, Trump administration cabinet secretaries, Hollywood figures and D.C. lobbyists that the honorees use their artistic talents...
A couple of times during the ceremony, host LL Cool J made oblique references to political divisions. He told the crowd of lawmakers, Trump administration cabinet secretaries, Hollywood figures and D.C. lobbyists that the honorees use their artistic talents...
- 12/9/2019
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
A screening of “Apollo 13,” Ron Howard’s dramatization of the “successful failure” mission to the moon in 1970, doubled as a touching tribute to the film’s late composer, James Horner. The American Youth Symphony performed Horner’s entire score, live to picture, at UCLA’s Royce Hall on Saturday.
The composer died in a plane crash in 2015 at the age of 61 and never had a public memorial. This concert, which was followed by a dinner, served as a belated and fitting one, as well as a family reunion. His wife, daughter, 96-year-old mother and brothers were all there — as were members of his work family: longtime music editor Jim Henrikson, synth programmer Ian Underwood and mixer Simon Rhodes.
Sara Horner, accepting an award on her husband’s behalf, acknowledged the outsized role that the team played in his career.
“I can say without any hesitation that each and every...
The composer died in a plane crash in 2015 at the age of 61 and never had a public memorial. This concert, which was followed by a dinner, served as a belated and fitting one, as well as a family reunion. His wife, daughter, 96-year-old mother and brothers were all there — as were members of his work family: longtime music editor Jim Henrikson, synth programmer Ian Underwood and mixer Simon Rhodes.
Sara Horner, accepting an award on her husband’s behalf, acknowledged the outsized role that the team played in his career.
“I can say without any hesitation that each and every...
- 11/26/2019
- by Tim Greiving
- Variety Film + TV
With civic arts support low on American capitalism’s to-do list, orchestras and composers are canoodling more frequently with rock and pop acts — who of course have their own struggles, wringing pennies from streaming platforms et al. When the outcome isn’t just simpleminded hits-with-strings reheats or half-cooked vanity concertos, it’s a way for living artists to stretch “high culture” into useful new shapes.
The Order of Nature, recorded live in 2018, is a fairly lit collaboration between My Morning Jacket’s Jim James and hotshot conductor/composer Teddy Abrams,...
The Order of Nature, recorded live in 2018, is a fairly lit collaboration between My Morning Jacket’s Jim James and hotshot conductor/composer Teddy Abrams,...
- 10/18/2019
- by Will Hermes
- Rollingstone.com
Stars: Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, Miriam Hopkins | Written by Ruth Goetz, Augustus Goetz | Directed by William Wyler
Ruth and Augustus Goetz adapted their own stage play (itself based on a 19thcentury Henry James novel) for this 1949 melodrama. Directed by William Wyler, just before his mega-budget 1950s period, it’s a small-scale play with big ideas. Like many films of the period, the setting is the high society of New York, except this time the period is the mid-19th century.
Catherine Sloper (Olivia de Havilland) is an enigma. She carries herself with a boyish energy and disarming shyness, more interested in her embroidery than socialising. Socialising in this context means trying to bag a husband, of course. Catherine’s reclusiveness is more of an unwillingness to “present” herself in the cattle market of the upper social echelons. Then she meets the lithe, charming and persuasive Morris Townsend...
Ruth and Augustus Goetz adapted their own stage play (itself based on a 19thcentury Henry James novel) for this 1949 melodrama. Directed by William Wyler, just before his mega-budget 1950s period, it’s a small-scale play with big ideas. Like many films of the period, the setting is the high society of New York, except this time the period is the mid-19th century.
Catherine Sloper (Olivia de Havilland) is an enigma. She carries herself with a boyish energy and disarming shyness, more interested in her embroidery than socialising. Socialising in this context means trying to bag a husband, of course. Catherine’s reclusiveness is more of an unwillingness to “present” herself in the cattle market of the upper social echelons. Then she meets the lithe, charming and persuasive Morris Townsend...
- 6/18/2019
- by Rupert Harvey
- Nerdly
Tim Bergling’s struggles were laid disturbingly bare in the film Avicii: True Stories – the story of a superstar DJ-cum-pop star whose fame and breakneck touring regimen left him a physical and emotional wreck. His relentless drive, meteoric rise, elfin beauty and substance abuse issues brought to mind Kurt Cobain. And his apparent suicide, following a decision to quit touring in the interest of self-preservation, was similarly crushing to a huge fan community.
The press release suggests Tim was near-complete before Bergling’s death, and his co-producers have taken pains...
The press release suggests Tim was near-complete before Bergling’s death, and his co-producers have taken pains...
- 6/6/2019
- by Will Hermes
- Rollingstone.com
Composer Brian Tyler made a name in Hollywood writing scores for big action and sci-fi franchise films like “Iron Man 3,” “The Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Fast & Furious,” and “The Expendables.” In the last two years, Tyler has made a point of picking projects that were against the grain of how he is seen by the industry with the romantic comedy “Crazy Rich Asians” and Taylor Sheridan’s western period drama “Yellowstone.”
“It’s like anything, we all start a career and you do one thing and it leads to another,” said Tyler, who appeared at IndieWire’s Consider This Fyc Brunch earlier this month. “I love all genres, I love superhero films, sci-fi and fantasy, but I wanted to do a few things where people said, ‘Wow, Brian did that? That’s interesting.’ And for me, creatively, it makes it fresh when I go back and do a...
“It’s like anything, we all start a career and you do one thing and it leads to another,” said Tyler, who appeared at IndieWire’s Consider This Fyc Brunch earlier this month. “I love all genres, I love superhero films, sci-fi and fantasy, but I wanted to do a few things where people said, ‘Wow, Brian did that? That’s interesting.’ And for me, creatively, it makes it fresh when I go back and do a...
- 5/30/2019
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
William Wyler and a trio of fantastic actors make indelible movie history from a grim story by Henry James. How much of love is bald opportunism? How many successes married their way into money? And what’s a lovesick woman to do when a beau may not be true? This may be the key Wyler picture, with the strongest ‘staircase’ scene of them all.
The Heiress
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 974
1949 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 116 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date , 2019 / 39.95
Starring: Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, Miriam Hopkins, Vanessa Brown.
Cinematography: Leo Tover
Film Editor: William Hornbeck
Original Music: Aaron Copland
Written by Ruth and Agustus Goetz from their play, from the book by Henry James
Produced and Directed by William Wyler
One of Hollywood’s finest directors, William Wyler turned out a high percentage of bona fide classics, distinguished adaptations of books and plays.
The Heiress
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 974
1949 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 116 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date , 2019 / 39.95
Starring: Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, Miriam Hopkins, Vanessa Brown.
Cinematography: Leo Tover
Film Editor: William Hornbeck
Original Music: Aaron Copland
Written by Ruth and Agustus Goetz from their play, from the book by Henry James
Produced and Directed by William Wyler
One of Hollywood’s finest directors, William Wyler turned out a high percentage of bona fide classics, distinguished adaptations of books and plays.
- 4/20/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Here’s an actually fun thing: Enterprising jokers have been mashing up the dance sequence from Lmfao’s “Party Rock Anthem” video with songs that share the same beats per minute (bpm). The meme seems have begun with Twitter user @Josejusejo, who set Lmfao dancing to the theme from the anime series Evangelion.
Party Rock Anthem has the same Bpm as the Evangelion Opening and I hate it pic.twitter.com/UC2WzNF3zN
—...
Party Rock Anthem has the same Bpm as the Evangelion Opening and I hate it pic.twitter.com/UC2WzNF3zN
—...
- 10/9/2018
- by Christian Hoard
- Rollingstone.com
With five Emmy nominations under its belt – including one for best documentary – Netflix’s “Wild, Wild Country” brings to life the incredible ‘80s tale of the Indian religious cult which set up camp in eastern Oregon, drawing the ire of the local community when they began to flex their muscle.
The six-part film was co-directed by brothers Chapman, 31, and Maclain Way, 27, with a score composed by older brother Brocker, 34, which will be released in both digital and vinyl form by hip Austin indie Western Vinyl Records on Sept. 21. A playlist featuring the songs used in the film has been posted on Spotify now for several months.
Music supervisor Chris Swanson, the co-founder of Secretly Canadian, used several of the prestigious label’s artists, most notably Bill Callahan, with the lyrics to his song “Drover” giving the documentary its evocative title.
“At its core, this is a quintessentially American story about...
The six-part film was co-directed by brothers Chapman, 31, and Maclain Way, 27, with a score composed by older brother Brocker, 34, which will be released in both digital and vinyl form by hip Austin indie Western Vinyl Records on Sept. 21. A playlist featuring the songs used in the film has been posted on Spotify now for several months.
Music supervisor Chris Swanson, the co-founder of Secretly Canadian, used several of the prestigious label’s artists, most notably Bill Callahan, with the lyrics to his song “Drover” giving the documentary its evocative title.
“At its core, this is a quintessentially American story about...
- 8/24/2018
- by Roy Trakin
- Variety Film + TV
Washington — A group of lawmakers introduced legislation on Tuesday to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Aretha Franklin, who died last week.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) are among the co-sponsors of the legislation in the Senate, while Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) and Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) are co-sponsors in the House.
In a statement, Harris said Franklin “was simply a legend. Her work and impact will be felt for generations to come, and it’s long past time Congress honor her with the Congressional Gold Medal.”
She said, “from listening to ‘Mary Don’t You Weep,’ to standing in the living room dancing to ‘Rock Steady’ over and over again, to hearing from the Queen herself how lucky I was to be young, gifted, and black — Aretha’s songs were the soundtrack of my childhood.”
Hatch said Franklin “brought light, laughter, and love to all who would hear.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) are among the co-sponsors of the legislation in the Senate, while Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) and Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) are co-sponsors in the House.
In a statement, Harris said Franklin “was simply a legend. Her work and impact will be felt for generations to come, and it’s long past time Congress honor her with the Congressional Gold Medal.”
She said, “from listening to ‘Mary Don’t You Weep,’ to standing in the living room dancing to ‘Rock Steady’ over and over again, to hearing from the Queen herself how lucky I was to be young, gifted, and black — Aretha’s songs were the soundtrack of my childhood.”
Hatch said Franklin “brought light, laughter, and love to all who would hear.
- 8/21/2018
- by Ted Johnson
- Variety Film + TV
Ya know, “It’s a Big Country!” Westerns and pacifism are like oil and water, but William Wyler, Jessamyn West and three other top writers found a way for Gregory Peck to surmount eight showdowns and never fire a pistol in anger. Jean Simmons and Charlton Heston win top acting honors, while Burl Ives earns his Oscar, Carroll Baker gets the thankless role and composer Jerome Moross makes western music history. MGM’s remastering job fixes the problems of an earlier Blu-ray, and even brings the title sequence up to tip top condition. Plus several hours of special extras.
The Big Country
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1958 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 166 min. / Street Date June 5, 2018 / 60th Anniversary Edition / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston, Burl Ives, Charles Bickford, Alfonso Bedoya, Chuck Connors, Chuck Hayward, Dorothy Adams, Chuck Roberson.
Cinematography: Franz F. Planer
Film Editor: Robert Swink...
The Big Country
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1958 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 166 min. / Street Date June 5, 2018 / 60th Anniversary Edition / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston, Burl Ives, Charles Bickford, Alfonso Bedoya, Chuck Connors, Chuck Hayward, Dorothy Adams, Chuck Roberson.
Cinematography: Franz F. Planer
Film Editor: Robert Swink...
- 6/9/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Sean Wilson Jul 6, 2017
Composer John Powell chats to us about scoring Jason Bourne, working with John Woo, his upcoming work and more.
Few contemporary film composers have made an impact quite like John Powell. From animation to drama to his immediately influential, propulsive Bourne soundtracks, Powell's energetic, emotional and heartfelt blend of symphony orchestra, electronics and percussion make him a singular voice.
See related Jurassic World review Looking back at Jurassic Park
Ahead of his BAFTA Screen Talks event at the Royal Albert Hall on 10th July, we were delighted to catch up with John to discuss his remarkable career and the secret to a truly great film score.
So 10 years after I saw The Bourne Ultimatum on the big screen and being electrified by your score I'm sat here talking to you, which is a real privilege. I wondered was there a particular film score that inspired you to become a film composer?...
Composer John Powell chats to us about scoring Jason Bourne, working with John Woo, his upcoming work and more.
Few contemporary film composers have made an impact quite like John Powell. From animation to drama to his immediately influential, propulsive Bourne soundtracks, Powell's energetic, emotional and heartfelt blend of symphony orchestra, electronics and percussion make him a singular voice.
See related Jurassic World review Looking back at Jurassic Park
Ahead of his BAFTA Screen Talks event at the Royal Albert Hall on 10th July, we were delighted to catch up with John to discuss his remarkable career and the secret to a truly great film score.
So 10 years after I saw The Bourne Ultimatum on the big screen and being electrified by your score I'm sat here talking to you, which is a real privilege. I wondered was there a particular film score that inspired you to become a film composer?...
- 6/25/2017
- Den of Geek
Written by James Peaty | Art by Warren Pleece | Published by Titan Comics
All change from last issue as we have another of those ‘interlude’ issues, where a different creative team fill in on the book for an issue. Having noticed something similar on other Doctor Who books, one could almost think they are trying to get ahead of the schedules for some big Summer event….but I digress. Last issue of course saw the wrap up of the ancient China / Cindy clones adventure, and the defeat of The Red Jade General. Really missing that Red Tardis. As Gabby sits in the Tardis following that adventure, her mind goes back to a previous one.
Where is the glamorous setting for this adventure? Prehistory? The end of time? A galaxy, far, far away? Er, London. Present day. Gabby is thrilled, The Doctor strangely less so. It seems The Doctor is not particularly...
All change from last issue as we have another of those ‘interlude’ issues, where a different creative team fill in on the book for an issue. Having noticed something similar on other Doctor Who books, one could almost think they are trying to get ahead of the schedules for some big Summer event….but I digress. Last issue of course saw the wrap up of the ancient China / Cindy clones adventure, and the defeat of The Red Jade General. Really missing that Red Tardis. As Gabby sits in the Tardis following that adventure, her mind goes back to a previous one.
Where is the glamorous setting for this adventure? Prehistory? The end of time? A galaxy, far, far away? Er, London. Present day. Gabby is thrilled, The Doctor strangely less so. It seems The Doctor is not particularly...
- 5/19/2017
- by Dean Fuller
- Nerdly
When it comes to musical composers that do scores for movies you don’t get higher on the list than John Williams. The only other guy out there with a pedigree that even compares to Williams would be Hans Zimmer. Essentially it’s these two guys and pretty much everyone else. Don’t get me wrong. There are tons of legendary composers out there but the sheer depth and volume of work that Williams and Zimmer have done is second to none. My personal favorite is Thomas Newman and I have an affinity for guys like James Horner, Aaron Copeland, Randy Newman, Bill
10 John Williams Scores To Send You Off into the Weekend...
10 John Williams Scores To Send You Off into the Weekend...
- 5/12/2017
- by Nat Berman
- TVovermind.com
As expected, Dancing With the Stars' "A Night at the Movies" theme brought pure entertainment to the ballroom on Monday!
La La Land choreographer Mandy Moore joined Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli on the judges' panel, helping Normani Kordei and Val Chmerkovskiy receive their first perfect score of the season for their fiery Argentine tango.
From Rashad Jennings and Emma Slater's gothic goodness, to Bonner Bolton and Sharna Burgess' old western party, Et's breaking down the best moves from week seven of the dance competition show, which also included a Dance-Off challenge and a double elimination!
Watch: 'DWTS': Two Stars Sent Home in Surprising Double Elimination After Epic Night of Movie-Inspired Dances
Normani Kordei & Val Chmerkovskiy - Argentine Tango, "Quizàs, Quizàs, Quizàs" by Andrea Bocelli featuring Jennifer Lopez
Movie genre: Foreign
Dance highlight: #TeamValmani came to win this week! The sassy routine was strong from beginning to end, with surprises...
La La Land choreographer Mandy Moore joined Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli on the judges' panel, helping Normani Kordei and Val Chmerkovskiy receive their first perfect score of the season for their fiery Argentine tango.
From Rashad Jennings and Emma Slater's gothic goodness, to Bonner Bolton and Sharna Burgess' old western party, Et's breaking down the best moves from week seven of the dance competition show, which also included a Dance-Off challenge and a double elimination!
Watch: 'DWTS': Two Stars Sent Home in Surprising Double Elimination After Epic Night of Movie-Inspired Dances
Normani Kordei & Val Chmerkovskiy - Argentine Tango, "Quizàs, Quizàs, Quizàs" by Andrea Bocelli featuring Jennifer Lopez
Movie genre: Foreign
Dance highlight: #TeamValmani came to win this week! The sassy routine was strong from beginning to end, with surprises...
- 5/2/2017
- Entertainment Tonight
Week 7 of Dancing With the Stars is here, and it will feature a double elimination!
We're only four weeks away from the finale, and who will take home that mirror ball trophy is still up in the air. The bar has been set high, and the seven remaining couples are really going to have to step up their game in the ballroom in order to stay in the competition.
Et breaks down everything you need to know ahead of Monday's show, themed "A Night at the Movies."
Who's on top of the leaderboard?
1. Normani Kordei & Val Chmerkovskiy: 38/40
2. Rashad Jennings & Emma Slater: 37/40
3. Simone Biles & Sasha Farber: 35/40
Who's in danger of elimination?
After last week's shocking elimination (Heather Morris and Maksim Chmerkovskiy were sent home following a perfect score for their tango), it's hard to say what will happen, and proves the importance of voting! But based on scores, we're guessing...
We're only four weeks away from the finale, and who will take home that mirror ball trophy is still up in the air. The bar has been set high, and the seven remaining couples are really going to have to step up their game in the ballroom in order to stay in the competition.
Et breaks down everything you need to know ahead of Monday's show, themed "A Night at the Movies."
Who's on top of the leaderboard?
1. Normani Kordei & Val Chmerkovskiy: 38/40
2. Rashad Jennings & Emma Slater: 37/40
3. Simone Biles & Sasha Farber: 35/40
Who's in danger of elimination?
After last week's shocking elimination (Heather Morris and Maksim Chmerkovskiy were sent home following a perfect score for their tango), it's hard to say what will happen, and proves the importance of voting! But based on scores, we're guessing...
- 5/1/2017
- Entertainment Tonight
Tom Hanks starred in an adaptation of Dave Eggers’s book “A Hologram for the King” last year, and now he stars again in a film version of an Eggers novel called “The Circle,” an over-the-top and implausible story that tries to be “timely” and “relevant” but mainly hits us over the head with absurd situations. Emma Watson plays the heroine Mae, a sweet-faced girl (with Aaron Copland music as the ringtone on her phone) who is suffering in a bad job at a water company where she has to try to calm down angry people all day. Mae’s father Vinnie.
- 4/27/2017
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
By strange and fortuitous coincidence, my meeting with Jack Garfein fell upon the nexus of several intersecting moments in history. It was Friday, January 27th — International Holocaust Remembrance Day. One week earlier, Donald J. Trump was sworn to office as forty-fifth President of the United States; and in the ensuing weekend, allegations of Trump’s unpunished sexual misconduct, callous attitudes toward women and courting of radical right-wing supporters helped bring about the Women’s March on Washington, one of the largest mass protests in the nation’s history. All around, people are anxiously reading the past with tenuous hopes and fears for the future. History, so often a thing defined after the fact, is currently in violent and furious motion.
Jack Garfein is living history, and he’s not shy about telling it. Born to Ukrainian Jews in 1930, Mr. Garfein personally witnessed as a child the rise of Nazi Germany...
Jack Garfein is living history, and he’s not shy about telling it. Born to Ukrainian Jews in 1930, Mr. Garfein personally witnessed as a child the rise of Nazi Germany...
- 3/20/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
There are so many reasons to recommend Something Wild (1961) to today's audiences that it becomes difficult to choose one. It is as timely and disturbing as the day that it was made and equally as insightful about sexual assault. Yet it is also challenging in ways that invite viewers to think long and hard before discussion. Such complexity` is also reflected in the way the film uses the form to tell its story. Beautiful cinematography by Eugene Schüfftan, a breathtaking opening title sequence from Saul Bass, and an evocative score by the legendary Aaron Copeland signal Something Wild as an important, though largely forgotten indie film. But its haunting treatment of a difficult subject makes it a timeless classic. Kudos Criterion. New York college...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 1/24/2017
- Screen Anarchy
Something Wild
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 850
1961 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen 1:37 flat Academy / 113 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 17, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Carroll Baker, Ralph Meeker, Mildred Dunnock, Jean Stapleton, Martin Kosleck, Charles Watts, Clifton James, Doris Roberts, Anita Cooper, Tanya Lopert.
Cinematography: Eugen Schüfftan
Film Editor: Carl Lerner
Original Music: Aaron Copland
Written by Jack Garfein and Alex Karmel from his novel Mary Ann
Produced by George Justin
Directed by Jack Garfein
After writing up an earlier Mod disc release of the 1961 movie Something Wild, I received a brief but welcome email note from its director:
“Dear Glenn Erickson,
Thank you for your profound appreciation of Something Wild.
If possible, I would appreciate if you could send
me a copy of your review by email.
Sincerely yours, Jack Garfein”
Somewhere back East (or in London), the Actors Studio legend Jack Garfein had found favor with the review. Although...
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 850
1961 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen 1:37 flat Academy / 113 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 17, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Carroll Baker, Ralph Meeker, Mildred Dunnock, Jean Stapleton, Martin Kosleck, Charles Watts, Clifton James, Doris Roberts, Anita Cooper, Tanya Lopert.
Cinematography: Eugen Schüfftan
Film Editor: Carl Lerner
Original Music: Aaron Copland
Written by Jack Garfein and Alex Karmel from his novel Mary Ann
Produced by George Justin
Directed by Jack Garfein
After writing up an earlier Mod disc release of the 1961 movie Something Wild, I received a brief but welcome email note from its director:
“Dear Glenn Erickson,
Thank you for your profound appreciation of Something Wild.
If possible, I would appreciate if you could send
me a copy of your review by email.
Sincerely yours, Jack Garfein”
Somewhere back East (or in London), the Actors Studio legend Jack Garfein had found favor with the review. Although...
- 1/10/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Theodore Melfi’s “Hidden Figures,” the untold historical drama about African-American math genius Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) and her two Nasa colleagues (Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe), is starting to garner crafts recognition, with production designer Wynn Thomas nabbing a period Art Directors Guild nomination this week.
“Fortunately, there was a lot of research to draw upon for what the offices looked like at the Langley Nasa facility,” Thomas told IndieWire. But he was able to bring more imagination to the Space Task Group, which was reconfigured for the movie, which was shot in Atlanta.
Instead of a dull, rectangular-shaped office, the African-American designer made it a place of wonder. “And I wanted Katherine Johnson and the audience to feel they were entering a very special place where something fantastic was going on,” he said. “So we ended up using the Morehouse College buildings for the exterior of Nasa...
“Fortunately, there was a lot of research to draw upon for what the offices looked like at the Langley Nasa facility,” Thomas told IndieWire. But he was able to bring more imagination to the Space Task Group, which was reconfigured for the movie, which was shot in Atlanta.
Instead of a dull, rectangular-shaped office, the African-American designer made it a place of wonder. “And I wanted Katherine Johnson and the audience to feel they were entering a very special place where something fantastic was going on,” he said. “So we ended up using the Morehouse College buildings for the exterior of Nasa...
- 1/7/2017
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
The Criterion Collection has announced its slate for January, 2017, with offerings from Howard Hawks (“His Girl Friday”), Rainer Werner Fassbender (“Fox and His Friends”), Jack Garfein (“Something Wild”), and Ousmane Sembène (“Black Girl”). Check out the covers for the films below as well as synopses provided by the Criterion Collection. For more information on the special features and technical specs of each of these films, visit the Criterion Collection website.
Read More: The Criterion Collection Announces December Titles: ‘Heart of a Dog,’ ‘The Exterminating Angel’ and More
“His Girl Friday” (Available January 10)
One of the fastest, funniest, and most quotable films ever made, “His Girl Friday” stars Rosalind Russell as reporter Hildy Johnson, a standout among cinema’s powerful women. Hildy is matched in force only by her conniving but charismatic editor and ex-husband, Walter Burns (played by the peerless Cary Grant), who dangles the chance for her to scoop...
Read More: The Criterion Collection Announces December Titles: ‘Heart of a Dog,’ ‘The Exterminating Angel’ and More
“His Girl Friday” (Available January 10)
One of the fastest, funniest, and most quotable films ever made, “His Girl Friday” stars Rosalind Russell as reporter Hildy Johnson, a standout among cinema’s powerful women. Hildy is matched in force only by her conniving but charismatic editor and ex-husband, Walter Burns (played by the peerless Cary Grant), who dangles the chance for her to scoop...
- 10/14/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
An update of the 1960s classic refreshes the racial mix but leaves the cliches intact
Antoine Fuqua’s remake of John Sturges’s 1960 western stirs up the racial mix of the seven gunfighters a little. Leading the team is Denzel Washington’s cool-headed Chisholm; he is backed up by, among others, the South Korean actor Byung-hun Lee playing the knife specialist Billy Rocks; Manuel Garcia-Rulfo stars as the Mexican bad boy Vasquez and the Native American actor Martin Sensmeier, rather underserved in the way of dialogue, as the Comanche warrior Red Harvest.
But while this is a welcome update to the formula, in most other ways this is a stolidly traditional western. Fuqua shoots in widescreen, using tawny saturated colours that evoke the era of the original. The camera cringes slightly in front of the heroes: they are frequently shot from just below chin level, the better to emphasise manly jawlines and all-round studliness.
Antoine Fuqua’s remake of John Sturges’s 1960 western stirs up the racial mix of the seven gunfighters a little. Leading the team is Denzel Washington’s cool-headed Chisholm; he is backed up by, among others, the South Korean actor Byung-hun Lee playing the knife specialist Billy Rocks; Manuel Garcia-Rulfo stars as the Mexican bad boy Vasquez and the Native American actor Martin Sensmeier, rather underserved in the way of dialogue, as the Comanche warrior Red Harvest.
But while this is a welcome update to the formula, in most other ways this is a stolidly traditional western. Fuqua shoots in widescreen, using tawny saturated colours that evoke the era of the original. The camera cringes slightly in front of the heroes: they are frequently shot from just below chin level, the better to emphasise manly jawlines and all-round studliness.
- 9/25/2016
- by Wendy Ide
- The Guardian - Film News
Is this Rod Serling's best teleplay ever? Van Heflin, Everett Sloane and Ed Begley are at the center of a business power squeeze. Is it all about staying competitive, or is it corporate murder? With terrific early performances from Elizabeth Wilson and Beatrice Straight. Patterns Blu-ray The Film Detective 1956 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 83 min. / Street Date September 27, 2016 / 14.99 Starring Van Heflin, Everett Sloane, Ed Begley, Beatrice Straight, Elizabeth Wilson, Joanna Roos, Valerie Cossart, Eleni Kiamos, Ronnie Welsh, Shirley Standlee, Andrew Duggan, Jack Livesy, John Seymour, James Kelly, John Shelly, Victor Harrison, Sally Gracie, Sally Chamberlin, Edward Binns, Lauren Bacall, Ethel Britton, Michael Dreyfuss, Elaine Kaye, Adrienne Moore. Cinematography Boris Kaufman Film Editors Dave Kummis, Carl Lerner Art Direction Richard Sylbert Assistant Director Charles Maguire Written by Rod Serling Produced by Michael Myerberg Directed by Fielder Cook
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Let me roll off the titles of some 'fifties 'organization...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Let me roll off the titles of some 'fifties 'organization...
- 9/20/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The final season of SyFy’s Haven is coming to Blu-ray on April 19th. Also in this round-up: early access details for Free Range Games’ Labyrinth, a clip from You’re Killing Me, a new Model Hunger trailer, and details on Nitehawk Cinema’s St. Patrick’s Day screening of Leprechaun.
Haven: The Final Season: Press Release: “This April, The Town Of Haven Hurtles Towards A Cataclysmic Showdown In The Startling Final Episodes Of Syfy’S Popular Series
Haven: The Final Season
Street Date: April 19, 2016
Blu-ray/DVD Srp: $49.98/$39.98
The Loaded 4-Disc Set Features the Final 13 Broadcast Episodes, and Hours of Bonus Features Including a Mythology Refresher, 13″Inside Haven” Featurettes, Livestream Segments with the Cast & Crew,13 Commentary Tracks, Interviews with Eric Balfour, Lucas Bryant, William Shatner, Adam Copeland and More!
Program Description
For five eye-opening seasons, fans tuned into the hit Syfy series “Haven”, based on Stephen King’s...
Haven: The Final Season: Press Release: “This April, The Town Of Haven Hurtles Towards A Cataclysmic Showdown In The Startling Final Episodes Of Syfy’S Popular Series
Haven: The Final Season
Street Date: April 19, 2016
Blu-ray/DVD Srp: $49.98/$39.98
The Loaded 4-Disc Set Features the Final 13 Broadcast Episodes, and Hours of Bonus Features Including a Mythology Refresher, 13″Inside Haven” Featurettes, Livestream Segments with the Cast & Crew,13 Commentary Tracks, Interviews with Eric Balfour, Lucas Bryant, William Shatner, Adam Copeland and More!
Program Description
For five eye-opening seasons, fans tuned into the hit Syfy series “Haven”, based on Stephen King’s...
- 3/9/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
After decades of cogitating, a few false starts, two renamings, and a $100 million starter gift, Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic have given the job of gut-renovating David Geffen Hall—formerly Avery Fisher Hall, and Philharmonic Hall before that—to the professional visionaries at Heatherwick Studio and the auditorium experts at Diamond Schmitt Architects. Since the night in 1962 when Leonard Bernstein opened the room with Aaron Copland’s 12-tone Connotations, musicians, critics, and audiences have been griping about its sound and its chilly atmosphere. Acousticians tinkered fruitlessly. “Tear the place down and start over again; the place is an insult to music,” the conductor George Szell recommended after one attempt. Still, the interventions continued: a gut renovation of the auditorium in 1976, and more fiddling in 1992. A decade after that, the Philharmonic’s board chairman grew so despairing that he tried to drag the orchestra back to Carnegie Hall. Along...
- 12/10/2015
- by Justin Davidson
- Vulture
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