Last Sunday, Alexandre Desplat managed to complete an Oscar-Grammy-BAFTA trifecta by winning the Original Score Academy Award for Wes Anderson's THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL.  As Desplat paid touching tribute to his wife in his acceptance speech, an unfortunately placed cameraman seemed to have a better angle on Hans Zimmer than on Mme. Desplat. After the win, fans of eight-time nominee Desplat were heard to exclaim "Finally!", while twelve-time nominated composer Thomas Newman (not nominated this year) remarked "Ummmmm..." and the brilliant cinematographer Roger Deakins (who "lost" for the twelfth time that night with the Desplat-scored Unbroken) said "Hello???!!!"

As expected, songwriters John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn, better known as performers John Legend and Common, won for SELMA's original song "Glory." They also had arguably the most eloquent acceptance speech(es) of the evening, though I found Imitation Game screenwriter Graham Moore's to be the most moving (and almost managing to wipe away the bad taste of the studio's obnoxious "HONOR THE MAN. HONOR THE FILM" billboards seen around L.A. for the last few weeks).

It was a well-designed telecast for film music fans -- though nominees in several of the crafts categories (even visually oriented ones like Production Design and Visual Effects) were represented by stylized graphics rather than film clips, each film was announced with a snippet of score, so while viewers didn't see any actual film clips of the nominated visual effects from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, they were treated to a brief but recognizable piece of Michael Giacchino's music.

A little bit of film music trivia -- the elaborate "Everything Is Awesome" production number from the nominated Lego Movie song featured a brief appearance by score composer Mark Mothersbaugh, who of course used to score all of Wes Anderson's movies until, well, Alexandre Desplat.

Quartet has announced two upcoming CDs featuring expanded re-releases of Hollywood scores from the 1990s -- Alan Silvestri's mambo-infused score from the 1991 comedy SOAPDISH, starring Sally Field, Kevin Kline and Robert Downey Jr.; and James Newton Howard's score for the 1994 romantic drama INTERSECTION, directed by Mark Rydell and starring Richard Gere, Sharon Stone and Lolita Davidovich (a remake of the French film Les choses de la vie, scored by Philippe Sarde).

Intrada plans to release two new CDs next week

The latest release from Kritzerland is a hugely expanded, two-disc soundtrack to the all-black 1943 movie musical STORMY WEATHER, starring Lena Horne and featuring a remarkable cast of supporting performers including Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers. It will feature the complete soundtrack on Dics One and bonus cues on Disc Two.

CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK

Dying of the Light - Frederik Wiedmann - La-La Land
A Most Violent Year - Alex Ebert - Community Music
My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn - Cliff Martinez - Milan
1941 (re-release) - John Williams - La-La Land
Pollyanna - Christopher Gunning - Caldera
Still Alice - Ilan Eshkeri - Nettwerk [CD-R]
Transsiberian/Princesas - Alfonso Villalonga - Caldera

IN THEATERS TODAY

Ana Maria in Novela Land - Mandy Hoffman
Anita Ho - Brian Mantia, Melissa Reese
Boy Meets Girl - Matthew Puckett
Drunktown's Finest - Mark Orton, Joel Pickard
Everly - Bear McCreary - Score CD on Sparks & Shadows
Focus - Nick Urata
The Hunting Ground - Miriam Cutler
The Lazarus Effect - Sarah Schachner
My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn  - Cliff Martinez - Score CD on Milan
Out of the Dark - Fernando Velazquez
Queen and Country - Stephen McKeon
The Salvation - Kasper Winding
‘71 - David Holmes - Score CD on Touch Sensitive
The Widowmaker - Monc

COMING SOON

March 3
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - Thomas Newman - Sony
March 10
Bankstas - Steve London - Phineas Atwood
Chicago Fire: Season One - Atli Orvarsson - Phineas Atwood
Chicago Fire: Season Two - Atli Orvarsson - Phineas Atwood
Cinderella  - Patrick Doyle - Disney
Reach Me - Tree Adams - Phineas Atwood
Red Army - Christophe Beck, Leo Birenberg - Milan
Regarding Susan Sontag - Laura Karpman, Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum - Phineas Atwood
Shrunken Heads - Richard Band - Wizard
Wolf Hall - Debbie Wiseman - Silva (import)
March 17
Galavant - Alan Menken - Disney
Jupiter Ascending (U.S. release) - Michael Giacchino - Varese Sarabande
Suite Francaise - Rael Jones - Sony (import)
Virunga - Patrick Jonsson - Varese Sarabande
March 24
It Follows - Disasterpeace - Milan
March 31
The Cobbler - John Debney, Nick Urata - Lakeshore
April 7
Debug - Timothy Williams - VMI
Good Kill - Christophe Beck - Lakeshore
Merchants of Doubt - Mark Adler - Lakeshore
Playing It Cool - Jake Monaco - VMI
Unfinished Business - Alex Wurman - Lakeshore
Words and Pictures - Paul Grabowsky - VMI
Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal - Javier Navarrete - Lakeshore
Date Unknown
Alles Ist Liebe - Annette Focks - Alhambra
Diario Di Un Maestro - Fiorenzo Carpi - Digitmovies
Geometra Prinetti Selvaggiamente Osvaldo - Fabio Frizzi, Franco Bixio, Vince Tempera - Beat
Il Fiume Del Grande Camiano - Stelvio Cipriani - CSC
Intersection - James Newton Howard - Quartet
Justine - Bruno Nicolai - Digitmovies
La Regina Delle Amazzoni - Roberto Nicolosi - Digitmovies
L'Istrutotria E' Chiusa Dimentinchi/Il Diavolo Nel Cervello - Ennio Morricone - GDM
Nessuno Si Salva Da Solo - Arturo Annecchino - GDM
Palimpsest: A Hypnotic Mystery - Bartek Gliniak - MovieScore Media
Soapdish - Alan Silvestri - Quartet
Una Storia Damore - Francesco De Masi - Beat
The Wild Eye - Gianni Marchetti - Beat

THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY

February 27 - The first score Oscar is awarded, to Victor Schertzinger and Gus Kahn's score to One Night of Love; however, Academy policy at the time awards the Oscar to the head of the studio's music department, Louis Silvers (1935)
February 27 - Leigh Harline, Ned Washington, Paul J. Smith win Best Score Oscar for Pinocchio (1941)
February 27 - Recording sessions begin for Bronislau Kaper's score to A Life of Her Own (1950)
February 27 - Mort Glickman died (1953)
February 27 - George Duning died (2000)
February 28 - Pierre Jansen born (1930)
February 28 - Mike Figgis born (1948)
February 28 - David Raksin begins recording his score for The Next Voice You Hear (1950)
February 28 - Jerry Goldsmith records his score to the Twilight Zone: the Movie segment "It's a Good Life" (1983)
February 29 - Herbert Stothart wins Original Score Oscar for The Wizard of Oz (1940)
February 29 - Mervyn Warren born (1964)
March 2 - Marc Blitzstein born (1905)
March 2 - Richard Hazard born (1921)
March 2 - Andrzej Korzynski born (1940)
March 2 - Alfred Newman wins Oscar for Song of Bernadette score (1944)
March 2 - Basil Poledouris begins recording his score to Big Wednesday (1978)
March 2 - Jerry Goldsmith records his score to the Twilight Zone: The Movie segment "A Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (1983)
March 2 - Serge Gainsbourg died (1991)
March 2 - Malcolm Williamson died (2003)
March 3 - Lee Holdridge born (1944)
March 3 - Jeff Rona born (1957)
March 3 - Jerry Goldsmith records his score to the Twilight Zone: The Movie segment "Time Out" (1983)
March 3 - Arthur Kempel died (2004)
March 4 - Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score for Anthony Adverse wins the Oscar; however, as per Academy policy, the score is awarded to the head of the studio's music department, Leo Forbstein (1937)
March 4 - Max Steiner wins score Oscar for Now Voyager (1943)
March 4 - Leonard Rosenman died (2008)
March 5 - Heitor Villa-Lobos born (1887)
March 5 - Max Steiner's score for The Informer wins the Oscar; Academy policy at the time awards to the score to the head of the studio's music branch -- who, in this case, is Max Steiner (1936)
March 5 - Bruce Smeaton born (1938)
March 5 - Michael Gore born (1951)
March 5 - Sergei Prokofiev died (1953)
March 5 - John Williams begins recording his score to Star Wars (1977)
March 5 - Theodore Shapiro begins recording his score for Idiocracy (2005)
March 5 - Gustavo Santaolalla wins his first Oscar, for the Brokeback Mountain score (2006)

DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?

THE IMMORTALISTS - Eric Andrew Kuhn

"It is nonetheless a very well-mounted film, with outstanding contributions in [co-director David] Alvarado’s cinematography and Eric Andrew Kuhn’s subtly expressive score."

Godfrey Cheshire, RogerEbert.com

PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR - Lorne Balfe

"This chase flick plot provides a loose framework for parodies and bravura set pieces: an extended riff on 'Encounters At The End Of The World,' complete with Werner Herzog as the narrator; a terrifying-if-you-think-about-it sequence in which the penguins smash into one jetliner after another after plummeting out of a cargo plane; scenes with a secret task force of arctic animals -- led by a wolf voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch, who appears to have been cast based on his inability to pronounce 'penguin' -- that parody the Space Age designs and chugging guitar score of 'X-Men: First Class;' a chase across the canals, streets, and roofs of Venice, with the penguins’ invertebrate pursuers forced to use gondola oars as stilts to get around on land."

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, The Onion AV Club

THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.

Screenings of older films, at the following L.A. movie theaters: AMPAS, American Cinematheque: Aero, American Cinematheque: Egyptian, Arclight, LACMA, New Beverly, Nuart, Silent Movie Theater and UCLA.

February 27
THE CRUSADES, THE GODLESS GIRL [UCLA]
GHOST IN THE SHELL (Kenji Kawai), REDLINE (James Shimoji) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
THE THING (John Carpenter), RUNAWAY TRAIN (Trevor Jones) [New Beverly]

February 28
AKIRA (Shoji Yamashiro), STEAMBOY (Steve Jablonsky) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
FANTASTIC VOYAGE (Leonard Rosenman) [New Beverly]
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (Victor Young) [UCLA]
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (Roger Edens, Georgie Stoll), WEST SIDE STORY (Leonard Bernstein, Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Sid Ramin, Irwin Kostal) [LACMA/AMPAS]
ONLY GOD FORGIVES (Cliff Martinez) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE PRODUCERS (John Morris), A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (Stephen Sondheim, Ken Thorne) [Cinematheque: Aero]
SPICE WORLD (Paul Hardcastle) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE THING (John Carpenter), RUNAWAY TRAIN (Trevor Jones) [New Beverly]

March 1
FANTASTIC VOYAGE (Leonard Rosenman) [New Beverly]
JFK (John Williams) [New Beverly]
ONLY GOD FORGIVES (Cliff Martinez) [Silent Movie Theater]
PAPRIKA (Susumu Hirasawa), TOKYO GODFATHERS (Keichi Suzuki)[Cinematheque: Egyptian]
THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE, THE YOUNG AND THE DAMNED (Rodolfo Halffter, Gustavo Pittaluga) [Cinematheque: Aero]

March 2
BACK TO THE FUTURE (Alan Silvestri) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES (Tigran Mansuryan) [Silent Movie Theater]
JFK (John Williams) [New Beverly]
ONLY GOD FORGIVES (Cliff Martinez) [Silent Movie Theater]

March 3
ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY (Alex Wurman) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
THE 400 BLOWS (Jean Constantin) [LACMA]
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (Ennio Morricone) [Arclight Hollywood]
ONLY GOD FORGIVES (Cliff Martinez) [Silent Movie Theater]
TIE ME UP! TIE ME DOWN! (Ennio Morricone), HIGH HEELS (Ryuichi Sakamoto) [New Beverly]

March 4
GARDEN STATE (Chad Fischer), WISH I WAS HERE (Rob Simonsen) [Cinematheque: Aero]
ONLY GOD FORGIVES (Cliff Martinez) [Silent Movie Theater]
TOMMY BOY (David Newman), TRAPPED IN PARADISE (Robert Folk) [New Beverly]

March 5
MEN IN WAR (Elmer Bernstein) [UCLA]
ONLY GOD FORGIVES (Cliff Martinez) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE SPOILERS (Hans J. Salter), PITTSBURGH (Hans J. Salter, Frank Skinner) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
TOMMY BOY (David Newman), TRAPPED IN PARADISE (Robert Folk) [New Beverly]

March 6
BATTLE ROYALE (Masamichi Amano) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
CHILDREN OF PARADISE (Maurice Thiriet) [Cinematheque: Aero]
DEAD PIGEON ON BEETHOVEN STREET (The Can) [UCLA]
GHOSTBUSTERS (Elmer Bernstein) [Silent Movie Theater]
HACKERS (Simon Boswell) [Nuart]
THE MATRIX (Don Davis), FIGHT CLUB (Dust Brothers) [New Beverly]

March 7
COURAGE MOUNTAIN (Sylvester Levay)[New Beverly]
FLETCH (Harold Faltermeyer) [Silent Movie Theater]
MacGRUBER (Matthew Compton) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE MATRIX (Don Davis), FIGHT CLUB (Dust Brothers) [New Beverly]
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (Allan Gray), BLACK NARCISSUS (Brian Easdale) [Cinematheque: Aero]
POLICE STORY 3: SUPERCOP (Mac Chew, Jenny Chinn, Jonathan Lee) [New Beverly]
TOO LATE FOR TEARS (Dale Butts), THE GUILTY (Rudy Schrager) [UCLA]
THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE (Vince Di Cola), G.I. JOE: THE MOVIE (Jon Douglas, Robert J. Walsh)[Cinematheque: Egyptian]

March 8
BACHELOR'S AFFAIRS, SOCIETY GIRL [UCLA]
BIG (Howard Shore) [Silent Movie Theater]
COURAGE MOUNTAIN (Sylvester Levay)[New Beverly]
THE DESCENT (David Julyan) [Silent Movie Theater]
DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (Maurice Jarre) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
MAGNOLIA (Jon Brion) [New Beverly]
ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (Ennio Morricone) [Cinematheque: Aero]
WAY OUT WEST, THE MUSIC BOX [UCLA]