Intrada is expecting to announce one new CD next week.
Quartet has announced three new releases -- the first-ever release of Ennio Morricone's score for the 1964 Italian crime comedy I DUE EVASI DI SING SING; Fernando Velazquez' score for the TV series PATRIA; and the score for the new comedy THE MAN IN THE HAT, starring the great Ciaran Hinds, and composed by Oscar winner Stephen Warbeck (Shakespeare in Love, Billy Elliot), which should be no surprise because the film was co-written and co-directed by Oscar winner Stephen Warbeck.
Varese Sarabande is planning to announce two new limited edition CD Club releases today.
Dragon's Domain has announced three new upcoming releases -- Dennis McCarthy's score for the film verson of Charles Busch's stage comedy DIE, MOMMIE, DIE!, starring Busch himself, Jason Priestley, Frances Conroy, Philip Baker Hall and Stark Sands; the score for the 1986 horror comedy KILLER PARTY, composed by John Beal (The Funhouse); and THE LEE HOLDRIDGE COLLECTION VOL. 2, featuring the composer's unused score for the 1999 drama Africa, starring Greg Wise, Patrick Bergin and Elizabeth Berkeley, and his music for the South African juvenile drama e'Lollipop, released in the U.S. as Forever Young, Forever Free.
The latest Grammy winners in the film music-related categories are:
BEST SCORE SOUNDTRACK FOR VISUAL MEDIA
JOKER - Hildur Guonadottir
BEST COMPILATION SOUNDTRACK FOR VISUAL MEDIA
JOJO RABBIT
BEST SONG WRITTEN FOR VISUAL MEDIA
"NO TIME TO DIE" from No Time to Die - Billie Eilish O'Connell, Finneas O'Connell
This last award must certainly be the first time a James Bond song has won a Grammy seven months before the film has even been released.
For those who missed Monday morning's announcement, this year's Oscar nominees in the music categories are
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
DA 5 BLOODS – Terence Blanchard
MANK – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
MINARI – Emile Mosseri
SOUL – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
“FIGHT FOR YOU” – Judas and the Black Messiah – Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas
“HUSAVIK” – Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga – Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Goransson
“IO SI (SEEN)” – The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se) – Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini
“SPEAK NOW” – One Night in Miami… - Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth
Normally nominations morning is my favorite day of the year, but having only seen two of the films (
Emma and
Onward) thanks to the pandemic closure of L.A. theaters, it was a melancholy event for me. The last movie year when I'd seen fewer films was 1974, when I'd only seen
Young Frankenstein (I was 13, and most of that year's big Oscar movies were R-rated, and I was too squeamish to see
The Towering Inferno.)
IN THEATERS TODAY
Since theaters have begun re-opening in Los Angeles for the first time in a year, I am returning this part of the column to its traditional format.
The Courier - Abel Korzeniowski
COMING SOON
March 26
Bersaglio Mobile - Ivan Vandor - Digitmovies
Ed ora...raccomanda l'anima a dio! - Franco Bixio - Digitmovies
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan - Fred Mollin - La-La Land
The Tattooed Torah - Daniel Alcheh - Notefornote
The Time Tunnel: Volume One - Robert Drasnin, Lyn Murray, Paul Sawtell, John Williams - La-La Land
April 2
Die, Mommie, Die! - Dennis McCarthy - Dragon's Domain
Killer Party - John Beal - Dragon's Domain
The Lee Holdridge Collection, Vol. 2 - Lee Holdridge - Dragon's Domain
Date Unknown
The Bear (re-issue) - Philippe Sarde - Music Box
50 States of Fright - Christopher Young - Notefornote
I due evasi di Sing Sing - Ennio Morricone - Quartet
I Malamondo - Ennio Morricone - Sugar/CAM
The Man in the Hat - Stephen Warbeck - Quartet
Metti lo diavolo tuo ne lo mio inferno/Leva lo diavolo tu dal...convento/Racconti proibiti...de niente vestiti - Stelvio Cipriani - Digitmovies
Mondo Cane - Riz Ortolani - Sugar/CAM
My Name Is Nobody - Ennio Morricone - Beat
Patria - Fernando Velazquez - Quartet
The Serpent (re-issue) - Ennio Morricone - Music Box
Vamos a Matar Companeros - Ennio Morricone - Beat
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
March 19 - Jean Weiner born (1896)
March 19 -
Dimitri Tiomkin wins Oscars for
High Noon’s score and song (1953)
March 19 - Anthony Marinelli born (1959)
March 19 - Joseph Mullendore records his score for the Land of the Giants episode “Shell Game” (1969)
March 19 - George Garvarentz died (1993)
March 19 -
Velton Ray Bunch records his score for the
Enterprise episode “Acquisition” (2002)
March 19 - Michel Legrand begins recording his score for The Other Side of the Wind (2018)
March 20 - Michel Magne born (1930)
March 20 - John Cameron born (1944)
March 20 - Miklos Rozsa wins his second Oscar, for A Double Life score (1948)
March 20 - Franz Waxman wins his second consecutive Best Score Oscar, for A Place in the Sun (1952)
March 20 -
Elmer Bernstein begins recording his score for
The Tin Star (1957)
March 20 - Amit Poznansky born (1974)
March 20 - Stu Phillips records his score for the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode “The Hand of Goral” (1981)
March 20 - Ray Cook died (1989)
March 20 - Georges Delerue died (1992)
March 20 - Johnny Pearson died (2011)
March 20 - Johnny Harris died (2020)
March 21 - Antony Hopkins born (1921)
March 21 - Gary Hughes born (1922)
March 21 - Mort Lindsey born (1923)
March 21 - Joseph S. DeBeasi born (1960)
March 21 - Alex North begins recording his score for Spartacus (1960)
March 21 - Alexander Courage records his score for the Lost in Space episode "The Mechanical Men" (1967)
March 21 -
John Williams wins his fifth Oscar, for his
Schindler's List score (1994)
March 21 - Jay Chattaway records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Journey’s End “ (1994)
March 22 - Stephen Sondheim born (1930)
March 22 - Angelo Badalamenti born (1937)
March 22 - Andrew Lloyd Webber born (1948)
March 22 - Goran Bregovic born (1950)
March 22 - Wally Badarou born (1955)
March 22 - Max Richter born (1966)
March 22 - Zeltia Montes born (1979)
March 22 - Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score for Time After Time (1979)
March 22 - Dennis McCarthy records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Time Squared” (1989)
March 22 - Bebo Valdes died (2013)
March 22 - Scott Walker died (2019)
March 23 - Alan Blaikley born (1940)
March 23 - Michael Nyman born (1944)
March 23 - David Grisman born (1945)
March 23 - Trevor Jones born (1949)
March 23 - Aaron Copland wins his only Oscar, for The Heiress score (1950)
March 23 - Philip Judd born (1953)
March 23 - Richard Shores records his score for The Wild Wild West episode “The Night of the Burning Diamond” (1966)
March 23 - Damon Albarn born (1968)
March 23 - Lionel Newman re-records pre-existing Jerry Goldsmith cues for The Last Hard Men’s replacement score (1976)
March 23 - Hal Mooney died (1995)
March 23 - Michael Linn died (1995)
March 23 -
James Horner begins recording his score for
Braveheart (1995)
March 23 -
James Horner wins his first and last Oscars, for
Titanic's score and song;
Anne Dudley wins the third Comedy or Musical Score Oscar, for
The Full Monty (1998)
March 23 -
Elliot Goldenthal wins his first Oscar, for the
Frida score (2003)
March 24 - Michael Masser born (1941)
March 24 -
Brian Easdale wins his only Oscar, for
The Red Shoes score (1949)
March 24 - Alberto Colombo died (1954)
March 24 - Fred Steiner's score for the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" is recorded (1967)
March 24 - John Barry begins recording his score for The Deep (1977)
March 24 -
Arthur B. Rubinstein begins recording his score for
WarGames (1983)
March 24 -
Alex North wins an Honorary Oscar, "in recognition of his brilliant artistry in the creation of memorable music for a host of distinguished motion pictures; "
John Barry wins his fourth Oscar, for the
Out of Africa score (1986)
March 24 -
Gabriel Yared wins the Dramatic Score Oscar for
The English Patient;
Rachel Portman wins the second Comedy or Musical Score Oscar, for
Emma (1997)
March 24 -
John Barry wins his fifth and final Oscar, for the
Dances With Wolves score;
Stephen Sondheim wins his first Oscar, for the song "Sooner or Later" from
Dick Tracy (1991)
March 24 - Gerard Schurmann died (2020)
March 25 - Riz Ortolani born (1926)
March 25 - Recording sessions begin for Frederick Hollander’s score for The Great McGinty (1940)
March 25 - Elton John born (1947)
March 25 - Bronislau Kaper wins his only Oscar, for the Lili score (1954)
March 25 - John Massari born (1957)
March 25 -
Ken Thorne begins recording his score for
Superman II (1980)
March 25 - Maurice Jarre wins his third and final Oscar, for the A Passage to India score (1985)
March 25 - Ron Jones records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Royale" (1989)
March 25 -
Luis Bacalov wins his only Oscar, for
Il Postino;
Alan Menken wins the first Comedy or Musical Score Oscar, as well as Best Song, for
Pocahonatas (1996)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
BLIZZARD OF SOUILS - Lolita Ritmanis
"Although Valdis Celmins’s camera is more mobile than would have been possible in the era of the mid-century prestige pictures that Dreibergs emulates, 'Blizzard of Souls' has a traditional look. Its battle scenes are rendered with stately, lengthy takes, forgoing frantic pans, quick cuts, and shaky cam. Story, not style, is key to the way the film conveys wartime chaos. The director and crew are unafraid of the picturesque, lighting scenes so they resemble old-master canvases. Battle sequences are often swathed in snow, smoke, or mist, and partly bleached of color. The occasional reprieves, however, are invariably bathed in golden light. The breaks from battle are as sweet and plush as Latvian-American composer Lolita Ritmanis’s score."
Mark Jenkins, Slant Magazine
"The convincing tech package could stand its own against Hollywood productions, while the symphonic score by composer Lolita Ritmanis (an Emmy winner for 'Batman Beyond') anchors cinematographer Valdis Celmins’ epic sweep. Period photographs under the end credits prove the filmmakers’ care for historical detail. Aleksandrs Grins, whose novel (banned in the Soviet Union) was adapted, spent years serving as a Latvian Rifleman."
Alissa Simon, Variety
"This dimension is emphasized in Celmins’ exceptionally atmospheric cinematography and Lolita Ritmanis’ poignantly respectful score. Gatis Belogrudovs' concise editing never allows the tale to dawdle."
Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter
BOOGIE - Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad
"Boogie’s parents are also ill-drawn. His mother is as conscious of stereotypes as her son. When a college recruiter from Georgetown visits their home, she worries about how their apartment could look like a spa or a Chinese restaurant. The fiery Chee is one of the film’s few acting highlights. She balances two minds -- the shrewd businesswoman angling for her son’s future and the errant mother who’s physically abusing him -- with ease. In the family’s dinner scenes, she coldly dismisses Boogie’s father as a failure. And while Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge’s oddly brooding score distracts from the marital spat’s seriousness, Chee keeps us in the parental power struggle. That battle eventually sees her hiring Melvin (Mike Moh) to manage her son, though Melvin also has her on his mind, and Boogie’s father landing in jail again. To free his father, he must choose between playing in the Chinese Basketball Association or college."
Robert Daniels, IndieWire
"Huang, the author, chef, restaurateur and attorney whose autobiography 'Fresh Off the Boat' became an ABC sitcom, channels his own upbringing as a hip-hop-loving child of Taiwanese immigrants in 'Boogie' (he also co-stars, mirthlessly, as Boogie’s IBS-afflicted uncle). The film envisions Boogie as a melting pot unto himself, such that he’s equally comfortable among his racially mixed peers in the gym and classroom, and with his traditional parents, serving tea to his elders and, at one point, falling to his knees to formally apologize to his coach (Domenick Lombardozzi) and principal (Margaret Odette). Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s enveloping rap and R&B-laced score further accentuates Boogie’s of-two-worlds condition, as do cinematographer Brett Jutkiewicz’s pans through Queens’ Chinatown streets, and recurring detours to a fortune teller shop where Boogie’s mom and dad sought counsel shortly before their only child’s birth."
