CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK

La notte dell’ultimo giorno/Processo per diretissima - Stelvio Cipriani - Quartet
Max et les ferrailleurs/Vincent, Francois, Paul et les autres - Philippe Sarde - Quartet

Quartet has announced two new releases -- a disc pairing remastered, slightly expanded version of two scores which Philippe Sarde composed for director Claude Sautet: MAX ET LES FERRAILLEURS and VINCENT, FRANCOIS, PAUL ET LES AUSTRES; and two previously unreleased scores by Stelvio Cipriani, LA NOTTE DELL’ULTIMO GIORNO and PROCESSO PER DIRETISSIMA.

La-La Land's brand-new premiere release of the score to SLIVER features not only Howard Shore's original score for the film but four cues of additional music Christopher Young composed for the release version.

The Varese Sarabande CD Club has announced two new limited Deluxe Edition expanded re-releases: a two-disc collection of John Debney's music for Steven Spielberg's lavish attempt at an underwater TV equivalent to Star Trek, SEAQUEST DSV, with his score for the pilot episode (including his Emmy-winning main title theme) on Disc One and cues from six additional first season episode scores on Disc Two; and Harold Faltermeyer's score for THE RUNNING MAN, the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi action vehicle based on the novel by "Richard Bachman" (aka Stephen King).

Dragon's Domain has announced three new film music CDs: Lee Holdridge's score for the 2004 disaster TV miniseries 10.5; a remastered edition of Richard Band's score for the sci-fi thriller THE DAY TIME ENDED (seen on the most recent season of MST3K); and THE EDWARD DAVID ZELIFF COLLECTION, VOL. 1, a two-disc set featuring the composer's music for documentaries and religious dramas. 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that the 93rd Oscars, originally scheduled for February 28, 2021, will be held instead on April 25, and the eligibility period for films to be released will be extended to February 28, 2021 (reminiscent of the first years of the Oscars, where the eligibility period was actually from August through July). They also announced that the long-awaited Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has a new official opening date of April 30, 2021.

The Varese Sarabande CD Club is expected to announce one new release today.

CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK

Exorcism at 60,000 Feet - Richard Band - Dragon's Domain 
Incident at Raven's Gate/The Time Guardian - Graham Tardif, Allan Zavod - Dragon's Domain
The Meanest Man in Texas - Steve Dorff - Notefornote
The Paul Chihara Collection vol. 4 - Paul Chihara - Dragon's Domain
Tales of Frankenstein - William Stromberg - Dragon's Domain  

CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK

The Roads Not Taken - Sally Potter - Milan  

Quartet has announced two brand new score CDs -- the first-ever release of Lee Holdridge's score to the 1983 hit comedy MR. MOM, starring Michael Keaton and Teri Garr (and featuring an early screenplay by John Hughes); and an expanded, two-disc set of Angelo Francesco Lavagnino's music for the two-part epic KALI-YUG: LA DEA DELLA VENDETTA/IL MISTERO DEL TEMPIO INDIANO. 

Following their CD premiere releases of The Baby and the Oscar-nominated score for Birds Do It, Bees Do It, Caldera has announced a new CD of another previously unreleased score by Gerald Fried, ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO, a groundbreaking drama from 1964, directed by Larry Peerce (Goodbye, Columbus; The Other Side of the Mountain; Two-Minute Warning). The film told of the struggles of an interracial couple, and starred Bernie Hamilton and Barbara Barrie; Barrie won a Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in the film, and would be Oscar-nominated 15 years later for her best-remembered role, as Dennis Christopher's mother in Breaking Away; the film also earned an Oscar nomination for its original screenplay. The Caldera CD features the film's score as well as an audio commentary from Fried himself.

CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK

Kali-Yug: La Dea Della Vendetta/Il Mistero Del Tempio Indiano - Angelo Francesco Lavagnino - Quartet
Le Fils Prefere/Mademoiselle - Philippe Sarde - Music Box
Les Veces Etaient Fermes de L'Interieur/Le Chasseur de Chez Maxim's - Paul Misraki - Music Box 
Mr. Mom - Lee Holdridge - Quartet
Ulzana's Raid - Frank De Vol - Intrada Special Collection 

Dragon's Domain has announced four new film music CDs -- THE PAUL CHIHARA COLLECTION VOL. 4, featuring a new re-recording of the composer's score for the cult sci-fi classic DEATH RACE 2000 plus his original score tracks from CRACKERS, the 1984 English-language, Louis Malle-directed remake of Big Deal on Madonna Street, and FOREVER, LULU, the 1987 comedy thriller starring Hanna Schygulla, Deborah Harry and Alec Baldwin; Richard Band's score for the recent horror comedy EXORCISM AT 60,000 FEET; William Stromberg's score for the 2018 horror-comedy anthology film TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN; and a CD pairing scores for two Australian science-fiction films, INCIDENT AT RAVEN'S GATE, scored by Graham Tardif, and THE TIME GUARDIAN, composed by Allan Zavod.

CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK

The David Spear Collection: Volume One - David Spear - Dragon's Domain 
Doctor Who: Series 12 - Segun Akinola - Silva
Doctor Who: The Sun Makers - Dudley Simpson - Silva
Doctor Who: The Visitation - Paddy Kingsland - Silva
Ghost Warrior - Richard Band - Dragon's Domain
The Haunting of Morella - Frederic Ensign Teetsel, Chuck Cirino - Dragon's Domain 

Music Box has announced two new score CD releases -- a disc pairing two previously unreleased scores by Philippe Sarde, LE FILS PREFERE and MADEMOISELLE; and the CD premiere of two scores by Paul Misraki (Alphaville), LES VECES ETAIENT FERMES DE L'INTERIEUR and LE CHASSEUR DE CHEZ MAXIM’S. 

The latest release from La-La Land is a two-disc set featuring the first-ever commercial release of the score for the 1999 superhero comedy MYSTERY MEN, which was a box-office disappointment at the time of its release (and was the subject of a particularly brutal and hilarous takedown by Jeffrey Ross at the Friars Club roast of Jerry Stiller) but has since become a cult favorite. The film has an eclectic cast including Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, Claire Forlani, William H. Macy, Kel Mitchell, Wes Studi, Paul Reubens, Greg Kinnear, Lena Olin and Geoffrey Rush, and the original score was composed by Stephen Warbeck, hot off his Oscar win for Shakespeare in Love. In the final film, many of his cues were replaced by new music by the great Shirley Walker, and the La-La Land Mystery Men features Warbeck's 62-minute original score on Disc One and Walker's 28 minutes of new score on Disc Two.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced changes in the rules in the 93rd Academy Awards, including some related to film music. 

According to the new rules, "In the Music (Original Score) category, for a score to be eligible, it must comprise a minimum of 60% original music. Additionally, for sequels and franchise films, a score must have a minimum of 80% new music." If this change had been made earlier, for example, John Williams' nominated scores for the recent Star Wars sequels would probably not have been eligible, nor would Alan Silvestri's shortlisted scores for the last two Avengers films.

And for those who collect rare For Your Consideration score CDs, "As part of the Academy’s sustainability effort, the 93rd Awards season will be the final year DVD screeners will be allowed to be distributed; these mailings will be discontinued starting in 2021 for the 94th Academy Awards. Access to the Academy Screening Room will continue to be made available for all eligible releases. The distribution of physical music CDs, screenplays and hardcopy mailings, including but not limited to paper invites and screening schedules, will also be discontinued next year."

The biggest news is that films which had planned theatrical releases this year (and only this year) which instead were released directly to streaming services will still be eligible for Oscar consideration. And in a related but surprising move, "For films to more easily meet theatrical exhibition requirements when theaters reopen, the Academy also will expand the number of qualifying theaters beyond Los Angeles County to include venues in additional U.S. metropolitan areas: the City of New York; the Bay Area; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; and Atlanta, Georgia."

Also, the categories Sound Editing and Sound Mixing are being merged into one category, Sound, but all the craftsmen who might previously been eligible in one of those categories (most likely Supervising Sound Editors, Sound Designers, Production Mixers and Re-Recording Mixers) will still be eligible in the combined category with a potential six people nominated per film. This seems a logical compromise, as who besides people in the sound fields can accurately delineate between Mixing and Editing?

This has nothing to do with film music, but it is with a heavy heart that I announce that my favorite international film actor, Irrfan Khan, has died at the age of 53 of natural causes. Khan made his feature film debut in Mira Nair's 1988 international hit Salaam Bombay!, and worked steadily in Indian cinema for many years. He had his English-language breakthrough as Kal Penn's father in Nair's family drama The Namesake, and since then he balanced Indian and Western films, with a variety of projects including The Darjeeling Limited, Slumdog Millionaire, The Amazing Spider-Man, Life of Pi (as the adult Pi) and Inferno.

One only has to watch his performances as the police chief hunting for the missing Daniel Pearl in A Mighty Heart, the lonely everyman hero of The Lunchbox, and the charismatic billionaire owner of Jurassic World to get a sense of his extraordinary range. I know it's a cliche, but he will be truly missed.