The latest score CD from Intrada is an expanded, two-disc release of Frank DeVol's exciting adventure score for the original, 1965 film version of THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX, with the full 64-minute score on Disc One and alternates and source cues on Disc Two.

The voting closes for the first annual FSMies this Sunday, Feb. 28, at 11:59 PM (PST). Subscribers can click here to vote!

Quartet has announced two new score CDs -- the first release of Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai's score for the 1968 Italian gangster film BANDITS IN ROME (aka Roma come Chicago), starring John Cassavates and Gabriele Ferzetti; and the first release of Riz Ortolani's score for the 1970 thriller L'INVASIONE, starring Michel Piccoli.

Dragon's Domain has announced three new releases -- THE MARK SNOW COLLECTION VOL. 3: SOUTHERN GOTHIC, featuring the composer's scores for two 1994 TV movies, Murder Between Friends and Shadows of Desire; Joel Goldsmith's score for the 1996 comic book adaptation VAMPIRELLA, starring Talisa Soto and Roger Daltrey; and the score for the 1991 children's fantasy ADVENTURES IN DINOSAUR CITY, by Frederic Ensign Teetsel.

Music Box is reissuing two of their out-of-print, expanded score CDs - Philippe Sarde's score for director Jean-Jacques Annaud's animal adventure drama THE BEAR, and Ennio Morricone's score for the 1973 spy thriller THE SERPENT, starring Yul Brynner, Henry Fonda, Dirk Bogarde, Philippe Noiret and Virna Lisi.

CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK

The Awakening (re-release) - Claude Bolling - Quartet
Fireball XL5 - Barry Gray - Silva
The Great Gatsby Ballet - Carl Davis - Carl Davis Collection
The Silence of the Lambs (re-release) - Howard Shore - Quartet
Symphonies No. 6 & 7/Night Voyage - Christopher Gunning - Signum
Zappa - John Frizzell, songs - Zappa Records 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced shortlists for the nominations for nine categories for the 93rd Oscars, including the following music categories:

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

AMMONITE – Dustin O’Halloran, Volker Bertelmann
BLIZZARD OF SOULS – Lolita Ritmanis
DA 5 BLOODS – Terence Blanchard
THE INVISIBLE MAN – Benjamin Wallfisch
JINGLE JANGLE: A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY – John Debney
THE LIFE AHEAD (LA VITA DAVANTI A SE)  - Gabriel Yared
THE LITTLE THINGS – Thomas Newman
MANK – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
THE MIDNIGHT SKY – Alexandre Desplats
MINARI – Emile Mosseri
MULAN – Harry Gregson-Williams
NEWS OF THE WORLD – James Newton Howard
SOUL – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
TENET – Ludwig Goransson
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – Daniel Pemberton

The biggest surprise inclusion is Blizzard of Souls. I suspect I'm not the only one here who wouldn't be aware of this film or its score if La-La Land hadn't made the soundtrack available. Most unexpected exclusions are Let Him Go (Giacchino), Pieces of a Woman (Shore) and two scores by Hans Zimmer, Hillbilly Elegy (written with David Fleming) and Wonder Woman 1984 (aka WW84).

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

“Fight For You” -  JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH- Gabriella Wilson, Dernst Emile II, Tiara Thomas
“Free” - THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN – Diane Warren
“Green” - SOUND OF METAL – Abraham Marder
“Hear My Voice” - THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – Daniel Pemberton
“Husavik” - EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA – Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus, Rickard Goransson
“lo Si` (Seen)” - THE LIFE AHEAD (LA VITA DAVANTI A SE) – Diane Warren, Laura Pausini, Niccolo Agliardi
“Loyal Brave True” -  MULAN – Jamie Hartman, Harry Gregson-Williams, Rosi Golan, Billy Crabtree
“Make It Work” -  JINGLE JANGLE: A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY – John Stephens
“Never Break” -  GIVING VOICE – Nasri Atweh, Benjamin Hudson McIldowie, Greg Wells, John Stephens
“Rain Song” – MINARI – Emile Mosseri, Stefanie Y. Hong
“See What You’ve Done” -  BELLY OF THE BEAST – Mary J. Blige, Darhyl Camper, Denisia “Blu June” Andrews, Brittany “Chi” Coney
“Show Me Your Soul” - MR. SOUL! – Robert Glasper, Muhammad Ayers, Lalah Hathaway, Melissa Haizlip
“Speak Now” - ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI... – Leslie Odom Jr., Sam Ashworth
 “Turntables” - ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY – Janelle Monae Robinson, Nathaniel Irvin III, George “George 2.0.” A Peters II
“Wuhan Flu” - BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM: DELIVERY OF PRODIGIOUS BRIBE TO AMERICAN REGIME FOR MAKE BENEFIT ONCE GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN – Anthony Hines, Sacha Baron Cohen, Erran Baron Cohen

(The specific songwriters on the list above have not been officially announced as the contenders, but are merely the result of my own research into the topic).

None of the songs from the animated films Over the Moon or Trolls World Tour made the cut, and other highly-touted songs that didn't make the list include “The Plan” (Tenet), “Tigress & Tweed” (The United States vs. Billie Holliday), “Together” (Music) and “Wear Your Crown” (The Prom). Continuing a recent trend, four of the songs are from documentaries -- All In: The Fight for Democracy, Belly of the Beast, Giving Voice and Mr. Soul!

The rest of the shortlists are at the end of this column.*

Jon Burlingame has written an article for Variety about the lists of eligible scores and songs for this year's Oscars (which, let's not forget, extended its release eligibility period to the end of February 2021 - hence the inclusion of Thomas Newman's score for the just-released The Little Things, for example). For example, the score to Pixar's Soul is apparently eligible, and the article suggests that Jon Batiste would be eligible for the film's original jazz compositions along with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for their background score.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced this year's nominees for the Golden Globes, including the following film music categories:

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE

MANK – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
THE MIDNIGHT SKY – Alexandre Desplat
NEWS OF THE WORLD – James Newton Howard
SOUL – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
TENET  – Ludwig Göransson

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE

“Fight for You” – JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH – H.E.R., Dernst Emile II, Tiara Thomas
“Hear My Voice” – THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – Daniel Pemberton, Celeste
“Io Si (Seen)” – THE LIFE AHEAD – Diane Warren, Laura Pausini, Niccolò Agliardi
“Speak Now” – ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI  – Leslie Odom Jr, Sam Ashworth
“Tigress & Tweed” – THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLLIDAY – Andra Day, Raphael Saadiq

Variety recently featured an article discussing which scores were declared ineligible for BAFTA's music awards and suggests the same scores will be ineligible for Oscar consideration. For those interested, go to this link.

Those who read this week's Did They Mention the Music column below may note that of the seven reviews that praised Ludovico Einaudi's score for the critically acclaimed Oscar contender Nomadland, only one mentioned that Einaudi's music for the film is actually taken from his albums, specifically his Seven Days Walking set.

CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK

Civilta Del Mediterraneo - Bruno Nicolai - Kronos
Cold Mountain - Gabriel Yared - Music Box
Gaza Mon Amour - Andre Matthias - Kronos
Le Choc/Les Seins De Glace - Philippe Sarde - Music Box
L'Uomo Europo - Francesco DeMasi - Kronos
The Shepherd - Arthur Valentin Grosz - Kronos
Sostiene Pereira - Ennio Morricone - Caldera
Viking Women and the Sea Serpent - Albert Glasser - Kronos

Quartet is releasing a low-priced 12-disc set of the scores composed by Alberto Iglesias for writer-director Pedro Almodovar. This set features the 11 previously released soundtracks plus a CD featuring Iglesias' score for Almodovar's new 30-minute film version of Jean Cocteau's classic play THE HUMAN VOICE, starring Tilda Swinton. The Human Voice CD will not be released separately.

CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK

Cobra Kai: Season Two - Leo Birenberg, Zach Robinson - La-La Land
Cobra Kai: Season Three - Leo Birenberg - Zach Robinson - La-La Land
Film Music 1976-2020 - Brian Eno - Astralwerks
Muscle - The The - Cineola
The Orville: Season Two - Andrew Cottee, John Debney, Joel McNeely - La-La Land
Pedro Almodovar & Alberto Iglesias Film Music Collection - Alberto Iglesias - Quartet
Rams - Brian Eno - Universal

Varese Sarabande has announced two brand new limited Deluxe Edition CD Club releases.

Jerry Goldsmith's collaboration with director Joe Dante began with the "It's a Good Life" segment of 1983's Twilight Zone: The Movie and continued for two decades, including the blockbuster hit Gremlins. Their final film together, the 2003 animation/live-action comedy hybrid LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION, was Goldsmith's last work for the screen and released only eight months before the composer's passing, and Varese Sarabande originally released a CD featuring a generous selection of cues from his score. Their new two-disc set includes the full original score, including the additional cues composed by John Debney and Cameron Patrick, plus alternates and the original CD sequencing.

Goldsmith was actually the original composer hired for BABE, the 1995 George Miller production which proved to be not only a critical and box-office hit but also a major Oscar contender, but the final score was written by Australian composer Nigel Westlake, who also scored the film's 1998 sequel, Babe: Pig in the City. (The Academy's Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills features Goldsmith's original music sketches for his unused score in their Special Collections). The original Varese soundtrack for Babe was a child-friendly release featuring a generous amount of dialogue and narration, but Varese Club's new Deluxe Edition is a greatly expanded music-only release.

The week after next, La-La Land will be releasing score CDs for the second and third seasons (the latter a two-disc set) of the Karate Kid-spinoff Netflix series COBRA KAI, composed by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson.

Varese Sarabande is expected to announce their latest CD Club releases today.

CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK

The Twentieth Century - George Antheil, Paul Creston, Gail Kubik, Darius Milhaud, Harold Shapero - Kritzerland

IN THEATERS TODAY

No major new releases are expected today but the films released at the end of 2020 are still playing where theaters are open, and some theaters are even still screening films from earlier in the year like Tenet and The War with Grandpa.

Normally at this time of year I'd be listing my Oscar predictions for 2020, but due to the pandemic, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has moved the 2021 Oscars to April 25, and extended the eligibility period of film releases through February 28. They currently plan to announce the shortlists on February 9 and the nominations on March 15. I plan to post a predictions column sometime between those two dates, though I still expect I will have seen few if any of the major contenders by then, so mentally I'll be putting an asterisk next to this year's list. A friend was asking my predictions for the score shortlist*, and at this point I have no idea what's even eligible. Is Soderbergh's Let Them All Talk (score by Thomas Newman) considered a 2020 feature? I've heard that Steve McQueen's critically acclaimed Small Axe movies are not being submitted for Oscar consideration.

MY TEN FAVORITE SOUNDTRACK RELEASES OF 2020

ALIVE (Intrada)
THE DON IS DEAD (Intrada)
ENDLESS NIGHT (Quartet)
THE QUINN MARTIN COLLECTION, VOL. 3: THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO (La-La Land)
THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION (Quartet)
THE SWARM (La-La Land)
SWASHBUCKLER (Quartet)
TAKE HER, SHE'S MINE (Intrada)
VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (La-La Land)
WAR OF THE WORLDS (Intrada) 

IN THEATERS TODAY

Films currently screening in cities where are theaters are still open include The Croods: A New Age, Fatale, Monster Hunter, News of the World, Pinocchio, Promising Young Woman and Wonder Woman 1984.