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| Oscar Predictions 2020
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| Posted By
Scott Bettencourt
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3/12/2021 - 10:00 AM |
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| In a normal year, which 2020 was anything but, I would have posted these predictions -- traditionally based largely on my own big-screen viewing of all the major and minor contenders -- at the end of last year. However, theaters in the Los Angeles area have been closed since March 16, 2020, so I was only able to see 33 of the 366 films which have been declared Oscar-eligible for this year’s awards (including films released up until the end of February 2021). So these predictions are based largely on reviews, on awards from other organizations, and even more sheer guesswork than usual. As with so many things relating to 2020, it’s best to put an asterisk next to it. The nominations will be announced this coming Monday, March 15 (coincidentally, the one-year anniversary of the last time I saw a movie in a theater. Sigh.)
This is a strange Oscar year for so many reasons. Because the releases of so many potential box-office attractions were postponed (not that Black Widow or No Time to Die were likely to be major Oscar contenders), the emphasis this year more than ever has been on smaller, more “serious” films. One doesn’t necessarily think of Best Picture contenders as box-office blockbusters, but the last several decades have seen many of the biggest hits nominated in that category (if rarely winning), including Jaws, Star Wars, Heaven Can Wait, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Tootsie, Fatal Attraction, Ghost, Beauty and the Beast, Jerry Maguire, Titanic, The Sixth Sense, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Avatar, Inception, Gravity, The Martian, Black Panther and Joker. Similarly, many Best Picture winners that seemed unlikely box-office contenders proved to be genuine box-office smashes, including Platoon, Driving Miss Daisy, A Beautiful Mind, Slumdog Millionaire and The King’s Speech. What’s really rare is a year like 1984, where none of the Best Picture nominees (Amadeus, The Killing Fields, A Passage to India, Places in the Heart and A Soldier’s Story) did particularly impressive business.
BEST PICTURE
1. NOMADLAND
2. THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
3. MANK
4. ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI…
5. MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
6. MINARI
7. SOUND OF METAL
8. SOUL
9. NEWS OF THE WORLD
10. PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN |
| Comments: (read on)
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| Film Score Friday 3/12/21
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| Posted By
Scott Bettencourt
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3/11/2021 - 10:00 PM |
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The latest release from Intrada features Elmer Bernstein's final score for producer-director Ivan Reitman, for the 1986 comedy-mystery LEGAL EAGLES. A lavish attempt to recreate the kind of Golden Age entertainment that made Hepburn and Tracy an iconic team, it starred Robert Redford, Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah, with an impressive supporting cast including Terence Stamp, Brian Dennehy, Christine Baranski and Steven Hill. The CD feautures the cues Bernstein re-recorded for the original LP release, as well as two vintage songs and the performance piece Hannah performs in the film, and the liner notes include an essay by myself about the film's production and the history of Bernstein's collaboration with Reitman.
Notefornote is releasing the score for Christopher Young's most recent collaboration with director Sam Raimi, the three-part "The Golden Arm (Michigan)" from the Quibi series 50 STATES OF FRIGHT.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Adventures in Dinosaur City - Frederic Ensign Teetsel - Dragon's Domain
His Dark Materials: Season Two - Lorne Balfe - Silva
Legal Eagles - Elmer Bernstein - Intrada Special Collection
The Mark Snow Collection Vol. 3: Southern Gothic - Mark Snow - Dragon's Domain
Vampirella - Joel Goldsmith - Dragon's Domain
IN THEATERS TODAY
No major new releases are expected to open tomorrow, though more cities have re-opened cinemas including San Francisco. |
| Comments: (read on)
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| Aisle Seat 3-9: Flops of Winters Past - THE JANUARY MAN
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| Posted By
Andy Dursin
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3/8/2021 - 10:00 PM |
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| On paper, THE JANUARY MAN (97 mins., 1989, R) seems to have it all: a serial killer preying upon New York City. A renegade ex-cop (Kevin Kline) summoned off his new career as a firefighter to help capture him before he strikes again, at the behest of his estranged brother (Harvey Keitel), who works for the hot-tempered Mayor (Rod Steiger). Suspense, comedy, romance, domestic drama – each are a part of the follow-up screenplay to John Patrick Shanley’s Oscar winning “Moonstruck,” yet this superbly cast genre mash-up ended up misfiring across nearly all of its elements. It is, at least, a noble and curious flop from its time, with an attractive cast that still makes it worth a watch. |
| Comments: (read on)
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| Film Score Friday 3/5/21
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| Posted By
Scott Bettencourt
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3/4/2021 - 10:00 PM |
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La-La Land has announced two upcoming releases expected the week after next -- a three-disc set ("Volume One"!) of music from Irwin Allen's '60s sci-fi TV series THE TIME TUNNEL, featuring music composed for the series by Robert Drasnin, Lyn Murray, Paul Sawtell, and that other guy, what's his name...oh yes, John Williams; and Fred Mollin's score for the seagoing slasher sequel FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VIII: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN (the only film in the original series for which Harry Manfredini did not recieve full or shared scoring credit).
For those who may be interested in what exactly constitutes an award-qualifying film for the upcoming Oscars, the Academy has announced the Reminder List of eligible films for the 2020 awards (which includes films released through the end of February 2021). Nominations will be announced on March 15th, and the awards will be handed out on April 25th.
Fun fact: last Christmas's big DC Comics superhero spectacular is officially listed as WW84. I guess the studio used up their allotment of letters on Birds of Prey and The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
Ulysse 31 - Denny Crockett, Ike Egan, Shuki Levy, Haim Saban, Seji Suzuki - CSC
IN THEATERS TODAY
Raya and the Last Dragon, the latest animated feature from Disney, opens in theaters this week with a score by James Newton Howard. No score CD has been announced yet, but both Mulan and Soul had score CDs released overseas, so there's always hope. |
| Comments: (read on)
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| Film Score Friday 2/26/21
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| Posted By
Scott Bettencourt
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2/25/2021 - 10:00 PM |
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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. |
| Comments: (read on)
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| Aisle Seat 2-23: Kino Lorber February Edition
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| Posted By
Andy Dursin
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2/22/2021 - 10:00 PM |
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| It’s going to be hard for future generations to understand the dynamics of how movies functioned in the days before streaming – back when films that weren’t “tentpoles” or franchise-driven IP’s could not only find a place at the box-office, but also become bonafide commercial hits in the process. Unlikely sleeper successes were commonplace decades ago, as evidenced by the stunning performance of THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN (102 mins., 1975, PG), which fit right into the “Love Story”-established ’70s formula of a romance doomed by a personal tragedy that its lead character has to overcome. |
| Comments: (read on)
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Today in Film Score History:
April 12 |
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| Andy Garcia born (1956) |
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| Bruce Broughton begins recording his score to Eloise at the Plaza (2003) |
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| David Raksin begins recording his score for Right Cross (1950) |
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| Dennis McCarthy records his score for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Shattered Mirror” (1996) |
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| Edwin Astley born (1922) |
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| Elmer Bernstein begins recording his score for Rampage (1963) |
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| Georg Haentzschel died (1992) |
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| Herbert Gronemeyer born (1956) |
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| Herbie Hancock born (1940) |
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| Hugo Friedhofer begins recording his score to Soldier of Fortune (1955) |
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| Jay Chattaway records his score for the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “The Changing Face of Evil” (1999) |
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| Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score for One Little Indian (1973) |
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| Lisa Gerrard born (1961) |
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| Miklos Rozsa begins recording his score to Lust For Life (1956) |
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| Richard Shores died (2001) |
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| Ronald Stein born (1930) |
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| Russell Garcia born (1916) |
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