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Robert B. Sherman, 1925-2012
Composer Robert B. Sherman, one of the greatest and most influential songwriters in the history of Hollywood, died on March 6, 2012, at his home in London, after a short illness. He was 86 years old.
Robert Bernard Sherman was born in New York, New York, in December 1925, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. His father, Al, was a composer and arranger in Tin Pan Alley in New York, and was a contemporary of George Gershwin; the Shermans eventually relocated to Los Angeles in 1937, and Robert attended Beverly Hills High School. Robert joined the Army in 1943 aged 17, and was awarded the Purple Heart medal after being shot in the knee in 1945, an injury which forced him to walk with a cane for the rest of his life. After completing his national service, Sherman and his brother Richard started a songwriting company, and they enjoyed success writing popular songs for artists including Annette Funicello. This success brought them to the attention of producer Walt Disney, who eventually hired them as staff songwriters for the Walt Disney Studio. Read more…
Academy Award Winners 2011
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) have announced the winners of the 84th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film in 2011.
In the Best Original Score category French composer Ludovic Bource won the award for his score for the silent film The Artist. In his acceptance speech, Bource said:
“Wow. I want to pay, first of all, tribute for the power of the music, and I want to thank you and pay tribute to my co-nominees, Mr. Williams, Mr. Shore and Mr. Iglesias. Hans Zimmer is downstairs, he refused to submit this year, so I thank you charity Hans Zimmer, I don’t know if you can see. Thank you to all the musicians tonight, it’s a wonderful show. Can I have ten second more, Hans? Sorry, I have a little speech. I’d like to thank the Academy for this Oscar. You have given a man a special honor. To all of you, please accept me, because I have got so much love to give. I’ve got so much love to give to you. My wife Sara is there {speaks French}, thank you for all. Thank you Michel [Hazanavicius].”
The other nominees were Alberto Iglesias for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Howard Shore for Hugo, John Williams for The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, and John Williams again for War Horse.
In the Best Original Song category, the winners was New Zealand-born musician Bret McKenzie from the musical comedy group Flight of the Conchords for the song “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets.
The other nominees were Sérgio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett for “Real in Rio” from Rio.
IFMCA Award Winners 2011
JOHN WILLIAMS WINS FIVE AWARDS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS INCLUDING SCORE OF THE YEAR FOR “WAR HORSE”
The International Film Music Critics Association announces the winners of its eighth annual awards for excellence in musical scoring in 2011 with John Williams’ score for Steven Spielberg’s WAR HORSE topping the list, winning Film Score of the Year, Best Score for a Drama Film and Individual Cue for “The Homecoming.” Williams also wins Composer of the Year and Best Score for an Animated Film for THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN. French composer Ludovic Bource wins Breakout Composer of the Year for his score to THE ARTIST.
Cliff Martinez wins Best Score for an Action/Adventure/Thriller Film for Nicolas Winding Refn’s DRIVE. Best Score for a Comedy Film is given to THE RUM DIARY by Christopher Young. Michael Giacchino wins his 11th career award for JJ Abrams’ SUPER 8 in the Best Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film category. Turkish composer Pinar Toprak wins Best Score for a Documentary Film for her score to THE WIND GODS.
In the non-film categories, Arnau Bataller wins Best Score for a Television Series for the Spanish telenovela ERMESSENDA. Veteran Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi wins Best Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media for the Level-5 / Studio Ghibli game NI NO KUNI: WRATH OF THE WHITE WITCH.
The Best Archival Release goes to the massive Warner Bros sixteen-disc, retrospective box-set THE DANNY ELFMAN & TIM BURTON 25TH ANNIVERSARY MUSIC BOX, which was housed in a Zoetrope box and included an exclusive historical book. The winner of Best Archival Re-recording goes to conductor William Stromberg and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra for their re-recording of Bernard Herrmanm’s THE BATTLE OF NERETVA and THE NAKED AND THE DEAD. Best Record Label of the Year goes to La-La Land Records, their second win in a row in this category, for such notable 2011 expanded release soundtracks as 1941, SPACE ABOVE AND BEOND, FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY, COMMANDO and STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION COLLECTION VOLUME 1.
The Association is also bestowing a Special Award to SYMPHONY OF HOPE: THE HAITI PROJECT, a benefit recording collaboration between 25 film and TV composers, including John Debney, Christopher Young, Dave Grusin, Marvin Hamlisch, and Christopher Lennertz who produced with Steve Schnur. The recording is available as a download on itunes and Amazon among other outlets with proceeds going to Haiti Earthquake Relief. More information can be found at http://www.haitisymphony.com. Read more…
STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME – Leonard Rosenman
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Coming off his directorial success with Star Trek III, Leonard Nimoy again assembled our iconic crew for a thoughtful eco-story that spoke to humanity’s poor stewardship of the Earth. The film opens with a massive space probe of unknown origin en route to Earth. When it arrives it delivers a cryptic message in a language that seems unintelligible. In addition, its power system neutralizes the Earth’s power grid and begins to vaporize its oceans. The exiled Captain Kirk and his fugitive crew correctly determine that the message is directed not to humanity, but instead to an extinct species, the Humpback whale. As such, they resolve to time travel back to late 20th century Earth to recover two humpback whales, hoping to bring them back to the future so they can respond to the probe’s message. Set in 20th century urban San Francisco, this new adventure was comic, light-hearted and proved to be a huge commercial success, earning profits of more than five times it’s production costs. Read more…
BAFTA Winners 2011
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) have announced the winners of the 65th British Academy Film Awards, honoring the best in film in 2011.
In the Best Original Score category composer Ludovic Bource won the award for his score for the critically acclaimed silent film The Artist. In his acceptance speech, Bource said:
“Sorry, I have no speech! Harvey [Weinstein], you reassured me, I know that after all. But, I have just one word, George Clooney, said always, ‘amazing’, ‘you are amazing guy’, so thank you for this award. It’s an amazing evening for me, I am so proud to receive this BAFTA, so thank you BAFTA. [Addressing Stephen Fry] Your speech was fantastic. Bien sur, thank you so much. I love Britain, and God save the Queen. Thank you so much! ”
The other nominees were Alberto Iglesias for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Howard Shore for Hugo, and John Williams for War Horse.
IFMCA Award Nominations 2011
JOHN WILLIAMS RECEIVES 7 INTERNATIONAL FILM MUSIC CRITICS AWARD NOMINATIONS, INCLUDING TWO FOR FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR
The International Film Music Critics Association announces its list of nominees for excellence in musical scoring in 2011 with veteran composer John Williams leading the field with 7 nods including WAR HORSE (3 nominations) and THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN (3 nominations) for Film Score of the Year. Also nominated in this category are Ludovic Bource’s THE ARTIST (3 nominations), Mark McKenzie’s score to THE GREATEST MIRACLE (2 nominations) and Howard Shore’s HUGO (2 nominations).
Williams is short-listed for Film Composer of the Year along with Bource; last year’s winner, Alexandre Desplat (whose many scores include HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2, THE TREE OF LIFE, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE, THE IDES OF MARCH, A BETTER LIFE); Michael Giacchino (SUPER 8, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL, 50/50, MONTE CARLO, CARS 2) and Alberto Iglesias (TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, LA PIEL QUE HABITO (THE SKIN I LIVE IN), TAMBIÉN LA LLUVIA, LE MOINE). Read more…
CONAN THE DESTROYER – Basil Poledouris
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
The immense worldwide success achieved by “Conan the Barbarian” lead, to the surprise of no one, to an inevitably sequel. Producer Dino De Laurentiis hired director Richard Fleischer to revisit the mythic Hyborean world and offer us the classic mythic adventure. In the tale we see that at the bequest of the evil Queen Tamaris of Zamora, Conan is promised that his dead lover Valeria will be resurrected if he would bring to her the sacred Horn of Dagoth. In reality the duplicitous Tamaris plans to betray Conan and sacrifice her niece Jehenna to reanimate the god Dagoth with whom she plans to mate and generate a new progeny of gods. A colorful and eclectic cast lead again by Arnold Schwarzenegger (Conan) was assembled and featured the fierce Amazon warrior Zula (Grace Jones), virginal Princess Jehenna (Olivia d’Abo), the wise wizard Akiro (Mako), the comic thief Malak (Jeff Corey) and the treacherous Bombaata (Will Chamberlain). A parade of directors and a truly feeble script soured Schwarzenegger as he chose to not return for a third film. Never the less, fantasy films were at their zenith in the 80s and the film was a commercial success, doubling its $18 million production costs. Read more…
Academy Award Nominations 2011
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) have announced the nominations for the 84th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film in 2011.
In the Best Original Score category, the nominees are:
- LUDOVIC BOURCE for The Artist
- ALBERTO IGLESIAS for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- HOWARD SHORE for Hugo
- JOHN WILLIAMS for The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
- JOHN WILLIAMS for War Horse
This is the first Oscar nomination Ludovic Bource, who won the Golden Globe for his score for The Artist earlier in the season. This is the 3rd Oscar nomination for Iglesias, the 4th nomination for Shore, who previously won for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001 and for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003, and the 46th and 47th Oscar nomination for Williams, who previously won in 1971 for Fiddler on the Roof, 1975 for Jaws, 1977 for Star Wars, 1982 for E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and 1993 for Schindler’s List..
In the Best Original Song category, the nominees are:
- BRET McKENZIE for “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets
- SÉRGIO MENDES, CARLINHOS BROWN and SIEDAH GARRETT for “Real in Rio” from Rio
The winners of the 84th Academy Awards will be announced on February 26, 2012.
THE IRON LADY – Thomas Newman
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Even though, technically, I was born when Harold Wilson was Prime Minister, I grew up in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain. All of my earliest memories of major socio-political stories – the Falklands War with Argentina in 1982, the Brighton hotel bombing of 1984, the miner’s strike and general industrial unrest of 1984 and 1985, the Poll Tax riots of 1990, and various international issues involving the IRA and the former Soviet Union – all occurred during her tenure. Whether you love her or loathe her (and many people do genuinely loathe her and what she did to the country), there is no escaping the fact that she was a massively influential and important person: the first woman ever to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the seventh-longest serving Prime Minister in history, and the longest serving since Queen Victoria was on the throne. Read more…
BAFTA Nominations 2011
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced the nominations for the 65th British Academy Film Awards, honoring the best in film in 2011.
In the Best Original Music category, which is named in memory of the film director Anthony Asquith, the nominees are:
- LUDOVIC BOURCE for The Artist
- ALBERTO IGLESIAS for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- TRENT REZNOR and ATTICUS ROSS for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
- HOWARD SHORE for Hugo
- JOHN WILLIAMS for War Horse
These are the first BAFTA nominations for Bource, Reznor and Ross. It is the 3rd BAFTA nomination for Iglesias, the 6th BAFTA nomination for Shore, and the 13th nomination for Williams, who has won on seven previous occasions: for Jaws in 1975, Star Wars in 1977, The Empire Strikes Back in 1980, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in 1983, Empire of the Sun in 1987, Schindler’s List in 1993, and Memoirs of a Geisha in 2006.
The winners of the 65th BAFTA Awards will be announced on February 12, 2012.
Golden Globe Winners 2011
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) have announced the winners of the 69th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and American television of 2011.
In the Best Original Score category French composer Ludovic Bource won the award for his score for critically acclaimed silent film The Artist. In his acceptance speech, Bource said:
“I’m sorry, I’m French! Too much emotion for me tonight. Thank you to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for this incredible honor. I’m better with music than words. Right now, if I were to write a song it would be a tap dance number. So, the power of the music is universal. The gift of the silent film, The Artist, is also universal. So, thank you Michel [Hazanavicius] for the greatest opportunity and partnership a composer could wish for. Thank you to Bérénice [Bejo], Jean [Dujardin], and the incredible ensemble cast and crew on The Artist, thank you so much. I would also like to thank Thomas Langmann, Bob and Harvey [Weinstein], my family who is watching at home in Paris, and my agent Amos [Newman]. Thamk you! ”
The other nominees were Abel Korzeniowski for W.E., Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Howard Shore for Hugo, and John Williams for War Horse.
In the Best Original Song category, the winners were Madonna, Julie Frost and Jimmy Harry for “Masterpiece” from W.E., the film about Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson that Madonna directed.
The other nominees were Brian Byrne and Glenn Close for “Lay Your Head Down” from Albert Nobbs; Chris Cornell for “The Keeper” from Machine Gun Preacher; Elton John and Bernie Taupin for “Hello Hello” from Gnomeo and Juliet; and Thomas Newman, Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason Jr., and Damon Thomas for “The Living Proof” from The Help.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN – Basil Poledouris
MOVIE MUSIC UK CLASSICS
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Conan The Barbarian is based on the Conan stories penned by author Robert E. Howard. The movie adaptation tells the story of a young Conan who lives in the mythic Hyborean Age and suffers grievously at the hands of an evil ruler of the Snake Cult, Thulsa Doom, who kills his parents and sells him into slavery. Eventually after much suffering he gains his freedom and trains to become a mighty warrior. He then sets out to solve the riddle of steel and avenge his parent’s death. As such, this is a classic morality tale with an unambiguous hero and villain. The film was a commercial success, which spawned a sequel and served to reinvigorate the fantasy genre. Read more…
WAR HORSE – John Williams
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
A variation on the classic Black Beauty tale about of the life of a heroic horse, filtered through the cinematic lens of director John Ford, War Horse is director Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the well-regarded novel by Michael Morpurgo about the adventures of a horse named Joey during World War I. The action moves from rural Devon, where young Joey is raised as a plow horse by Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine) to work on his father’s farm, to the battlefields of central Europe after he is sold to the British Army upon the outbreak of war and is adopted by a kindly cavalry officer as his personal mount. Moving from adventure to adventure, Joey makes his way through the mire of The Great War, serving on both sides of the conflict – and all the while young Albert, now himself serving in the trenches, never gives up hope of being reunited with his equine friend. The film co-stars Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Niels Arestrup, Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch, and of course has a score by the venerable John Williams, his second score of 2011 after several years away from the podium. Read more…
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