Music Movies – Page 3 – We Are Movie Geeks

A STAR IS BORN First Look At Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper

Filming began on Monday (April 17) on Warner Bros. Pictures’ reimagining of the musical A STAR IS BORN starring Bradley Cooper and introducing Stefani Germanotta, known across the globe as Oscar-nominated music superstar Lady Gaga, in her first leading role in a major motion picture.

Four-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper (“American Sniper,” “American Hustle,” “Silver Linings Playbook”) is helming the film, marking his directorial debut.

A STAR IS BORN is being filmed entirely in Southern California and Warner Bros. Pictures has it slated for release beginning September 28, 2018.

The film is from producer Jon Peters who produced the 1976 film starring Barbra Steisand and Kris Kristofferson. Nominated for 4 Academy Awards, the movie won one Oscar for Best Music, Original Song – Barbra Streisand (music), Paul Williams (lyrics) for the song “Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)”.

In the remake, Cooper plays Jackson Maine, a country music star who is on the brink of decline when he discovers a talented unknown named Ally (Germanotta). As the two begin a passionate love affair, Jack coaxes Ally into the spotlight, catapulting her to stardom. But as Ally’s career quickly eclipses his own, Jack finds it increasingly hard to handle his fading glory.

In addition to playing Ally, Germanotta, who earned her Oscar nod for the song “Til It Happens to You” from “The Hunting Ground,” has composed and will perform original songs in the film. The main cast also includes Andrew Dice Clay and Sam Elliott.

A STAR IS BORN is being produced by Bill Gerber, Jon Peters, Bradley Cooper, Todd Phillips and Lynette Howell Taylor; with Basil Iwanyk and Ravi Mehta serving as executive producers. The screenplay is by Will Fetters & Bradley Cooper and Eric Roth, based on a story by William A. Wellman and Robert Carson.

Collaborating with Cooper behind the scenes are Oscar-nominated director of photography Matty Libatique (“Black Swan”), production designer Karen Murphy, three-time Oscar-nominated editor Jay Cassidy (“American Hustle,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Into the Wild”), and costume designer Erin Benach.

Composer Benjamin Wallfisch Talks Composing Scores For HIDDEN FIGURES, A CURE FOR WELLNESS And BITTER HARVEST

Musician Benjamin Wallfisch is redefining the way audiences hear the sounds and feelings of movie music.

His recent scores are DESERT DANCER, HIDDEN FIGURES, A CURE FOR WELLNESS, LIGHTS OUT as well as upcoming films ANNABELLE 2 and BITTER HARVEST, so understandably it’s been a busy time over the past few years for the British film composer.

Recently Wallfisch spoke about the elements of composing and the opportunity to tell stories through his music.

Coming from a family of musicians, and classically trained at the Royal Academy of Music, Wallfisch says it was a happy accident that he discovered the sounds that have been instrumental when composing scores. “I’d spend hours examining this fascinating sound and would experiment with it, while exploring other avenues as I was learning the craft and creating electronic sounds.” What sustained him through his years of schooling and training was his love of storytelling. “From a very early age I loved film scores. Hearing John Williams’ iconic scores in the cinemas had a huge impact on me. I grew up in a family of musicians who had a work ethic of music making. It’s a constant striving for something better. My parents, who are both instrumentalists, were always perfecting their craft. After practicing the same music over and over, he’d remark there’s still something to discover.”

The composer has adopted the same approach to writing and scoring film music has been a gradual approach. Years ago Wallfisch began as a conductor and composing concert music before honing his craft of film music. “My fascination with film scores has been the one constant in all of it. Telling stories through music has always been my focus and I’ve felt like my prior experiences were training me for this. It’s a very exciting time for me now.”

Surrounded by music in his younger years, Wallfisch reflects that his music was influenced by his parents. “I’d wake up in the morning and hear my father practicing Bach and then my mother would be practicing Vivaldi. Sometimes they’d be composing some new contemporary music and I’d see a new piece being crafted. That sense of music and family is symbiotic – when I think of family I think of music. It’s a sense of home and comfort.” He adds, “as composers we depend on the artistry of musicians to bring our music alive and I see new music being alive and living.”

Audiences can feel the influences of music being “alive and living” in Wallfisch’s classical piece “Escape Velocity” (2006) as well as his score for DESERT DANCER. “There is narrative even in a concert piece like Escape Velocity and I’ve always been fascinated with outer space and Physics.”

In his music for the 2014 film, there is a real sense of the sand, the wind, and the characters. “With Desert Dancer, there is a basic human need to dance. Look at any child when music is playing and instinctually they’ll dance. We were telling a story about a person who is not allowed to dance because of a political situation and the desert was the only place he was physically free to realize that passion. You’re at one with the flow and space around you and all those ideas I tried to evoke in the score.”

Oscar-nominated HIDDEN FIGURES is a very technical score but with soul and synergy. The film’s songs by Pharrell Williams co-exist with the score from Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer. “It was a most amazing collaborative experience with Pharrell and Hans and myself. Very early on, we got into a room and played the music together to discover our instrumental language. Pharrell’s songs imbued this 60’s kind of sound. The harmonies, the melodies, we used it as a springboard for the score. We wanted the songs and score to be symbiotic.”

With the “MISSION CONTROL” track, you can really hear the sounds of NASA. Wallfisch says, “there was this great process of discovery and we used electric guitars and acoustic cues to create these computer-like, technical textures. What I was so passionate about this score was how we brought gospel harmonies into it. The use of African-American music is at the DNA level of the score. We used the core-progressions and harmonic sensibility of gospel music, even with a choir, it’s the way you voice the string chords, somehow effortlessly gave us that language for the score. It was amazing process of discovery. It was wonderful to be a part of and an incredible, uplifting story. I love that it’s influencing younger people to go after their dreams and especially young girls to pursue a career in engineering and in NASA.” He adds, “there is so much love in this story, and real heart in the film. I was so grateful to be a part of it.”

Wallfisch also composed the score for the horror film LIGHTS OUT. From producer James Wan (“The Conjuring”) LIGHTS OUT is a tale of an unknown terror that lurks in the dark. It marked the feature film directorial debut of David F. Sandberg, who directed the film from a screenplay by Eric Heisserer (“Final Destination 5”), based on Sandberg’s own short film.

An unsettling and frightening film that stays with you after you’ve left the cinema, the composer says he tested the genre by bringing it to the extremes. “It’s a PG-13 movie and it’s not a gruesome horror movie. It plays with your mind and does it in a way which is quite Darwinian – it’s very subliminal because the idea that there is a dark spot containing evil. We humans are hardwired for that and it plays into a basic need for flight from danger. There are some very visceral scares throughout the movie.”

Gore Verbinski’s A CURE FOR WELLNESS is a mind-bending psychological thriller. On being asked to work on the chilling film, “Hans Zimmer and Gore have worked on many films together and Hans, my mentor right now, couldn’t work on it for scheduling reasons and suggested that I write the score for the movie. I worked on it for over a year even before they shot any footage. It was an extraordinary journey which started with me setting up my writing desk in Gore’s editing room and while he was editing, I was writing the music. There was no temp score at all. It was one of those processes that required a lot of time, but that made for a better score as everything was written and edited from scratch, uninfluenced from any other score.”

Of working with the visionary director to compose such a ominous score, Wallfisch says, “Gore is a total genius and I was truly honored to be working with him and we became great partners in the process. It was an incredible canvas musically. Gore and I literally worked together every day for months creating some very atmospheric music and sound design. The music department provided some great textures and a true collaboration.”

The Academy Award winning filmmaker brings his inimitable style and vision to A CURE FOR WELLNESS. Visually breathtaking, the film is compelling and thought provoking, exploring the true meaning of wellness and the trappings of avarice and power, while asking what fulfillment really means. There is a music cue that even sounds like a lullaby. “It sounds innocent and simple, while underneath the surface there’s a dangerous symmetry – it feels symmetrical because of the harmonies, but it’s not. The theme is designed so as the story progresses there are various shifts in the melody that conveys someone losing touch with reality. Even today it’s hard to discern fact from fiction. The modern world is kind of a strange place right now and this film goes to a massive extreme of that. It’s a slow burn.”

One not to miss is the historical movie BITTER HARVEST. Based on one of the most overlooked tragedies of the 20th century, Bitter Harvest is a powerful story of love, honor, rebellion and survival as seen through the eyes of two young lovers caught in the ravages of Joseph Stalin’s genocidal policies against Ukraine in the 1930s. As Stalin advances the ambitions of communists in the Kremlin, a young artist named Yuri (Max Irons) battles to survive famine, imprisonment and torture to save his childhood sweetheart Natalka (Samantha Barks) from the “Holodomor,” the death-by-starvation program that ultimately killed millions of Ukrainians.

Against this tragic backdrop, Yuri escapes from a Soviet prison and joins the anti-Bolshevik resistance movement as he battles to reunite with Natalka and continue the fight for a free Ukraine.

Wallfisch’s moving score BITTER HARVEST has brought new life or a renaissance to classical music. With the music that might have echoed the sounds of Russian composers Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Wallfisch says, “there’s a period in Ukrainian history that many don’t know about and it’s a long movie. It is an epic movie with lots of music and its shot as an epic romance. There were lots of tropes which I was aware of and I didn’t want to necessarily write an old school score for this epic film. I wanted to try to use and be influenced by Ukrainian folk music while composing the score. I had zero knowledge of it when I started and I was incredibly lucky to work with Ukrainian musicians who showed me the stylistic piano – it very joyous music with asymmetry notes and sounds. There is a very classical feel to the movie.”

Starring Max Irons, Samantha Barks, Barry Pepper, Terence Stamp and Tamer Hassan, there is a warm acoustic, symphonic sound to Wallfisch’s score to BITTER HARVEST. “I’ve always been drawn to Russian music. I wasn’t trying to make the score sound Russian, but because of my love for Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, which are my absolute heroes, I was very aware to stay away from it and it wasn’t deliberate. My favorite part of the score was the Ukrainian songs and the vibe of it.” Wallfisch reveals he has direct ties to Russian music. ”My grandfather was the chief conductor of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia in the early 20th Century. I have a family connection to all that incredible time of music in Russian history.” As to being a part of BITTER HARVEST, Wallfisch concludes, “I wanted the music to bring the story to life and the film honors the people who died.”

Follow the composer:

https://www.facebook.com/BenjaminWallfischComposer

https://www.instagram.com/benjaminwallfisch/

https://twitter.com/benwallfisch

Walt Disney Records Releases ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Today

Walt Disney Records releases today the ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY soundtrack, which features score by Oscar® and Grammy® award-winning composer Michael Giacchino. The original motion picture soundtrack is available at streaming services and wherever music is sold.

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY opens in U.S. theaters today, December 16, 2016.

Acclaimed composer Michael Giacchino marks his first-ever feature collaboration with Lucasfilm for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Recorded at Sony Scoring Stage, the score features a 110-piece orchestra and 80-person choir conducted by Tim Simonec.

Check out some of the tracks below – just a sampling of the seamless cues between Williams’ iconic music and Giacchino’s score.

Michael Giacchino said, “It has been a great honor to have been asked to score ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ and I am humbled to have had the opportunity to contribute to the musical universe that inspired me so as a kid. Back in 1977, long before I knew I was going to be a film composer, I spent countless hours listening to the original ‘Star Wars’ double LP on my small RCA Stereo in my bedroom. In a sense, John Williams was my very first music teacher. All these years later, John continues to be an inspiration.”

He continued, “As with all the film scores I compose, my goal is to reflect and serve the story and emotions of the film. I have to admit, the 10-year-old part of my brain had a wonderful time composing for this new and exciting set of ‘Star Wars’ characters and the worlds they inhabit.”

The cue below will have even the most die-hard Star Wars fan weeping.

Giacchino’s credits feature some of the most popular and acclaimed film projects in recent history, including Marvel Studio’s “Doctor Strange,” Disney•Pixar’s “Inside Out,” “The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille,” as well as “Star Trek Beyond,” “Jurassic World,” “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” and “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.” His score for Disney•Pixar’s 2009 feature “Up” earned him an Oscar, a Golden Globe®, the BAFTA®, the Broadcast Film Critics’ Choice Award and two Grammy Awards.

From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY, an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.

ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY is directed by Gareth Edwards and stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, with Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker. Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur and Simon Emanuel are producing, with John Knoll and Jason McGatlin serving as executive producers.

The story is by John Knoll and Gary Whitta, and the screenplay is by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy.

The ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY original motion picture soundtrack is now available wherever music is sold or streamed.

Purchase here: http://disneymusic.co/RogueOne. Stream here: http://disneymusic.co/RogueOneWS

Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/user/DisneyMusicVEVO/videos

Read WAMG’s review here.

145 Film Scores In Running For 89th Academy Awards

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 145 scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2016 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 89th Academy Awards.

The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below, in alphabetical order by film title:

“The Abolitionists,” Tim Jones, composer
“Absolutely Fabulous The Movie,” Jake Monaco, composer
“The Accountant,” Mark Isham, composer
“Alice through the Looking Glass,” Danny Elfman, composer
“Allied,” Alan Silvestri, composer
“Almost Christmas,” John Paesano, composer
“American Pastoral,” Alexandre Desplat, composer
“The Angry Birds Movie,” Heitor Pereira, composer
“Anthropoid,” Robin Foster, composer
“Armenia, My Love,” Silvia Leonetti, composer
“Assassin’s Creed,” Jed Kurzel, composer
“Autumn Lights,” Hugi Gudmundsson and Hjörtur Ingvi Jóhannsson, composers
“The BFG,” John Williams, composer
“Believe,” Michael Reola, composer
“Ben-Hur,” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, composers
“Bilal,” Atli Ӧrvarsson, composer
“Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna, composers
“The Birth of a Nation,” Henry Jackman, composer
“Bleed for This,” Julia Holter, composer
“The Boss,” Christopher Lennertz, composer
“Bridget Jones’s Baby,” Craig Armstrong, composer
“The Bronze,” Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau, composers
“Captain America: Civil War,” Henry Jackman, composer
“The Charnel House,” Todd Haberman, composer
“The Choice,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer
“Collateral Beauty,” Theodore Shapiro, composer
“The Conjuring 2,” Joseph Bishara, composer
“Criminal,” Bryan Tyler and Keith Power, composers
“Deadpool,” Tom Holkenborg, composer
“Deepwater Horizon,” Steve Jablonsky, composer
“Denial,” Howard Shore, composer
“Doctor Strange,” Michael Giacchino, composer
“The Dressmaker,” David Hirschfelder, composer
“Eddie the Eagle,” Matthew Margeson, composer
“The Edge of Seventeen,” Atli Ӧrvarsson, composer
“Elle,” Anne Dudley, composer
“Eye in the Sky,” Paul Hepker and Mark Kilian, composers
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” James Newton Howard, composer
“Fences,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer
“Finding Dory,” Thomas Newman, composer
“The First Monday in May,” Ian Hultquist and Sofia Hultquist, composers
“Florence Foster Jenkins,” Alexandre Desplat, composer
“Floyd Norman: An Animated Life,” Ryan Shore, composer
“The Founder,” Carter Burwell, composer
“Free State of Jones,” Nicholas Britell, composer
“Ghostbusters,” Theodore Shapiro, composer
“The Girl on the Train,” Danny Elfman, composer
“Gleason,” Dan Romer and Saul Simon MacWilliams, composers
“Gold,” Daniel Pemberton, composer
“Greater,” Stephen Raynor-Endelman, composer
“Hacksaw Ridge,” Rupert Gregson-Williams, composer
“Hail, Caesar!,” Carter Burwell, composer
“The Handmaiden,” Cho Young-wuk, composer
“Hands of Stone,” Angelo Milli, composer
“Hell or High Water,” Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, composers
“Hidden Figures,” Pharrell Williams and Benjamin Wallfisch, composers
“High-Rise,” Clint Mansell, composer
“How to Be Single,” Fil Eisler, composer
“Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” Lukasz Buda and Samuel Scott, composers
“The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” James Newton Howard, composer
“Ice Age: Collision Course,” John Debney, composer
“Independence Day: Resurgence,” Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser, composers
“Indignation,” Jay Wadley, composer
“The Invitation,” Theodore Shapiro, composer
“Ithaca,” John Mellencamp, composer
“Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,” Henry Jackman, composer
“Jackie,” Mica Levi, composer
“Julieta,” Alberto Iglesias, composer
“The Jungle Book,” John Debney, composer
“Keeping Up with the Joneses,” Jake Monaco, composer
“Kicks,” Brian Reitzell, composer
“Krisha,” Brian McOmber, composer
“Kubo and the Two Strings,” Dario Marianelli, composer
“La La Land,” Justin Hurwitz, composer
“Land of Mine,” Sune Martin, composer
“Landfill Harmonic,” Michael A. Levine, composer
“The Legend of Ben Hall,” Ronnie Minder, composer
“The Legend of Tarzan,” Rupert Gregson-Williams, composer
“Life, Animated,” Dylan Stark and T. Griffin, composers
“The Light between Oceans,” Alexandre Desplat, composer
“Lights Out,” Benjamin Wallfisch, composer
“Lion,” Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka, composers
“The Little Prince,” Hans Zimmer and Richard Harvey, composers
“Live by Night,” Harry Gregson-Williams, composer
“Loving,” David Wingo, composer
“Maggie’s Plan,” Michael Rohatyn, composer
“Me before You,” Craig Armstrong, composer
“The Meddler,” Jonathan Sadoff, composer
“Midnight Special,” David Wingo, composer
“Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates,” Jeff Cardoni, composer
“Miracles from Heaven,” Carlo Siliotto, composer
“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,” Mike Higham and Matthew Margeson, composers
“Miss Sloane,” Max Richter, composer
“Mr. Church,” Mark Isham, composer
“Moana,” Mark Mancina, composer
“Money Monster,” Dominic Lewis, composer
“The Monkey King 2,” Christopher Young, composer
“A Monster Calls,” Fernando Velázquez, composer
“Moonlight,” Nicholas Britell, composer
“Morgan,” Max Richter, composer
“My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,” Christopher Lennertz, composer
“The Neon Demon,” Cliff Martinez, composer
“The Nice Guys,” John Ottman, composer
“No Letting Go,” Alain Mayrand, composer
“Nocturnal Animals,” Abel Korzeniowski, composer
“Now You See Me 2,” Brian Tyler, composer
“O.J.: Made in America,” Gary Lionelli, composer
“Off the Rails,” Steve Gernes and Duncan Thum, composers
“The Other Side of the Door,” Joseph Bishara, composer
“The Ottoman Lieutenant,” Geoff Zanelli, composer
“Ouija: Origin of Evil,” Taylor Stewart and John Andrew Grush, composers
“Our Kind of Traitor,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer
“Passengers,” Thomas Newman, composer
“Paterson,” Carter Logan and Jim Jarmusch, composers
“Patriots Day,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, composers
“Pelé: Birth of a Legend,” A. R. Rahman, composer
“Pete’s Dragon,” Daniel Hart, composer
“Po,” Burt Bacharach, composer
“Queen of Katwe,” Alex Heffes, composer
“Race,” Rachel Portman, composer
“The Red Turtle,” Laurent Perez Del Mar, composer
“Ride Along 2,” Christopher Lennertz, composer
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” Michael Giacchino, composer
“Sausage Party,” Alan Menken and Christopher Lennertz, composers
“The Secret Life of Pets,” Alexandre Desplat, composer
“Silicon Cowboys,” Ian Hultquist, composer
“Sing,” Joby Talbot, composer
“Snowtime!,” Eloi Painchaud and Jorane, composers
“Southside with You,” Stephen James Taylor, composer
“Star Trek Beyond,” Michael Giacchino, composer
“Storks,” Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna, composers
“Suicide Squad,” Steven Price, composer
“Sully,” Christian Jacob, composer
“Swiss Army Man,” Andy Hull and Robert McDowell, composers
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows,” Steve Jablonsky, composer
“10 Cloverfield Lane,” Bear McCreary, composer
“10 Days in a Madhouse,” Jamie Hall, composer
“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” Lorne Balfe, composer
“Trolls,” Christophe Beck, composer
“20th Century Women,” Roger Neill, composer
“Warcraft,” Ramin Djawadi, composer
“Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,” Nick Urata, composer
“X-Men: Apocalypse,” John Ottman, composer
“Zoolander 2,” Theodore Shapiro, composer
“Zootopia,” Michael Giacchino, composer

A Reminder List of works submitted in the Original Score category will be made available with a nominations ballot to all members of the Music Branch, who shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements. The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominations for final voting for the award.

To be eligible, the original score must be a substantial body of music that serves as original dramatic underscoring, and must be written specifically for the motion picture by the submitting composer. Scores diluted by the use of preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs or any music not composed specifically for the film by the submitting composer, or assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible.

Nominations for the 89th Oscars will be announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2017.

The 89th Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Listen To New Track From Junkie XL’s BATMAN V SUPERMAN: JUSTICE LEAGUE Score

WaterTower Music has released a 90 second sample track titled “Men Are Still Good (The Batman Suite)” from Zack Snyder’s upcoming film, BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE.

In case you missed the first track released, listen to it below.

WaterTower Music has announced the March 18 release of the soundtrack to the upcoming feature film BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, a collaborative effort by film composers Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL (aka Tom Holkenborg).

Available digitally, on CD, 2-disc deluxe CD, and on Limited Edition 3-disc deluxe vinyl. The album is available for preorder now. The 2-CD deluxe package, the digital deluxe version, and the 3-disc deluxe vinyl set feature over 90 minutes of music, five bonus tracks, and exclusive fold-out poster and liner notes from the composers. Additionally, the vinyl set features etched vinyl art and an album download card.

“Junkie XL is an incredibly insightful film composer. It was a perfect idea for us to work together on the ‘Batman v Superman’ score,” explained Academy-Award-winning composer Zimmer. Grammy nominee Junkie XL showed equal excitement at the pairing, saying, “Hans has an incredible legacy, and I was extremely thrilled when he approached me to work on ‘Batman v Superman’ with him.”

The composers discussed their close working relationship with director Zack Snyder. “Zack allows us to try things we haven’t tried before. He’s very supportive of the eccentricities that we bring to this,” says Zimmer. Junkie XL concurred. “He’s very open and accepting of our ideas, and infuses the creative process with an energy that inspires you.”

“Hans and Tom (Junkie XL) created an incredibly compelling and interesting new musical world for Batman, while continuing to expand on the amazing world and themes Hans had previously created for Superman,” noted director Zack Snyder. “By aligning their vision with my perspective and seeing the characters anew through the lens of the film they were able to support the visual aspects of movie in a way that elevates the film to another level. In so many ways, they become the final texture, the final note in the process of creating the world.”

“This electrifying collaboration brings us such brilliant new character themes,”
commented WaterTower Music head Jason Linn, “While we’ve been fortunate to work several times with both composers individually, this experience has been uniquely thrilling.”

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be released March 18. It is now available for pre-order at iTunes, at Amazon, and can be preordered on Vinyl. The tracklist is as follows:

Beautiful Lie
Their War Here
The Red Capes Are Coming
Day Of The Dead
Must There Be A Superman?
New Rules
Do You Bleed?
Problems Up Here
Black and Blue
Tuesday
Is She With You?
This Is My World
Men Are Still Good (The Batman Suite)
Blood Of My Blood (Bonus Track)**
Vigilante (Bonus Track)**
May I Help You, Mr. Wayne? (Bonus Track)**
They Were Hunters (Bonus Track)**
Fight Night (Bonus Track)**

** On deluxe versions only

From director Zack Snyder comes BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, starring Oscar winner Ben Affleck (“Argo”) as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Henry Cavill as Superman/Clark Kent in the characters’ first big-screen pairing.

The film also stars Oscar nominees Amy Adams (“American Hustle”) as Lois Lane, Jesse Eisenberg (“The Social Network”) as Lex Luthor, Diane Lane (“Unfaithful”) as Martha Kent, and Laurence Fishburne (“What’s Love Got to Do with It”) as Perry White; Oscar winners Jeremy Irons (“Reversal of Fortune”) as Alfred, and Holly Hunter (“The Piano”) as Senator Finch; and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince. Snyder directed from a screenplay written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer, based on characters from DC Comics, including Batman, created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger, and Superman, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The film is produced by Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder, with Wesley Coller, Geoff Johns and David S. Goyer serving as executive producers.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, an Atlas Entertainment/Cruel and Unusual production, a Zack Snyder film, BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. The film opens nationwide in RealD 3D, and in 2D, and in select IMAX 3D theaters on March 25, 2016.

It has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for intense sequences of violence and action throughout, and some sensuality.

batmanvsupermandawnofjustice.com

Listen To A Sample Track From The BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE Score

WaterTower Music has announced the March 18 release of the soundtrack to the upcoming feature film “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” a collaborative effort by film composers Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL (aka Tom Holkenborg).

Available digitally, on CD, 2-disc deluxe CD, and on Limited Edition 3-disc deluxe vinyl, the first public sample of the music has been made available HERE, and the album is now available for preorder.

The 2-CD deluxe package, the digital deluxe version, and the 3-disc deluxe vinyl set feature over 90 minutes of music, five bonus tracks, an exclusive fold-out poster and liner notes from the composers. Additionally, the vinyl set features etched vinyl art and an album download card.

** On deluxe versions only

From director Zack Snyder comes “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” starring Oscar winner Ben Affleck (“Argo”) as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Henry Cavill as Superman/Clark Kent in the characters’ first big-screen pairing.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, an Atlas Entertainment/Cruel and Unusual production, a Zack Snyder film, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. The film opens nationwide in RealD 3D, and in 2D, and in select IMAX 3D theaters on March 25, 2016. It has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for intense sequences of violence and action throughout, and some sensuality.

batmanvsupermandawnofjustice.com

Composer Lorne Balfe’s 13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI – Music from the Motion Picture Available Jan. 15

Paramount Music will release the 13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI – Music from the Motion Picture digitally on January 15, 2016. The album features the film’s original score by Lorne Balfe (TERMINATOR GENISYS, PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR).

“The film is really about the soldiers’ ordeal and how they coped with the situation at hand,” said Balfe. “Michael (Bay) does a great job keeping the film from becoming political. The film is really here to honor the soldiers and the men and women who ultimately had to step up and do everything they could to save as many people as possible.”

From director Michael Bay, 13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI is the gripping true story of six elite ex-military operators assigned to protect the CIA who fought back against overwhelming odds when terrorists attacked a U.S. diplomatic compound on September 11, 2012. When everything went wrong, six men had the courage to do what was right. (Review)

13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI is directed by Michael Bay from a screenplay by Chuck Hogan, based on the book 13 Hours by Mitchell Zuckoff and Members of the Annex Security Team. Read our interview here.

Produced by Erwin Stoff and Michael Bay. The film stars James Badge Dale, John Krasinski, Max Martini, Pablo Schreiber and Toby Stephens.

“The music needed to reflect the complex feelings the guys were dealing with and so instead of creating a solely action-packing score, we stuck with more simple electronic soundscapes,” Balfe described. “Peter Gregson brought to the table his immense talent on electric cello and the sound we created with him, I think, evoked the feelings of isolation and abandonment that the men had to deal with.”

“Being able to work with Michael and be part of the telling of this important story, was a fantastic experience,” said Balfe.

Lorne Balfe is a Grammy Award-winning, EMMY and BAFTA nominated film composer from Inverness, Scotland. Lorne is known for composing the scores to Dreamworks Animation’s Penguins of Madagascar and Home, as well as Paramount Pictures and Skydance Media’s Terminator Genisys. (Interview)

Lorne’s credits include major studio film releases, video game franchises, beloved animated features, and highly acclaimed documentaries. In 2014 Lorne composed the score for Manny, a documentary about the life of Manny Pacquiao, eight-division world champion and ten-time world title winning boxer, which premiered at SXSW in 2015. He composed the score for Dreamworks Animation’s Penguins of Madagascar that was released worldwide in the fall of 2014. Immediately following the release of Penguins, Lorne completed the score for Dreamworks Animation’s Home starring Rihanna, Jim Parsons and Steve Martin that released in March 2015. Later that year, he composed the music for the highly anticipated, most recent installment of the Terminator franchise, Terminator Genisys.

In addition to recognition earned for producing two of Hans Zimmer’s Oscar-nominated scores, Sherlock Holmes and Inception, Lorne has also received significant recognition for his work in the United Kingdom. In 2009, Lorne was nominated for the Discovery of the Year World Soundtrack Award for his score in the BAFTA award-winning film, Crying With Laughter. The same year he was nominated for the prestigious Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award.

While working in the UK, Lorne composed the scores for Ironclad, The Sweeney, Not Another Happy Ending (starring Karen Gillan of Doctor Who) and Side by Side. His music is featured in the BBC and Sundance Channel TV mini-series, Restless, starring Hayley Atwell and Rufus Sewell, for which Lorne received the 2013 EMMY nomination for Outstanding Music Composition. Lorne continues his work with director Nick Love (The Sweeney) with the score for Love’s latest film starring Stephen Dorff, AMERICAN HERO.

In the U.S. Lorne worked alongside director Scott Walker for Walker’s film The Frozen Ground, starring John Cusack, Nicolas Cage and Vanessa Hudgens. In collaboration with composer Rachel Portman, Lorne completed the music for 10×10′s feature documentary Girl Rising, directed by Academy Award nominee Richard E. Robbins that features narration by Hollywood actresses such as Meryl Streep and Cate Blanchett. After years of work with director Shane Salerno, Lorne’s music in the highly secretive feature documentary, Salinger, was finally released in September 2013.

Richard M. Sherman Talks Writing MARY POPPINS Songs In New Academy Originals Episode

In 2013, Disney’s celebrated the 50th anniversary of one of its best loved films – MARY POPPINS. Starring Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews, in her Academy-Award winning role, the movie featured iconic toe-tapping songs including “A Spoonful of Sugar” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,”

In the latest episode of The Academy’s on-going series, “The Story of Writing Songs for MARY POPPINS,” features Academy Award-winning composer Richard M. Sherman. In the episode, he recounts the experience of working with his brother Robert B. Sherman to create the beloved songs featured in the film MARY POPPINS.

He shares anecdotes of his interactions with Julie Andrews and Walt Disney, as well as the creative process behind writing the songs “A Spoonful of Sugar” and “Feed the Birds.”

MARY POPPINS, based upon the book by P.L. Travers, was the subject of the 2013 film SAVING MR BANKS starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson. Audiences witnessed the extraordinary untold story of how MARY POPPINS was bought to the big screen.

Actor Jason Schwartzman portrayed Sherman in the movie.

Watch The Academy conversation with cast and filmmakers of that film here.

The Walt Disney Company. All Rights Reserved.

10 Best Film Scores Of 2015

Contributed by Michelle McCue and Melissa Thompson

Whether we sailed away to fairytale lands, visited far off worlds or made a grand journey on past and present adventures, 2015 cinema provided something for everyone. To be sure, this year’s movies delivered spectacular visuals and rich characters, emotive performances, and stories that gripped you to the bitter end. But as always, it’s the composer’s score that captures the true heart of any film.

On Wednesday the Academy announced that 112 scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2015 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 88th Academy Awards.

Here’s our look at the 10 Best Scores from 2015.

Honorable Mention: KRAMPUS by Douglas Pipes

Well-known Yuletide favorites are transformed into “We Wish You A Scary Christmas” and “Krampus Karol of the Bells” in Michael Dougherty’s KRAMPUS. Providing some Christmas frights is Douglas Pipes’ fun and mischievous score for this darkly festive tale and one we couldn’t leave off our list. Believe us, you’ll never think of “Jingle Bells” in the same way again.

Interview here.

10. LOVE AND MERCY by Atticus Ross

Walking that fine line for telling the story of a famous musician while including their well-known songs was masterfully done by Atticus Ross. With a combination of Ross’s score and Brian Wilson’s voice weaved throughout, we became fans of “Pet Sound” music all over again.

Interview here.

9. THE HATEFUL EIGHT by Ennio Morricone

‘The Mission: Gabriel’s Oboe‘ is one of the most beautiful score music ever put to paper and in our opinion Ennio Morricone’s finest work.

This time the award-winning composer weaves together the tense, haunting score for Quentin Tarantino’s THE HATEFUL EIGHT. Morricone’s terrific music heightens the human interaction along with the bleak human drama of the eight travelers stranded.

A bonus highlight – the roadshow experience features an exclusive overture composed by the legendary composer.

8. BROOKLYN by Michael Brook‬

The film’s true emotional atmosphere was the music, led by an aching score from Michael Brook. His lovely score captures the film’s theme of how to merge where you have come from with where you dream of going. Making it one of our favorites of the year, the highlight of the BROOKLYN score is the beautiful violin solo by Julie Rogers that conveys Eilis’ (Saoirse Ronan) life-altering decisions.

7. THE REVENANT by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Carsten Nicolai

The very visual score for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s film THE REVENANT from composers Ryuichi Sakamoto and Carsten Nicolai is both haunting and intense. The choice of synthesized motifs were composed for both eyes and ears, and one that stayed with us long after the credits rolled.

6. CINDERELLA by Patrick Doyle

Patrick Doyle whisks us off to the fairytale land of glass slippers, and handsome princes with a score that is so pretty and moving and very heartfelt. Disney couldn’t have been happier with this lovely, sweeping, almost lullaby-like music that takes you on a journey that you just know has a happy ending right around the corner. Extra bonus? Helena Bonham-Carter singing Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo, of course!

Interview here.

5. BRIDGE OF SPIES by Thomas Newman

The sweeping soundtrack to Steven Spielberg’s BRIDGE OF SPIES embodies a mix of Cold War themes, robust Americana motifs and a nostalgic reminder of a time gone by. Newman’s music is understated and brilliant in its simplicity.

4. IN THE HEART OF THE SEA by Roque Baños

The glorious score finds just the right balance between the old and the new, the classic and the cutting-edge. Baños’ music for Ron Howard’s epic tale had a power and emotion to it which infused an impressive percussion section with props from the film, including harpoons, ropes, sharpening stones and other tools from the era. Right from the heart, Baños’ amazing score made for one of 2015’s best.

3. CREED by Ludwig Goransson

With his knock-out score for Ryan Coogler’s CREED, Goransson’s music left us chanting ROCKY, ROCKY, ROCKY! Obviously Bill Conti’s iconic theme music from the original was present in a big way, but Goransson adds his own updated heart-pounding score that fits seamlessly – as if they had been written at the same time – and makes you feel like you are hearing it for the first time. Add to that the super current hip hop acts like Meek Mill and Future and it makes for a really complete modern sound.

Interview here.

2. STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS by John Williams

The Oscar-winning composer returns us to that Galaxy Far Far Away with his regal score to J.J. Abrams STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. Like with CREED, the source material is ever-present in the best possible way. And let’s face it, do we really want to hear anything else anyway? At some point moving forward, iconic pieces such as the Imperial March and Princess Leia’s theme will be replaced for the new characters, but until then move along, this IS the score we are looking for.

1. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD by Tom Holkenborg

Oh What A Lovely Day it was with Holkenborg’s amazing score for George Miller’s MAD MAX: FURY ROAD.

It was one of those brilliant times where the beating drums, sweeping strings and electric guitar-driven operatic themes made for one exciting ride and our number film score of 2015.

Interview here.

Let us know your favorite film scores in our comments section below. Who would’ve made your Top 10?

Composer Douglas Pipes Discusses His KRAMPUS Movie Score

It’s the holiday season where most are thinking egg nog, fluffy snow, decorating cookies and Santa Claus. But if director Michael Dougherty has anything to say about it with his latest film KRAMPUS, this festive time of year will include a darker Christmas legend whose shadow over pop culture is growing.

Ancient folklore warns of Krampus, a myth that has been traced back centuries throughout European cultures. Santa rewards the nice; Krampus punishes the naughty. Santa brings laughter and joy; Krampus unleashes darkness and mayhem. Santa gives presents; Krampus takes souls.

Dougherty says, “The same way that Americans send out Christmas cards, Europeans have this rich tradition of sending out Krampus cards. I was shown these beautiful illustrations of this creature called Krampus, who stole children, and images of people cowering in fear. Still, they had such a fun, mischievous quality, similar to our Halloween. I found that appealing because it made Christmas more enjoyable to know that there was this dark side to the holiday that we Americans didn’t have yet. It was lurking in the shadows waiting to be rediscovered.”

It’s not the mice, but all the creatures who are stirring, in the new film starring Adam Scott and Toni Collette.

When his dysfunctional family clashes over the holidays, young Max (Emjay Anthony) is disillusioned and turns his back on Christmas. Little does he know, this lack of festive spirit has unleashed the wrath of Krampus: a demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers.

All hell breaks loose as beloved holiday icons take on a monstrous life of their own, laying siege to the fractured family’s home and forcing them to fight for each other if they hope to survive.

A dark and subversive alternative to the traditional holiday tale, the horror comedy is a fun movie with a fun soundtrack by composer Douglas Pipes (TRICK ‘r TREAT). With his latest score, the KRAMPUS cues are part merry, part monster and one you’ll want to add to both your horror and holiday collections.

During our recent conversation, Pipes and I discussed his KRAMPUS score that’s filled with a whole lot of mischief, including his delightfully terrifying take on such yuletide favorites “We Wish You A Merry Christmas,” “Silent Night” and “Carol of the Bells,” as well as his work on the indie film, LITTLE PARADISE and composing for Alfred Hitchcock’s silent film, THE LODGER.

KRAMPUS recording session. Courtesy: Newzealandsymphonyorchestra/Facebook

WAMG: How was the Los Angeles screening and reaction to the film?

Douglas Pipes: It was great and everyone had a really fun time. It was the first time I had seen the final print in a theater.

WAMG: Which genre does KRAMPUS fall into?

DP: It plays well into not just in the horror side but the heartfelt side. It’s a Christmas movie – a dark fairytale of a Christmas movie. At the core of it, its heart is firmly a Christmas movie.

WAMG: You worked with Michael Dougherty on TRICK ‘r TREAT after he heard your score for MONSTER HOUSE. Both are really clever scores that put you right into the Halloween season. Did you immediately say yes when he asked you to score KRAMPUS?

DP: The thing with Mike, he’s so good at what he does – balancing the tones of writing comedy and horror. Plus the characters and emotions are so important to him and he handles all those elements so well.

I had never heard of Krampus and after he pitched the story to me, he sent me the script and I immediately started coming up with ideas. As soon as I read something he’s written, I get so inspired that I start working right away.

WAMG: As with the cult favorite that is TRICK ‘r TREAT, I feel like audiences will discover another unexpected surprise with KRAMPUS. I always suggest TRICK ‘r TREAT to anyone looking for something new on Halloween.

DP: It’s fun to have come across it a little bit more organically and that’s part of the charm of the film. You don’t know what to expect because it hasn’t been marketed to you in a way that creates your expectations.

WAMG: I’ve read Michael Dougherty loves film scores. How was it to collaborate with him again?

DP: He does. He has such an encyclopedia-like knowledge of film scores and it’s one of the joys of working with him. He gets so involved and so excited about the scoring of the music.

WAMG: You can hear Christmas but a distorted Krampus Christmas in your music. It’s an interesting soundtrack to listen to outside of the movie. How much of the pre-visuals did you see prior to scoring?

DP: Before they left to go shoot in New Zealand, Mike and I had a meeting at Legendary Pictures where he showed me this fantastic concept art. The script gave me the tone, but the art gave me a sense of the color of the film and where they were going with it visually.

Once they started shooting, I was sent dailies to get a sense of the feeling of how it was going to unfold. It was a process I had never done before. I had never gotten involved as early as the dailies, but it was great and it gave me the opportunity, as far as the footwork, to begin exploring the sound.

WAMG: Did you see many of these scenes and then realize which instruments you’d have to go with for a Christmas sounding score?

DP: During our initial meeting, we talked about Christmas songs and how we could take everything from using Christmas songs to mangling them, so that the audience might recognize certain themes. We had these Christmas melodies playing out front as well as to the subconscious. I like to create something that is geared to have a clear root and is interwoven, especially the “Krampus Karol of the Bells.”

WAMG: “Krampus Karol of the Bells” contains some chilling lyrics and runs throughout the film. The “Creatures are Stirring” track includes a twisted version of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” – it’s an exciting scene and cue, with some great power chords.

DP: It’s an action cue and a fantasy cue and a horror cue, besides having the Christmas theme. I was able to play around a lot on that.

As a composer you want to bring something to the film that’s so off the traditional map, but you cringe and wonder, “Is this going to work or am I going to be laughed out of the room?”

It has a good mixture – part mischievous, part playful, but it’s horrific. It’s a nice moment finding that tonal transition for what happens in the movie.

WAMG: The vocals are equally creepy, especially your “Elfen” track.

DP: There are vocals throughout the score. I rearranged “Silent Night” (in German, “Stille Nacht”) to “Silent Power” (in German, “Stille Macht”) and I think it really works.

They also say “Gruss vom Krampus,” but in the middle of “Elfen,” there’s a Christmas carol within that cue they sing in German, where the vocals have been changed around.

Weihnachten ist hier – Christmas is here
Kinder sehen sich – Children watch yourselves
Sie sind in Gefahr – You are in danger
krampus weiß alles – Krampus knows all

WAMG: “Bells, Bones, and Chains” track, with the big orchestral motif, especially with the sound of the chains, is so ominous and so scary. The brass section is amazing.

DP: We recorded with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and had a huge brass section. It was six horns, five trombones, two trumpets and tubas, and we asked them to play as loud as they could. The entire score was recorded in New Zealand along with The Tudor Consort Choristers of Wellington Cathedral of St. Paul, and the final “Krampus Karol of the Bells” was recorded in the US with the Brea Olinda High School Singers. That was the very last thing we did.

WAMG: There are some grand, larger than life cues such as “The Shadow of Saint Nicholas” and “Sacrifice.” When did you decide that the film needed these big orchestral moments?

DP: For me, the film musically goes through four arcs. It starts of as a family comedy, then a dark fantasy tale, then transitions into a straight horror film, and then a serious drama where the family is just trying to survive. The score comes full circle by the end. We embarked on a big budget film and wrote to match it.

WAMG: Tell me about LITTLE PARADISE and scoring for that indie film?

DP: One of my good friends, Natan Moss, directed this indie comedy and it just came out on iTunes recently. It’s really funny and an indie film in the truest sense of the word. It stars really talented LA actors and it’s not built on huge names, so it has all the challenges an indie film has of getting the word out and for me the score was fantastic and a complete u-turn from everything else I’ve done.

It’s a 70’s caper-style score with lots of horns and was a ton fun to record. 70’s score had a tighter, focused sound and that’s what I was shooting for on LITTLE PARADISE.

WAMG: What was it like to compose the score for the 1927 silent film THE LODGER?

DP: That was fantastic. It was commissioned by a group in Dallas, through a composer friend of mine, Brian Satterwhite, and he has scored a lot of these silent films for this Dallas Chamber Symphony. He set up a commission for me to do THE LODGER and they gave me the instrumentation where I had six weeks to work on the score, and a little more to orchestrate it.

It’s a uniquely rewarding experience – it’s a concert piece and even though it’s performed live in front of an audience, it is still a film score. It has to follow the tone of the movie, however with one hand in the past while approaching it as if it were scored in the last few decades. It’s not entirely supposed to sound as if it was composed at the time, but there are certainly some elements of the score that are meant to throwback to that period.

KRAMPUS is playing in theaters now.

Order KRAMPUS on Vinyl here: waxworkrecords.com/blogs/news/70095813-krampus

Tracklisting:

01. A Cold Wind

02. Dear Santa

03. Family Reunion

04. Auld Lang Syne

05. The Wish

06. Special Delivery

07. Bells, Bones, and Chains

08. ‘Tis The Season

09. Into The Storm

10. Christmas Angels

11. The Snow Beast

12. Unholy Night

13. Oh Christmas Tree

14. Season’s Eatings

15. Omi’s Story

16. Naughty

17. All Through The House

18. Creatures Are Stirring

19. Der Klown

20. Elfen

21. Elegy

22. The Shadow of St. Nicholas

23. Sacrifice

24. When The Christmas Spirit Dies

25. Cloven

26. The Bell

27. End Credits: Gruss vom Krampus/Krampus Karol of the Bells

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Honorable Mention: KRAMPUS by Douglas Pipes

10. LOVE AND MERCY by Atticus Ross

9. THE HATEFUL EIGHT by Ennio Morricone

8. BROOKLYN by Michael Brook‬

7. THE REVENANT by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Carsten Nicolai

6. CINDERELLA by Patrick Doyle

5. BRIDGE OF SPIES by Thomas Newman

4. IN THE HEART OF THE SEA by Roque Baños

3. CREED by Ludwig Goransson

2. STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS by John Williams

1. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD by Tom Holkenborg

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