Coming to theaters in two weeks is director Ed Zwick’s riveting PAWN SACRIFICE.
It’s the story of Bobby Fischer, America’s foremost chess player, who faced the reigning champion, Boris Spassky of Russia, in a series of matches that held the world spellbound.
For fans of 1972’s “Match of the Century,” the film is everything you’re hoping for. Zwick’s movie is flawless right down to the re-enactment of the 1971 interview with Dick Cavett.
Bobby Fischer first makes waves in the elite world of chess as a 6-year-old whiz-kid from Brooklyn famous for his laser-like concentration and ability to dominate all challengers. By his teens, the boy wonder has gone from chess savant to international grandmaster, but his meteoric rise is punctuated by unpredictable personal behavior and escalating demands that raise hackles in the conservative chess establishment.
As he travels the globe with manager Paul Marshall (Michael Stuhlbarg) and coach Father Bill Lombardy (Peter Sarsgaard), Fischer crushes the world’s top players in the relentless pursuit of his ultimate quarry: indomitable Soviet chess grandmaster Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber).
In 1972 the volatile New Yorker earns the right to face the Russian veteran in the hotly anticipated “Match of the Century,” a 21-game competition in Reykjavík, Iceland, that could end 24 years of Soviet domination of the World Chess Championship. Even the infamous Game 6 shows Spassky joining the audience in applauding Fischer’s win.
But Fischer’s paranoia and growing obsession with conspiracy theories disrupt the match and his erratic behavior unnerves the normally unflappable Spassky. With the competition increasingly mirroring the tense geopolitics of the Cold War era, even his closest advisors are unsure if Fischer’s actions are the calculated antics of an antisocial eccentric or signs that he is truly unstable. PAWN SACRIFICE is a revealing portrait of the troubled genius who sparked an international chess craze and captured the imagination of the world.
Lakeshore Records will release the PAWN SACRIFICE – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally on Friday, September 11, 2015. The album features original music by composer James Newton Howard (NIGHTCRAWLER, MALEFICENT).
James Newton Howard is one of the most versatile and respected composers currently working in films. To date, Howard has received eight Oscar nominations, including six for Best Original Score for his work on DEFIANCE, MICHAEL CLAYTON, THE VILLAGE, THE FUGITIVE, THE PRINCE OF TIDES, and MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING. He was also nominated for Best Original Song for the films JUNIOR and ONE FINE DAY.
Howard, along with Hans Zimmer, won the 2009 Grammy Award for the score for THE DARK KNIGHT. He has also received Grammy Award nominations for music from BLOOD DIAMOND, DINOSAUR, SIGNS, and the song from ONE FINE DAY. In addition, he won an Emmy Award for the theme to the Andre Braugher series GIDEON’S CROSSING, and received two additional Emmy nominations for the themes to the long-running Warner Bros. series ER and the Ving Rhames series MEN. Howard has also been nominated four times for Golden Globe Awards for his massive orchestral score for Peter Jackson’s blockbuster remake of KING KONG; for the songs from JUNIOR and ONE FINE DAY; and for his provocative symphonic score for DEFIANCE.
Howard’s upcoming projects include THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 2 and CONCUSSION.
Before you watch the movie, catch filmmaker Liz Garbus’ documentary Bobby Fischer Against the World. TRAILER
Read the book “Fischer/Spassky: The New York Times Report on the Chess Match of the Century”
Bleecker Street presents PAWN SACRIFICE in select theaters September 16, 2015 and in St. Louis on Friday, September 18.
Jerry Goldsmith, PLANET OF THE APES (1968) Nominee for Best Original Score for a Motion Picture
By Michelle McCue and Melissa Thompson
As 2014 comes to a close, we take a look back at some of the best movie music from this past year. The backbone of any movie, audiences heard rocket engines roar, traveled through LEGO worlds and made spiritual connections all thanks to the musical vision of the composer.
In a mix that was soulful, haunting and fun, this year’s soundtracks covered a range of emotions, from light to dark, to atmospheric and assaultive.
Our Top 15 scores wouldn’t be complete without an honorable mention…
Michael Giacchino – DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
The story about the birth of a civilization and “restart” for the planet Earth was no more prevalent than with the emotional reality of composer Michael Giacchino’s score. Director Matt Reeves’ sequel to 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes found its musical language through the empathetic sounds of the apes in the environment Caesar has created for them.
Making his fifth collaboration with filmmaker Christopher Nolan, composer Hans Zimmer steered clear of any musical expressions he’d explored in the past with the director, and invented a whole new palette for the film with the earthy yet elevating notes of an organ.
We went for a spectacular adventure on a journey into the universe and Zimmer’s score gave humanity’s mission to the stars a very primeval quality.
2. Alexandre Desplat – THE IMITATION GAME, GODZILLA and THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Three of the best scores this year, six-time Academy Award Nominee Alexandre Desplat’s music was heard by audiences throughout 2014.
Desplat developed one of his most unusual scores for THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL – one played entirely without traditional orchestral instruments. Instead, he brought in a host of Central European instruments, including balalaikas and the cimbalom, a type of hammered dulcimer common to Eastern European gypsy music.
With THE IMITATION GAME, the composer took us to the Bletchley Park codebreaking centre and inside the Enigma machine. Desplat may see his first Oscar win with his beautiful score to the Alan Turing biopic.
Lastly with the great force of GODZILLA propelling the action and keeping the tension high, Desplat made a big sonic impact with the music. “I’ve never done a monster movie before, so coming to this with more than a hundred musicians—double brass, double horns—allowed me to open the frame of my imagination to another territory, and that’s very exciting.”
3. Jóhann Jóhannsson – THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
Filled with a charming score, composer Jóhann Jóhannsson’s music for director James Marsh’s THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING was a mix of orchestral instruments and synthesized sounds giving the story of astrophysicist Stephen Hawking and Jane Wilde an ethereal, lovely sound.
David Fincher returned again to work with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (THE SOCIAL NETWORK, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO) for the surging undertow to GONE GIRL.
Trent Reznor said, “In terms of the palette of sounds what’s unique on this one is that we used a more organic, less synthetic soundscape. We didn’t want it to feel too slick so we used a lot of interesting homemade equipment. There are moments where the rhythm is just me tapping on a wooden box so it feels repetitive but drifts around a bit like a human heartbeat.”
5. Antonio Sánchez – BIRDMAN or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
Drums, cymbals, sticks, mallets and rods were used for the percussion heavy score in director Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s BIRDMAN or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance. Four-time Grammy Award winner and composer Antonio Sanchez effectively sets the pace and rhythm to convey Riggan Thomson’s (Michael Keaton) tonal tightrope between comedy and pathos, illusion and reality.
Composer John Powell’s fantastic soundtrack on HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 was filled with emotional triumphant orchestral pieces and a resounding chorus making it one of our favorites scores of the year.
7. Henry Jackman – BIG HERO 6, THE INTERVIEW and CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
Jackman had three big scores in 2014.
He composed a grandiose action score for North Korea’s favorite film – THE INTERVIEW. While building on his previous collaboration with Evan Golderberg and Seth Rogen on THIS IS THE END, Jackman scored the film as if it were a classic action-blockbuster to ground the film’s comedic moments. Jackman also created a score that celebrated the comic-book style action of BIG HERO 6, while weaving in the original music from American rock band Fall Out Boy.
But none was more epic than Jackman’s contemporary take on his superhero score for CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER. Up next for Jackman is Kingsman: Secret Service and Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War.
Just as Price did on his Oscar-winning score for GRAVITY, where the sounds of radio waves were incorporated into the score, the British composer was able to find a distinctive voice for the music of FURY by using unusual and unconventional instruments in a fusion with the orchestral, choral and solo writing featured throughout. The daunting sounds put the audience inside the WWII tanks alongside Brad Pitt and his crew.
Marco Beltrami’ s created a rustic sounding landscape in director Tommy Lee Jones’ THE HOMESMAN. Alongside his work on SNOWPIERCER, THE GIVER and THE NOVEMBER MAN in 2014, the Oscar-nominated composer’s score for THE HOMESMAN evoked the desolation of the homesteaders by drawing out the essence of the wind with an innovative wind piano that contained 175 feet long wires.
10. James Newton Howard – MALEFICENT and THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1
The sweeping emotions and volatile moods of THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1 and MALEFICENT are evoked not only in the performances and visual designs but in the music, which once again is driven by an original orchestral score from eight time Oscar nominee James Newton Howard. The music for both films cover the whole breadth of experience from scenes of epic action to moments of epic heartache and intimate poignancy.
Howard also composed the score for Dan Gilroy’s NIGHTCRAWLER and Edward Zwick’s PAWN SACRIFICE.
11. Hanan Townshend – THE BETTER ANGELS
Directed by A.J. Edwards, executive produced by Terrence Malick with a beautiful score by Hanan Townshend (TO THE WONDER), THE BETTER ANGELS music took a poetic approach to Abraham Lincoln’s childhood in the harsh wilderness of Indiana.
12. EDGE OF TOMORROW – Christophe Beck
The composer created a score that captured the suspense, the action and the fun of Cage (Tom Cruise) and Rita’s (Emily Blunt) extraordinary journey in director Doug Liman’s awesome EDGE OF TOMORROW.
Combining a rich orchestral score with familiar rock tunes, composer Tyler Bates’ score for director James Gunn’s GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY was one of the most popular of the year.
The soundtrack featured classic 1970s songs like Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling,” “I’m Not in Love” by 10cc, Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love,” and The Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb.”
Bates also composed the score for the heart-pounding revenge thriller JOHN WICK starring Keanu Reeves.
Another beautiful score from composer Alex Ebert (ALL IS LOST), the haunting music for director J.C. Chandor’s A MOST VIOLENT YEAR transported audiences into the treacherous yet stunning landscape of NYC, 1981. Ebert’s score uses piano, synth, and percussion to capture the tension and emotional pressure faced by Oscar Isaac’s Abel Morales, as he fights to protect his business and family.
Displaying his versatility, Ebert also recently composed the score for Disney’s animated short FEAST, which is currently being shown in theaters prior to BIG HERO 6.
Brick by Brick, composer Mark Mothersbaugh’s fun score for THE LEGO MOVIE
Filmgoers went along for the hilarious ride with Emmet, Wyldstyle, Vitruvius, Lord Business, Unikitty, Batman, Benny the Spaceman and Bad Cop/Good Cop and it truly was the most AWESOME time at a movie theater this year!
Listen as The Hollywood Reporter discusses with Marco Beltrami (The Homesman), Danny Elfman (Big Eyes), John Powell (How To Train Your Dragon 2), Trent Reznor (Gone Girl) and Hans Zimmer (Interstellar) the process behind scoring the top films of the year.
About a month ago, we brought you the news that the musical score for ‘The Dark Knight’ had been disqualified by the Academy Awards, because there were too many names listed as composers for the film on the music cue sheet. Â Variety reported on Monday that Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, the two main composers on the film, are back in contention.
The Music Branch Executive Committee of the Academy has reversed its Nov. 10 decision declaring their score for ‘The Dark Knight’Â ineligible for the 2008 Academy Awards. Â After reviewing information submitted by the affected parties, the committee concluded that two, Zimmer and Howard, were responsible for the score’s authorship.
Neither nomination ballots nor lists of eligible scores had been distributed so there is no impact on the actual voting process.
What do you think? Â Will ‘The Dark Knight’ get an Oscar nomination for music anyway? Â What other films do you think had the best score this year? Â Let us know by commenting below!
So, it’s not been a good week to be someone who worked on ‘The Dark Knight’. First off, your film is getting sued by the mayor of a little town called Batman, Turkey for name infringement (see that article here), and, now, your film is getting one less Oscar nomination than it deserves.
The executive committee of the Academy music branch (all 2 of them?) have decided to disqualify the score for ‘The Dark Knight’ from Academy Award competition. The reasoning? Too many chefs in the kitchen. Apparently, five names were listed as composers on the music cue sheet, the official studio document that specifies every piece of music in the film.
Composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard collaborated on the music, but, evidently, multiple names were listed on the cue sheet as a way to financially reward parts of the music team. This cue sheet is used by performing-rights societies in order to disperse royalties. Zimmer; Howard; music editor, Alex Gibson; ambient music designer, Mel Wesson; and composer, Lorne Balfe all signed an affidavit stating that the score was primarily the work of Zimmer and Howard.
That wasn’t enough to dissuade the committee from disqualifying the film’s score. Documentation was supplied to the committee stating that more than 60%, but less than 70%, of ‘The Dark Knight’s score was credited to Zimmer and Howard.
Just for your information, here are the rules for eligibility for Best Musical Score:
B. ELIGIBILITY
1. The work must be specifically created for the eligible feature-length motion picture.
2. The work must be the result of a creative interaction between the filmmaker(s) and the composer(s) or songwriter(s) who have been engaged to work directly on the film.
3. The measure of the work’s qualification shall be its effectiveness, craftsmanship, creative substance and relevance to the dramatic whole.
4. The work must be recorded for use in the film prior to any other usage, including public performance or exploitation through any media whatsoever.
5. Only the principal composer(s) or songwriter(s) responsible for the conception and execution of the work as a whole shall be eligible for an award. This expressly excludes from eligibility all of the following:
a)Â supervisors
b)Â partial contributors (e.g., any writer not responsible for the overall design of the work)
c)Â contributors working on speculation
d)Â scores diluted by the use of tracked themesor other pre-existing music
e)Â scores diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs
f)Â scores assembled from the music of more than one composer.
6. No more than two statuettes will normally be given in the Original Song category. A third statuette may be awarded when there are three essentially equal contributors to a song.
7. The Executive Committee shall resolve all rules interpretations and all questions of eligibility.
8. It is within the sole and confidential discretion of the Board of Governors to determine what awards, if any, shall be given.
So, what do you think about this ruling? Let us know below!
Hollywood composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard will be performing elements of their score for The Dark Knight at the film’s premiere in New York. To listen to 3 samples of their awesome score, click here.
IGN and Reuters report the two composers will be performing together live for the first time, on stage at the AMC Loews Lincoln Square IMAX Theater prior to the film’s world premiere this Monday, July 14, at 7pm.
Additionally, Zimmer and Howard will be signing copies of the soundtrack at Virgin Megastores in New York on Tuesday, July 15th, in Times Square at 7pm, and in Los Angeles on Wednesday, July 16th, at Hollywood and Highland, also at 7pm.
Warner Bros. Records will release four different configurations of the soundtrack for The Dark Knight:
a standard jewel case CD
a 2 LP set of heavy-weight 180 gram vinyl version
a special edition digipack
a collector’s edition with special artwork to come after release.
The soundtrack for The Dark Knight will be released on Warner Bros. Records on July 15 prior to the film’s nationwide opening on July 18.
