Fred Astaire, writes Joseph Epstein, the veteran critic and essayist, "was the very model ... of the democratic dandy, itself an innovative figure." He adds that G. Bruce Boyer called Astaire in his movie roles "the democratic ideal: a classless aristocrat." If T.S. Eliot calling the mature Henry James "a European of no known country" isn't the same thing, it's close enough. 
- WEB - IMAGES - SHOP Fred Astaire
John Barry turns 75. The composer of "Somewhere In Time", "Out of Africa," "Dances With Wolves," "Born Free," "Midnight Cowboy" and "The Lion in Winter" -- as well as such iconic James Bond themes as "Goldfinger," "You Only Live Twice" and "Diamonds Are Forever" -- is believed to be the sole Brit to have won as many as five Academy Awards.
Soundtrack Features Original Music by Academy Award® Winner Rachel Portman AVAILABLE HERE Lakeshore Records releases the soundtrack for THE DUCHESS. The soundtrack contains original music composed by Rachel Portman (Emma, The Cider House Rules). Academy Award® nominees Keira Knightley (Atonement) and Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient, Schindler's List) head the international cast, which also includes Dominic Cooper (The History Boys), and Charlotte Rampling (Swimming Pool). The film is based on Amanda Foreman's biography of Georgiana Cavendish, the scandalous Duchess of Devonshire. In 1996 Rachel Portman became the first female composer to win an Academy Award® for her score to the film Emma. The British composer studied at the University of Oxford. She earned the British Film Institute's Young Composer of the Year Award in 1989 for the mini-series "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit". After several years composing for TV movies and BBC series she scored her first Hollywood feature film with 1992s Used People. Since then she has composed music for a variety of films including The Joy Luck Club, Benny & Joon, Emma, The Cider House Rules, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Chocolat, and more recently Infamous, The Lake House, Mona Lisa Smile, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. THE DUCHESS is based on the story of an extraordinary woman who rose to fame by staying true to her passions in a world of protocol, gossip and social rules - and paid the price. Long before the concept existed, the Duchess of Devonshire (Knightey) was the original 'it girl'. Like her direct ancestor Princess Diana, she was ravishing, glamorous, and adored by an entire country. Determined to be a player in the wider affairs of the world, she proved that she could out-gamble, out-drink, and outwit most of the aristocratic men who surrounded her. But even as her own power and popularity grew, she was haunted by the fact that the only man in England she seemingly could not seduce was her very own husband, the Duke (Fiennes). And when she tried to find her own way to be true to her heart and loyal to her duty, the resulting controversies and convoluted liaisons pushed her to the brink of risking banishment by her husband, family and all of London society.
16 JULY 1911 - Birthday Ginger Rogers (Virginia Katherine McMath), Academy Award winning American actress, singer and dancer who partnered with Fred Astaire...("Did everything he did but backwards and in high-heels" ;-) Died 25 April 1995. Rogers introduced some celebrated numbers from the Great American Songbook, songs such as Harry Warren and Al Dubin's "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)" from Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), "Music Makes Me" from Flying Down to Rio (1933), "The Continental" from The Gay Divorcee (1934), Irving Berlin's "Let Yourself Go" from Follow the Fleet (1936) and the Gershwins' "Embraceable You" from Girl Crazy and "They All Laughed (at Christopher Columbus)" from Shall We Dance (1937). Furthermore, in song duets with Astaire, she co-introduced Berlin's "I'm Putting all My Eggs in One Basket" from Follow the Fleet (1936), Jerome Kern's "Pick Yourself Up" and "A Fine Romance" from Swing Time (1936) and the Gershwins' "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" from Shall We Dance (1937). Ginger Rogers won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in 1940s Kitty Foyle...dramatized on radio's Lux, Presents Hollywood:
WARNER BROS. RECORDS TO RELEASE THE DARK KNIGHT ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK ON JULY 15, 2008. Soundtrack to Highly Anticipated Summer Release Scored by Acclaimed Film Composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. The Dark Knight Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - the haunting score to the hotly anticipated feature film The Dark Knight - will be released by Warner Bros. Records on July 15, 2008, three days before the movie opens nationwide on July 18th. Composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, who collaborated on the score for the 2005 blockbuster Batman Begins, were asked by director Christopher Nolan to work together again, scoring its follow-up, The Dark Knight. The duo recorded the orchestral soundtrack for the film in London this April. Zimmer and Howard are among the film industry's most respected and sought-after composers. Each has a career encompassing well over 100 film and television scores. Zimmer won an Academy Award for his score for The Lion King, and has earned six additional Oscar nominations for his work on Gladiator, The Thin Red Line, Rain Man, As Good as It Gets, The Preacher's Wife and The Prince of Egypt. He includes among his more recent film credits Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, The Simpsons Movie, and the Spanish-language Casi Divas.
Soundtrack Features Original Music By Top Australian Composer Cezary Skubiszewski Lakeshore Records will release the original soundtrack for DEATH DEFYING ACTS via iTunes and in stores on July 8. Called "one of the best Aussie directors of her generation" by Variety, Gillian Armstrong (Charlotte Gray, Oscar and Lucinda) helms this film about Harry Houdini's romance with a con woman. In his attempts to contact his dead mother, the magician (Guy Pearce) meets a beautiful psychic (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who isn't all she appears. Cezary Skubiszewski (Lilian's Story, Two Hands) composed the music for the film. Australia's newspaper The Age called Polish émigré Cezary Skubiszewski Australia's leading film composer. He has received numerous awards for composing in his adopted country, including two each from the Australian Film Institute and Australian Performing Rights Association. He has worked with many of Australia's top directors Gregor Jordan (Two Hands with Heath Ledger), Craig Lahiff (Black & White), Steve Jacobs (La Spagnola), Richard Flanagan (The Sound of One Hand Clapping), Sam Neill (The Brush Off), Dein Perry (Bootmen) writer/producer Andrew Knight (the acclaimed mini-series).
Walt Disney Records will release the original soundtrack for Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios WALL.E on June 24, 2008. The recording features score written by 8 time Academy Award®-nominated composer Thomas Newman [photo] (Finding Nemo, American Beauty) and the original song "Down to Earth" written and performed by Peter Gabriel (with music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman). The soundtrack also includes two songs from Hello Dolly performed by Michael Crawford ("It Only Takes A Moment" and "Put On Your Sunday Clothes") and Louis Armstrong's "La Vie En Rose."
Academy Award®-winning writer-director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life) didn't wait long to ask Finding Nemo collaborator Thomas Newman to compose the music for WALL.E. Stanton described, "The night of the Oscars in 2004 for Nemo, we went out for a celebratory toast at the bar in the middle of the ceremony, and right there I remember saying, 'Okay, I've got this idea, and it involves Hello Dolly and science fiction.' Wondering if he would still talk to me after that." The Hello Dolly reference didn't scare off Newman - his uncle Lionel was the conductor for the 1969 film. Thomas Newman is member of the film-scoring Newman dynasty (his father and uncle are the legendary composer and conductor Alfred and Lionel Newman respectively, his brother is composer David Newman and cousin is composer/singer/songwriter/recording artist Randy Newman). After studying at Yale University, Thomas Newman joined the family business and began scoring for film in 1984. It was ten years later that he would became a double Academy Award®-nominee with Little Women and The Shawshank Redemption. He has since received 8 nominations for the films American Beauty, Road To Perdition, Finding Nemo, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and The Good German. He also composed the theme music for the television shows Boston Public and Six Feet Under and the miniseries Angels in America. Though he has written music for a wide range of films Thomas Newman has never composed for a science fiction film. He brought his own unique style to WALL.E. Stanton describes, "He's got a very unique style that often involves a lot of overdubs and mixing after he's recorded the orchestra. And it just allows this fresh palette of sounds to come in." "He's really nailed an identity for not only the movie but for the characters and for the moments," Stanton continues, "and I can't imagine it any other way." Legendary artist Peter Gabriel had first contacted Andrew Stanton through a mutual friend, Gabriel's bass player Tony Levin. Gabriel emailed Stanton seeking advice on a different animated feature. The email exchanged ended with Gabriel adding a post script offering "If you ever need a song in one of your movies, just let me know." Stanton called in the marker, and Gabriel to collaborate with Newman on the song "Down To You," which Peter performs. In addition, Gabriel co-composed two additional score cues with Newman. What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off? After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL.E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL.E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home). Meanwhile, WALL.E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most exciting and imaginative comedy adventures ever brought to the big screen.
Thomas Newman Links | IMAGES | SHOP Thomas Newman
Two-time Academy AwardT-winner James Horner began writing music for film in 1980, after completing his doctorate in composition at UCLA. Following work scoring a short film for the AFI, Horner began honing his craft at New World Pictures where he developed relationships with young directors including Ron Howard and James Cameron, for whom Horner has composed some of his most popular scores like APOLLO 13, COCOON, and RANSOM (for Howard) and TITANIC and ALIENS (for Cameron). Horner has developed into one of the most respected film composers of his generation, composing for such films as LEGENDS OF THE FALL, RANSOM, COURAGE UNDER FIRE, CASPER, PATRIOT GAMES, STAR TRAK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, THE LAND BEFORE TIME, and WILLOW. In addition to his two wins for TITANIC, he has earned Academy AwardT nominations for his scores for APOLLO 13, BRAVEHEART, FIELD OF DREAMS, HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG, and ALIENS, and for the song "Somewhere Out There" from AN AMERICAN TALE. Starring Academy Award®-nominee Uma Thurman (KILL BILL) and Evan Rachel Wood (ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, THIRTEEN), THE LIFE BEFORE HER EYES is the new film from Vadim Perelman, the acclaimed director of HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG. THE LIFE BEFORE HER EYES is an intense and visually evocative drama about the loss of youth, investigating how a single moment in time can define an entire life. Based on Laura Kasischke's visionary novel, the story hinges on a pivotal confrontation: two high school girls held captive by a gunman and forced to make the terrifying choice as to who will live and who will die.
Lakeshore Records will release the original motion picture soundtrack for CITY OF MEN. The album features original music by Golden Globe-nominated composer Antonio Pinto (CENTRAL STATION, LOVE AND DEATH IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA).
Brazilian composer Antonio Pinto was named "Discovery of the Year" at the 2003 World Soundtrack Awards/Flanders International Film Festival and was nominated for a Golden Globe award for the song "Despedida", which he co-wrote with Shakira. He made his domestic debut in Brazil in 1994, but first attracted international attention for his work on CENTRAL STATION in 1998. Four years later he composed the music for CITY OF GOD and was selected by Michael Mann to write the end credit for COLLATERAL. Pinto's credits also include LORD OF WAR and LOVE AND DEATH IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA. The 2002 film CITY OF GOD introduced the world to the horrors of the slums of Rio de Janeiro and followed the lives of several kids who grew up in the slums through the 60s, 70s and 80s. Utilizing the same setting and same actors, but set in the present day, CITY OF MEN became a television mini-series running from 2002-2005. The TV series transitions to the big screen with the new film CITY OF MEN. In CITY OF MEN, producer Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardner) returns to the Brazilian favelas of his Academy AwardT-nominated film, CITY OF GOD. Growing up in a culture dictated by violence and run by street gangs, teenagers Acerola (Douglas Silva) and Laranjinha (Darlan Cunha) have become close as brothers. With their eighteenth birthdays fast approaching, Laranjinha sets out to find the father he never met, while Acerola struggles to raise his own young son. But when they suddenly find themselves on opposite sides of a gang war, the lifelong friends are forced to confront a shocking secret from their shared past.
Howard 
Shore's complete Oscar®-winning score for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, from the epic film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, will be available for the first time in a deluxe five-disc edition from Reprise/WMG Soundtracks on November 20, 2007. This historic release contains 3 hours and 50 minutes of music on four CDs, comprising the full score of the 2003 film. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - The Complete Recordings marks the third and final edition of the three complete recording releases of the film trilogy whose score has been honored with three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. This deluxe set includes exclusive new artwork, packaging, liner notes written by Doug Adams, author of the forthcoming book The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films, and features Annie Lennox performing the Oscar®-winning song "Into the West." Composed for symphony orchestra, adult and children's choir, and soloists, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - The Complete Recordings was performed by London Philharmonic Orchestra, The London Voices, The London Oratory School Schola featuring vocal performances by Annie Lennox, Renée Fleming, Sissel, Ben Del Maestro and cast members Billy Boyd, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, and Dominic Monaghan. The score also features solos performed by renowned flautist Sir James Galway. The fifth disc is a DVD-Audio presenting the entire The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Complete Recordings in Advanced Resolution Surround Sound, Advanced Resolution Stereo Sound, Dolby Digital Surround Sound, and Dolby Digital Stereo Sound.
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