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If it truly is a pleasure just to be nominated for an Oscar, Alan Menken must be Hollywood's happiest man. The co-composer of songs from Walt Disney's musical hit "Enchanted" has three of the five nominations in the original-song category at Sunday's Academy Awards.
Lakeshore Records will release the original motion picture soundtrack for JUMPER on iTunes February 12th and in stores on February 19th. The album features original music by John Powell (UNITED 93, SHREK). SHOP for it at amazon.com Composer John Powell has written music for animated films (HAPPY FEET, SHREK, ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN) and comedies (PLUTO NASH, ALFIE, MR. 3000) but is probably best known for his work in the action film genre on such films as MR. AND MRS. SMITH, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND, FACE/OFF, THE ITALIAN JOB, and the BOURNE series of films (THE BOURNE IDENTITY, THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM). Powell's work on these action scores seamlessly blends orchestral and electronic elements. The British born Powell began originally trained as a violinist. In 1995 he founded a London based commercial music house before moving to the United States 2 years later. He is one of the best known former members of the Remote Control (formerly Media Ventures) team of composers, where he first teamed with Harry Gregson-Williams, his collaborator on several scores (ANTZ, CHICKEN RUN, SHREK). From the director of MR. & MRS. SMITH and THE BOURNE IDENTITY, Doug Liman, comes JUMPER. A genetic anomaly allows a young man to teleport himself anywhere. He discovers this gift has existed for centuries, and finds himself in a war that has been raging for thousands of years between "jumpers" and those who have sworn to kill them. The film stars Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, and Diane Lane, based on the novels by Steven Gould.
Lakeshore Records album features original music by Carter Burwell (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, GODS AND MONSTERS). IN BRUGES was the film that opened the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.... BUY it at Amazon.com Composer Carter Burwell began composing for film in the mid-1980s for the Coen Brothers first feature film, BLOOD SIMPLE. This has lead to a twenty year collaboration on such films as FARGO, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?, and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. Burwell's credits also include BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, VELVET GOLDMINE, THE SPANISH PRISONER, and THREE KINGS. IN BRUGES was filmed on location; Bruges (pronounced "broozh"), the most well-preserved medieval city in the whole of Belgium, is a welcoming destination for travelers from all over the world. But for hit men Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson), it could be their final destination; a difficult job has resulted in the pair being ordered right before Christmas by their London boss Harry (two-time Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes) to go and cool their heels in the storybook Flemish city for a couple of weeks. But the longer they stay waiting for Harry's call, the more surreal their experience becomes, as they find themselves in weird encounters with locals, tourists, violent medieval art, a dwarf American actor (Jordan Prentice) shooting a European art film, Dutch prostitutes, and a potential romance for Ray in the form of Chloë (Clémence Poésy), who may have some dark secrets of her own. And when the call from Harry does finally come, Ken and Ray's vacation becomes a life-and-death struggle of darkly comic proportions and surprisingly emotional consequences.
The music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold has enjoyed a little renaissance over the last decade or two. He is no longer the neglected, unknown master; the hidden Wunderkind of 20th century classical music. The point is proven by the pleasant fact that his entire œvre is available on commercial recordings – from eighth different versions of the Violin Concerto (Heifetz, Perlman, Shaham, Mutter, to name only the most prominent accounts – Kavakos and Hahn offer it on DVD) to a proud rendition of “The Goose-liver at the Durschnitz-residency” – a song for baritone taken on by Dietrich Henschel. (Both Charles and I have recently written about his opera, "Das Wunder der Heliane".)MORE | WEB | IMAGES | SHOP Erich Wolfgang Korngold
The golden age of the classical composer may be dead, but there has never been a better time to be a creator of film and TV soundtracks. This seems especially true in Britain, since British composers are currently scoring a huge percentage of Hollywood's most high-profile movies.
Lakeshore Records will release the original motion picture soundtrack for THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES on February 5, 2008. The album features original music by Academy AwardT-winning composer James Horner (TITANIC, A BEAUTIFUL MIND). 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. From the beloved best-selling series of books comes THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, a fantasy adventure for the child in all of us. Peculiar things start to happen the moment the Grace family (Jared, his twin brother Simon, sister Mallory and their mom) leave New York and move into the secluded old house owned by their great, great uncle Arthur Spiderwick. Unable to explain the strange disappearances and accidents that seem to be happening on a daily basis, the family blames Jared. When he, Simon and Mallory investigate what's really going on, they uncover the fantastic truth of the Spiderwick estate and of the creatures that inhabit it. The film stars Freddie Highmore, Mary-Louise Parker, Nick Nolte, Joan Plowright and David Strathairn.
Basque composer Alberto Iglesias was selected Tuesday 22 JAN 2008, among the nominees to the Oscar Awards for the best Original Score for the original score of Marc Foster's The Kite Runner. This nomination come on top of the nomination for the 2006 Oscar awards for the original score for The Constant Gardener. Based on Khaled Hosseini's literary work and directed by Marc Forster, The kite runner tells the story of Amir, who returns to his homeland in Afghanistan after spending years in California to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble. Fellow nominees of Iglesias were Dario Marianelli for Atonement; James Newton Howard, for Michael Clayton; Michael Giacchino, for Ratatouille; and Marco Beltrami por 3:10 to Yuma. Alberto Iglesias's work was also nominated for the Golden Globes and the Bafta.
Lakeshore Records will release the original motion picture soundtrack for BE KIND REWIND. The album features classic Fats Waller cuts performed by the film's star Mos Def, writer/director Michel Gondry and composer Jean-Michel Bernard, plus classic tracks by Booker T and the MGs, Fats Waller, Billy Preston, original music by Bernard, and a performance by Jack Black. The soundtrack will be available on iTunes and in stores on January 22, 2008.
Jerry (Jack Black) is a junkyard worker who attempts to sabotage a power plant that he believes is melting his brain. But when his plan goes awry, the magnetic field that he creates accidentally erases all of the videotapes in a local video store where his best friend Mike (Mos Def) works. Fearing that the mishap will cost Mike his job, the two friends team up to keep the store's only loyal customer (Mia Farrow) - a little old lady with a tenuous grasp on reality - from realizing what has happened by recreating and re-filming every movie that she decides to rent. From "Ghostbusters," to "Robocop," to "Rush Hour," to "The Lion King," Jerry and Mike become the biggest stars in their neighborhood by starring in the biggest movies ever made. French composer Jean-Michel Bernard was trained as a classical pianist, performing with the London Philharmonic and in jazz clubs in Paris and Bordeaux. After a stint as the musical director and conductor for a popular French political radio show he began composing for film, television and commercials. He collaborated with Claude Bolling, Lalo Schifrin and Ennio Morricone. From 1999 to 2003 he worked with Ray Charles on several International and European tours. He first worked with Michel Gondry on the film HUMAN NATURE, composing two songs, and in 2006 composed the score for Gondry's film THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP, which earned him the Best Score Award at Cannes.
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.
