Scottish auteur Lynne Ramsay and former Icelandic Film Center (IFC) chief Laufey Guðjónsdóttir received honors from the 10th anniversary edition of Reykjavik’s Stockfish Film & Industry Festival. The awards, presented during a reception on April 11th, celebrate outstanding contributions to the film industry both internationally and domestically.
Known for its intimate atmosphere and ease of networking, the non-profit Stockfish is overseen by the six professional associations of filmmakers in Iceland, members of which comprise the festival board. The festival offers screenings of domestic and international features along with the popular Shortfish, a juried competition for Icelandic shorts in a variety of categories. The festival honors are part of an industry program that includes talks and panels as well as Icelandic works-in-progress.
Citing honoree Ramsay’s unique artistry, Stockfish’s artistic director Hrönn Kristinsdottír praised the director-screenwriter for challenging conventions and pushing boundaries in an industry dominated by male voices. Ramsay,...
Known for its intimate atmosphere and ease of networking, the non-profit Stockfish is overseen by the six professional associations of filmmakers in Iceland, members of which comprise the festival board. The festival offers screenings of domestic and international features along with the popular Shortfish, a juried competition for Icelandic shorts in a variety of categories. The festival honors are part of an industry program that includes talks and panels as well as Icelandic works-in-progress.
Citing honoree Ramsay’s unique artistry, Stockfish’s artistic director Hrönn Kristinsdottír praised the director-screenwriter for challenging conventions and pushing boundaries in an industry dominated by male voices. Ramsay,...
- 4/12/2024
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
The story of Kim Philby, the high-ranking British intelligence official who turned out to be one of the biggest double agents in U.K. history, is well known at this point. Dozens of books, fiction and nonfiction, have been written about how Philby took in the great and the good of MI6 and the CIA for decades before he finally had to flee across the Iron Curtain in 1963.
Related Stories How Jason Momoa’s Outrageous ‘Fast X’ Character Became Equal Parts Python and Peacock AI Becomes Him: How De-Aging Progressed from ‘Benjamin Button’ to ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’
This version of Philby, played with the kind of rumpled fatalism only Guy Pierce can muster, spends a lot of time keeping those friends close at the cost of his own soul, particularly Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis). But MGM Television’s “A Spy Among Friends,” which traces Philby and...
Related Stories How Jason Momoa’s Outrageous ‘Fast X’ Character Became Equal Parts Python and Peacock AI Becomes Him: How De-Aging Progressed from ‘Benjamin Button’ to ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’
This version of Philby, played with the kind of rumpled fatalism only Guy Pierce can muster, spends a lot of time keeping those friends close at the cost of his own soul, particularly Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis). But MGM Television’s “A Spy Among Friends,” which traces Philby and...
- 5/22/2023
- by Sarah Shachat
- Indiewire
German musician Volker Bertelmann nudged out the competition to pick up his first Academy Award Sunday for Netflix’s war epic All Quiet on the Western Front.
Mindy Kaling and John Cho presented the award to Bertelmann, who thanked his All Quiet colleagues.
Related: Oscar Winners List
“I want to thank the cast and crew for their amazing craftsmanship and to Netflix for their huge support and to my fellow nominees,” Bertelmann said as he picked up the award.
This year’s nom is Bertelmann’s second Oscars nod. He was last nominated for his musical work on Lion (2017), starring Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman and Rooney Mara. He shared the nomination with co-composer Dustin O’Halloran.
Bertelmann’s win was All Quiet on the Western Front’s fourth win of the evening. The German-language pic is up for nine Oscars, including Best Picture, Director and International Feature Film. The film picked...
Mindy Kaling and John Cho presented the award to Bertelmann, who thanked his All Quiet colleagues.
Related: Oscar Winners List
“I want to thank the cast and crew for their amazing craftsmanship and to Netflix for their huge support and to my fellow nominees,” Bertelmann said as he picked up the award.
This year’s nom is Bertelmann’s second Oscars nod. He was last nominated for his musical work on Lion (2017), starring Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman and Rooney Mara. He shared the nomination with co-composer Dustin O’Halloran.
Bertelmann’s win was All Quiet on the Western Front’s fourth win of the evening. The German-language pic is up for nine Oscars, including Best Picture, Director and International Feature Film. The film picked...
- 3/13/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
German composer Volker Bertelmann won the original score Oscar Sunday night for his music for the World War I epic “All Quiet on the Western Front.”
“By working on a film like that, you are always touched,” Bertelmann said in accepting the honor, referring to the harrowing nature of the film. “Sometimes you have to make the screen very small because there are so many explosions happening.”
It is Bertelmann’s first Academy Award. He was previously nominated, under his stage name Hauschka, for his music for the 2016 film “Lion” (co-composed with Dustin O’Halloran). He won the BAFTA for “All Quiet” on Feb. 19.
The German-language remake of the 1930 antiwar classic is the latest in a series of collaborations with director Edward Berger. Their best-known work in the U.S. is the five-part Benedict Cumberbatch series “Patrick Melrose,” which aired in 2018 on Showtime.
For this adaptation of the Erich Maria Remarque classic,...
“By working on a film like that, you are always touched,” Bertelmann said in accepting the honor, referring to the harrowing nature of the film. “Sometimes you have to make the screen very small because there are so many explosions happening.”
It is Bertelmann’s first Academy Award. He was previously nominated, under his stage name Hauschka, for his music for the 2016 film “Lion” (co-composed with Dustin O’Halloran). He won the BAFTA for “All Quiet” on Feb. 19.
The German-language remake of the 1930 antiwar classic is the latest in a series of collaborations with director Edward Berger. Their best-known work in the U.S. is the five-part Benedict Cumberbatch series “Patrick Melrose,” which aired in 2018 on Showtime.
For this adaptation of the Erich Maria Remarque classic,...
- 3/13/2023
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
“Babylon” only has three Oscar nominations, but if you go by the odds, it will win two of them: Best Production Design, which it’s dominated all season, and Best Original Score, where Justin Hurwitz has recently lost some ground to “All Quiet on the Western Front,” composed by Volker Bertelmann. That race could come down to the wire and wind up a whole lot closer than the composers’ first Oscar showdown.
Hurwitz and Bertelmann have faced off at the Oscars before, though you might not realize it at first glance. Bertelmann also performs under the name Hauschka, which was how he was credited for his “Lion” (2016) score, co-written with Dustin O’Halloran. That season, Hauschka and O’Halloran lost the Golden Globe, Critics Choice Award, BAFTA and Oscar to Hurwitz, who swept for “La La Land.”
While it was obvious Hurwitz would win the Oscar back then, that’s not the case this time around.
Hurwitz and Bertelmann have faced off at the Oscars before, though you might not realize it at first glance. Bertelmann also performs under the name Hauschka, which was how he was credited for his “Lion” (2016) score, co-written with Dustin O’Halloran. That season, Hauschka and O’Halloran lost the Golden Globe, Critics Choice Award, BAFTA and Oscar to Hurwitz, who swept for “La La Land.”
While it was obvious Hurwitz would win the Oscar back then, that’s not the case this time around.
- 3/8/2023
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
Composing the score for a war film can be, apologies for the metaphor, a minefield. Go too heavy on the orchestral oomph — all soaring strings and booming base — and you can quickly swing into schmaltz. Go too small and minimalist, and the onscreen explosions can overpower your music. Plus, there’s the danger of familiarity, of echoing the grand and epic scores of war films past.
So, when director Edward Berger asked his regular composer, Volker Bertelmann, to write a score for his antiwar drama All Quiet on the Western Front, he told him to break all the rules.
“I said, ‘I want something different, something we’ve never heard before,’ ” says Berger, “then, and this is almost the most important thing: I said, ‘I want you to destroy the images onscreen. Don’t beautify or sentimentalize.’ [I wanted] a sound that feels like it’s coming from inside [lead character] Paul Bäumer’s stomach.
So, when director Edward Berger asked his regular composer, Volker Bertelmann, to write a score for his antiwar drama All Quiet on the Western Front, he told him to break all the rules.
“I said, ‘I want something different, something we’ve never heard before,’ ” says Berger, “then, and this is almost the most important thing: I said, ‘I want you to destroy the images onscreen. Don’t beautify or sentimentalize.’ [I wanted] a sound that feels like it’s coming from inside [lead character] Paul Bäumer’s stomach.
- 2/25/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
After dominating the BAFTAs with seven wins, Netflix’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” just went from Oscars wild card to potential juggernaut in the craft races, where it is tied with “Elvis” for the lead with six nominations. In addition to the BAFTA-winning three categories, Edward Berger’s German-language World War I epic also grabbed nominations for makeup and hairstyling, production design, and VFX.
“All Quiet” appears to be on a similar Oscar trajectory as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2001), which also scored six craft noms. That’s a record for international features. Ang Lee’s martial arts spectacle (co-starring “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Best Actress nominee Michelle Yeoh) eventually won a record three craft awards: cinematography, original score, and art direction-set decoration (now production design). “All Quiet” hopes to at least match its success.
How much weight do the BAFTAs carry for “All Quiet”? Nine of the last 10 wins for cinematography,...
“All Quiet” appears to be on a similar Oscar trajectory as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2001), which also scored six craft noms. That’s a record for international features. Ang Lee’s martial arts spectacle (co-starring “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Best Actress nominee Michelle Yeoh) eventually won a record three craft awards: cinematography, original score, and art direction-set decoration (now production design). “All Quiet” hopes to at least match its success.
How much weight do the BAFTAs carry for “All Quiet”? Nine of the last 10 wins for cinematography,...
- 2/21/2023
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Edward Berger’s German-language version of “All Quiet on the Western Front” packs a cinematic punch for a lot of reasons, as evidence by its seven BAFTA Awards, including Best Film. One of the winners was composer Volker Bertelmann, whose score is one of the year’s most singular.
The film’s theme is minimalism cranked to the max: three huge, distorted notes, played on a 100-year-old harmonium and hanging in the air at unexpected times throughout the film. At times, a vicious snare drum patter comes out of nowhere and feels as if it is attacking the viewer; at other times, more bucolic, pastoral music frames both the beauty of the European countryside and the barbarity of the fighting.
Bertelmann is a sometime rock musician who sometimes records under the name Hauschka and has a long history as an experimental composer working with everything from prepared piano to orchestras.
The film’s theme is minimalism cranked to the max: three huge, distorted notes, played on a 100-year-old harmonium and hanging in the air at unexpected times throughout the film. At times, a vicious snare drum patter comes out of nowhere and feels as if it is attacking the viewer; at other times, more bucolic, pastoral music frames both the beauty of the European countryside and the barbarity of the fighting.
Bertelmann is a sometime rock musician who sometimes records under the name Hauschka and has a long history as an experimental composer working with everything from prepared piano to orchestras.
- 2/20/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This year’s Oscar race for Best Original Score is the most interesting and competitive in years. You’ve got surprise composers Son Lux (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) and Volker Bertelmann (“All Quiet on the Western Front”) going up against 90-year-old legend John Williams (“The Fabelmans”) and returnees Justin Hurwitz (“Babylon”) and Carter Burwell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”).
Which means there are several unusual components to this race. Four out of five films are Best Picture nominees (with “Babylon” as the outlier) and period pieces (with “Eeaao” as the contemporary multiverse entry), and there’s old-school versus new-school, with experimental rock band Son Lux taking on four celebrated vets: Williams has five Oscars and a record 53 nominations; Hurwitz has two Oscars for “La La Land” (score and original song “City of Stars”); and Burwell and Bertelmann have three and two nominations, respectively.
And not a clear favorite among them.
Which means there are several unusual components to this race. Four out of five films are Best Picture nominees (with “Babylon” as the outlier) and period pieces (with “Eeaao” as the contemporary multiverse entry), and there’s old-school versus new-school, with experimental rock band Son Lux taking on four celebrated vets: Williams has five Oscars and a record 53 nominations; Hurwitz has two Oscars for “La La Land” (score and original song “City of Stars”); and Burwell and Bertelmann have three and two nominations, respectively.
And not a clear favorite among them.
- 2/15/2023
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
It’s been a big week for Netflix’s anti-war epic “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Edward Berger’s adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s world-renowned bestseller rolled into the final days of Oscar nominations voting with surprise crafts momentum, qualifying for four shortlists along with the Best International Feature category as Germany’s submission. “All Quiet” then swept BAFTA nominations on Thursday, its 14 nominations equalling the record for a non-English-language feature set by “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” in 2001.
Beyond the shortlists, cinematographer James Friend is an Oscar contender, too, despite being overlooked as an ASC nominee. He received a BAFTA nomination as recognition of his bravura work in capturing the sheer scope of the unrelenting artillery attacks and massive carnage on the battlefield with large format cameras.
“All Quiet on the Western Front” re-imagines Remarque’s novel as an intense Pov movie with long tracking shots, as we...
Beyond the shortlists, cinematographer James Friend is an Oscar contender, too, despite being overlooked as an ASC nominee. He received a BAFTA nomination as recognition of his bravura work in capturing the sheer scope of the unrelenting artillery attacks and massive carnage on the battlefield with large format cameras.
“All Quiet on the Western Front” re-imagines Remarque’s novel as an intense Pov movie with long tracking shots, as we...
- 1/20/2023
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Curated by the IndieWire editorial team, Craft Considerations is a video platform for filmmakers to discuss how they applied their craft to a recent work we believe is worthy of awards consideration. For this edition, we look at how “Nope” actress Keke Palmer collaborated with writer-director Jordan Peele to bring the funny, tenacious Emerald to life in the sci-fi horror blockbuster.
Keke Palmer was still learning just exactly who her “Nope” character Emerald was when she shot her memorable entrance, a rollicking run-through of how her family company has serviced Hollywood since the industry’s earliest days.
“It was so funny, because that was not in the original script. That was something that I ended up seeing five days before we started shooting,” the star told IndieWire. “I was just like, ‘When the hell did you put this in here?’”
Writer-director Jordan Peele trusted Palmer was up for the challenge as he had written Emerald,...
Keke Palmer was still learning just exactly who her “Nope” character Emerald was when she shot her memorable entrance, a rollicking run-through of how her family company has serviced Hollywood since the industry’s earliest days.
“It was so funny, because that was not in the original script. That was something that I ended up seeing five days before we started shooting,” the star told IndieWire. “I was just like, ‘When the hell did you put this in here?’”
Writer-director Jordan Peele trusted Palmer was up for the challenge as he had written Emerald,...
- 1/9/2023
- by Marcus Jones
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Deadline has an exclusive track from Dustin O’Halloran and Herdís Stefánsdóttir’s score for The Essex Serpent, which is set for digital release today via Lakeshore Records.
The Apple TV+ limited series from See-Saw Films follows London widow Cora Seaborne (Claire Danes), who moves to Essex to investigate reports of a mythical serpent. Seaborne forms a surprising bond of science and skepticism with the local pastor (Tom Hiddleston), but when tragedy strikes, locals accuse her of attracting the creature.
When O’Halloran and Stefánsdóttir boarded the project, they looked to evoke the dark depths of Victorian England through the utilization of both electro acoustics and strings. “From our first conversations with director Clio Bernard, we knew we would be creating something layered and multidimensional,” the composers told Deadline in a joint statement. “This was our first collaboration together as composers and it allowed us to explore subjects like fear of the unknown,...
The Apple TV+ limited series from See-Saw Films follows London widow Cora Seaborne (Claire Danes), who moves to Essex to investigate reports of a mythical serpent. Seaborne forms a surprising bond of science and skepticism with the local pastor (Tom Hiddleston), but when tragedy strikes, locals accuse her of attracting the creature.
When O’Halloran and Stefánsdóttir boarded the project, they looked to evoke the dark depths of Victorian England through the utilization of both electro acoustics and strings. “From our first conversations with director Clio Bernard, we knew we would be creating something layered and multidimensional,” the composers told Deadline in a joint statement. “This was our first collaboration together as composers and it allowed us to explore subjects like fear of the unknown,...
- 6/10/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Some of Hollywood’s top filmmakers and former Oscar winners are calling on the Academy to rethink its decision to pre-record eight categories ahead of the March 27 telecast.
James Cameron, Guillermo del Toro, John Williams, Kathleen Kennedy, and more than six dozen others signed an open letter addressed to Academy President David Rubin slamming the decision to record the wins for best documentary short, film editing, makeup and hairstyling, original score, production design, animated short, live-action short, and sound outside of the live Dolby Theatre ceremony.
The letter explained that such a decision would “demean” those categories and “relegate [them] to the status of second-class citizens,” as shared with Variety. Though the eight categories taking place prior to the 5 p.m. start time will be integrated into the broadcast, these artists are pushing the Academy to reverse its decision and present all 23 Oscar categories live.
“To diminish any of those individual...
James Cameron, Guillermo del Toro, John Williams, Kathleen Kennedy, and more than six dozen others signed an open letter addressed to Academy President David Rubin slamming the decision to record the wins for best documentary short, film editing, makeup and hairstyling, original score, production design, animated short, live-action short, and sound outside of the live Dolby Theatre ceremony.
The letter explained that such a decision would “demean” those categories and “relegate [them] to the status of second-class citizens,” as shared with Variety. Though the eight categories taking place prior to the 5 p.m. start time will be integrated into the broadcast, these artists are pushing the Academy to reverse its decision and present all 23 Oscar categories live.
“To diminish any of those individual...
- 3/9/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Some of Hollywood’s most high-profile filmmakers, including director James Cameron, producers Kathleen Kennedy and Lili Fini Zanuck and composer John Williams have joined the growing chorus of voices asking the Academy to reverse course and present all 23 Oscars on the live March 27 telecast.
In a letter sent today to Academy President David Rubin and obtained by Variety, more than six dozen film professionals, including multiple Academy Award winners, contend that the plan to present eight awards during the pre-telecast hour will “demean” these crafts and “relegate [them] to the status of second-class citizens.”
The eight are original score, film editing, production design, makeup and hairstyling, sound, documentary short, live-action short and animated short. The Academy continues to insist that the nominees in those categories will be announced, and the winner’s acceptance speech aired, in edited form and aired as part of the three-hour ABC show.
That’s not good enough for these artists.
In a letter sent today to Academy President David Rubin and obtained by Variety, more than six dozen film professionals, including multiple Academy Award winners, contend that the plan to present eight awards during the pre-telecast hour will “demean” these crafts and “relegate [them] to the status of second-class citizens.”
The eight are original score, film editing, production design, makeup and hairstyling, sound, documentary short, live-action short and animated short. The Academy continues to insist that the nominees in those categories will be announced, and the winner’s acceptance speech aired, in edited form and aired as part of the three-hour ABC show.
That’s not good enough for these artists.
- 3/9/2022
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Oscar voting is wrapping on Wednesday, but it ain’t over ’til it’s over. Film distributor Neon, the reigning champion at the Academy Awards for best picture with “Parasite,” has another stack of contenders this year, all unique in awards discussions. CEO and co-founder Tom Quinn has always pushed the boundaries of cinema, and deeply believes in cultural representation in front and behind the camera, and the way consumers and Academy voters accept the film medium.
“Neon’s entire mission is built around the power of cinema,” Quinn says. “Cinema for us starts in the theater, a collective body of strangers coming together to see a director’s vision — unedited, uninterrupted — and with that comes great power.”
In this bonus episode of the “Variety Awards Circuit Podcast,” Quinn talks about Neon’s robust slate, which includes the comedy “Palm Springs,” international features like “Night of the Kings,” and docs...
“Neon’s entire mission is built around the power of cinema,” Quinn says. “Cinema for us starts in the theater, a collective body of strangers coming together to see a director’s vision — unedited, uninterrupted — and with that comes great power.”
In this bonus episode of the “Variety Awards Circuit Podcast,” Quinn talks about Neon’s robust slate, which includes the comedy “Palm Springs,” international features like “Night of the Kings,” and docs...
- 3/9/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
“Da 5 Bloods” Terence Blanchard, a Grammy-winning jazz musician who earned his first Oscar nomination two years ago for Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman,” has an idea about how to boost diversity in Hollywood music — and give more talented women and musicians of color an opportunity to score films.
“What we should do is have blind auditions. Listen to some music and tell me if it was written by a woman or a person of color, because you would know much better than me,” Blanchard said during a panel of Oscar-shortlisted film composers as part of TheWrap’s Awards Screening Series. “For me…it’s not about gender and it’s not about race. It’s about who is bringing a unique voice to the project.”
Despite his own success in Hollywood, Blanchard believes that his race has sometimes hurt his job prospects. “I’ve had people who wanted to hire...
“What we should do is have blind auditions. Listen to some music and tell me if it was written by a woman or a person of color, because you would know much better than me,” Blanchard said during a panel of Oscar-shortlisted film composers as part of TheWrap’s Awards Screening Series. “For me…it’s not about gender and it’s not about race. It’s about who is bringing a unique voice to the project.”
Despite his own success in Hollywood, Blanchard believes that his race has sometimes hurt his job prospects. “I’ve had people who wanted to hire...
- 3/4/2021
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Of all the below-the-line categories at the Oscars, Best Original Score is the most difficult to predict early on due to the finicky nature of the music branch of the academy. Scores that sound like frontrunners are disqualified for a variety of reasons, from the number of credited composers to the amount of previously recorded music used. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2021 Oscar predictions for Best Original Score.)
Even when we know the players, it is still difficult to predict the eventual winner given the diversity of the recent champs. The epic orchestrations of Howard Shore‘s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2002) and “Lotr: The Return of the King” (2004) sound nothing like A.H. Rahman‘s pulsating, Bombay-infused work on “Slumdog Millionaire” (2009), Alexander Desplat‘s whimsical tunes for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (2015) or Hildur Guonadottir‘s pulsating rhythms in “Joker” (2020).
As with many of...
Even when we know the players, it is still difficult to predict the eventual winner given the diversity of the recent champs. The epic orchestrations of Howard Shore‘s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2002) and “Lotr: The Return of the King” (2004) sound nothing like A.H. Rahman‘s pulsating, Bombay-infused work on “Slumdog Millionaire” (2009), Alexander Desplat‘s whimsical tunes for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (2015) or Hildur Guonadottir‘s pulsating rhythms in “Joker” (2020).
As with many of...
- 2/10/2021
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
The Academy Awards’ shortlists are a blessing and a curse.
Blessing in that it truly helps awards strategists and publicists hone their efforts and marketing dollars toward a sampling of candidates in the final run-up to nominations. In the case of the Music Branch and the Original Score category, film scores typically are punished over quota rules, i.e. this year a film’s music needs to be composed of 60% of original score, versus 50% in prior years. Also, if any of the music was ever pre-conceived in another medium, not specifically written for the film, then forget it. You’re disqualified. For example, a bulk of Mark Orton’s haunting, folksy score from Alexander Payne’s 2013 feature Nebraska were from tracks the composer wrote previously, despite the cues’ electricity in the black-and-white dramedy starring Will Forte, Bruce Dern and June Squibb.
When it comes to the Academy’s Music Branch and how it qualifies scores,...
Blessing in that it truly helps awards strategists and publicists hone their efforts and marketing dollars toward a sampling of candidates in the final run-up to nominations. In the case of the Music Branch and the Original Score category, film scores typically are punished over quota rules, i.e. this year a film’s music needs to be composed of 60% of original score, versus 50% in prior years. Also, if any of the music was ever pre-conceived in another medium, not specifically written for the film, then forget it. You’re disqualified. For example, a bulk of Mark Orton’s haunting, folksy score from Alexander Payne’s 2013 feature Nebraska were from tracks the composer wrote previously, despite the cues’ electricity in the black-and-white dramedy starring Will Forte, Bruce Dern and June Squibb.
When it comes to the Academy’s Music Branch and how it qualifies scores,...
- 2/10/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
This year’s nine Oscar shortlists are voted on by five branches of the Academy — Music, Documentary, Animation and Shorts, VFX, and Makeup and Hairstyling — as well as the intrepid members from all over the world who were willing and able to watch online a minimum of a dozen qualifying international features. Reading the tea leaves of these shortlists reveals some strengths and weaknesses heading into the final round of voting for the final five nominations to be announced on March 15.
To state the obvious, voters made their selection from a wide range of smaller-scale movies, given that many of the studio blockbusters, from Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” to Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune,” were pushed back due to the pandemic. Clearly, while stuck at home, many Academy voters were watching Netflix. That’s a huge advantage for “step one” on the road to an Oscar nomination: getting your movie seen.
To state the obvious, voters made their selection from a wide range of smaller-scale movies, given that many of the studio blockbusters, from Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” to Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune,” were pushed back due to the pandemic. Clearly, while stuck at home, many Academy voters were watching Netflix. That’s a huge advantage for “step one” on the road to an Oscar nomination: getting your movie seen.
- 2/9/2021
- by Anne Thompson and Bill Desowitz
- Thompson on Hollywood
This year’s nine Oscar shortlists are voted on by five branches of the Academy — Music, Documentary, Animation and Shorts, VFX, and Makeup and Hairstyling — as well as the intrepid members from all over the world who were willing and able to watch online a minimum of a dozen qualifying international features. Reading the tea leaves of these shortlists reveals some strengths and weaknesses heading into the final round of voting for the final five nominations to be announced on March 15.
To state the obvious, voters made their selection from a wide range of smaller-scale movies, given that many of the studio blockbusters, from Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” to Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune,” were pushed back due to the pandemic. Clearly, while stuck at home, many Academy voters were watching Netflix. That’s a huge advantage for “step one” on the road to an Oscar nomination: getting your movie seen.
To state the obvious, voters made their selection from a wide range of smaller-scale movies, given that many of the studio blockbusters, from Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” to Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune,” were pushed back due to the pandemic. Clearly, while stuck at home, many Academy voters were watching Netflix. That’s a huge advantage for “step one” on the road to an Oscar nomination: getting your movie seen.
- 2/9/2021
- by Anne Thompson and Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
The shortlists for the Academy Awards’ two music categories are out, and while there are few surprises among the 375-member music branch’s 15 choices for best original score, there’s a remarkable shift in the original song category: Nearly half of the 15 songs on that list emerged from narrative films or documentaries whose casts or subjects were predominantly Black.
Most of these songs had already been tagged as leading contenders, even though it was hardly a certainty they’d all make the shortlist. Among them: Janelle Monae’s “Turntables” from the voter-suppression doc “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” Mary J. Blige’s “See What You’ve Done” from the prison-sterilization documentary “Belly of the Beast,” John Legend’s “Never Break” from the young-actor doc “Giving Voice,” Leslie Odom Jr.’s “Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami,” H.E.R.’s “Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah” and...
Most of these songs had already been tagged as leading contenders, even though it was hardly a certainty they’d all make the shortlist. Among them: Janelle Monae’s “Turntables” from the voter-suppression doc “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” Mary J. Blige’s “See What You’ve Done” from the prison-sterilization documentary “Belly of the Beast,” John Legend’s “Never Break” from the young-actor doc “Giving Voice,” Leslie Odom Jr.’s “Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami,” H.E.R.’s “Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah” and...
- 2/9/2021
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be announcing its shortlist on Tuesday in nine Oscar categories. The categories and number of films to be revealed include documentary feature (15), documentary short subject (10), international feature (15), makeup and hairstyling (10), original score (15), original song (15), animated short film (10), live action short film (10) and visual effects (10).
The shortlist voting concluded on Feb. 5, and the remaining will move on to the official phase one voting, which will take place on March 5-9. The Oscar nominations will be announced on March 15, with the show scheduled to take place on April 25.
Down below, find the predictions for the shortlist (except for the shorts) with commentary on what to expect. Go to the Awards Circuit prediction pages of each category for the contenders’ full rankings and the credited artisans.
Makeup and Hairstyling
“Bill & Ted Face the Music” (United Artists Releasing) “Emma.” (Focus Features) “Hillbilly Elegy” (Netflix...
The shortlist voting concluded on Feb. 5, and the remaining will move on to the official phase one voting, which will take place on March 5-9. The Oscar nominations will be announced on March 15, with the show scheduled to take place on April 25.
Down below, find the predictions for the shortlist (except for the shorts) with commentary on what to expect. Go to the Awards Circuit prediction pages of each category for the contenders’ full rankings and the credited artisans.
Makeup and Hairstyling
“Bill & Ted Face the Music” (United Artists Releasing) “Emma.” (Focus Features) “Hillbilly Elegy” (Netflix...
- 2/8/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Nominees for the Hollywood Music in Media Awards are being unveiled Friday, with a packed slate of songs and scores in film, TV and videogame categories. Names in contention range from Alexandre Desplat, James Newton Howard and Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross as returning veterans in the score divisions to stars like Taylor Swift, H.E.R., Brandi Carlile, Travis Scott, Haim and Janelle Monae as nominated songwriters for feature film themes.
Kenny Loggins has been tagged for the HMMAs; Career Achievement in Music honor, which has previously gone to figures including Diane Warren, Smokey Robinson and composer John Debney.
Loggins will perform on the livestreamed awards show, which has been set for 7 p.m. Pt on Jan. 27, to be webcast on the Hmma site in lieu of the traditional live ceremony (which last year took place at Avalon in Hollywood). He’ll be joined in the performance ranks by Andra Day, Rita Wilson,...
Kenny Loggins has been tagged for the HMMAs; Career Achievement in Music honor, which has previously gone to figures including Diane Warren, Smokey Robinson and composer John Debney.
Loggins will perform on the livestreamed awards show, which has been set for 7 p.m. Pt on Jan. 27, to be webcast on the Hmma site in lieu of the traditional live ceremony (which last year took place at Avalon in Hollywood). He’ll be joined in the performance ranks by Andra Day, Rita Wilson,...
- 1/15/2021
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
The Sundance Film Festival’s 2021 virtual Main Street will play host to a series of conversations about music and the movies, hosted by first-time festival partner Film Music House, with Mary J. Blige, Rufus Wainwright and Colin Stetson (pictured above) among those taking part in the streamed chats Jan. 28 through Feb. 3.
Blige will join Nova Wav and DJ Camper in a conversation on songwriting for films. Wainwright will participate in a panel on the music of the film “Rebel Hearts” with veteran music supervisor Tracy McKnight and Ariel Marx. A panel about music auteurs will feature Stetson as well as Bryce Dessner of the National and Alex Somers.
The confab’s keynote conversations will spotlight Mychael Danna, Jeff Beal, Dan Romer, Miriam Cuter and Rob Simonsen.
The full lineup of names and times for Film Music House programs can be found on Sundance’s Village site, here.
Other programs include...
Blige will join Nova Wav and DJ Camper in a conversation on songwriting for films. Wainwright will participate in a panel on the music of the film “Rebel Hearts” with veteran music supervisor Tracy McKnight and Ariel Marx. A panel about music auteurs will feature Stetson as well as Bryce Dessner of the National and Alex Somers.
The confab’s keynote conversations will spotlight Mychael Danna, Jeff Beal, Dan Romer, Miriam Cuter and Rob Simonsen.
The full lineup of names and times for Film Music House programs can be found on Sundance’s Village site, here.
Other programs include...
- 1/14/2021
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
An employed silence. A scratchy phonograph playing a theme inspired by Yiddish music. An exercise in minimalism. Those are some of the components in scores belonging to films flying under the radar as awards season begins — but might not be when all is said and done.
Variety looks at some of those works and the composers behind them.
The Invisible Man
In this classic-movie update, Elisabeth Moss plays the abused, on-the-run wife of a brilliant scientist. Composer Benjamin Wallfisch (“It”) took his initial inspiration from Bernard Herrmann’s famous “Psycho” score, writing solely for string orchestra (including a cello theme for Moss’ character), then added angry, aggressive electronics to depict the husband with the invisibility suit. Yet he also strategically employed silence. “We made bold musical gestures, so that the absence of music is something you feel,” Wallfisch says. “We used unusual mixing techniques, sometimes surrounding the audience with a wall of sound,...
Variety looks at some of those works and the composers behind them.
The Invisible Man
In this classic-movie update, Elisabeth Moss plays the abused, on-the-run wife of a brilliant scientist. Composer Benjamin Wallfisch (“It”) took his initial inspiration from Bernard Herrmann’s famous “Psycho” score, writing solely for string orchestra (including a cello theme for Moss’ character), then added angry, aggressive electronics to depict the husband with the invisibility suit. Yet he also strategically employed silence. “We made bold musical gestures, so that the absence of music is something you feel,” Wallfisch says. “We used unusual mixing techniques, sometimes surrounding the audience with a wall of sound,...
- 1/7/2021
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
As Martin Scorsese once said, “Music and cinema fit together naturally. Because there’s a kind of intrinsic musicality to the way moving images work when they’re put together. It’s been said that cinema and music are very close as art forms, and I think that’s true.” Indeed, the right piece of music–whether it’s an original score or a carefully selected song–can do wonders for a sequence, and today we’re looking at the 20 films that best expressed this notion this year.
From seasoned composers to accomplished musicians, as well as a smattering of soundtracks, each musical example perfectly transported us to the world of the film. Check out our rundown of the top 20, which includes streams to each soundtrack in full where available.
20. Wendy (Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin)
19. She Dies Tomorrow (Mondo Boys)
18. The Nest (Richard Reed Parry)
17. Ammonite (Dustin O’Halloran and...
From seasoned composers to accomplished musicians, as well as a smattering of soundtracks, each musical example perfectly transported us to the world of the film. Check out our rundown of the top 20, which includes streams to each soundtrack in full where available.
20. Wendy (Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin)
19. She Dies Tomorrow (Mondo Boys)
18. The Nest (Richard Reed Parry)
17. Ammonite (Dustin O’Halloran and...
- 12/29/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
In a year when most films were watched at home, film scores became ambient music by default, and often in a way that may have distracted from the power of their purpose. There weren’t any breakout scores that seemed to take on a life of their own and make their way beyond the small circle of people who actively pay attention to such things; we didn’t get any major new work from stalwarts like Jonny Greenwood, Opn, and Nicholas Britell, while rising stars like the Oscar-winning Ludwig Göransson delivered the most exciting pieces of their careers to empty movie theaters.
And yet, wherever it came from, the best movie music of 2020 arrived like a vital, wordless diary of how it felt to live through the last 12 months — or at least to survive them. Even when they were reduced to mere background noise, some of the year’s standout scores pulsed with inescapable anxiety,...
And yet, wherever it came from, the best movie music of 2020 arrived like a vital, wordless diary of how it felt to live through the last 12 months — or at least to survive them. Even when they were reduced to mere background noise, some of the year’s standout scores pulsed with inescapable anxiety,...
- 12/23/2020
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Milan Records today releases Ammonite (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) with music by Dustin O’Halloran and Volker Bertelmann. Available everywhere now, the album features music written by the duo for director Francis Lee’s critically-acclaimed film starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan. Continuing a fruitful creative partnership, the nine-track album features music co-composed by O’Halloran and Bertelmann, who previously teamed on the Academy® Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe® Award-nominated score for 2016’s Lion, A Christmas Carol and more.
Following its world premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Neon opened the film in select theaters on November 13.
Please watch the film safely in theatres, but don’t worry if not, it comes out digitally in the US December 4th. I hope you and your loved ones are well pic.twitter.com/ewWAVAuoNx
— Francis Lee (@strawhousefilms) November 13, 2020
Of the soundtrack, composers O’Halloran and Bertelmann say,
“Writing music for Ammonite...
Following its world premiere at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Neon opened the film in select theaters on November 13.
Please watch the film safely in theatres, but don’t worry if not, it comes out digitally in the US December 4th. I hope you and your loved ones are well pic.twitter.com/ewWAVAuoNx
— Francis Lee (@strawhousefilms) November 13, 2020
Of the soundtrack, composers O’Halloran and Bertelmann say,
“Writing music for Ammonite...
- 11/14/2020
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Ammonite hits select theaters this week, and in honor of the new period romance drama, we’re debuting an exclusive from the soundtrack. The score comes from composers Dustin O’Halloran and Volker Bertelmann, who also handled the music for the 2016 film Lion. Milan Records will release the Ammonite (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) on Friday, November 13. Hear the exclusive […]
The post Hear an Exclusive From the ‘Ammonite’ Soundtrack appeared first on /Film.
The post Hear an Exclusive From the ‘Ammonite’ Soundtrack appeared first on /Film.
- 11/12/2020
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
Exclusive: Three years after an eventful awards season with Garth Davis’s Lion, composers Dustin O’Halloran and Volker Bertelmann look to contend once again, with their score to Francis Lee’s Ammonite.
On Wednesday, the pair said their latest original motion picture soundtrack, from Milan Records, will debut on Friday, November 13, sharing with Deadline their stirring lead single “Fossils.”
For O’Halloran and Bertelmann, the process of scoring Ammonite proved both smooth and organic. “We knew from Francis Lee’s previous work this would be a score full of emotion and restraint. Because the film is a period piece, it also meant finding a tone and instrumentation that would work in this world,” the composers said. “The overall length of music recorded is somewhat shorter than our other scores; therefore, we used many natural sounds, so when the pieces arrive, it feels meaningful.”
Landing on “a small chamber group of...
On Wednesday, the pair said their latest original motion picture soundtrack, from Milan Records, will debut on Friday, November 13, sharing with Deadline their stirring lead single “Fossils.”
For O’Halloran and Bertelmann, the process of scoring Ammonite proved both smooth and organic. “We knew from Francis Lee’s previous work this would be a score full of emotion and restraint. Because the film is a period piece, it also meant finding a tone and instrumentation that would work in this world,” the composers said. “The overall length of music recorded is somewhat shorter than our other scores; therefore, we used many natural sounds, so when the pieces arrive, it feels meaningful.”
Landing on “a small chamber group of...
- 10/28/2020
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Indie distributor Neon has shown the power of storytelling in three short, but very successful years. Starting in 2017 with “I, Tonya,” which earned an Oscar for Allison Janney in the supporting actress category, it continued its hot streak in 2019, when Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” made history by winning best picture. The movie took home three additional prizes, including director, original screenplay and international feature.
“Parasite” was not only the distributor’s first best picture win, but it became the first foreign-language picture to win Oscar’s most coveted prize. It was also a massive box office victor and Neon’s highest-grossing film to date. Co-founders Tom Quinn and Tim League may not have envisioned the production company would be a catalyst in breaking down cultural barriers for the industry, but the trend continues with their newest drama, “Ammonite.” Debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival on Friday night, the...
“Parasite” was not only the distributor’s first best picture win, but it became the first foreign-language picture to win Oscar’s most coveted prize. It was also a massive box office victor and Neon’s highest-grossing film to date. Co-founders Tom Quinn and Tim League may not have envisioned the production company would be a catalyst in breaking down cultural barriers for the industry, but the trend continues with their newest drama, “Ammonite.” Debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival on Friday night, the...
- 9/12/2020
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
From the director of God’S OWN Country, Francis Lee, comes his new film Ammonite.
In the 1840s, acclaimed self-taught palaeontologist Mary Anning works alone on the wild and brutal Southern English coastline of Lyme Regis. The days of her famed discoveries behind her, she now hunts for common fossils to sell torich tourists to support herself and her ailing widowed mother. When one such tourist, Roderick Murchison, arrives in Lyme on the first leg of a European tour, he entrusts Mary with the care of his young wife Charlotte, who is recuperating from a personal tragedy. Mary, whose life is a daily struggle on the poverty line, cannot afford to turn him down but, proud and relentlessly passionate about her work, she clashes with her unwanted guest. They are two women from utterly different worlds. Yet despite the chasm between their social spheres and personalities, Mary and Charlotte discover they...
In the 1840s, acclaimed self-taught palaeontologist Mary Anning works alone on the wild and brutal Southern English coastline of Lyme Regis. The days of her famed discoveries behind her, she now hunts for common fossils to sell torich tourists to support herself and her ailing widowed mother. When one such tourist, Roderick Murchison, arrives in Lyme on the first leg of a European tour, he entrusts Mary with the care of his young wife Charlotte, who is recuperating from a personal tragedy. Mary, whose life is a daily struggle on the poverty line, cannot afford to turn him down but, proud and relentlessly passionate about her work, she clashes with her unwanted guest. They are two women from utterly different worlds. Yet despite the chasm between their social spheres and personalities, Mary and Charlotte discover they...
- 8/25/2020
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
One of the more highly anticipated titles of the 2020 awards season is undoubtedly Francis Lee’s Ammonite, a romantic drama starring Saoirse Ronan and Kate Winslet. All of those ingredients clearly spells out Oscar player. However, we’d been speculating about its Academy Award prospects based on just reputation alone. Now, a Trailer has debuted for the movie, and guess what? It’s still clearly a contender for all of the major awards. You can see the Trailer at the end of this post, but first…a little bit about the flick, as per the usual for us. The film is a romantic drama and a period piece. This is the long form synopsis from IMDb: “In 1840s England, acclaimed but overlooked fossil hunter Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) works alone on the rugged Southern coastline. With the days of her famed discoveries behind her, she now searches for common...
- 8/25/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Gina Prince-Bythewood, the director of this summer’s hottest movie, The Old Guard, joins Josh and Joe for a cheerful discussion of the movies that shattered her.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Old Guard (2020)
The Irishman (2019)
The Other Side of the Wind (2018)
Love And Basketball (2000)
The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
First Cow (2019)
Benji (1974)
Oh! Heavenly Dog (1980)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
Bambi (1942)
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982)
The Color Purple (1985)
Ghost (1990)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Ordinary People (1980)
Central Station (1998)
Life Is Beautiful (1997)
To Be Or Not To Be (1942)
Pinocchio (2002)
Like Crazy (2011)
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Beyond The Lights (2014)
12 Years A Slave (2013)
Goodfellas (1990)
Dirty Pretty Things (2002)
Amy (2015)
Moonlight (2016)
The Florida Project (2017)
Man On Fire (2004)
Bridesmaids (2011)
Sex And The City: The Movie (2008)
Wonder Woman (2017)
Black Panther (2018)
Spy (2015)
Se7en (1995)
Fight Club (1999)
The Game (1997)
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Other Notable Items
Netflix
Martin Scorsese
Orson Welles...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Old Guard (2020)
The Irishman (2019)
The Other Side of the Wind (2018)
Love And Basketball (2000)
The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
First Cow (2019)
Benji (1974)
Oh! Heavenly Dog (1980)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
Bambi (1942)
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982)
The Color Purple (1985)
Ghost (1990)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Ordinary People (1980)
Central Station (1998)
Life Is Beautiful (1997)
To Be Or Not To Be (1942)
Pinocchio (2002)
Like Crazy (2011)
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Beyond The Lights (2014)
12 Years A Slave (2013)
Goodfellas (1990)
Dirty Pretty Things (2002)
Amy (2015)
Moonlight (2016)
The Florida Project (2017)
Man On Fire (2004)
Bridesmaids (2011)
Sex And The City: The Movie (2008)
Wonder Woman (2017)
Black Panther (2018)
Spy (2015)
Se7en (1995)
Fight Club (1999)
The Game (1997)
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Other Notable Items
Netflix
Martin Scorsese
Orson Welles...
- 8/4/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
At least in 2020, going to the theater for a rollicking summer blockbuster is not a thing. It just isn’t. Part of the summer movie season is the feeling of watching a big budget flick with a cold drink, some popcorn, and the air-conditioning blasting as a refrain from the heat. Without that, there does seem to be a gaping hole for cinema lovers. Well, Netflix is stepping up, not with the feeling of being in a theater, but with a quality would-be blockbuster in The Old Guard, which fits just what you want out of a July release. The film is an action epic, based on the comic book of the same name. The title refers to a small group of covert mercenaries with a secret that has made them unbeatable in battle. Simply put, they don’t seem to be able to die, allowing them, under the leadership...
- 7/11/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Cunningham director Alla Kovgan on Merce Cunningham, Robert Rauschenberg and John Cage: 'In a way they are timeless' Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze In the second half of my conversation with Alla Kovgan on Cunningham (read the first half here), we discussed her appreciation for the significant role Derrick Tseng played in getting the film made, Director of Choreography Jennifer Goggans and Supervising Director of Choreography Robert Swinston and Notes on Choreography, storyboarding for locations in New York and shooting in Germany with Mko Malkhasyan.
Also: The timelessness of the collaborations by Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage and Merce Cunningham and the transcendence of time that Karl Ove Knausgård in My Struggle assigns to works of art as compared to science.
Merce Cunningham, Carolyn Brown, Viola Farber, Cynthia Stone, Marilyn Wood, and Remy Charlip in Summerspace Photo: Robert Rutledge Cunningham has a flawless score by Hauschka aka Volker Bertelmann (BAFTA and Oscar-nominated...
Also: The timelessness of the collaborations by Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage and Merce Cunningham and the transcendence of time that Karl Ove Knausgård in My Struggle assigns to works of art as compared to science.
Merce Cunningham, Carolyn Brown, Viola Farber, Cynthia Stone, Marilyn Wood, and Remy Charlip in Summerspace Photo: Robert Rutledge Cunningham has a flawless score by Hauschka aka Volker Bertelmann (BAFTA and Oscar-nominated...
- 3/4/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Alla Kovgan at Magnolia Pictures on Cunningham composer Hauschka: “He became almost like a ceramic artist who would give a shape to the entire film.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Alla Kovgan’s Cunningham, shot by Mko Malkhasyan with Joséphine Derobe (Wim Wenders’ Les Beaux Jours D'Aranjuez with Reda Kateb and Sophie Semin; Everything Will Be Fine; The Berlin Philharmonie in Cathedrals Of Culture; Pina and If Buildings Could Talk with Alain Derobe) as the Director of Stereography, Director of Choreography Jennifer Goggans with Supervising Director of Choreography Robert Swinston and a flawless score by Hauschka aka Volker Bertelmann (BAFTA and Oscar nominated composer with Dustin O'Halloran for Garth Davis’s Lion) takes us creatively into the world of Merce Cunningham.
John Cage with Merce Cunningham and Robert Rauschenberg Photo: Douglas Jeffrey
In the first half of my conversation with Alla Kovgan we discussed Merce Cunningham’s collaborations with Robert Rauschenberg and...
Alla Kovgan’s Cunningham, shot by Mko Malkhasyan with Joséphine Derobe (Wim Wenders’ Les Beaux Jours D'Aranjuez with Reda Kateb and Sophie Semin; Everything Will Be Fine; The Berlin Philharmonie in Cathedrals Of Culture; Pina and If Buildings Could Talk with Alain Derobe) as the Director of Stereography, Director of Choreography Jennifer Goggans with Supervising Director of Choreography Robert Swinston and a flawless score by Hauschka aka Volker Bertelmann (BAFTA and Oscar nominated composer with Dustin O'Halloran for Garth Davis’s Lion) takes us creatively into the world of Merce Cunningham.
John Cage with Merce Cunningham and Robert Rauschenberg Photo: Douglas Jeffrey
In the first half of my conversation with Alla Kovgan we discussed Merce Cunningham’s collaborations with Robert Rauschenberg and...
- 12/11/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
There’s an alien nature to the scores of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Even when the pair’s compositions are connecting with the rawest of human emotions, there’s a way that these two longtime collaborators have embraced a kind of outsider approach to film music and made it more accessible.
2019 saw Reznor and Ross contribute to “Waves” and “Watchmen,” two stories that diverge in more than just the usual film/TV divide. One is an intimate family portrait set in the suburbs of South Florida while the other traverses nearly a century of institutional oppression through the lens of one Oklahoma city. Where the musical expression of that pain and uncertainty typically is the province of a robust string section or a mournful piano solo, Reznor and Ross are part of a generation that’s helping to use that same language to adapt to an increasingly digital age.
2019 saw Reznor and Ross contribute to “Waves” and “Watchmen,” two stories that diverge in more than just the usual film/TV divide. One is an intimate family portrait set in the suburbs of South Florida while the other traverses nearly a century of institutional oppression through the lens of one Oklahoma city. Where the musical expression of that pain and uncertainty typically is the province of a robust string section or a mournful piano solo, Reznor and Ross are part of a generation that’s helping to use that same language to adapt to an increasingly digital age.
- 12/3/2019
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Kelly Macdonald in Puzzle. Dustin O'Halloran: 'The film’s never about being big, it’s about what’s happening inside her and her journey' Photo: Chris Norr
Marc Turtletaub's English-language adaptation of Natalia Smirnoff's The Puzzle - co-written by Oren Moverman - tells the story of under-appreciated mum Agnes (Kelly Macdonald), whose life revolves around her husband Louie (David Denman) and her two sons Ziggy (Bubba Weiler) and Gabe (Austin Abrams), who are on the brink of flying the nest. When Agnes receives a jigsaw for her birthday, it opens a surprising new avenue in her life that leads her to meet Robert (Irrfan Khan), an avid competitive puzzler who triggers a reassessment of her situation.
Turtletaub's film is a subtle character study that allows Agnes to retain her shyness while also evolving her outlook and it is matched by a gently moving, lyrical score from Dustin O'Halloran.
Marc Turtletaub's English-language adaptation of Natalia Smirnoff's The Puzzle - co-written by Oren Moverman - tells the story of under-appreciated mum Agnes (Kelly Macdonald), whose life revolves around her husband Louie (David Denman) and her two sons Ziggy (Bubba Weiler) and Gabe (Austin Abrams), who are on the brink of flying the nest. When Agnes receives a jigsaw for her birthday, it opens a surprising new avenue in her life that leads her to meet Robert (Irrfan Khan), an avid competitive puzzler who triggers a reassessment of her situation.
Turtletaub's film is a subtle character study that allows Agnes to retain her shyness while also evolving her outlook and it is matched by a gently moving, lyrical score from Dustin O'Halloran.
- 3/6/2018
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Angie Fielder, Luke Davies, star Dev Patel, Garth Davis and Dp Greig Fraser.
Oscar heavyweight Lion has earned more at the Aussie box office than all of last year.s local films combined — not bad for a filmmaker making his feature debut..
Garth Davis was approached about the project by See-Saw Films. Iain Canning and Emile Sherman at the Sundance Film Festival, where the trio were premiering the first season of.Top of the Lake.
Davis heard the story and raced off to his lodge to read up on the extraordinary case of Saroo Brierley, a small boy adopted by an Australian couple after falling asleep on a train and waking up on the other side of India, unable to find his way home.
To map out Brierley.s story, the producers turned to screenwriter Luke Davies, an old collaborator.
Davies had worked on Candy, based on his own autobiographical novel,...
Oscar heavyweight Lion has earned more at the Aussie box office than all of last year.s local films combined — not bad for a filmmaker making his feature debut..
Garth Davis was approached about the project by See-Saw Films. Iain Canning and Emile Sherman at the Sundance Film Festival, where the trio were premiering the first season of.Top of the Lake.
Davis heard the story and raced off to his lodge to read up on the extraordinary case of Saroo Brierley, a small boy adopted by an Australian couple after falling asleep on a train and waking up on the other side of India, unable to find his way home.
To map out Brierley.s story, the producers turned to screenwriter Luke Davies, an old collaborator.
Davies had worked on Candy, based on his own autobiographical novel,...
- 3/30/2017
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
Sue Brierley with Saroo Brierley on Nicole Kidman in Lion: "It is a really powerful portrayal." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Lion, directed by Garth Davis with a screenplay by BAFTA winner Luke Davies, based on Saroo Brierley's memoir A Long Way Home, has been nominated for six Academy Awards - Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography by Greig Fraser, Original Score by Volker Bertelmann and Dustin O'Halloran, and Best Supporting nods to BAFTA winner Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman.
Sunny Pawar as Saroo Brierley: "It goes quite well in chronological order, the way that it started."
Sue Brierley, with her son Saroo Brierley, joined me for a conversation that led us to memories of their first meeting, creating a bond, Lion the film, adoption laws in Australia, and Saroo meeting his biological mother after 25 years of separation.
Anne-Katrin Titze: Did you actually wear a Tasmania T-shirt when you arrived...
Lion, directed by Garth Davis with a screenplay by BAFTA winner Luke Davies, based on Saroo Brierley's memoir A Long Way Home, has been nominated for six Academy Awards - Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography by Greig Fraser, Original Score by Volker Bertelmann and Dustin O'Halloran, and Best Supporting nods to BAFTA winner Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman.
Sunny Pawar as Saroo Brierley: "It goes quite well in chronological order, the way that it started."
Sue Brierley, with her son Saroo Brierley, joined me for a conversation that led us to memories of their first meeting, creating a bond, Lion the film, adoption laws in Australia, and Saroo meeting his biological mother after 25 years of separation.
Anne-Katrin Titze: Did you actually wear a Tasmania T-shirt when you arrived...
- 2/22/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The battle lines are drawn: It's La La Land, a musical fantasy about white lovers in Hollywood, versus Moonlight, a searing drama about black youth surviving on the streets of Miami. That contest is symptomatic of how serious Oscar is – or isn't – about diversity. After two years in which not a single black actor showed up among the acting nominees, this year's crop includes seven actors of color: Mahershala Ali, Viola Davis, Naomie Harris, Ruth Negga, Dev Patel, Octavia Spencer and Denzel Washington.
"Wow, what a difference a year makes,...
"Wow, what a difference a year makes,...
- 2/15/2017
- Rollingstone.com
Tanna.
This year's Academy Awards will feature a healthy contingent of Australians, with films as disparate as Lion, Hacksaw Ridge.and Tanna vying for top awards.
21 years after Braveheart won the top gong, Mel Gibson has been welcomed back into the Academy fold, with Hacksaw Ridge nominated for six Oscars: Best Picture (producers David Permut and Bill Mechanic), Best Director (Gibson), Best Actor (Andrew Garfield), Best Sound Editing (Robert Mackenzie, Andy Wright) and Best Sound Mixing (Robert Mackenzie, Andy Wright, Kevin O'Connell, Peter Grace).
Hacksaw is also up for Best Editing for Kiwi John Gilbert, who edited Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and is clearly a new Icon favourite.—.he's currently cutting Gibson's next acting vehicle,.The Professor and the Madman, in which the star appears alongside Sean Penn..
Gibson called the nomination "a truly wonderful honor..
.I.m especially happy for Andrew Garfield,...
This year's Academy Awards will feature a healthy contingent of Australians, with films as disparate as Lion, Hacksaw Ridge.and Tanna vying for top awards.
21 years after Braveheart won the top gong, Mel Gibson has been welcomed back into the Academy fold, with Hacksaw Ridge nominated for six Oscars: Best Picture (producers David Permut and Bill Mechanic), Best Director (Gibson), Best Actor (Andrew Garfield), Best Sound Editing (Robert Mackenzie, Andy Wright) and Best Sound Mixing (Robert Mackenzie, Andy Wright, Kevin O'Connell, Peter Grace).
Hacksaw is also up for Best Editing for Kiwi John Gilbert, who edited Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and is clearly a new Icon favourite.—.he's currently cutting Gibson's next acting vehicle,.The Professor and the Madman, in which the star appears alongside Sean Penn..
Gibson called the nomination "a truly wonderful honor..
.I.m especially happy for Andrew Garfield,...
- 1/24/2017
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
The Oscars, or the Academy Awards, are one of my favorite award ceremonies of the year for a few reasons. Primarily, it gives all the filmmakers, actors, actresses, and people behind the camera their chance to shine and to be recognized for all of their hard work, they then get to take home that trophy and have "bragging rights" for the rest of their careers. Additionally, the Oscars can create massive controversy like when Citizen Kane, Goodfellows, or Vertigo were snubbed, or lets just look at 1994 when Forrest Gump beat both The Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction. Even more recently, the 2010 awards where The King's Speech won over Inception, Black Swan, The Social Network, and The Fighter. Have you ever tried watching The King's Speech, and if you have, have you been able to stay awake through the entire movie?
Either way the Oscars are still a fun topic of...
Either way the Oscars are still a fun topic of...
- 1/24/2017
- by Drew Carlton
- LRMonline.com
Arrival and La La Land lead the 2017 BAFTA nominationsArrival and La La Land lead the 2017 BAFTA nominationsAdriana Floridia1/10/2017 11:22:00 Am
The BAFTAs are the British equivalent of the Oscars, and although the awards are given overseas, they still factor into the American awards race.
Yet again, we see the same three films having a strong presence here: La La Land, Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight. However, BAFTA is also spreading the love to other awards favourites like Arrival, Nocturnal Animals, and Lion.
Some interesting omissions here include Denzel Washington for Fences. His co-star Viola Davis is nominated in the supporting category, but it looks as though BAFTA went for other potential Oscar contenders Andrew Garfield for Hacksaw Ridge and Viggo Mortensen for Captain Fantastic. They're also the first major awards body to nominate Jake Gyllenhaal's leading performance in Nocturnal Animals.
The British film and Palm D'Or winner I,...
The BAFTAs are the British equivalent of the Oscars, and although the awards are given overseas, they still factor into the American awards race.
Yet again, we see the same three films having a strong presence here: La La Land, Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight. However, BAFTA is also spreading the love to other awards favourites like Arrival, Nocturnal Animals, and Lion.
Some interesting omissions here include Denzel Washington for Fences. His co-star Viola Davis is nominated in the supporting category, but it looks as though BAFTA went for other potential Oscar contenders Andrew Garfield for Hacksaw Ridge and Viggo Mortensen for Captain Fantastic. They're also the first major awards body to nominate Jake Gyllenhaal's leading performance in Nocturnal Animals.
The British film and Palm D'Or winner I,...
- 1/10/2017
- by Adriana Floridia
- Cineplex
Best Picture, DramaHell or High WaterLionManchester by the Sea [our review]Moonlight - Winner [our review]Hacksaw RidgeBest Picture, Musical or Comedy20th Century Women [our review]DeadpoolFlorence Foster JenkinsLa La Land - Winner [our review]Sing StreetBest Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, DramaAmy Adams (Arrival)Jessica Chastain (Miss Sloane)Isabelle Huppert (Elle) - Winner [our review and interview]Ruth Negga (Loving) [our coverage]Natalie Portman (Jackie) [our review]Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, DramaCasey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea) - WINNERJoel Egerton (Loving)Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)Denzel Washington (Fences)Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or ComedyColin Farrell (The Lobster) [our coverage]Ryan Gosling (La La Land) - WINNERHugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins)Jonah Hill (War Dogs)Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool)Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or ComedyAnnette Benning (20th Century Women)Lily Collins (Rules Don't Apply)Hailee Steinfeld (The Edge of Seventeen)Emma Stone (La La Land...
- 1/9/2017
- MUBI
Best Picture, DramaHell or High WaterLionManchester by the SeaMoonlightHacksaw RidgeBest Picture, Musical or Comedy20th Century WomenDeadpoolFlorence Foster JenkinsLa La LandSing StreetBest Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, DramaAmy Adams (Arrival)Jessica Chastain (Miss Sloane)Isabelle Huppert (Elle)Ruth Negga (Loving)Natalie Portman (Jackie)Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, DramaCasey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)Joel Egerton (Loving)Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)Denzel Washington (Fences)Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or ComedyColin Farrell (The Lobster)Ryan Gosling (La La Land)Hugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins)Jonah Hill (War Dogs)Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool)Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or ComedyAnnette Benning (20th Century Women)Lily Collins (Rules Don't Apply)Hailee Steinfeld (The Edge of Seventeen)Emma Stone (La La Land)Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)Best Performance by an Actress in...
- 12/12/2016
- MUBI
John Goodman is one of the great American actors and never gets enough credit. Somehow stately and understated, Goodman’s an unmistakable one-man show, whose baritone voice and generous build allow him to oscillate between gentle giant and hulkish beast — often settling for something in between.
That makes his particular talents hard to categorize. In some respect that’s a byproduct of his filmography, which encompasses both flashy blockbusters and elegant dramas. Even when he’s the best part of a movie, he rarely dominates it; he’s a familiar face in search of a vessel.
With “10 Cloverfield Lane,” however, Goodman found an ideal outlet for his talents. He’s the longest of Oscar long shots, but that’s plenty to justify examining exactly what he pulled off here, and why it speaks to a career that’s never quite wholly appreciated.
In this taut chamber drama that masquerade as...
That makes his particular talents hard to categorize. In some respect that’s a byproduct of his filmography, which encompasses both flashy blockbusters and elegant dramas. Even when he’s the best part of a movie, he rarely dominates it; he’s a familiar face in search of a vessel.
With “10 Cloverfield Lane,” however, Goodman found an ideal outlet for his talents. He’s the longest of Oscar long shots, but that’s plenty to justify examining exactly what he pulled off here, and why it speaks to a career that’s never quite wholly appreciated.
In this taut chamber drama that masquerade as...
- 12/6/2016
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Whit Stillman has done this awards season thing before. Back in 1990, the first-time filmmaker was nominated for a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for his script for “Metropolitan,” a comedy of manners about a group of young Manhattanites lolling their way through a series of debutante galas and in-home gatherings during the holiday season. Stillman didn’t win – the award went to Bruce Joel Rubin for “Ghost” – but he still looks back on that period of his life with fondness.
“I remember going to my nominees luncheon and all the people were saying, ‘Don’t worry, you won’t get it. Just don’t worry, there’s no chance,'” Stillman recently told IndieWire. “And that was good, because I didn’t have to worry about writing any acceptance speeches. Then I thought, ‘But what if, what if you get it and I have to go up and say something, what am I going to say?...
“I remember going to my nominees luncheon and all the people were saying, ‘Don’t worry, you won’t get it. Just don’t worry, there’s no chance,'” Stillman recently told IndieWire. “And that was good, because I didn’t have to worry about writing any acceptance speeches. Then I thought, ‘But what if, what if you get it and I have to go up and say something, what am I going to say?...
- 12/1/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Look under the hood and many of the Hollywood studios’ best movies are independently financed, like Paramount Pictures’ “Arrival.” The studio won the brainy sci-fi thriller in a Cannes 2014 bidding war, plunking down a record $20 million for North America and other territories — but only after it was already financed and packaged with Oscar-nominated Denis Villeneuve, Amy Adams, and Jeremy Renner.
“Arrival” was initially developed at Twentieth Century Fox, where director-producer Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps Entertainment has sustained a rich first-look production deal for 10 years that stretches back to the first “Night at the Museum.” Levy, who studied English and Theater at Yale, has continued to direct family movies like “Cheaper By the Dozen” and DreamWorks’ “Real Steel;” meanwhile, 21 Laps also produced “Date Night,” the $2-million Sundance A24 hit “The Spectacular Now” (developed from the bestseller), and discovery Matt and Ross Duffer’s breakout sci-fi Netflix series “Stranger Things.”
Levy and...
“Arrival” was initially developed at Twentieth Century Fox, where director-producer Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps Entertainment has sustained a rich first-look production deal for 10 years that stretches back to the first “Night at the Museum.” Levy, who studied English and Theater at Yale, has continued to direct family movies like “Cheaper By the Dozen” and DreamWorks’ “Real Steel;” meanwhile, 21 Laps also produced “Date Night,” the $2-million Sundance A24 hit “The Spectacular Now” (developed from the bestseller), and discovery Matt and Ross Duffer’s breakout sci-fi Netflix series “Stranger Things.”
Levy and...
- 11/9/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
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