Alexander Payne (Adapted Screenplay Oscar wins for Sideways with Jim Taylor and The Descendants with Nat Faxon and Jim Rash) at JFK airport with Anne-Katrin Titze on the Wc Fields poster in The Holdovers: “I remember that. I had that poster in my room growing up.”
In the second instalment with Alexander Payne, director of the Golden Globe-nominated The Holdovers (screenplay by David Hemingson), starring Dominic Sessa and Golden Globe nominees Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph, we start out discussing the Oscar-shortlisted score by Mark Orton after my recommendation of Wurzel-Sepp, an apothecary shop in Munich from 1887. From there we move on to the Trapp Family recordings of The Little Drummer Boy and Silent Night, plus Cat Stevens in the soundtrack; the influence of Marcel Pagnol’s Merlusse, Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel, Robert Donat in Sam Wood’s Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and...
In the second instalment with Alexander Payne, director of the Golden Globe-nominated The Holdovers (screenplay by David Hemingson), starring Dominic Sessa and Golden Globe nominees Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph, we start out discussing the Oscar-shortlisted score by Mark Orton after my recommendation of Wurzel-Sepp, an apothecary shop in Munich from 1887. From there we move on to the Trapp Family recordings of The Little Drummer Boy and Silent Night, plus Cat Stevens in the soundtrack; the influence of Marcel Pagnol’s Merlusse, Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel, Robert Donat in Sam Wood’s Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and...
- 1/1/2024
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The Holdovers director Alexander Payne (in Nirvana T-shirt) with Anne-Katrin Titze on Westward The Women: “It’s as though Jean Renoir and Akira Kurosawa got together to make a Western.”
In the first instalment with Alexander Payne on his intricately layered Golden Globe-nominated The Holdovers (screenplay by David Hemingson with an Oscar-shortlisted score by Mark Orton) we started out discussing a film he recommended, William A Wellman’s Westward The Women (screenplay by Frank Capra and Charles Schnee), starring Robert Taylor and Denise Darcel with a formidable supporting cast of women, led by Hope Emerson.
Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) with Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph)
From there we touched upon his longtime collaborators, Wendy Chuck and Nathan Carlson, production designer Ryan Warren Smith, a scene between (Golden Globe-nominated) Paul Giamatti and Carrie Preston leading to Slavoj Žižek’s comment in Sophie Fiennes’s The Pervert’s Guide To Ideology...
In the first instalment with Alexander Payne on his intricately layered Golden Globe-nominated The Holdovers (screenplay by David Hemingson with an Oscar-shortlisted score by Mark Orton) we started out discussing a film he recommended, William A Wellman’s Westward The Women (screenplay by Frank Capra and Charles Schnee), starring Robert Taylor and Denise Darcel with a formidable supporting cast of women, led by Hope Emerson.
Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) with Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph)
From there we touched upon his longtime collaborators, Wendy Chuck and Nathan Carlson, production designer Ryan Warren Smith, a scene between (Golden Globe-nominated) Paul Giamatti and Carrie Preston leading to Slavoj Žižek’s comment in Sophie Fiennes’s The Pervert’s Guide To Ideology...
- 12/24/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revealed its shortlists for 2024 Oscar nominees in several categories, including Best Original Song and Best Original Score.
Of the 15 songs on the Oscar shortlist for Best Original Song, three come from Barbie: “Dance the Night” sung by Dua Lipa; “I’m Just Ken” sung by Ryan Gosling; and “What Was I Made For?” sung by Billie Eilish.
Also on the Best Original Song shortlist are Olivia Rodrigo for “Can’t Catch Me Now” from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes; Sharon Van Etten for “Quiet Eyes” from Past Lives; Jarvis Cocker for “Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)” from Asteroid City; Jon Batiste for “It Never Went Away” from American Symphony; and Metro Boomin, A$AP Rocky, and Roisee for “Am I Dreaming” from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
The shortlist for Best Original Score includes Consequence’s 2023 Composer of the Year,...
Of the 15 songs on the Oscar shortlist for Best Original Song, three come from Barbie: “Dance the Night” sung by Dua Lipa; “I’m Just Ken” sung by Ryan Gosling; and “What Was I Made For?” sung by Billie Eilish.
Also on the Best Original Song shortlist are Olivia Rodrigo for “Can’t Catch Me Now” from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes; Sharon Van Etten for “Quiet Eyes” from Past Lives; Jarvis Cocker for “Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)” from Asteroid City; Jon Batiste for “It Never Went Away” from American Symphony; and Metro Boomin, A$AP Rocky, and Roisee for “Am I Dreaming” from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
The shortlist for Best Original Score includes Consequence’s 2023 Composer of the Year,...
- 12/21/2023
- by Scoop Harrison
- Consequence - Film News
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revealed its shortlists for 2024 Oscar nominees in several categories, including Best Original Song and Best Original Score.
Of the 15 songs on the Oscar shortlist for Best Original Song, three come from Barbie: “Dance the Night” sung by Dua Lipa; “I’m Just Ken” sung by Ryan Gosling; and “What Was I Made For?” sung by Billie Eilish.
Also on the Best Original Song shortlist are Olivia Rodrigo for “Can’t Catch Me Now” from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes; Sharon Van Etten for “Quiet Eyes” from Past Lives; Jarvis Cocker for “Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)” from Asteroid City; Jon Batiste for “It Never Went Away” from American Symphony; and Metro Boomin, A$AP Rocky, and Roisee for “Am I Dreaming” from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
The shortlist for Best Original Score includes Consequence’s 2023 Composer of the Year,...
Of the 15 songs on the Oscar shortlist for Best Original Song, three come from Barbie: “Dance the Night” sung by Dua Lipa; “I’m Just Ken” sung by Ryan Gosling; and “What Was I Made For?” sung by Billie Eilish.
Also on the Best Original Song shortlist are Olivia Rodrigo for “Can’t Catch Me Now” from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes; Sharon Van Etten for “Quiet Eyes” from Past Lives; Jarvis Cocker for “Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)” from Asteroid City; Jon Batiste for “It Never Went Away” from American Symphony; and Metro Boomin, A$AP Rocky, and Roisee for “Am I Dreaming” from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
The shortlist for Best Original Score includes Consequence’s 2023 Composer of the Year,...
- 12/21/2023
- by Scoop Harrison
- Consequence - Music
Oscar’s music branch has had its say, naming 15 original scores and 15 songs to its shortlist for possible nomination at the 96th Academy Awards, with few surprises.
As expected, all three “Barbie” songs that were entered — Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For,” Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” and Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” — made the 15-song list. Only two, under Academy rules, can be nominated.
The mild surprise was the citing of two new songs from “The Color Purple” (“Keep It Movin'” and “Superpower”) and two from “Flora and Son” (“High Life” and “Meet in the Middle”), while two of the biggest musicals of the season, “Wonka” and “Wish,” failed to make the cut in either category.
The Bruce Springsteen song from “She Came to Me,” Golden Globe-nominated, is also missing from Oscar’s preliminary list, as are the *Nsync reunion on a song from...
As expected, all three “Barbie” songs that were entered — Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For,” Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” and Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” — made the 15-song list. Only two, under Academy rules, can be nominated.
The mild surprise was the citing of two new songs from “The Color Purple” (“Keep It Movin'” and “Superpower”) and two from “Flora and Son” (“High Life” and “Meet in the Middle”), while two of the biggest musicals of the season, “Wonka” and “Wish,” failed to make the cut in either category.
The Bruce Springsteen song from “She Came to Me,” Golden Globe-nominated, is also missing from Oscar’s preliminary list, as are the *Nsync reunion on a song from...
- 12/21/2023
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the shortlists in 10 categories for the upcoming 96th Oscars ceremony.
Overall, Greta Gerwig’s meta-comedy “Barbie” had the most mentions with five including sound, original song for its three submissions from Billie Eilish (“What I Was Made For?”), Dua Lipa (“Dance the Night”) and Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt (“I’m Just Ken”), and original score, from the latter duo. The big miss for “Barbie” was in makeup and hairstyling, which was the category that yielded the most surprises.
In addition to “Barbie,” “The Color Purple,” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” all failed to make the shortlist. Instead, the branch selected A24’s eccentric “Beau is Afraid” and Universal Pictures’ horror summer film “The Last Voyage of the Demeter.”
In the music categories are compositions from Daniel Pemberton (“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”), Ludwig Göransson (“Oppenheimer”) and the late...
Overall, Greta Gerwig’s meta-comedy “Barbie” had the most mentions with five including sound, original song for its three submissions from Billie Eilish (“What I Was Made For?”), Dua Lipa (“Dance the Night”) and Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt (“I’m Just Ken”), and original score, from the latter duo. The big miss for “Barbie” was in makeup and hairstyling, which was the category that yielded the most surprises.
In addition to “Barbie,” “The Color Purple,” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” all failed to make the shortlist. Instead, the branch selected A24’s eccentric “Beau is Afraid” and Universal Pictures’ horror summer film “The Last Voyage of the Demeter.”
In the music categories are compositions from Daniel Pemberton (“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”), Ludwig Göransson (“Oppenheimer”) and the late...
- 12/21/2023
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Paul Giamatti “has never been better” (Deadline) in acclaimed Academy Award® -winning director Alexander Payne’s newest film, The Holdovers, available to own with all-new exclusive bonus featurettes on Digital on December 29, 2023, and on Blu-ray and DVD on January 2, 2024 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 96% and nominated for 8 Critics Choice Awards® including Best Picture, The Holdovers delivers an expert balance of comedy and warmth.
“Raucously funny” (The Hollywood Reporter) and poignant, The Holdovers stars critically acclaimed actor Paul Giamatti, alongside the remarkable Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa in his feature film debut.
From acclaimed director Alexander Payne, The Holdovers follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged,...
“Raucously funny” (The Hollywood Reporter) and poignant, The Holdovers stars critically acclaimed actor Paul Giamatti, alongside the remarkable Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa in his feature film debut.
From acclaimed director Alexander Payne, The Holdovers follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged,...
- 12/21/2023
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Approaches to film scoring have become increasingly eclectic—from jazz and classical to hip-hop and avant-garde—making it more difficult than ever for Academy voters to narrow the field to 15 for Oscar’s shortlist. Variety examines 16 of the possible choices, in alphabetical order:
‘American Fiction‘ – Laura Karpman
Cord Jefferson’s movie—about a Black writer who, as a joke, writes a bad novel that becomes a best seller—has a lead character whose name is Thelonious and whose nickname is Monk. So, to composer Laura Karpman, fashioning a score in the style of the jazz great was an obvious choice.
Much of her score is small-combo, piano-featured jazz, and while she also wrote a massive orchestral and choral score for “The Marvels,” this much smaller but acclaimed film would seem to be her best shot for awards. She has five Emmys, co-founded the Alliance for Women Film Composers, and was...
‘American Fiction‘ – Laura Karpman
Cord Jefferson’s movie—about a Black writer who, as a joke, writes a bad novel that becomes a best seller—has a lead character whose name is Thelonious and whose nickname is Monk. So, to composer Laura Karpman, fashioning a score in the style of the jazz great was an obvious choice.
Much of her score is small-combo, piano-featured jazz, and while she also wrote a massive orchestral and choral score for “The Marvels,” this much smaller but acclaimed film would seem to be her best shot for awards. She has five Emmys, co-founded the Alliance for Women Film Composers, and was...
- 11/29/2023
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Five Nights at Freddy’s scares up the largest opening weekend ever for a live-action video game adaptation, surpassing the likes of the Sonic the Hedgehog movies.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s tops the box office weekend with a global total of $130 million Usd. Earning $78 million Usd domestically and $52 million Usd in other territories, the title is 2023’s biggest horror debut so far, overtaking the likes of Scream VI and The Nun II. Five Nights at Freddy’s also logs the second-biggest opening weekend for a video game adaptation just behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie, is the biggest horror global opening of the year and has the second-biggest opening weekend for a day-and-date streaming release as it simultaneously premiered on NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service.”
Read more at HypeBeast
Lego’s yearly Modular Building set was unveiled, and this time it is an absolutely brilliant Natural History Museum.
“Today, the Lego Group...
“Five Nights at Freddy’s tops the box office weekend with a global total of $130 million Usd. Earning $78 million Usd domestically and $52 million Usd in other territories, the title is 2023’s biggest horror debut so far, overtaking the likes of Scream VI and The Nun II. Five Nights at Freddy’s also logs the second-biggest opening weekend for a video game adaptation just behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie, is the biggest horror global opening of the year and has the second-biggest opening weekend for a day-and-date streaming release as it simultaneously premiered on NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service.”
Read more at HypeBeast
Lego’s yearly Modular Building set was unveiled, and this time it is an absolutely brilliant Natural History Museum.
“Today, the Lego Group...
- 10/30/2023
- by Lee Parham
- Den of Geek
The Holdovers Review: Alexander Payne And Paul Giamatti Reunite For This Marvellous Film [TIFF 2023]
Alexander Payne has long been one of the most respected American directors, tapping into unique stories of the human condition. From high school elections ("Election"), the abortion debate ("Citizen Ruth"), or even wine tasting ("Sideways"), Payne has a way of finding humor and heart in everything he directs. His work never really faltered until his last directorial effort "Downsizing" in 2017. While I was higher on it than most, it lacked much of Payne's signature charm that makes his movies, often about unbearable people, so irresistible.
Speaking of unbearable, one of his most prickly and obnoxious characters yet takes the lead in "The Holdovers." Paul Dunham (Paul Giamatti) teaches ancient civilizations at Barton Academy, a top-tier boarding school in the 1970s. His course is the greatest love in his life -- Hunham references various points in ancient history more than he blinks, bringing an immense knowledge of his subject matter that's unrivaled.
Speaking of unbearable, one of his most prickly and obnoxious characters yet takes the lead in "The Holdovers." Paul Dunham (Paul Giamatti) teaches ancient civilizations at Barton Academy, a top-tier boarding school in the 1970s. His course is the greatest love in his life -- Hunham references various points in ancient history more than he blinks, bringing an immense knowledge of his subject matter that's unrivaled.
- 9/11/2023
- by Barry Levitt
- Slash Film
Thank god for Alexander Payne. The filmmaker is, and always has been, a true humanist. A writer-director more interested in human beings, something that has always been the special effect of his movies. A two-time Oscar-winning writer, his latest film, The Holdovers, which had its world premiere on Thursday at the Telluride Film Festival, is one of his rare movies in which he doesn’t have a writing credit. David Hemingson did the screenplay, but the idea, an inspired one, came from Payne, a real film buff who was always intrigued by Marcel Pagnol’s 1935 French film Merlusse about a group of boarding school students stuck over the holidays with a much-despised teacher. The director thought it had the bones for a new story and developed it with Hemingson.
Set in 1970, it is Payne’s first period film after a celebrated career for movies like Sideways, The Descendants and many others.
Set in 1970, it is Payne’s first period film after a celebrated career for movies like Sideways, The Descendants and many others.
- 9/1/2023
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
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
In this wonderfully sad small-town drama, the ever-empathetic Richard Jenkins plays Stan, a former high school athlete who took the graveyard shift at local chain Oscar’s Chicken and Fish in 1971 and never left. He’s given them four decades of his life; they’ve raised his hourly wage from $3.10 to just over $13. He considers that a fair trade. To Stan, at least, Oscar’s is no less cozy than his rented room in a flophouse, where his roommates are so shiftless, he’s had to install four locks on his bedroom door.
But Stan’s finally decided to quit. Though he looks old enough for retirement – Jenkins limps with the stiff knees and aching back of an ex-jock who took too many tackles – he’s saved up just enough cash to get to Sarasota and take care of his dementia-stricken mother, who is astonishingly still alive. (Stan must come from stubborn stock.
But Stan’s finally decided to quit. Though he looks old enough for retirement – Jenkins limps with the stiff knees and aching back of an ex-jock who took too many tackles – he’s saved up just enough cash to get to Sarasota and take care of his dementia-stricken mother, who is astonishingly still alive. (Stan must come from stubborn stock.
- 1/30/2020
- by Amy Nicholson
- Variety Film + TV
Bmi is announcing its annual programs at the Sundance Film Festival, with a substantially packed composer/director panel set for the afternoon of Sunday, January 26 and a “Snowball” headlined by singer Lisa Loeb two nights later.
The Sunday “Music & Film: The Creative Process” roundtable will include nine filmmaker/scorer pairs with movies at the festival, with moderating duties handled by Sundance Institute Film Music Program director Peter Golub and Bmi’s primary liaison to the film world, VP of creative relations Doreen Ringer-Ross.
Happening at Sundance for the 22nd year, the panel will bring together composers and directors from these festival entries: “Uncle Frank” (composer Nathan Barr and director Alan Ball; “Four Good Days” (Ed Shearmur and Rodrigo García; “The Night House” (Ben Lovett and David Bruckner); “Shirley” (Tamar-kali and Josephine Decker); “Promising Young Woman” ( Anthony Willis and Emerald Fennell); “Boys State” (T. Griffin and Amanda McBaine; “Us Kids” (composer...
The Sunday “Music & Film: The Creative Process” roundtable will include nine filmmaker/scorer pairs with movies at the festival, with moderating duties handled by Sundance Institute Film Music Program director Peter Golub and Bmi’s primary liaison to the film world, VP of creative relations Doreen Ringer-Ross.
Happening at Sundance for the 22nd year, the panel will bring together composers and directors from these festival entries: “Uncle Frank” (composer Nathan Barr and director Alan Ball; “Four Good Days” (Ed Shearmur and Rodrigo García; “The Night House” (Ben Lovett and David Bruckner); “Shirley” (Tamar-kali and Josephine Decker); “Promising Young Woman” ( Anthony Willis and Emerald Fennell); “Boys State” (T. Griffin and Amanda McBaine; “Us Kids” (composer...
- 1/9/2020
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
To celebrate the 90th Anniversary of Buster Keaton’s classic film The General, throughout August Portland’s historic Hollywood Theatre and Oregon Film will present a state-wide tour of the film with a new live score composed by film composer Mark Orton. Above you can check out a trailer for the film presentation. Considered one of the best comedies of the silent era, The General finds hapless Southern railroad engineer Johnny Gray (Buster Keaton) facing off against Union soldiers during the American Civil War. When Johnny’s fiancée, Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), is accidentally taken away while on a train stolen by Northern forces, Gray pursues the soldiers, using various modes of transportation in […]...
- 7/29/2016
- by Paula Bernstein
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
'The Peanuts Movie': 2016 Best Original Score Oscar contender along with 111 other titles. Oscar 2016: Best Original Score contenders range from 'Mad Max: Fury Road' to 'The Peanuts Movie' Earlier this month (Dec. '15), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made public the list of 112 film scores eligible for the 2016 Oscar in the Best Original Score category. As found in the Academy's press release, “a Reminder List of works submitted in the Original Score category will be made available with a nominations ballot to all members of the Music Branch, who shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements. The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominations for final voting for the award.” The release adds that “to be eligible, the original score must be a substantial body of music that serves as original dramatic underscoring, and must...
- 12/24/2015
- by Mont. Steve
- Alt Film Guide
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 112 scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2015 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 88th Academy Awards.
The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below, in alphabetical order by film title:
“Adult Beginners,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer
“The Age of Adaline,” Rob Simonsen, composer
“Altered Minds,” Edmund Choi, composer
“Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip,” Mark Mothersbaugh, composer
“Anomalisa,” Carter Burwell, composer
“Ant-Man,” Christophe Beck, composer
“Beasts of No Nation,” Dan Romer, composer
“The Big Short,” Nicholas Britell, composer
“Black Mass,” Tom Holkenborg, composer
“Bridge of Spies,” Thomas Newman, composer
“Brooklyn,” Michael Brook, composer
“Burnt,” Rob Simonsen, composer
“By the Sea,” Gabriel Yared, composer
“Carol,” Carter Burwell, composer
“Cartel Land,” H. Scott Salinas and Jackson Greenberg, composers
“Chi-Raq,” Terence Blanchard, composer
“Cinderella,” Patrick Doyle, composer
“Coming Home,” Qigang Chen, composer
“Concussion,...
The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below, in alphabetical order by film title:
“Adult Beginners,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer
“The Age of Adaline,” Rob Simonsen, composer
“Altered Minds,” Edmund Choi, composer
“Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip,” Mark Mothersbaugh, composer
“Anomalisa,” Carter Burwell, composer
“Ant-Man,” Christophe Beck, composer
“Beasts of No Nation,” Dan Romer, composer
“The Big Short,” Nicholas Britell, composer
“Black Mass,” Tom Holkenborg, composer
“Bridge of Spies,” Thomas Newman, composer
“Brooklyn,” Michael Brook, composer
“Burnt,” Rob Simonsen, composer
“By the Sea,” Gabriel Yared, composer
“Carol,” Carter Burwell, composer
“Cartel Land,” H. Scott Salinas and Jackson Greenberg, composers
“Chi-Raq,” Terence Blanchard, composer
“Cinderella,” Patrick Doyle, composer
“Coming Home,” Qigang Chen, composer
“Concussion,...
- 12/17/2015
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
People Places Things director James C. Strouse Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Jim Strouse's sleeper summer hit features an agile, very funny Jemaine Clement sparring with Stephanie Allynne, Jessica Williams, Michael Chernus (of Noah Baumbach's Mistress America), Regina Hall, Gia Gadsby and Aundrea Gadsby.
Virginia and Alessandro Nivola, The Elephant Man, playwrights Will Eno and Alan Ayckbourn with a touch of Alain Resnais and a John Singer Sargent portrait, form a frame to our conversation. I connect Jim's composer Mark Orton (out of Alexander Payne's Nebraska) to Walter Slezak in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat, Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Silence De La Mer, Marlene Dietrich in Stanley Kramer's Judgement at Nuremberg and Madeline Kahn in Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, and he connects Chernus and Clement to Men In Black 3.
Jemaine Clement as Will Henry: "He is very present and open…"
People Places Things, a sly comedy of parental manners,...
Jim Strouse's sleeper summer hit features an agile, very funny Jemaine Clement sparring with Stephanie Allynne, Jessica Williams, Michael Chernus (of Noah Baumbach's Mistress America), Regina Hall, Gia Gadsby and Aundrea Gadsby.
Virginia and Alessandro Nivola, The Elephant Man, playwrights Will Eno and Alan Ayckbourn with a touch of Alain Resnais and a John Singer Sargent portrait, form a frame to our conversation. I connect Jim's composer Mark Orton (out of Alexander Payne's Nebraska) to Walter Slezak in Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat, Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Silence De La Mer, Marlene Dietrich in Stanley Kramer's Judgement at Nuremberg and Madeline Kahn in Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, and he connects Chernus and Clement to Men In Black 3.
Jemaine Clement as Will Henry: "He is very present and open…"
People Places Things, a sly comedy of parental manners,...
- 8/13/2015
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Ladies and gentlemen, the Sundance award for “Not hating any of the characters in a film” goes to People, Places, Things! Ok, so there wasn't an award for that, but it certainly was refreshing to walk out of a movie at Sundance with absolutely no feelings of depression or hate. People, Places, Things has a superb balance of witty humor and drama. Director Jim Strouse (Grace is Gone, The Winning Season) confidently announced before the film was premiered at Sundance, “This film is the best type of film I can make.” I thought, “That was a pretty bold thing to say,” but when the credits ran at the end of the film, I couldn't disagree.
The film starts out at an awkward birthday party for Will (Jemaine Clement) and Charlie’s (Stephanie Allyne) twin daughters. It quickly becomes even more awkward when Will finds his wife Charlie sleeping with the off-Broadway monologist,...
The film starts out at an awkward birthday party for Will (Jemaine Clement) and Charlie’s (Stephanie Allyne) twin daughters. It quickly becomes even more awkward when Will finds his wife Charlie sleeping with the off-Broadway monologist,...
- 2/6/2015
- by Conrad Paur
- GeekTyrant
Park City. Jim Strouse's "People, Places, Things" plays like an 86 minute pilot for an HBO comedy series and even in this age of "TV and Movies Have Achieved Parity," I doubt that's what anybody wants to hear. But if you know me, you know I mean it largely as a compliment. And what does that mean? Well, not too much happens in "People, Places, Things." It's a low-incident narrative that's supposed to be about emotional truth mixed with humor, but a lot of the comedic beats are being played rather broadly. It feels as if the basic plot elements and, particularly, characters are in place at the end of the film for an ongoing storyline that might be amusing. Give me this cast and some of these characters on a weekly basis for 10 or 13 half-hour episodes per season and I could grow to really like them. And speaking of growth,...
- 1/29/2015
- by Daniel Fienberg
- Hitfix
Three hundred twenty-three feature films are eligible for the 2014 Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today.
To be eligible for 87th Academy Awards consideration, feature films must open in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County by midnight, December 31, and begin a minimum run of seven consecutive days.
Under Academy rules, a feature-length motion picture must have a running time of more than 40 minutes and must have been exhibited theatrically on 35mm or 70mm film, or in a qualifying digital format.
Feature films that receive their first public exhibition or distribution in any manner other than as a theatrical motion picture release are not eligible for Academy Awards in any category. The “Reminder List of Productions Eligible for the 87th Academy Awards” is available at http://www.oscars.org/oscars/rules-eligibility.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also announced that 114 scores...
To be eligible for 87th Academy Awards consideration, feature films must open in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County by midnight, December 31, and begin a minimum run of seven consecutive days.
Under Academy rules, a feature-length motion picture must have a running time of more than 40 minutes and must have been exhibited theatrically on 35mm or 70mm film, or in a qualifying digital format.
Feature films that receive their first public exhibition or distribution in any manner other than as a theatrical motion picture release are not eligible for Academy Awards in any category. The “Reminder List of Productions Eligible for the 87th Academy Awards” is available at http://www.oscars.org/oscars/rules-eligibility.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also announced that 114 scores...
- 12/13/2014
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Original scores from The Boxtrolls, Divergent, Exodus: Gods And Kings and The Grand Budapest Hotel are among 114 scores eligible for nominations in the Original Score category for the 87th Oscars. The noms will be announced on January 15. The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below, in alphabetical order by film title:
“American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs,” Vivek Maddala, composer
“Anita,” Lili Haydn, composer
“Annabelle,” Joseph Bishara, composer
“At Middleton,” Arturo Sandoval, composer
“Atlas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt?,” Elia Cmiral, composer
“Bears,” George Fenton, composer
“Belle,” Rachel Portman, composer
“Big Eyes,” Danny Elfman, composer
“Big Hero 6,” Henry Jackman, composer
“The Book of Life,” Gustavo Santaolalla and Tim Davies, composers
“The Boxtrolls,” Dario Marianelli, composer
“Brick Mansions,” Trevor Morris, composer
“Cake,” Christophe Beck, composer
“Calvary,” Patrick Cassidy, composer
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” Henry Jackman, composer
“The Case against 8,” Blake Neely, composer
“Cheatin’,” Nicole Renaud,...
“American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs,” Vivek Maddala, composer
“Anita,” Lili Haydn, composer
“Annabelle,” Joseph Bishara, composer
“At Middleton,” Arturo Sandoval, composer
“Atlas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt?,” Elia Cmiral, composer
“Bears,” George Fenton, composer
“Belle,” Rachel Portman, composer
“Big Eyes,” Danny Elfman, composer
“Big Hero 6,” Henry Jackman, composer
“The Book of Life,” Gustavo Santaolalla and Tim Davies, composers
“The Boxtrolls,” Dario Marianelli, composer
“Brick Mansions,” Trevor Morris, composer
“Cake,” Christophe Beck, composer
“Calvary,” Patrick Cassidy, composer
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” Henry Jackman, composer
“The Case against 8,” Blake Neely, composer
“Cheatin’,” Nicole Renaud,...
- 12/13/2014
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline
New Series! In Quick Impressions we'll be looking at the working actor in key movie scenes. Consider it a celebration of SAG card-holders everywhere and free advice for casting directors for people who aren't famous ...in some cases "yet". So many showbiz dreams wander around on every film set and are embedded in each frame of your favorite movies.
Today, we're talking to actor Sean Patrick Doyle who sings the title song in The Boxtrolls in that great scene when Madame Frou-Frou takes the stage. Sir Ben Kingsley is the voice of Archibald Snatcher / Madame Frou-Frou so Sean Patrick makes like a modern day Marni Nixon.
Nathaniel: What is that process of "voice matching" and how did you get the part - it's so different from your other credits.
Sean Patrick Doyle: A cockney villain posing as a female Czechoslovakian show hall performer? - different indeed! Laika had auditioned...
Today, we're talking to actor Sean Patrick Doyle who sings the title song in The Boxtrolls in that great scene when Madame Frou-Frou takes the stage. Sir Ben Kingsley is the voice of Archibald Snatcher / Madame Frou-Frou so Sean Patrick makes like a modern day Marni Nixon.
Nathaniel: What is that process of "voice matching" and how did you get the part - it's so different from your other credits.
Sean Patrick Doyle: A cockney villain posing as a female Czechoslovakian show hall performer? - different indeed! Laika had auditioned...
- 11/25/2014
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Wamg is giving away copies of The Boxtrolls official soundtrack from Academy Award®-Winning Composer Dario Marianelli ahead of its and the highly anticipated family film’s release.
The Soundtrack is comprised of beautiful waltzes, barbershop quartets and Original Songs By Eric Idle, Dario Marianelli and Loch Lomond.
Back Lot Music has announced that they will release The Boxtrolls – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally and on CD September 23rd. The album is available for pre-order beginning Today
Pre-Order Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/boxtrolls-original-motion/id915660436
Tracklisting:
The Unspeakable Has Happened
The Scavengers
The Boxtrolls Cavern
Eggs’ Music Box
Quattro Sabatino – Dario Marianelli feat. Peter Harris, Alex Tsilogiannis, Thomas Kennedy, Edmund Saddington Peter Harris, Alex Tsilogiannis, Thomas Kennedy, Edmund Saddington
One Busy Night
Rooftop Chase
Broken Eggs
Cheesebridge Funfair
The Boxtrolls Song – Mark Orton and Loch Lomond (written by Eric Idle)
Snatcher and His Stooges
Allergic
To the Rescue...
The Soundtrack is comprised of beautiful waltzes, barbershop quartets and Original Songs By Eric Idle, Dario Marianelli and Loch Lomond.
Back Lot Music has announced that they will release The Boxtrolls – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally and on CD September 23rd. The album is available for pre-order beginning Today
Pre-Order Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/boxtrolls-original-motion/id915660436
Tracklisting:
The Unspeakable Has Happened
The Scavengers
The Boxtrolls Cavern
Eggs’ Music Box
Quattro Sabatino – Dario Marianelli feat. Peter Harris, Alex Tsilogiannis, Thomas Kennedy, Edmund Saddington Peter Harris, Alex Tsilogiannis, Thomas Kennedy, Edmund Saddington
One Busy Night
Rooftop Chase
Broken Eggs
Cheesebridge Funfair
The Boxtrolls Song – Mark Orton and Loch Lomond (written by Eric Idle)
Snatcher and His Stooges
Allergic
To the Rescue...
- 9/16/2014
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
After the commendable detour that was 2011′s The Descendants, Nebraska finds Alexander Payne getting back to the bittersweet road movies he does best. It’s been almost a decade since Sideways, and it’s fascinating to see how he’s evolved as a director. Nebraska is certainly one of the director’s finest works to date, and that’s in large part because it feels like one of his most personal. Gone are the stylistic flourishes and nutty humorous interludes; instead, Nebraska expertly balances comedy and drama to tell a simple but incredibly potent story of fatherhood, life, death and time’s cruel passage. It’s sweet, sad and completely indelible.
Payne’s choice to shoot Nebraska in black-and-white can’t mask the film’s colorful cast of characters, nor its warm heart. Most impressive is Bruce Dern, finally in a role worthy of his considerable talents. Dern is all...
Payne’s choice to shoot Nebraska in black-and-white can’t mask the film’s colorful cast of characters, nor its warm heart. Most impressive is Bruce Dern, finally in a role worthy of his considerable talents. Dern is all...
- 2/18/2014
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
Composer Mark Orton recalls some good advice he received from Alexander Payne while scoring the director's Nebraska. "He just said, 'Listen -- just be brilliant,'" Orton tells The Hollywood Reporter. The Portland-based composer was brought on to score Payne's best picture nominee after what Orton calls "a serious case of temp love." As in, music editor Richard Ford asked to use Orton's existing material as a temporary score for the film's Cannes premiere. Ford and Payne were so pleased that they tapped Orton to compose the final score (though they had planned to hire Payne's frequent collaborator Rolfe
read more...
read more...
- 1/31/2014
- by Austin Siegemund-Broka
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
While Best Original Song is a category that often stands alone, frequently a film cannot take home a Best Original Score award without being one of the Oscar frontrunners. Conversely, a film will have trouble cracking the Best Picture field without a forceful score, which is why this is an unusual year, with movies like American Hustle and Wolf Of Wall Street depending on pre-used music, and Hans Zimmer.s active 12 Years A Slave compositions and Mark Orton.s folksy Nebraska score receiving no recognition in this category. It.s also interesting to note the absences of the year.s two big music movies. Frozen brought back the Disney musical for many, though the orchestral work from Christophe Beck did not receive recognition. And because of technicalities, there was no recognition given to the folksy acoustics that drove Inside Llewyn Davis, though in fairness, that film opted for sonic austerity...
- 1/27/2014
- cinemablend.com
Contributed by Melissa Thompson and Michelle McCue
The sets. The hair and makeup. The cinematography. The story. The sound. All of the work of talented crafts people are pulled together under the very heart of any good movie – the score.
With the Academy Award nominations on Thursday, January 16, looming like the drumline at the head of a marching band, we thought we’d have a look back at some of the finer scores of 2013.
Listen and watch a handful of Hollywood’s leading composers discuss the art of scoring a film in The Hollywood Reporter’s round table discussion. With one hundred fourteen scores from 2013 vying for nominations in the Original Score category for the 86th Oscars, we suspect some of these names will be announced .
(THR)
Honorable Mention: Inside Llewyn Davis from T Bone Burnett.
The soundtrack for Inside Llewyn Davis transported us to another time and place. The...
The sets. The hair and makeup. The cinematography. The story. The sound. All of the work of talented crafts people are pulled together under the very heart of any good movie – the score.
With the Academy Award nominations on Thursday, January 16, looming like the drumline at the head of a marching band, we thought we’d have a look back at some of the finer scores of 2013.
Listen and watch a handful of Hollywood’s leading composers discuss the art of scoring a film in The Hollywood Reporter’s round table discussion. With one hundred fourteen scores from 2013 vying for nominations in the Original Score category for the 86th Oscars, we suspect some of these names will be announced .
(THR)
Honorable Mention: Inside Llewyn Davis from T Bone Burnett.
The soundtrack for Inside Llewyn Davis transported us to another time and place. The...
- 1/7/2014
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
On Monday December 16 the St. Louis Film Critics released their list of the best of 2013 in several different categories including Best Comedy, Best Art House Film, and Best Scene . Yours truly was there for the process that began earlier in the month as ballots were sent online to members. On Sunday December 8 we met to whittle down the nominees to five, although in the case of a tie some had six nominees. With voting ending on Saturday December 14 we met once more on Sunday December 15 for the winners announcement. Here’s the official press release:
December 16, 2013
Press Release
Contact:
St. Louis Film Critics Association
stlfilmcritics@gmail.com
www.stlfilmcritics.org
The St. Louis Film Critics, the professional association of working film critics in the St.Louis-area, announced the winners of its annual St. Louis Film Critics Awards on
Monday, December 16, 2013.
The yearly awards are given to recognize the best in cinema for the year.
December 16, 2013
Press Release
Contact:
St. Louis Film Critics Association
stlfilmcritics@gmail.com
www.stlfilmcritics.org
The St. Louis Film Critics, the professional association of working film critics in the St.Louis-area, announced the winners of its annual St. Louis Film Critics Awards on
Monday, December 16, 2013.
The yearly awards are given to recognize the best in cinema for the year.
- 12/20/2013
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists has announced the winners for the 2013 Eda (Excellent Dynamic Activism) Awards! And predictably, by now, Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" took the top honors with McQueen taking home the best director trophy, and Lupita Nyong'o the best supporting actress honor.
The great team of Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto for "Dallas Buyers Club" emerged victorious with their wins for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively.
Nicole Holofcener's "Enough Said" won two for best woman director and woman screenwriter for Holofcener.
Ridley Scott's "The Counselor," on the other hand, did not get love...at all! It won the Hall of Shame and The Movie You Wanted to Love But Just Couldn't awards. Its star, Cameron Diaz took home the Actress Most in Need of a New Agent award. Yikes! But they're true though!
Here are the nominees and winners (bolded) of...
The great team of Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto for "Dallas Buyers Club" emerged victorious with their wins for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively.
Nicole Holofcener's "Enough Said" won two for best woman director and woman screenwriter for Holofcener.
Ridley Scott's "The Counselor," on the other hand, did not get love...at all! It won the Hall of Shame and The Movie You Wanted to Love But Just Couldn't awards. Its star, Cameron Diaz took home the Actress Most in Need of a New Agent award. Yikes! But they're true though!
Here are the nominees and winners (bolded) of...
- 12/20/2013
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists has announced the nominees for the 2013 Eda (Excellent Dynamic Activism) Awards! The nominees are in line with the current favorites but I love their Special Mention section with categories like Actress Most In Need Of A New Agent -- we're looking at you Cameron Diaz!
Winners will be announced next week, but for now, here's the full list of nominees of the 2013 Eda Awards from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists:
Awfj Best Of Awards
Best Film
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Best Director (Female or Male)
Joel and Ethan Coen . Inside Llewyn Davis
Alfonso Cuaron . Gravity
Spike Jonze - Her
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Alexander Payne . Nebraska
David O. Russell . American Hustle
Best Screenplay, Original
American Hustle . Eric Singer and David O. Russell
Enough Said . Nicole Holofcener
Her . Spike Jonze
Inside Llewyn Davis . Joel and Ethan Cohen...
Winners will be announced next week, but for now, here's the full list of nominees of the 2013 Eda Awards from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists:
Awfj Best Of Awards
Best Film
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Best Director (Female or Male)
Joel and Ethan Coen . Inside Llewyn Davis
Alfonso Cuaron . Gravity
Spike Jonze - Her
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Alexander Payne . Nebraska
David O. Russell . American Hustle
Best Screenplay, Original
American Hustle . Eric Singer and David O. Russell
Enough Said . Nicole Holofcener
Her . Spike Jonze
Inside Llewyn Davis . Joel and Ethan Cohen...
- 12/16/2013
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Was 2013 a weak year for film scores? I feel like it was. At least in terms of the scores that Oscar's music branch would pay attention to. I mean, four of my favourite scores of the year aren't even eligible! They would be Great Expectations (Richard Hartley), A Touch of Sin (Giong Lim), Lore (Max Richter - my no. 1 from 2012, but not released in Us until this year), and Only God Forgives (Cliff Martinez). Also not eligible for whatever reasons are Lone Survivor (Stephen Jablonsky), Frozen, Inside Llewyn Davis (T-Bone Burnett), and Nebraska (Mark Orton) - sorry Anne Marie!
I'm sure there is plenty of excellent music featured amongst this year's 141 (the documentary win this year's bragging rights, then) eligible scores, but Oscar will only look at about 10 or 12. Sorry Joseph Bishara - your abrasive strings on Insidious: Chapter 2 and The Conjuring just won't factor despite their effectiveness. Sorry...
I'm sure there is plenty of excellent music featured amongst this year's 141 (the documentary win this year's bragging rights, then) eligible scores, but Oscar will only look at about 10 or 12. Sorry Joseph Bishara - your abrasive strings on Insidious: Chapter 2 and The Conjuring just won't factor despite their effectiveness. Sorry...
- 12/13/2013
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Brian Lowry offers his picks for the most disappointing TV programs of 2013. He says each one "didn't live to their promise. So even if they succeeded or survived commercially, creatively speaking, label them disappointments." The photo gallery begins with his top choice of "The Following", and the rest of the list (in order) consists of "Dexter," "Under the Dome," "The Bridge," "Luther," "Mob City," "Low Winter Sun," "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," "Parade's End," and "Cult." Variety. Kris Tapley breaks news that the musical score from Alexander Payne's film "Nebraska" is not eligible for this year's Academy Awards. Elements of the score by Mark Orton are selections from music he composed for the 2005 movie "Sweet Land." He concludes by saying "even if the tracks were originally meant for another film, they work beautifully in the cont...
- 12/11/2013
- Gold Derby
Those who have seen Alexander Payne's "Nebraska" have likely taken plenty of pleasure in Mark Orton's musical compositions in the film. The heartland plucking and bowing of strings throughout carries the narrative with a helping of nostalgia and a touch of levity and you might end up humming this or that tune on your way out of the theater. But what you might not know is that the music is not original to the film. The most memorable elements of the score are actually selections from Orton's work on Ali Selim's 2005 festival hit "Sweet Land." For those reasons alone, the...
- 12/11/2013
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
Stars: Bruce Dern, June Squibb, Will Forte, Stacy Keach, Bob Odenkirk | Written by Bob Nelson | Directed by Alexander Payne
Alexander Payne’s latest film Nebraska is a soothing venture that goes down easy like a gentle folksong. It embodies the personality of its rustic characters with a straightforward approach that is unaware of its own honesty. Bruce Dern’s affecting performance will break your heart while at the same time have you hoping for the impossible. Nebraska may not be the most cinematically complicated movie of the year, but it is one that will warm the soul as it celebrates the simplicity of the American spirit.
Payne’s directorial style has always been able to seamlessly mesh dramatic elements with his subtle sense of humor; finding comedy in the foibles and traits of his characters rather than in witty quips or outlandish situations. Nebraska is one of the best examples of this in recent memory.
Alexander Payne’s latest film Nebraska is a soothing venture that goes down easy like a gentle folksong. It embodies the personality of its rustic characters with a straightforward approach that is unaware of its own honesty. Bruce Dern’s affecting performance will break your heart while at the same time have you hoping for the impossible. Nebraska may not be the most cinematically complicated movie of the year, but it is one that will warm the soul as it celebrates the simplicity of the American spirit.
Payne’s directorial style has always been able to seamlessly mesh dramatic elements with his subtle sense of humor; finding comedy in the foibles and traits of his characters rather than in witty quips or outlandish situations. Nebraska is one of the best examples of this in recent memory.
- 12/7/2013
- by Dan Clark
- Nerdly
In this series Tfe contributors sound off on their favorite fringe contenders. Here's Anne Marie on Mark Orton and the Tin Horns.
Alexander Payne's latest film Nebraska is getting much-deserved acting kudos. Bruce Dern has undoubtedly given a career-topping performance as the muddled and melancholy Woody. However, an unacknowledged but equally fine character is the folk score by Mark Orton. Orton reunited with his band the Tin Horns to play the music for his first feature film score. They mix traditional bluegrass elements like guitar and fiddle with surprises including a dobro and a xylophone. The effect is full Americana with a lot of quirkiness and a little sadness--giving voice to the unvoiced themes in the film.
Like Deborah, I ask that the Academy think small this year. We have the usualy heavy-hitters filling film scores with sound and fury, and soon the Coen Brothers will be releasing that...
Alexander Payne's latest film Nebraska is getting much-deserved acting kudos. Bruce Dern has undoubtedly given a career-topping performance as the muddled and melancholy Woody. However, an unacknowledged but equally fine character is the folk score by Mark Orton. Orton reunited with his band the Tin Horns to play the music for his first feature film score. They mix traditional bluegrass elements like guitar and fiddle with surprises including a dobro and a xylophone. The effect is full Americana with a lot of quirkiness and a little sadness--giving voice to the unvoiced themes in the film.
Like Deborah, I ask that the Academy think small this year. We have the usualy heavy-hitters filling film scores with sound and fury, and soon the Coen Brothers will be releasing that...
- 12/3/2013
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
Around half an hour into Nebraska, the seventh film from director Alexander Payne, a father and son stand at the side of the road and stare at Mount Rushmore. The duo are on a road trip from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska, but at the son’s behest, they take a small detour to gaze at the massive rock sculpture. That mountain is best remembered as the location for a big, action-packed climax in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest; meanwhile, in Payne’s intimate, more sentimental comedy-drama, Mount Rushmore is small and distant. The father looks at it disapprovingly. “It’s just a bunch of rocks,” he quips, aching to get back into the car and drive away.
By this point of Payne’s film, moviegoers might be tempted to say the same thing about Bruce Dern, the prolific character actor who plays the father. He is just a grizzled old bunch of rocks,...
By this point of Payne’s film, moviegoers might be tempted to say the same thing about Bruce Dern, the prolific character actor who plays the father. He is just a grizzled old bunch of rocks,...
- 11/22/2013
- by Jordan Adler
- We Got This Covered
Set in the wide expanses of middle America, Alexander Payne's Nebraska still manages to feel small and claustrophobic a lot of the time. While in some ways the film is charming and gentle, it's largely acidic and sour. The motivations at the heart of the film are love, but the weathered and worn souls that inhabit Payne's windswept, black-and-white landscape, conjuring memories of Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show, are either too tired or too afraid to admit they even care any longer. The weight of this burden is not only seen on the characters' faces but felt by the audience throughout. Meet Woody (Bruce Dern), the grumbling, aged soul at the center of Payne's story. He received a "winning" sweepstakes mailer, the kind most of us know to throw away, and now believes he's the winner of one million dollars. Tucking his winning ticket into his left breast pocket,...
- 11/15/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Anne Marie concludes her AFI adventures. Nathaniel picks up the baton tomorrow. He's running behind as per usual!
At the midway point of AFI Fest, I experienced what I’m sure many film festival-goers experience at some point: fatigue. The films were Great with a capital G, which meant that while many were truly great films they were also very heavy and in most cases very, very depressing. (Dear Academy, please nominate more comedies!) Nevertheless I persevered, and started Day Four with a little light comedy.
Get it? Got it! Good
Day 4 Part 1: The Court Jester - Sometimes you just need Danny Kaye singing tongue twisters in Technicolor to start your day. If I ever write a list of Greatest Swordfights In Film, Kaye’s comic fight with Basil Rathbone will definitely make the list. And for you Old Hollywood actressexuals, there are not one but Two actresses: The...
At the midway point of AFI Fest, I experienced what I’m sure many film festival-goers experience at some point: fatigue. The films were Great with a capital G, which meant that while many were truly great films they were also very heavy and in most cases very, very depressing. (Dear Academy, please nominate more comedies!) Nevertheless I persevered, and started Day Four with a little light comedy.
Get it? Got it! Good
Day 4 Part 1: The Court Jester - Sometimes you just need Danny Kaye singing tongue twisters in Technicolor to start your day. If I ever write a list of Greatest Swordfights In Film, Kaye’s comic fight with Basil Rathbone will definitely make the list. And for you Old Hollywood actressexuals, there are not one but Two actresses: The...
- 11/15/2013
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
Nebraska may have an Academy Award-winning director behind it in Alexander Payne (The Descendents, Sideways, Election), but with a score by musician Mark Orton, movie-goers have another great reason to catch the film. Blending together bluegrass-driven instrumentation including an emphasis on violin and accordion, the soundtrack for Nebraska fits the theme seamlessly, following the film’s zany characters in their plight through America. Music from the Motion Picture Nebraska is set for release on Nov. 19 via Milan Records. The film itself will be released in New York and Los Angeles on Nov. 15 via Paramount Vintage. Listen to the soundtrack...
- 11/11/2013
- Pastemagazine.com
Set in the wide expanses of middle America, Alexander Payne's Nebraska still manages to feel small and claustrophobic a lot of the time. While in some ways the film is charming and gentle, it's largely acidic and sour. The motivations at the heart of the film are love, but the weathered and worn souls that inhabit Payne's windswept, black-and-white landscape, conjuring memories of Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show, are either too tired or too afraid to admit they even care any longer. The weight of this burden is not only seen on the characters' faces but felt by the audience throughout. Meet Woody (Bruce Dern), the grumbling, aged soul at the center of Payne's story. He received a "winning" sweepstakes mailer, the kind most of us know to throw away, and now believes he's the winner of one million dollars. Tucking his winning ticket into his left breast pocket,...
- 5/23/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Chicago – Ever since Tommy Wiseau declared that his masterpiece of ineptitude, “The Room,” was “filmed with the passion of Tennessee Williams,” I’ve become considerably more weary of any film that makes such an inflated claim. Of course, “The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond” has a better defense, since it’s actually the adaptation of a long-forgotten work from the legendary playwright.
Watching the film is a curious experience, suggesting how a mediocre revival of a classic play would look on Broadway, with big-name stars straining to make archaic dialogue sound fresh and naturalistic. Actor-turned-director Jodie Markell respects her source material to such a degree that she seems blind to its inherent shortcomings. The play is hardly worth comparing to an essential masterwork like “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” though it’s easy to imagine Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman in the lead roles, which are colorless amalgams of...
Watching the film is a curious experience, suggesting how a mediocre revival of a classic play would look on Broadway, with big-name stars straining to make archaic dialogue sound fresh and naturalistic. Actor-turned-director Jodie Markell respects her source material to such a degree that she seems blind to its inherent shortcomings. The play is hardly worth comparing to an essential masterwork like “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” though it’s easy to imagine Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman in the lead roles, which are colorless amalgams of...
- 9/13/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Six composers have been selected as Fellows to the Sundance Institute Film Composers Lab (Aug. 11-26) at the Sundance Resort in Utah. This year’s Composers Lab Fellows are Sherri Chung, John Hancock, Mark Orton, Arturo Rodriguez, Kareen Roustom, and Rani Sharom. During the two-week Lab, Fellows participate in workshops and creative exercises under the guidance of the industry’s leading film composers and film music professionals.
The Composers Lab Fellows also collaborate with filmmakers from the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program to explore the process of writing music for film and to create accompanying scores for scenes shot during the Feature Film Program’s Directors Lab. The program aims not only to give the composers first-hand experience working on film music, but to give the directors insight into the process as well.
The Composers Lab Fellows also collaborate with filmmakers from the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program to explore the process of writing music for film and to create accompanying scores for scenes shot during the Feature Film Program’s Directors Lab. The program aims not only to give the composers first-hand experience working on film music, but to give the directors insight into the process as well.
- 8/10/2010
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Six composers have been selected as fellows for the Sundance Institute's 2010 Film Composers Lab, a two-week-long workshop where promising composers can hone their skills and learn from industry veterans. The 2010 fellows are Sherri Chung, John Hancock, Mark Orton, Arturo Rodriguez, Kareen Roustom, and Rani Sharom. The Lab will be held at the Sundance Resort in Sundance, Utah, August 11-26. The fellows will work with a variety of film industry ...
- 8/10/2010
- Indiewire
Demonstrating a mastery of the medium that belies his status as a first-time feature filmmaker, writer-director Ali Selim has crafted in Sweet Land a tale of pure Americana that speaks both to the immigrant experience and the nature of love. The film has played the festival circuit, where it understandably won two audience awards. It opens Oct. 13 in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., and five days later in New York, followed by a national rollout.
Taking off from a short story by Minnesota writer Will Weaver, Selim tells the simple but emotion-packed story of a mail-order bride who arrives in a close-knit Norwegian farming community in Minnesota after World War I. There is only one problem. One major problem. Inge Altenberg (Elizabeth Reaser) is German. Nothing could be more of an anathema to these hardworking, jingoistic farmers than a young woman from the country the U.S. fought so bitterly a couple of years earlier.
The minister (John Heard) refuses to marry Inge to Olaf (Tim Guinee). A law clerk shakes his head over missing paperwork. In the meanwhile, Inge settles into the community, making friends and perhaps an enemy in the minister, then finds the time to size up her husband-to-be, allowing the two to fall deeply in love.
The story is set up with a triple time frame. In the opening scene, an elderly Inge (played by the marvelous Lois Smith) passes on, leaving her grandson to face a decision about selling the family homestead to a developer. He in turn remembers back to Olaf's passing in the late '60s, when his grandmother recounted to him her first days in her new country.
What a sight she makes when she arrives at the train station! She carries two suitcases and, improbably, a huge gramophone. Nevertheless, this family heirloom makes her the bringer of music to this community cut off from so much art and culture.
Reaser, who played a vastly different role as the commitment-phobic woman in Puccini for Beginners at Sundance this year, breathes fire into this character. She speaks little English -- she holds two fingers close together to indicate how little it really is -- but can read faces and body language with supreme literacy. She occasionally bursts forth with angry, sputtering German, which Selim wisely doesn't bother to subtitle. We more than get her point.
Guinee, in a pitch-perfect Norwegian-American accent, gives this farm boy a backbone of decency and morality without anything feeling forced or phony. His character is a man of few words, but Guinee plays the subtext to perfection.
Alan Cumming (who also produces) is wonderfully cast as Olaf's best pal Frandsen, a loving father and husband who is almost childlike in his embrace of life. Unfortunately, Frandsen has fallen hopelessly behind in his mortgage payments. His banker (Ned Beatty) can't wait to foreclose, not at all put off by the fact that Frandsen is his third cousin.
Selim and cinematographer David Tumblety create one memorable composition after another, often framing the actors tightly so we might read their expressions, then pulling back for long shots of the flat landscape and the one farmhouse that dominates the fields. Mark Orton's music and James R. Bakkom's design feel authentically period with nary a false step.
SWEET LAND
Libero
A LaSalle Holland production in association with Beautiful Motion Pictures/Liebenmania/Channel Z Films
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Ali Selim
Based on a short story by: Will Weaver
Producers: Jim Bigham, Alan Cumming, Ali Selim
Executive producers: Gill Holland, Lillian LaSalle, Thomas F. Lieberman, Terrance Moore, Edward J. Driscoll, Gary S. Kohler, Stephen Hays
Director of photography: David Tumblety
Production designer: James R. Bakkom
Music: Mark Orton
Co-producers: Robin Selim, Gil Bellows, Thomas Pope, David Dancyger
Costumes: Eden Miller
Editor: James Stanger
Cast:
Inge Altenberg: Elizabeth Reaser
Olaf: Tim Guinee
Frandsen: Alan Cumming
Old Inge: Lois Smith
Harmo: Ned Beatty
Brownie: Alex Kingston
Lars: Patrick Heusinger
Minister: John Heard
Running time -- 110 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Taking off from a short story by Minnesota writer Will Weaver, Selim tells the simple but emotion-packed story of a mail-order bride who arrives in a close-knit Norwegian farming community in Minnesota after World War I. There is only one problem. One major problem. Inge Altenberg (Elizabeth Reaser) is German. Nothing could be more of an anathema to these hardworking, jingoistic farmers than a young woman from the country the U.S. fought so bitterly a couple of years earlier.
The minister (John Heard) refuses to marry Inge to Olaf (Tim Guinee). A law clerk shakes his head over missing paperwork. In the meanwhile, Inge settles into the community, making friends and perhaps an enemy in the minister, then finds the time to size up her husband-to-be, allowing the two to fall deeply in love.
The story is set up with a triple time frame. In the opening scene, an elderly Inge (played by the marvelous Lois Smith) passes on, leaving her grandson to face a decision about selling the family homestead to a developer. He in turn remembers back to Olaf's passing in the late '60s, when his grandmother recounted to him her first days in her new country.
What a sight she makes when she arrives at the train station! She carries two suitcases and, improbably, a huge gramophone. Nevertheless, this family heirloom makes her the bringer of music to this community cut off from so much art and culture.
Reaser, who played a vastly different role as the commitment-phobic woman in Puccini for Beginners at Sundance this year, breathes fire into this character. She speaks little English -- she holds two fingers close together to indicate how little it really is -- but can read faces and body language with supreme literacy. She occasionally bursts forth with angry, sputtering German, which Selim wisely doesn't bother to subtitle. We more than get her point.
Guinee, in a pitch-perfect Norwegian-American accent, gives this farm boy a backbone of decency and morality without anything feeling forced or phony. His character is a man of few words, but Guinee plays the subtext to perfection.
Alan Cumming (who also produces) is wonderfully cast as Olaf's best pal Frandsen, a loving father and husband who is almost childlike in his embrace of life. Unfortunately, Frandsen has fallen hopelessly behind in his mortgage payments. His banker (Ned Beatty) can't wait to foreclose, not at all put off by the fact that Frandsen is his third cousin.
Selim and cinematographer David Tumblety create one memorable composition after another, often framing the actors tightly so we might read their expressions, then pulling back for long shots of the flat landscape and the one farmhouse that dominates the fields. Mark Orton's music and James R. Bakkom's design feel authentically period with nary a false step.
SWEET LAND
Libero
A LaSalle Holland production in association with Beautiful Motion Pictures/Liebenmania/Channel Z Films
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Ali Selim
Based on a short story by: Will Weaver
Producers: Jim Bigham, Alan Cumming, Ali Selim
Executive producers: Gill Holland, Lillian LaSalle, Thomas F. Lieberman, Terrance Moore, Edward J. Driscoll, Gary S. Kohler, Stephen Hays
Director of photography: David Tumblety
Production designer: James R. Bakkom
Music: Mark Orton
Co-producers: Robin Selim, Gil Bellows, Thomas Pope, David Dancyger
Costumes: Eden Miller
Editor: James Stanger
Cast:
Inge Altenberg: Elizabeth Reaser
Olaf: Tim Guinee
Frandsen: Alan Cumming
Old Inge: Lois Smith
Harmo: Ned Beatty
Brownie: Alex Kingston
Lars: Patrick Heusinger
Minister: John Heard
Running time -- 110 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 10/12/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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