In Contention

Tag: James Horner

  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Music (Original Score)

    (from left) Wally Wolodarsky (voice) and George Clooney (voice) in Fantastic Mr. FoxFor years the composers of the music branch tended to be a bit insular. Impressive newcomer talent was often ignored while the usual suspects showed up year after year. Not long ago, there seemed to be a shift, yielding slates much like the one we have for 2009.

    There is one first-timer, but other nominees are only enjoying their second and third nominations, while the true veterans of the category haven’t been to the dance in six and nine years respectively. Usually the Academy at large springs for a Best Picture nominee with overwhelming consistency, most often films with cultural flavor or dramatic, sometimes whimsical heft.

    The nominees are:

    “Avatar” (James Horner)
    “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (Alexandre Desplat)
    “The Hurt Locker” (Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders)
    “Sherlock Holmes” (Hans Zimmer)
    “Up” (Michael Giacchino)

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  • 2/26 Oscarweb Round-up

    Cover of Detective Comics #27• Maria Puente on the wide array of villains represented by the year’s Oscar nominations. [USA Today]

    • Bill Mechanic tells Sharon Waxman that the Oscarcast will be “emotional.” [The Wrap]

    • Not movie related, but FYI, Batman’s is still bigger. [Hero Complex]

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  • TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: Composer symposium, part one

    Hans ZimmerWhen you’re a film music composer as prolific as Hans Zimmer, unique soundtrack flavors can be a bit elusive. But with Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes,” Zimmer found them, pushing the boundaries of what’s acceptable with action film scores in the process.

    But the work isn’t without its inspirations. There seem to be bits of Danny Elfman married with Ennio Morricone, but Zimmer was actually reaching back much further.

    “Let me just be German about it,” Zimmer says with a laugh. “It was actually the Kurt Weill vibe I was after. But it’s sort of all in the family, I suppose. It’s fun for me if I can actually go and embrace some of that European stuff again.”

    The score is a delightful, jaunty construction that relishes in its own peculiarity. The good thing about director Ritchie, Zimmer says, is that he’s a bold director who welcomed these slightly “quirky” and “crazy” intrusions.

    “There was an enormous amount of thinking about how to do this differently,” Zimmer recalls. “It became apparent quickly that Guy and I had similar tastes in music and, in a funny way, what hadn’t been done in a movie of this scale. It’s all soloists. It’s not really orchestral. Every note you hear has a real performance attached to it. You can’t really hide it. Everything is very opinionated and bold. It’s not the sort of homogeneous sound you get from an orchestra.”

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  • 12/2 Oscarweb Round-up

    Paul McCartney• Edna Gundersen talks to Sir Paul McCartney about his musical addition to Kirk Jones’s “Everybody’s Fine.” [USA Today]

    • In praise of the opening sequence of Michael Mann’s “Ali.” [The Auteurs Notebook]

    • Pete Hammond reports from Monday night’s premiere of “Up in the Air.” [Notes on a Season]

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  • 12/1 Oscarweb Round-up

    Roy Scheider in Iron Cross• Pete Hammond reports on a last minute surge to get “Iron Cross,” Roy Scheider’s final film, into Oscar contention. [Notes on a Season]

    • Gregory Ellwood takes note of the season’s box office champs so far: “Inglourious Basterds” and “Up.” [Awards Campaign]

    • Geoff Boucher talks to “Avatar” composer James Horner. [Hero Complex]

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  • James Horner’s “epic” and “hugely cinematic” score for ‘Avatar’

    James HornerOne of the contenders we’ve certainly had an eye on in this year’s Oscar race is James Horner, composer of the score for James Cameron’s “Avatar.” The last time the duo worked together was the last time Cameron made a movie, and 1997’s “Titanic” brought in a massive Oscar haul that included a statue for Horner’s contribution.

    Over at MovieScore Magazine, Mikael Carlsson is calling the score, which is unheard as of this point, “the film music event of the year,” and he gets a quote from Fox music executive VP Mike Knobloch:

    It’s a brilliantly unique blend of traditional and contemporary, electronic elements and spans the entire spectrum of attitude and energy – from bombastic action to the delicate, romantic discovery of a new world.

    That’s fine and good and generally empty as a quote of substance.  You could say that about the score to “The Rock.”

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Original Score — Volume I

    The Princess and the FrogAs long as humanity has been recording history, music has been immensely important in society. Not only can it be joyous and entertaining, but it can capture the mood and feel of a time and a place. Cinema has been no exception in this regard.

    The creation of original music for a film is awarded by the Academy in the Best Original Score category. The composer has one of the most difficult and lonely jobs in filmmaking. Almost always arriving at the end of the editing stage, he or she has to fashion music appropriate to the mood of a film.  But when a composer does a magnificent job, the result can be iconic.

    This category tends to awards its favorites. It is notoriously one of AMPAS’s most insular branches (though it has warmed up to newbies slightly in recent years). It also tends to award music that features prominently in the films.  From this vantage point, however, it is always hard to guess which films will find themselves in contention, largely because we have not heard the scores.

    An exception in this regard is Michael Giacchino’s work on Pixar’s “Up.” Giacchino, who was nominated two years ago for “Ratatouille,” has once again composed a soundtrack which can be sad, joyous and suspenseful. The film is likely headed towards a Best Picture nomination, and I suspect a citation here will follow.

    Another animated film which may very well end up in contention is “The Princess and the Frog.” The music is being handled by Randy Newman, clearly beloved by the music branch. I remain skeptical of how this film will be received and, in any event, think that Best Original Song may be the more likely spot to consider for this film. However, Newman’s name means a lot and there are few other favorites in the running this year.

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