La-La Land has announced plans to release the soundtrack to the horror comedy ZOMBEAVERS, which opened in Los Angeles last week. The film was scored and co-written by our own Jon & Al Kaplan, who, along with their many writings on film music, are the writers of the hit stage show Silence! The Musical, whose cast album is available on CD from Ghostlight.
Intrada plans to release two new CDs next week.
CDS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK
The Egyptian - Alfred Newman, Bernard Herrmann - La-La Land
It Follows - Disasterpeace - Milan
Man on a Swing/The President's Analyst - Lalo Schifrin - Quartet
The Night Visitor/Second Thoughts - Henry Mancnini - Quartet
IN THEATERS TODAY
Backcountry - Freres Lumieres
The Barber - Freddy Sheinfeld
Get Hard - Christophe Beck
A Girl Like Her - David Bateman
Home - Lorne Balfe, Stargate - Song CD on Def Jam
Jauja - Viggo Mortensen
The Mafia Kills Only in Summer - Santi Pulvirenti - Score CD La Mafia Uccide Solo D'Estate on Beat
Man in Reno - Micah Dahl Anderson
Marfa Girl - Bobby Johnston
Metalhead - Petur Thor Benediktsson
Serena - Johan Soderqvist
She's Lost Control - Simon Taufique
3 Holes and a Smoking Gun - Jason Lewis
While We’re Young - James Murphy - Song CD on Milan with 3 Murphy cues
A Wolf at the Door - Ricardo Cutz
COMING SOON
March 31
The Cobbler - John Debney, Nick Urata - Lakeshore
The Face of an Angel - Harry Escott - Silva (import)
Furious 7 - Brian Tyler - Back Lot
Galavant - Alan Menken - Disney
Journal D'Une Femme De Chambre - Bruno Coulais - Quartet
The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie: Sponge Out of Water - John Debney - Varese Sarabande
Suite Francaise - Rael Jones - Sony (import)
April 7
Chuck - Tim Jones - Varese Sarabande
Debug - Timothy Williams - Phineas Atwood
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief - Will Bates - Milan
Good Kill - Christophe Beck - Lakeshore
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - Shuki Levy, Haim Saban, Erika Lane - La-La Land
Merchants of Doubt - Mark Adler - Lakeshore
Playing It Cool - Jake Monaco - Phineas Atwood
Unfinished Business - Alex Wurman - Lakeshore
Words and Pictures - Paul Grabowsky - Phineas Atwood
Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal - Javier Navarrete - Lakeshore
April 14
A Brief History of Time - Philip Glass - Orange Mountain
Desert Dancer - Benjamin Wallfisch - Varese Sarabande
Little Boy - Stephan Altman, Mark Foster - Milan
April 28
Avengers: Age of Ultron - Brian Tyler - Hollywood
The Duke of Burgundy - Cat's Eyes - Milan
Effie Gray - Paul Cantelon - Lakeshore
Far from the Madding Crowd - Craig Armstrong - Sony
The Great Human Odyssey - Darren Fung - Varese Sarabande
Virunga - Patrick Jonsson - Varese Sarabande
May 5
Demonic Toys - Richard Band - Full Moon
Girlhouse - tomandandy - Phineas Atwood
Journey to Space - Cody Westheimer - Phineas Atwood
Meridian - Pino Donaggio - Full Moon
The Rewrite - Clyde Lawrence - Phineas Atwood
May 12
Max Max: Fury Road - Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) - Watertower
June 23
Cinderella - Paul J. Smith, Oliver Wallace - Disney
Date Unknown
Beneath the 12-Mile Reef - Bernard Herrmann - Kritzerland
Drakar Och Demoner Trudvang - Simon Kalle - Waerloga
The Gunman - Marco Beltrami - Silva
Il Fiume Del Grande Camiano - Stelvio Cipriani - CSC
La Fille Du Garde Barriere - Eric Demarsan - Music Box
Les Temoins/Les Oubliees - Eric Demarsan - Music Box
A Sound of Thunder - Nick Glennie-Smith - Dragon's Domain
Zombeavers - Jon Kaplan, Al Kaplan - La-La Land
THIS WEEK IN FILM MUSIC HISTORY
March 27 - Ferde Grofe born (1892)
March 27 - Tony Banks born (1950)
March 27 - Victor Young wins posthumous Best Score Oscar for Around the World in 80 Days (1957)
March 27 - Charlie Chaplin et al win score Oscar for Limelight (1973)
March 27 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score to Winter Kill (1974)
March 27 - Jerry Goldsmith begins recording his score to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
March 27 - Hans Zimmer wins his first Oscar, for The Lion King score (1995)
March 27 - Dudley Moore died (2002)
March 27 - Recording sessions begin for Nathan Barr's score to Hostel Part II (2007)
March 28 - Alf Clausen born (1941)
March 28 - Arthur Bliss died (1975)
March 28 - Carmen Dragon died (1984)
March 29 - William Walton born (1902)
March 29 - Richard Rodney Bennett born (1936)
March 29 - Vangelis born (1943)
March 29 - Franz Waxman wins his first of two consecutive score Oscars, for Sunset Blvd. (1951)
March 29 - John Williams wins his second Oscar and his first for Original Score, for Jaws (1976)
March 29 - Jerry Goldsmith wins his only Oscar, for The Omen score (1977)
March 29 - John Williams wins his third Oscar, for the Star Wars score (1978)
March 29 - Vangelis wins his first Oscar, for the Chariots of Fire score (1981)
March 29 - Dave Grusin wins his first Oscar, for The Milagro Beanfield War score (1989)
March 29 - Alan Menken wins his fifth and sixth Oscars, for the Aladdin score and its song "A Whole New World" (1993)
March 29 - Maurice Jarre died (2009)
March 30 - Luis Bacalov born (1933)
March 30 - Eric Clapton born (1945)
March 30 - Dimitri Tiomkin wins Oscar for High and the Mighty score (1955)
March 30 - Ennio Morricone, inexplicably, doesn't win the Best Score Oscar for The Mission, which was pretty much the only score album anyone in Hollywood listened to during the late '80s; Herbie Hancock wins Oscar for Round Midnight score instead (1987)
March 30 - Alan Menken wins his third and fourth Oscars, for Beauty and the Beast's score and title song (1992)
March 31 - Michael Gore wins his first two Oscars for Fame's score and title song (1981)
April 1 - David Raksin begins recording his score for Until They Sail (1957)
April 2 - Serge Gainsbourg born (1928)
April 2 - Marvin Hamlisch wins Oscars in all three music categories, for adapting The Sting and The Way We Were's score and title song (1974)
April 2 - Clifford "Bud" Shank died (2009)
April 3 - Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco born (1895)
April 3 - Edward Ward born (1900)
April 3 - Marvin Hatley born (1905)
April 3 - Jungle Book released in U.S. theaters (1942)
April 3 - Richard Bellis born (1946)
April 3 - Ferde Grofe died (1972)
April 3 - Lionel Bart died (1999)
DID THEY MENTION THE MUSIC?
ANNIE - Score by Greg Kurstin; new songs by Sia Furler, Greg Kurstin, Will Gluck; original Annie songs by Martin Charnin, Charles Strouse
"If you love the original musical, know that this is not that. The music has been largely transformed into sweetened, highly produced modern radio pop, which I personally find enormously less pleasurable than the original songs. Some songs have survived largely intact, particularly the opening trio of 'Maybe,' 'Hard-Knock Life' and 'Tomorrow.' But beyond that, it's mostly numbers that nod at the original music before veering off into songs that are either entirely new for the film nor so different that you'll barely recognize them. 'You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,' for instance, is here only as a Sia pop rendition used to score a fantasy scene. The score frequently includes pieces of songs that are never actually heard, as if to reassure the audience that this is not forgetting the show's roots, but specifically acknowledging them and setting them aside. Whether you find that actually reassuring probably has a lot to do with your perspective."
Linda Holmes, NPR
"Annie is delighted when Will invites her to come share his luxe penthouse (filmed at the 4 World Trade Center office tower) -- and for the next hour, the film drops all pretense of a plot and turns into heavy-duty real estate porn, accompanied by hideously percussion-heavy arrangements (with tweaked music and lyrics) of the original Broadway songs by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin."
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
"The pop star Sia and producer Greg Kurstin contributed to the soundtrack, reworking the original songs and penning new tracks, including the Golden Globe-nominated 'Opportunity,' sung by Wallis. Some of the updates are better than others. 'It’s the Hard-Knock Life' is a fun track sung by the foster kids, who use the sounds of banging mops and stomping feet as instruments. But the attempt to turn 'You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile' into a dance song is a misfire that doesn’t work in the movie and won’t fare better at a club."
Stephanie Merry, Washington Post
"Now and then, there's a bit of the original score, the one written by ace composer Charles Strouse and banal lyricist Martin Charnin, though often in 'Annie' you get a bit of an old song jammed inside new melodies and lyrics supplied by Greg Kurstin, Sia Furler and Gluck. I don't care about fidelity to the original, but I do care that the new 'Annie' mistakes dithering for choreography and cynicism for wised-up charm."
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
"Musically, 'Annie' is a disaster. The melodious original score by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin gets the full-on Autotune pap treatment, which takes to these songs about as well as a lute to death metal. You won’t ever hear a worse rendition of 'Easy Street' than the one performed by Diaz and Cannivale -- I promise. (The Sia-branded new songs feel much more at home.) One can only hope that Byrne, Diaz, and Cannavale had 'movie musical' on their bucket lists and will never tarnish their talents in such a way again."
Jason Clark, Entertainment Weekly
"All but a handful of the existing songs have been shredded, often retaining just a signature line or two and drowning it in desperately hip polyrhythmic sounds, aurally assaultive arrangements and inane new lyrics. The original songs, by Sia, Greg Kurstin and Gluck, are forgettable synthetic riffs that recall those boring filler tracks you skipped over on old Justin Timberlake albums. Considering that among the film's producers is Jay Z, whose 1998 sampling of 'It's the Hard-Knock Life' was an epic encounter in pop-culture history, this bland R&B/hip-hop Muzak is a disappointment."
David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
THE BABADOOK - Jed Kurzel
"The house is sparely furnished and not overly lighted but perfectly laid out for evil to lurk. Production designer Alex Holmes has done a terrific job on an indie budget to give a sense of space and entrapment. Polish director of photography Radek Ladczuk shoots the place and the people like a moving portrait -- beautiful but dangerous, especially Amelia and Samuel's faces. Composer Jed Kurzel adds the right level of eerie."
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times
"That Australian writer-director Kent has executed her ideas with such style on her first try is impressive. The grey-blue interiors of the suffocating house Amelia inhabits act wonderfully as a reflection of her mood, with the aesthetic reminiscent of Bernard Rose’s 'Paperhouse,' as is the level of creativity which Kent infuses throughout. The sound design is incredibly effective: enchanting, ominous music plays out whenever the unwelcome presence is lurking, which cannily snaps off as soon as Amelia pushes her feelings aside."
Katherine McLaughlin, The List
"But the design aspects are first-rate in all departments. While Amelia and Samuel’s house looks at first glance like any innocuous old suburban Australian two-story, production designer Alex Holmes has subtly stylized the interiors for a heightened-reality effect, while cinematographer Radoslaw Ladczuk bathes the rooms in murky grays, blues and mauves. The film’s washed-out gothic color palette adds considerably to its atmosphere. The unsettling sound design is also sharp, making sparing use of Jed Kurzel’s music until panic takes hold."
David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS - Alberto Iglesias
"Its principal ingredient is bluster: a haranguing score, the video game grandeur of the Egyptian capital and a cast of thousands, of which the goats are generally more engaging than the humans. Many of the movie's quadrupeds suffer horrible fates, but at least they're spared the worst of all: delivering's 'Exodus''s clunky dialogue."
Mark Jenkins, NPR
"Here, in a severely bronzed, English-accent version of Ancient Egypt, Moses (Christian Bale) is a decorated military leader and a favorite of the aging pharaoh Seti (John Turturro), who not-so-secretly wishes that Moses could inherit the throne in place of his vain son, Ramses (Joel Edgerton). Once Seti dies, his widow, Tuya (Sigourney Weaver, white as bleached bone and not even trying to do the accent), convinces her son to exile Moses and his family on the grounds of his rumored Israelite heritage, and sends a couple of assassins his way once he’s far enough from Thebes. (Yes, this is essentially a re-hash of 'Gladiator,' complete with a similarly paced and scored opening battle scene and a climactic one-on-one showdown that swaps in the parted Red Sea for the floor of the Coliseum.)"
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, The Onion AV Club
"There are a number of baffling decisions made by Scott and his creative team (including a small squadron of screenwriters most prominently led by Steve Zaillian), including sidelining whole swaths of the starry cast (a cast that features, among others, Ben Mendelsohn, Sigourney Weaver, and Ben Kingsley) and pumping up Alberto Iglesias' histrionic score to nearly ear-splitting levels. As one character in the movie bemoans, 'This doesn't even make any sense.'"
Drew Taylor, The Playlist
"Although long enough at 150 minutes, Scott’s epic is over an hour shorter than DeMille’s, and key events -- including the Israelites’ descent into idol-worshipping chaos -- have been skillfully elided, perhaps awaiting a 'Kingdom of Heaven'-style director’s cut. The result feels less like a straightforward retread of the biblical narrative than an amped-up commentary on it: This 'Exodus' comes at you in a heady and violent onrush of incident, propelled along by Alberto Iglesias’ vigorous score, teeming with large-scale crowd and battle sequences (which take on an especially rich, tactile quality in 3D), and packed with unexpectedly rousing martial episodes, including one where Moses attempts to train his people for battle."
Justin Chang, Variety
"Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski and production designer Arthur Max make impressive contributions, though some of the aerial shots of the Egyptian capital look a little too much like CGI-enhanced sets. Alberto Iglesias’ score is overly bombastic."
Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter
HUMAN CAPITAL - Carlo Virzi
"Set in a town in Brianza and in Milan, mostly on the night before the night before Christmas, 'Human Capital' is the kind of movie that embeds the significance of its title into every subplot, then defines it in an onscreen title at the end, just to make sure you got it. Essentially 'American Beauty, Italian Style,' with a similar 'Ah, sweet magical mystery of life!' score and an artfully scrambled timeline, this ensemble drama about troubled upper-middle class strivers is slick, confident, and rather empty, and structurally more self-defeating than clever."
Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com
"Stylish production design by Andrea Bottazzini and Mauro Radaelli and Carlo Virzi’s highly suspenseful soundtrack complement French cinematographer Jerome Almeras’s visceral vision of northern Italy as something mid-way between a winter wonderland and a cold, heartless world ravaged by bad weather."
Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter
THE NEXT TEN DAYS IN L.A.
Screenings of older films, at the following L.A. movie theaters: AMPAS, American Cinematheque: Aero, American Cinematheque: Egyptian, Arclight, LACMA, New Beverly, Nuart, Silent Movie Theater and UCLA.
March 27
COYOTE UGLY (Trevor Horn) [Nuart]
HEAVY TRAFFIC (Ray Shanklin, Ed Bogas), AMERICAN POP (Lee Holdridge) [Cinematheque: Aero]
RESERVOIR DOGS, PULP FICTION [New Beverly]
SPIDER BABY (Ronald Stein) [Silent Movie Theater]
THE TALES OF HOFFMAN [Silent Movie Theater]
March 28
THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES (Tigran Mansuryan) [Silent Movie Theater]
FREE WILLY (Basil Poledouris) [New Beverly]
THE LORD OF THE RINGS (Leonard Rosenman), WIZARDS (Andrew Belling) [Cinematheque: Aero]
PSYCHO (Bernard Herrmann, Danny Elfman, Steve Bartek) [New Beverly]
RESERVOIR DOGS, PULP FICTION [New Beverly]
SPRING NIGHT, SUMMER NIGHT [UCLA]
March 29
FREE WILLY (Basil Poledouris) [New Beverly]
HEAT (Elliot Goldenthal) [New Beverly]
THE TALES OF HOFFMAN [Silent Movie Theater]
WOMAN ON THE RUN (Emile Newman, Arthur Lange) [UCLA]
March 30
HEAT (Elliot Goldenthal) [New Beverly]
THE LONG VOYAGE HOME (Richard Hageman) [UCLA]
THE TALES OF HOFFMAN [Silent Movie Theater]
March 31
THE BLADE (Raymond Wong, Wai Lap Yu), KING OF BEGGARS (Joseph Koo) [New Beverly]
CLUELESS (David Kitay) [Arclight Sherman Oaks]
JULES AND JIM (Georges Delerue) [LACMA]
MODERN TIMES (Charles Chaplin) [Arclight Hollywood]
THE TALES OF HOFFMAN [Silent Movie Theater]
April 1
RED ROCK WEST (William Olvis), RUN LOLA RUN (Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek) [New Beverly]
THE TALES OF HOFFMAN [Silent Movie Theater]
April 2
BLACK SUNDAY (Les Baxter), BLACK SABBATH (Roberto Nicolosi) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
HENRY FOOL (Hal Hartley), FAY GRIM (Hal Hartley) [Silent Movie Theater]
RED ROCK WEST (William Olvis), RUN LOLA RUN (Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek) [New Beverly]
THE TALES OF HOFFMAN [Silent Movie Theater]
April 3
BOOGIE NIGHTS (Michael Penn), TRAINSPOTTING [New Beverly]
DUST IN THE WIND (Ming-chang Chen, Ching Chun Hsu), [UCLA]
LA STRADA (Nino Rota), LUST FOR LIFE (Miklos Rozsa) [Cinematheque: Aero]
SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD (Nigel Godrich) [Nuart]
WOMAN ON THE RUN (Emile Newman, Arthur Lange), THE UNFAITHFUL (Max Steiner) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
April 4
BOOGIE NIGHTS (Michael Penn), TRAINSPOTTING [New Beverly]
DARK PASSAGE (Franz Waxman) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (Maurice Jarre) [Cinematheque: Aero]
ROMY & MICHELLE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION (Steve Bartek) [New Beverly]
A TIME TO LIVE AND A TIME TO DIE (Chu-chu Wu) [UCLA]
TRUST (Phil Reed), THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH (Jim Coleman) [Silent Movie Theater]
WHITE FANG (Basil Poledouris, Hans Zimmer, Shirley Walker) [New Beverly]
April 5
BEN-HUR (Miklos Rozsa) [Cinematheque: Aero]
THE HIDDEN ROOM (Nino Rota), THE SLEEPING TIGER (Malcolm Arnold) [Cinematheque: Egyptian]
THE INSIDER (Lisa Gerrard, Pieter Bourke) [New Beverly]
STONE COLD (Sylvester Levay) [Silent Movie Theater]
WHITE FANG (Basil Poledouris, Hans Zimmer, Shirley Walker) [New Beverly]
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