“Women Talking” Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir on Scoring Sarah Polley’s Astonishing New Film
Based on the novel by Miriam Toews, writer/director Sarah Polley’s new narrative Women Talking considers how a group of women can move forward after the shocking betrayal and abuse by men in their isolated religious community. The backstory of the novel and subsequent film, which is set in 2010, mirrors horrific true events that took place at a Mennonite colony in Bolivia. For over four years, nine men secretly sedated over a hundred girls and women,
How “Causeway” Composer Alex Somers Cued the Cellos for Jennifer Lawrence’s New Drama
Jennifer Lawrence reanimates a no-frills acting style harkening to her 2010 breakthrough performance in Winter’s Bone with the new indie film Causeway. Directed by Lila Neugebauer and set in New Orleans, Causeway (in theaters now [Oct. 28] and streaming November 4 on Apple TV+) casts Lawrence as a soldier who’s returned from Afghanistan to her hometown burdened with physical wounds and PTSD.
Lawrence’s solemn performance opposite Brian Tyree Henrys enjoys subtle boosts from composer Alex Somers’
“Coco” and “Encanto” Composer Germaine Franco on Finding Musical Inspiration at its Source
In 2016, composer and multi-instrumentalist Germaine Franco was the first Latina and first woman of color invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences music branch. With 2021’s Encanto, she was the first woman to score a Disney animated feature and the first Latina to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score. In a world where female composers still make up only a fraction of those hired for studio projects,
“She-Hulk” Composer Amie Doherty on Blending Megan Thee Stallion With Marvel’s Orchestral Bombast
With 2021’s Spirit Untamed, composer Amie Doherty became the first woman to score a DreamWorks animated feature film. Known for her work on The High Note and Happiest Season, she has also made a name for herself as an orchestrator. Her most recent project is as the composer for the Marvel series She-Hulk, where she has combined the bombastic, orchestral Marvel style with a very modern and beat-driven aesthetic that gives the show its unique sound.
Best of Summer: “Elvis” Composer Elliott Wheeler on The King’s Music & That Doja Cat Collab
As we’ve done for the past few summers, we’ve compiled a few of our favorite interviews to highlight in this last week of August. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but a little taste of some of the great conversations we’ve had during these hot summer months. Bring on sweater season.
The dazzling visuals of director Baz Luhrmann’s spine-tingling biopic of Elvis, which were beautifully shot by cinematographer Mandy Walker,
Best of Summer: “Stranger Things 4” Music Editor Lena Glikson on Cutting Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”
As we’ve done for the past few summers, we’ve compiled a few of our favorite interviews to highlight in this last week of August. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but a little taste of some of the great conversations we’ve had during these hot summer months. Bring on sweater season.
From the get-go, Netflix hit Stranger Things has excelled in the art and craft of needle drops.
“Nope” Composer Michael Abels on Scoring Jordan Peele’s Sci-Fi Epic
Composer Michael Abels has become the artist of choice for writer/director Jordan Peele. He has scored all three of his features, Get Out, Us, and now has put his talent and inspiration behind Peele’s latest, the genre-busting sci-fi horror thriller Nope.
Nope stars Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer as siblings OJ and Em, the heirs of a struggling horse ranch and animal wrangling business for film and television in the Santa Clarita valley.
“Better Call Saul” Composer Dave Porter on Playing Jimmy McGill Out
Dave Porter has been creating music for the universe of Breaking Bad since the beginning in 2008, starting with the award-winning, Zeitgeist capturing fan favorite, then continuing with Better Call Saul in 2015, and scoring El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie in 2019. That’s a long time to be living in a world so beloved by ‘Heisenbergers’ from the inside. Now, as Better Call Saul comes to a conclusion with its last show (the penultimate episode airs on August 8,
“The Gray Man” Composer Henry Jackman Breaks Down His 17-Minute Suite
Classically trained at Oxford University, British-born musician Henry Jackman moved to Los Angeles in 2001. Within five years, he’d landed an apprenticeship gig at Hans Zimmer’s music company, and from there, Jackson quickly rose through the ranks to become one of Hollywood’s most versatile composers. Credits range from Kong: Skull Island and Tom Hanks’s tense, fact-based drama Captain Phillips to half a dozen zany animation features, including Wreck-It Ralph.
“Obi-Wan Kenobi” Composer Natalie Holt Finds the Force
The series Obi-Wan Kenobi concluded to great acclaim, especially for star Ewan McGregor’s emotional performance in the title role, Moses Ingram’s intensity as Inquisitor Reva, and the astonishing cat-and-mouse game between Obi-Wan and his former protogé, Darth Vader. Speaking of Vader, Hayden Christensen returned to the role and gave a haunting performance, creating a richer, more tragic character arc for one of the greatest villains of all time. As with other Star Wars projects for the small screen,
“Stranger Things 4” Music Editor Lena Glikson on Cutting Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”
From the get-go, Netflix hit Stranger Things has excelled in the art and craft of needle drops. Encompassing eighties classics from David Bowie’s “Heroes” in Season One to “Everlasting Love” in Season Three, song choices curated by three-time Emmy nominated music supervisor Nora Felder have consistently amplified the characters’ emotions to uncanny effect.
But nothing in Stranger Things’ previous hit list prepared audiences for this summer’s zeitgeist-smashing anthem “Running Up That Hill.”
“Elvis” Composer Elliott Wheeler on The King’s Music & That Doja Cat Collab
The dazzling visuals of director Baz Luhrmann’s spine-tingling biopic of Elvis, which were beautifully shot by cinematographer Mandy Walker, undoubtedly hold your attention. But it’s the rhythmic melodies of the soundscape that flutters the soul. Elvis is made to be seen (and heard) in the theater.
The journey explores the relationship between the legendary artist and his manager, a former carny named Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), who sees the potential profit in Elvis’s musical gift.
“Succession” Composer Nicholas Britell Goes Behind Season 3’s Score
Rarely has awful behavior been accompanied by such beautiful music, but the fictitious scoundrels of Succession have now spent three seasons buoyed by brooding scores from pianist-composer Nicholas Britell. A three-time Oscar nominee, Britell honed his skills at Juilliard and Harvard before becoming the go-to composer for directors Adam McKay (Don’t Look Up), Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk), and Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave).
Composer René G. Boscio on Scoring Teenage Turmoil in “Emergency”
Carey Williams’s new film Emergency (premiering in theaters on May 20 and Amazon Prime Video on May 27) is billed as a comedy-thriller. But when college students Kunle (Donald Elise Watkins) and Sean (RJ Cyler), who are Black, and their buddy Carlos (Sebastian Chacon), who is Latino, find a drunk white girl they’ve never seen before passed out on the floor of their campus housing, it feels like Emergency is about to transform into straight horror.
“Moon Knight” Composer Hesham Nazih on Capturing the Sounds of Ancient Egypt, Modern Cairo, & Marvel Magic
Marvel’s Moon Knight recently concluded its first six-episode run (a second season is possible). Marvel’s latest Disney+ series centers on a mild-mannered British gift shop employee named Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac). Steven learns in the very first episode that he shares a body with an American mercenary named Marc Spector, who works as the human avatar for the ancient Egyptian god Khonshu (voiced by F. Murray Abraham). With the help of Steven and Marc’s mutual love interest Layla El-Faouly (May Calamawy),
“The Dropout” Composer Anne Nikitin Takes a Synthetic Approach to Elizabeth Holmes’s Treachery
Hulu’s limited biographical series The Dropout, which stars Amanda Seyfried as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, has been getting rave reviews for both Seyfried’s performance and for its sharp take on the shocking real-life story of corporate and personal hubris. The show follows Holmes from her beginnings as an ambitious college student with Steve Jobs as her role model, through her attempts to develop healthcare technology, and then to her astonishingly fast rise to fame and fortune as CEO of a billion-dollar company.
“Cyrano” Composer Aaron Dessner on Tuning Into Timeless Love
Director Joe Wright, known best for emotional period films like Atonement and Pride & Prejudice, has brought a new musical version of Cyrano to the screen, starring Peter Dinklage in the title role. Dinklage is receiving rave reviews for his part in the romantic classic, bringing a new depth to the brilliant wordsmith and swordsman who loves his best friend, the gorgeous Roxanne (Haley Bennett), from afar. The film is based on a theatrical version directed and written by Erica Schmidt,
“Peacemaker” Composer Kevin Kiner About Harnessing The Power of Hair Bands
Even as complicated and thick-headed as is his character may be, with every new episode, John Cena is worming his way into our hearts as Christopher Smith in writer/director James Gunn’s Peacemaker. In its first season on HBO Max, the show picks up where The Suicide Squad left off, expanding on Smith’s character, revealing his tragic backstory, and introducing viewers to a team that includes characters both old and new.
“West Side Story” Music Supervisor Matt Sullivan on The Cast, Spielberg, and Capturing Magic
When we interviewed West Side Story‘s music producer David Newman, he made clear not only how massive of an effort was required to pull off Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece musical, but how personal it all felt. “There were hundreds of us involved in it, and I loved it. It just was a completely pure feeling,” Newman told us. “We were all just doing it for the love of it. That is the feeling I get with this movie.
“West Side Story” Music Producer David Newman on Arranging Steven Spielberg’s Musical Masterpiece
Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story is finally landing in theaters on December 10. His film is a new take on the original 1957 Broadway musical and the 1961 classic film, which both feature music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The story is a musical version of Romeo and Juliet, but with the Montagues and the Capulets represented by two gangs, the Italian-American Jets and the Latinx Sharks,
