J.J. Abrams Says John Williams Likely to Score ‘Star Wars VII’

J.J. Abrams Says John Williams Likely to Score ‘Star Wars VII’
Kevin Jagernauth - The Playlist

Speaking at a press conference in Germany for “Star Trek Into Darkness,” J.J. Abrams was inevitably asked a few questions about the ‘Star Wars’ movie he’ll be directing, and while he generally gently deflected the inquiries, he did let slip a little bit of info about who will score the movie. “For ‘Star Wars,’ it’s every early days to know, but I believe that going forward, John Williams will be [scoring] that film,” he said, jokingly adding: “Because, apparently, he was there long before I was.”

I’m shocked — SHOCKED.

Well, no not really. Williams is the only man for the job as long…

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M83 Nearly Quit ‘Oblivion’

M83 Nearly Quit ‘Oblivion’
Kevin Jagernauth - The Playlist

“It took us one year to work on ‘Oblivion’ with Joseph Trapanese, and I’ve been through all types of emotions. I almost quit. I couldn’t sleep. I was so stressed out. I was on the verge of breaking down. We were touring a lot and I had to work on this at the same time.”

...

I quickly realized that all the ideas of the music I had before working on it weren’t going to happen because it’s Hollywood and because it’s a $150 million dollar budget. I’m not the boss. I’m just someone working for them,” Gonzalez explained. “They needed something bigger, more orchestral; it was hard for me to…

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M83 - ‘Oblivion’ Title Track Live

M83 - ‘Oblivion’ Title Track Live

If like me you enjoyed Oblivion quite a bit, and also found the soundtrack to be top notch, then you might be interested in checking out this video of M83 performing the title track of the film live on Jimmy Kimmel.

They were joined by award winning Norwegian singer Susanne Sundfør. I enjoyed watching this performance immensely. It’s an amazing performance from an amazing soundtrack.

Don’t forget that you can stream the entire ‘Oblivion’ score right here on MovieByte.com and get a feel and taste for the whole film.

More on Zimmer Scoring ‘Man of Steel’

More on Zimmer Scoring ‘Man of Steel’
Jennifer Vineyard - CNN.com

The secrecy surrounding “Man of Steel,” due June 14, is pretty extraordinary, but composer Hans Zimmer was able to give CNN a glimpse of what to expect when we caught up with him this week regarding the score he did for “The Bible.”

Asked if the two projects had anything in common, since both involve a savior figure (Jesus, Kal-el) sent by his father to Earth, Zimmer laughed and said, “Yes. Yes is the answer. Once you see Superman, you’ll see how close you are with your question.”

Interesting. I’m still waiting to see how this is going to work out. How can you watch anything with…

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Zimmer Discusses ‘Man of Steel’ Score

Zimmer Discusses ‘Man of Steel’ Score
Germain Lussier - /Film

For Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel, composer Hans Zimmer an unenviable task. Unlike in 2006′s Superman Returns where composer John Ottman was able to use John Williams‘ iconic 1978 Superman theme, Snyder preferred to distance his film from all of the previous Superman films. That meant Zimmer was tasked with writing music that would work to inspire in the context of the new film, but also wouldn’t be totally overshadowed by Williams.

I’ve been on record as liking Superman Returns. Still, I am looking forward to seeing what this complete reboot could bring to the table. And yet I still think…

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Stream Entire ‘Oblivion’ Score Right Here

Stream Entire ‘Oblivion’ Score Right Here

We’ve got the entire score for Oblivion streaming here via Soundcloud. As was the case with director Joseph Kosinski’s TRON: Legacy, I expect the score to be a very strong favorable element of the film. And again similar to what he did with Legacy in getting band Daft Punk to work on the score with Hans Zimmer, Kosinski is pulling together Anthony Gonzalez of M83, and Joseph Trapanese to come up with a very unique sound for this score. Obviously scores always need to be evaluated and work well within the context of the film, but just by itself it’s sounding really good!

Give it a…

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Emperor — Review

3.5 of 5 stars
Emperor

I sat down to watch Emperor expecting the larger-than-life persona of General Douglas MacArthur to blow me away through the performance of Tommy Lee Jones. By the end of the film, there would be several vocal exclamations from the audience endeared to his beguiling reenactment, much the way audiences responded to Tommy’s performance of Thaddeus Stevens in Lincoln (2012). The emperor of Emperor would be Douglas/Tommy.

While Tommy’s acting was as good as ever, the film took a different turn. Rather than dwelling on the general and his greatness, it is a close look at one of the men behind…

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LISTEN! - Soundtrack from ‘Oblivion’ by M83

LISTEN! - Soundtrack from ‘Oblivion’ by M83

Man this sounds really great! I cannot wait to hear it all. It is somewhat reminicent of the TRON: Legacy soundtrack, and in my mind, that’s a good thing. I love Legacy’s soundtrack.

Apparently, M83 mastermind Anthony Gonzalez is socring Oblivion with TRON: Uprising composer Joseph Trapanese so I suppose it should not be a surprise that there’s a bit of influence from TRON.

Give it a listen, it sounds great!

John Williams would Like to Score ‘Star Wars VII’

John Williams would Like to Score ‘Star Wars VII’
/Film

According to a new report, composer John Williams has voiced his interest in working on the next trilogy. Williams’ work for the original remains one of the best loved movie scores of all time, so this seems like great news all around. Unless, that is, you’re Michael Giacchino, who’d probably be the favorite to score if this were any other Abrams project but Star Wars.

As much as I am often not Williams’ biggest fan, I have to say that as long as he’s alive it would seem almost wrong for him not to do Star Wars. Plus, as much as I enjoy Giacchino as a person — he seems very nice in his…

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James Horner To Score ‘Enders Game’

James Horner To Score ‘Enders Game’
/Film

Oscar-winning composer James Horner has been hired by director Gavin Hood to write the music for Ender’s Game. The film, scheduled for release November 1, stars Asa Butterfield as a kid-genius recruited to space so he can train as a military leader. Harrison Ford co-stars along with Hailee Steinfeld, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Aramis Knight, Moises Arias and others.

What was the last good film Horner Scored? The Legend of Zorro in 2005? (Yes, there’s Avatar — but I said good film). So yeah, I’m definitely in it to hear a good score from Horner!

Also, the film looks interesting:

In…

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