What's your favourite Elmer Bernstein score?

Happy Centennial to the composer Elmer Bernstein. Bernstein was born 100 years ago today in NYC to Ukrainian immigrant parents. As a teenager he hoped to become a concert pianist. Fate had different plans; He became a legendary film composer instead. His A list breakthrough came in the mid 50s with the back-to-back success of The Man with the Golden Arm (his first Oscar nomination) and Cecil B DeMille's The Ten Commandments. A year before his death in 2004 he was Oscar nominated for a 14th time for Far From Heaven (2002).  So many classic films on his resume. Consider...

• Sudden Fear (1952)
• The Man With the Golden Arm (1955)
• The Ten Commandments (1956)
• The Magnificent Seven (1960)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
• Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) - Oscar win
• An American Werewolf in London (1981)
• The Grifters (1991)
• The Age of Innocence (1993)
• Far From Heaven (2002)

Do you have a favourite score from his work?

Oscar Volley: Who will win Song & Score?

by Team Experience

NATHANIEL R: Hello Matt, Eurocheese, and our special guest Thomas Mizer, who has guest blogged here before and who is an Emmy-nominee as a lyricist for The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. We won't ask Tom to sound off on the Best Song nominees (too close to home) but we do need his input on Best Original Score. In fact, I personally need all of your input on Original Score. I recognize fully that Scores are way up there with Editing in how they can make or break a movie, but unlike with editing (which I am fairly well versed in), I am not particular adept at noticing what composers are doing or how they're doing it. I hate to admit this because I love Nicholas Britell's work (generally speaking) but I honestly didn't realize Don't Look Up had a score. I thought while watching it that it was mostly song cues and dialogue. So I need your collective help. Who are you rooting for and why and who do you think might win? 

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Linkshelf

• The Film Stage great interview with Kyle Buchanan on his book "Blood, Sweat and Chrome" which is about the making of Mad Max Fury Road
• TFE on Instagram I am also going to celebrate this book by devouring it between every deadline
• /Film Teaser for Under the Banner of Heaven starring Andrew Garfield who is messing with the Mormons again (see also Angels in America)
• Vanity Fair "The minions do the actual writing" a fascinating report on the composing industry in Hollywood and name composers as 'brand leaders' rather than actual composers

The Boogeyman cast, Britney Spears tell-all, a great role for Stephan James, an award for Guillermo del Toro and more after the jump...

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Oscar Volley: Should music be judged outside of the film for Best Original Score?

Continuing our Oscar Volley series at The Film Experience. Abe Friedtanzer and Timothy Lyons on Best Original Score

Abe Friedtanzer: The Best Original Score category is an interesting one since we have only fifteen films left in consideration, which in one way is great because it's a smaller field from which to predict but also means that some terrific soundtracks are no longer in contention. I like to take the opportunity to listen to as many of the scores as I can after I see the films, to see if there's anything I pick up on or enjoy more as I hear them in a different context. This year, that has been beneficial for a film I didn't love, Don't Look Up, since Nicholas Britell's orchestrations really are a marvel, and also for Being the Ricardos, which reminded me that Daniel Pemberton's music drove the rhythm of the story just as much as Aaron Sorkin's script. I'm also intrigued by the inclusion of Candyman on the finalist list. I generally avoid horror films but the score is quite haunting. There's no chance it shows up, but it's good to see that voters are at least listening to a variety of films! My main issue has been with The Harder They Fall, a film I liked a lot but where I have trouble differentiating between score and song. That's also true for Encanto.

Do you think songs are a disadvantage or actually more likely to get voters to give the music love?  

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Interview: Lin-Manuel Miranda on "Encanto" and "tick, tick...BOOM!"

by Nathaniel R

at the world premiere of "tick, tick, BOOM!"

I had the pleasure of interviewing Lin-Manuel Miranda in November while he was doing press for Encanto, now streaming on Disney+ with its soundtrack doing great business, too. He was energetic and smiling and gave great quote. Just a few days later, in a significantly less arranged moment, we came face-to-face the night of tick, tick... BOOM!'s premiere in Los Angeles. The response to the movie that night couldn't have been dreamier. He looked elated if significantly more tired than he had over Zoom. He admitted at the party that the entire week was a total blur. Just the week? The entire past year has been one Lin-Manuel Miranda highlight after another. So much so that we named him one of our top three entertainers of the year. In addition to questions about Encanto, tick, tick...BOOM!, and Hamilton, I made sure to ask him how he finds time for sleep.

[This interview has been edited for clarity.]

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