News

Michael Flatley, the Irish dance phenomenon best known for “Lord of the Dance,” will open the Monaco Streaming Film Festival with his directorial debut, “Blackbird.”

Flatley, who wrote and financed the project, also stars in it as retired MI6 operative-turned-Barbados hotelier Victor Blackley. After a familiar agent — and romantic interest — turns up at his establishment, Blackley finds himself subsumed back into his old life, with potentially devastating consequences for millions of people if his mission fails.

Eric Roberts (“The Expendables”) and Patrick Bergin (“Sleeping with the Enemy”) co-star.

“Michael Flatley’s debut feature film is such a pleasant surprise — he brings his renowned stage presence and energy, which we have all experienced over the past 25 years, to the big screen in a gripping romantic thriller,” said Tony Davis, the festival’s founder. “Blackbird is beautifully filmed in stunning exotic locations, and a brilliant supporting cast help Flatley deliver something his...

The July 4 premiere of short “Off Hiatus,” presented by artist David Lachapelle and fashion designer Kai Milla, will be one of the highlights of the Monaco Streaming Film Festival.

The short follows Milla as she and her associates provide exclusive access and insight to what really happens behind the scenes of fashion, through storytelling and impromptu dialogue. The premiere will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo, the festival’s flagship venue. The same evening, the festival’s gala awards will honor leading contributors to the world of on-demand content.

Speakers this year include Mitch Lowe, founding VP Netflix, “The Biggest Loser” producer David Broome, “MasterChef” creator Franc Roddam, composer Erran Baron Cohen (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”), and Buzz Hays, global lead, entertainment industry solutions, for Google Cloud.

Chris Fetner (Entertainment Globalization Association), Kay Meseberg (Arte), Elizabeth Markevitch (IkonoTV), Haymi Behar (Spi International), Jakob Mejlhede and Marius Johan-sen (Shahid...

Predicting the nominees for Best Original Song at the Oscars is made more difficult by the three-stage process. In years past, many seemingly sure-fire contenders were deemed to be ineligible. Even those ditties that clear this hurdle then have to pass muster with the nearly 400 members members of the music branch of the academy. In recent years, upwards of 75 songs have been in the running. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2021 Oscar predictions for Best Original Song.)

To be even eligible for consideration, a tune must meet these criteria:

It must be an original song with words and music, both of which were original and written specifically for the film;

It must be the result of a creative interaction between the filmmaker(s) and the songwriter(s) who have been engaged to work directly on the film; and

There must be a clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition (not necessarily visually...

The team of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross leads all nominees for the second annual Society of Composers and Lyricists Awards, the organization of scorers and songwriters active in visual media.

The composing duo (who won an Oscar 10 years ago for “The Social Network” and an Emmy last year for “Watchmen”) received three nominations. They were cited for outstanding original score for a studio film for both their 2020 films, Netflix’s “Mank” and Disney-Pixar’s “Soul.” They share the “Soul” nod with composer Jon Batiste, who contributed the jazz threaded throughout the film.

Reznor and Ross received a third nomination, for outstanding original song for visual media, for their song “(If Only You Could) Save Me,” written for “Mank.”

Scl’s list is notable for the dominance of women composers in the category of outstanding original score for an independent film — three of the five nominees: Lolita Ritmanis for the...

If you’re one of those people who think music has lost its dangerous edge, Sacha Baron Cohen had the cure for that in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” Taking on two levels of disguise in the 2020 sequel, Cohen again played his fictional Borat character, who in turn disguised himself for a key sequence in the movie as Country Dave, a singer who shows up to perform a song called “The Wuhan Flu” at a right-wing militia rally. His Borat and Country Dave characters may be fictional, but the rally was very real, and the presumably well-armed audience that had gathered for the Washington Three Percenters’ gathering in Olympia, Washington last June was not the kind of crowd to take having its beliefs mocked in a spirit of good fun.

So while “Wuhan Flu” was framed as a country-bluegrass song, in a matter of thinking, it was really about as punk-rock a...

Awards season has begun in earnest now that it’s January and several critics groups have weighed in, giving love to contenders such as “Nomadland,” “Mank” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”

But work in other films is also deserving, and some of the most striking aspects of the contenders are in cinematography, production design, costume design and editing, all contributing powerfully to the mise-en-scène. To kick off the year, Variety’s awards team of Jazz Tangcay, Clayton Davis, Tim Gray and Jenelle Riley highlight artisans flying below the radar.

Greyhound, Production design, David Crank

Crank re-created a World War II battleship for the Tom Hanks-starring film. He captures the claustrophobia of life aboard the vessel in the living quarters of Hanks’ Capt. Krause and in the sonic room, in which the crew tracks the formation of U-boats trying to destroy the USS Keeling, code-named Greyhound, in a battle on the Atlantic.

Variety asked some of the behind-the-scenes artists about their challenges and joys working on the year’s most prominent films.

Nicholas Becker

Sound Design, “Sound of Metal”

“The most powerful scene in terms of sound is the last one, which ironically has none at all. Usually when there’s silence in film, the convention is to put a little hiss or something to fill the void, but Darius [Marder, director] bravely wanted there to be nothing, complete emptiness. And so when Ruben removes his implant and there’s nothing, the audience finds themselves amid an orchestra of air conditioners, noisy neighbors, or their own breath. It always reminds me of John Cage’s ‘4’33”.’ It’s a powerful moment for Ruben, but also for the audience, as the sound of the real world bleeds into the world of the film, tying them together.”

Erran Baron Cohen

Composer, Co-writer of “Wuhan Flu” Song, “Borat...

“Borat 2” was a family affair for Sacha and Erran Baron Cohen. The older brother of comedian Sacha, Erran is a composer and trumpet player who created the musical score for the Amazon Prime Video comedy sequel. Being the “Borat 2” composer also meant Erran contributed lyrics to the film’s “Wuhan Flu” singalong sequence, performed by Sacha in disguise at a far-right rally in Washington. It’s now an unexpected Oscar contender for Best Original Song, and Erran is all for performing “Wuhan Flu” on Hollywood’s biggest night.

“I would love to, if we could travel then,” Erran told The Hollywood Reporter. “I think that would be one of the best things that would ever happen at the Oscars. It would make it the most interesting Oscars ceremony ever.

“The issue of course is that it’s a racist song,” the composer added. “It’s highlighting the racism in people.

Given the on-screen insanity, an erratic, Covid-impacted production wrapped in secrecy, and very heavy use of editing, soundtracking a feature such as Amazon’s recent headline-amassing and Rudy Giuliani-angering Borat Subsequent Moviefilm may seem a tall order for any musician.

But it’s a task that composer Erran Baron Cohen knows only too well, having worked with his younger brother Sacha Baron Cohen on all of his previous films and TV shows, including Who Is America?, The Dictator, Bruno, the first Borat feature and, going back some 20 years, Da Ali G Show.

It was the elder Baron Cohen who had to quickly compose the music for “Wuhan ...

Given the on-screen insanity, an erratic, Covid-impacted production wrapped in secrecy, and very heavy use of editing, soundtracking a feature such as Amazon’s recent headline-amassing and Rudy Giuliani-angering Borat Subsequent Moviefilm may seem a tall order for any musician.

But it’s a task that composer Erran Baron Cohen knows only too well, having worked with his younger brother Sacha Baron Cohen on all of his previous films and TV shows, including Who Is America?, The Dictator, Bruno, the first Borat feature and, going back some 20 years, Da Ali G Show.

It was the elder Baron Cohen who had to quickly compose the music for “Wuhan ...

It’s been a gargantuan week for Amazon Studios’ Sacha Baron Cohen sequel “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” From both a critical perspective and the cultural zeitgeist, it’s truly having a moment. This is all unfolding just before the most important election of our time — and of course there are more important issues to focus on, but from an awards perspective, we can’t ignore the possibilities. Most importantly, is the film poised for major Oscar success when nominations are announced on March 15? Previous Oscar nominee Baron Cohen could find himself with up to five nominations across multiple categories on nomination morning.

As the current leading contender for the Golden Globes in the best actor in a comedy or musical category, if he were to win that category, it’s a category that often translates to Oscar attention for best actor. It should be noted by Cohen won the Globe in...

David Baddiel's stage version of The Infidel has cast Kev Orkian as its star.

This stage adaptation of Baddiel's 2010 comedy film will feature his lyrics and music by Erran Baron Cohen, who has previously worked on his brother Sacha Baron Cohen's film The Dictator.

Orkian will play Mahmoud Nassir, a Muslim man who discovers that he was adopted and that his birth parents are Jewish. The role was originally played by Omid Djalili in Baddiel's feature film.

Baddiel is directing The Infidel – The Musical with Kerry Michael of Theatre Royal Stratford East.

Orkian will be joined in the musical's cast by Mina Anwar, Andrew Paul, Melanie Masson and Melanie Marshall.

Baddiel said of the stage production: "Despite being released in 43 countries, The Infidel movie, with its message of tolerance through comedy, seems not completely to have fixed Muslim-Jewish relations.

"Luckily The Infidel – The Musical, with its terrific cast,...

The musical version of Omid Djalili movie The Infidel has reached its target on Kickstarter and will now go into production.

The 2010 British film, written by David Baddiel, starred comedian Djalili as a devout Muslim who discovers that he was adopted and his birth parents are Jewish.

Baddiel wrote on Twitter that the project had hit its target of £55,000, going on to joke: "Oh, hang on. Means we have to do the bloody thing... But really, incredible thanks."

The music for the stage production will be composed by Erran Baron Cohen, older brother of Hollywood star Sacha.

According to its Kickstarter page, the Infidel musical will be in the tradition of such subversive productions as Book of Mormon, Avenue Q and Spamalot!

The show will run at Theatre Royal Stratford East in London.

Watch David Baddiel talk The Infidel with Digital Spy below:...

Singing! Dancing! Jihad! 2010 comedy The Infidel proved a hit on screens across Europe and now original writer David Baddiel has teamed up with Erran Baron Cohen - yes, the musically inclined brother of Sacha - to bring the story to the London stage as a live musical.Based in a London suburb, Mahmud Nasir lives with his pretty wife, Saamiya, and two children, Rashid and Nabi. His son plans to marry Ji-Ji, the step-daughter of Pakistani Arshad Al-Masri, a so-called 'Hate Cleric' from Waziristan, Pakistan. Mahmud, who is not exactly a devout Muslim (he drinks alcohol and does not pray five times) but does agree that he will appease Arshad, without whose approval the marriage cannot take place. Shortly thereafter Mahmud, while going over his...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

As a Kickstarter campaign is launched to fund Infidel: the Musical, the comic and author explains why his cult comedy about Jews and Muslims was ripe for a stage makeover

Perhaps surprisingly, I've always liked musicals. Not all musicals: I have a blind spot for Les Mis, which seems to me what you would get on Whose Line Is It Anyway? if the subject shouted out was "19th Century France!" and the style "Light Opera!" and the show went on for nearly three hours. That's no doubt my fault as I don't like opera in general, and therefore musicals that sort of pretend to be opera are not my thing. What I like is pop musicals, by which I mean Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell (I like the Jesus ones in general), and Wicked. I even like Shrek. Because I like musicals with songs, not cod arias.

Storywise, however, the reason...

The Oscars are a little over two months away, and with so many fantastic films released throughout this year, the anticipation surrounding the announcement of the nominations next month is running on high.

So far, we’ve had the shortlists for the Best Animated Feature, the Best Visual Effects, and the Best Documentary categories.

Now the Academy has announced the list of 104 films that are eligible in the Best Original Score category, and it’s going to be very interesting to see what makes the final cut come nominations time next month.

I think Hans Zimmer’s score for The Dark Knight Rises is, hopefully, a lock, because it is amazing. I also loved James Horner’s score for The Amazing Spider-Man, but can’t decide whether or not I think it will earn a nomination.

Alexandre Desplat has three films in the running this year, with Argo, Rise of the Guardians,...

Indian composer A.R. Rahman is in the Oscar race once again for the original score at the 85thAcademy Awards. His composition for the film “”People Like Us” has found place in the long list of 104 composers vying for the nominations.

Rahman composed for the Alex Kurtzman directed “People Like Us” starring Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Wilde, Jon Favreau and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Rahman won two Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song at the 81st Academy Awards in 2009 for “Slumdog Millionaire”.

104 scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2012 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category.

The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 10, 2013.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on February 24, 2013. The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below in alphabetical order by film title:

“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” Henry Jackman, composer “After the Wizard,...

One hundred four scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2012 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 85th Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today. As noted by various online Oscar pundits, most noticeably missing is Moonrise Kingdom. A Reminder List of works submitted in the Original Score category will be made available with a nominations ballot to all members of the Music Branch, who shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements. The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominations for final voting for the award. Click Here for the complete rules.

In February, Ludovic Bource won the Oscar for Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) for The Artist at the 84th Academy Awards.

The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below...

As far as I'm concerned, the two most memorable scores of the year belong to Cloud Atlas and Beasts of the Southern Wild. That said, I made an egregious and unforgivable mistake when filling out my Critics' Choice nominations and forgot to include not one of them, but Both of them! Shame. I feel it. Now I have to hope my fellow Bfca members came through where I failed. However, we will discuss Critics' Choice nominations more on the upcoming episodes of the RopeofSilicon podcast, for now we're talking Oscar as the Academy has released a complete list of all 104 original scores competing for Best Original Score at the 2013 Oscars. I have not yet posted my predictions for Best Original Score and while I am making a fuss above concerning Cloud Atlas and Beasts of the Southern Wild, I think both of those stand a very strong chance at a nomination this year.

One hundred four scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2012 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 85th Academy Awards®, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today. The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below in alphabetical order by film title: “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” Henry Jackman, composer “After the Wizard,” Stephen Main, composer “Alex Cross,” John Debney and Sebastian Morton, composers “The Amazing Spider-Man,” James Horner, composer “Anna Karenina,” Dario Marianelli, composer “Argo,” Alexandre Desplat, composer “Battleship,” Steve Jablonsky, composer “The Bay,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin, composers “Being Flynn,” Damon Gough, composer “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” Thomas Newman, composer “Big Miracle,” Cliff Eidelman, composer “Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story,” David Cieri, composer “Brave,” Patrick Doyle, composer “Brooklyn Castle,” B. Satz, composer “Chasing Ice,” J. Ralph, composer “Chasing Mavericks,...

Star's Brother Erran Baron Cohen To Compose The Music More or less everyone involved in long-running HBO comedy "Curb Your Enthusiasm" has done pretty well out of it outside of the day job: creator/star Larry David toplined a Woody Allen film (albeit a terrible one...) and bagged a supporting turn in "The Three Stooges," Jeff Garlin's become a Pixar stalwart second only to John Ratzenberger, while Cheryl Hines got to make her directorial debut on "Serious Moonlight." But perhaps the biggest breakout seems to be the actor who's behind one of the most seminal supporting characters on the show: J.B.…...

Erran Baron Cohen is set to score the upcoming comedy The Dictator starring his brother Sacha Baron Cohen who is also co-writing and producing the project. Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley and Jason Mantzoukas are co-starring in the movie directed by Larry Charles. Megan Fox and John C. Reilly are making cameos in the comedy. The film follows a heroic dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy never comes to the country he so lovingly oppressed. Scott Rudin (The Social Network) is producing and screenwriters Alec Berg, David Mandel & Jeff Schaffer (Seinfeld) co-wrote the script and are also among the movie’s producers. Erran Baron Cohen previously wrote the music for Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Glorious Benefit Nation of Kazakhstan and 2009′s Bruno. Paramount Pictures will be releasing The Dictator worldwide on May 12, 2012.

Film Composer, Brian Tyler, who was featured on the cover of Iae Magazine's Dec/Jan 2010 issue was recently honored at Ascap’s 25th Anniversary Awards Celebration on June 24th in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hilton.

According to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (Ascap) website, Tyler joined a host of other composers of the top box office film music and the most performed television music of 2009 at the organization’s event.

Those honored in the Top Box Office Films category were past Ascap Henry Mancini Award honorees Carter Burwell(The Blind Side, Where the Wild Things Are), John Debney (Hannah Montana The Movie, Hotel For Dogs), James Newton Howard (Confessions of a Shopaholic, Duplicity), Randy Newman (The Princess and the Frog), Alan Silvestri (A Christmas Carol, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian), and Hans Zimmer (Angels & Demons, It’s Complicated,...

/Film reader Dano e-mailed me to point out that a track on the score for James Cameron's Avatar sounds suspiciously similar to a track on the score of Glory. Of course, both films were scored by composer James Horner. I understand that composers tend to use the same instruments and tones for different dramatic beats. Horner is notorious for this, as it sounds like he borrows (or repeats) from his past filmography. But what makes this more notable is that Horner is nominated for an Academy Award for his Avatar score, in a year when a lot of other musical artists have been disqualified from nomination. The list includes Sad Brad Karen O (of Where the Wild Things Are), T Bone Burnett (of Crazy Heart), Brian Eno (of The Lovely Bones), Carter Burwell (The Blind Side), Nicholas Hooper (Half-Blood Prince), Erran Baron Cohen (Bruno) and Jason Schwartzman (Funny People...

Sigh… Seems like the Music Branch of AMPAS is at it again. Did we learn nothing from last year’s mess? Their omissions just gall me. Only 81 scores managed to qualify and move onto the next round of Oscar voting.

Steve Pond of The Wrap:

Eno’s score for “The Lovely Bones,” a haunting and effective use of the composer’s music both new and old, was not submitted to the Academy for consideration. Yeah Yeah Yeah’s frontwoman Karen O’s music for “Where the Wild Things Are,” which she co-wrote with Burwell, and Burnett’s and Stephen Bruton’s score to “Crazy Heart,” both of which have won critics awards, are also not on the branch’s “Reminder List” of qualifying achievements.

Notable scores have been disqualified in the past by the Academy’s music branch, which has strict rules for qualifying in the category. In 2007, for instance,...

By Steve Pond

Apparently, it’s not a good year to be a pop musician trying to win consideration from the Academy’s music branch. As usual, several prominent scores have failed to qualify for or opted out of the original-score Oscar, with this year’s victims including Brian Eno, Karen O and T Bone Burnett.

Others whose music is ineligible include Carter Burwell, Erran Baron Cohen and moonlighting actor Jason Schwartzman.

Eno’s score for “The Lovely Bones,” a haunting and effective use of the composer’s music both new and old, was not submitted to th...

New cast in Kervorkian film: The cast of the new film about the high profile doctor, Dr. Jack Kervorkian,  who fought "...to establish the right to die for terminally ill patients..." has announced an expansion of its cast.  The made-for-tv film is entitled "You Don't Know Jack," and it will be directed by Barry Levinson.  As announced "back in May" the title role will be filled by Al Pacino.  Recently, "Susan Sarandon and John Goodman have also joined..." I think this is some brilliant and solid casting.  Who can think of a better person to play Dr. Kervorkian than Pacino; who can play everything from intense caricatures of evil from a coke-fuelled gangster in "Scarface" to the Devil himself in "The Devil's Advocate."  He can also show incredible humanity like in "Scent of a Woman."  Both Sarandon and Goodman are solid actors who I feel are underrated talents.  As great...

Sacha Baron Cohen's brother has reportedly suggested that he helped the Bruno star rise to fame. Erran Baron Cohen has said that he played a vital role in the launch of his younger brother's career with their early comedy collaborations. Cohen told The Guardian: "Even growing up together we used to do little comedy songs, improvised for singing on Friday nights to unsuspecting guests at my parents' home. And when we were older, we did Hassidic raps, one called 'Schwitz' which is like 'sweat'. "You've got the Hassidic black clothes, the (more)...

Sacha Baron Cohen's brother has reportedly said that he is nervous about the actor dying while shooting one of his stunts. Erran Baron Cohen, who produced the music for Ali G Indahouse, Borat and Bruno, has admitted that his funny younger sibling pushes the envelope too far while portraying his alter-egos. Cohen told The Guardian: "I do worry (more)...

Sacha Baron Cohen's brother is terrified the actor is going to die when filming one of his stunts. Erran Baron Cohen - who has produced the music for his younger sibling's films - admits the funnyman can sometimes get carried away when shooting as his alter egos Ali G, Borat and Bruno and wishes he would tone things down. He said: "I do worry that it may all end horribly and I think it would be good if he did some less dangerous movies in the future. There are some scenes in 'Bruno' where the danger factor is completely nuts. I know I wouldn't do those kind of things. I'm really happy to be just doing the music."...