Film music critics nominate 'Maleficent,' 'Dragon 2' and 'Hunger Games' scores

Posted by · 5:27 pm · February 5th, 2015

The International Film Music Critics Association has revealed nominations for best in movie music from 2014, and prolific composers James Newton Howard (“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1,” “Maleficent”) and Alexandre Desplat (“Godzilla,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Imitation Game,” “The Monuments Men”) led the way with seven and six nominations respectively.

Film score of the year contenders include just two Best Original Score Oscar nominees: “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and Hans Zimmer's “Interstellar.” “The Imitation Game” and Jóhann Jóhannsson's “Theory of Everything,” however, were both nominated in the drama category.

“Maleficent” landed the most nominations for a film with four, while DreamWorks Animation's “How to Train Your Dragon 2” picked up three (each of them another if you count composer of the year honors for Howard and John Powell respectively).

Check out the full list of nominees below. Winners will be revealed on Feb. 19. And be sure to see how the rest of the season is turning out at The Circuit.

Film Score of the Year
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” (Alexandre Desplat)
“How to Train Your Dragon 2” (John Powell)
“Interstellar” (Hans Zimmer)
“Maleficent” (James Newton Howard)
“The Monkey King (Xi You Ji: Da Nao Tian Gong)” (Christopher Young)

Composer of the Year
Marco Beltrami
Alexandre Desplat
James Newton Howard
John Powell
Hans Zimmer

Breakthrough Composer of the Year
Alexander Cimini
Gustavo Dudamel
Mica Levi
Matthew Llewellyn
John Paesano

Best Original Score for a Drama
“The Homesman” (Marco Beltrami)
“The Imitation Game” (Alexandre Desplat)
“The Liberator [Libertador]” (Gustavo Dudamel)
“The Monuments Men” (Alexandre Desplat)
“The Theory of Everything” (Jóhann Jóhannsson)

Best Original Score for a Comedy
“Cantinflas” (Roque Baños)
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” (Alexandre Desplat)
“A Million Ways to Die in the West” (Joel McNeely)
“Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” (Alan Silvestri)
“Wishin” and Hopin”” (Matthew Llewellyn)

Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure/Thriller Film
“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” (James Newton Howard)
“Inherent Vice” (Jonny Greenwood)
“The Maze Runner” (John Paesano)
“The Monkey King [Xi You Ji: Da Nao Tian Gong]” (Christopher Young)
“No God No Master” (Nuno Malo)

Best Original Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film
“Autómata” (Zacarías M. de la Riva)
“Godzilla” (Alexandre Desplat)
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” (Howard Shore)
“Interstellar” (Hans Zimmer)
“Maleficent” (James Newton Howard)

Best Original Score for an Animated Feature
“Asterix: The Land of the Gods [Astérix: Le Domaine des Dieux]” (Philippe Rombi)
“The Boxtrolls” (Dario Marianelli)
“How to Train Your Dragon 2” (John Powell)
“Son of Batman” (Frederik Wiedmann)
“Tarzan” (David Newman)

Best Original Score for a Documentary
“Ballet Boys” (Henrik Skram)
“Bears” (George Fenton)
“Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey” (Alan Silvestri)
“Hidden Kingdoms” (Ben Foster)
“The Unknown Known” (Danny Elfman)

Best Original Score for a Television Series
“Fargo” (Jeff Russo)
“Gunshi Kanbei” (Y?go Kanno)
“Isabel” (Federico Jusid)
“The Leftovers” (Max Richter)
“Penny Dreadful” (Abel Korzeniowski)

Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media
“Assassin”s Creed: Unity” (Chris Tilton and Sarah Schachner)
“The Banner Saga” (Austin Wintory)
“Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2” (Óscar Araujo)
“Sid Meier”s Civilization: Beyond Earth” (Geoff Knorr, Griffin Cohen, Michael Curran and Grant Kirkhope)
“World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor” (Russell Brower, Neal Acree, Clint Bajakian, Sam Cardon, Craig Stuart Garfinkle, Edo Guidotti and Eímear Noone)

Best Archival Release of an Existing Score – Re-Release or Re-Recording
“The Abyss” – Varèse Sarabande
“Empire of the Sun” – La-La Land
“Lair” – La-La Land
“The Lion King” – Disney
“On the Waterfront” – Intrada

Best Archival Release of an Existing Score – Compilation
“The Ava Collection” – Intrada
“Batman: The Animated Series Volume 3” – La-La Land
“Elmer Bernstein: The Wild Side” – Varèse Sarabande
“Henry Mancini: The Classic Soundtrack Collection” – Legacy/Sony
“The Naked Gun Trilogy” – La-La Land

Film Music Record Label of the Year
Intrada Records, Douglass Fake and Roger Feigelson
La-La Land Records, MV Gerhard and Matt Verboys
Moviescore Media, Mikael Carlsson
Quartet Records, Jose M. Benitez
Varèse Sarabande, Robert Townson

Film Music Composition of the Year
“Flying With Mother” from “How to Train Your Dragon 2” (John Powell)
“The Hanging Tree” from “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” (Jeremiah Fraites, Wesley Schultz and James Newton Howard, lyrics by Suzanne Collins)
“Maleficent Flies” from “Maleficent” (James Newton Howard)
“Maleficent Suite” from “Maleficent” (James Newton Howard)
“Tsunami” from “Exodus: Gods and Kings” (Harry Gregson-Williams)




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