LA LA LAND LOSES TO ARRIVAL IN IFMCA'S 2016 AWARDS

Refrained from posting these nominations when they were announced for various reasons, but none of those reasons apply now that the International Film Music Critics Association has revealed its award winners for 2016. Although La La Land, heavily favoured to win both music Oscars tonight, wins three awards, the most of any film or composer, it's Johann Johannsson's Oscar-disqualified score for Arrival that wins the top award, and deservedly so! All the info right here:

Film Score of the Year
Johann Johannsson (Arrival)
Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)
Abel Korzeniowski (Nocturnal Animals)
James Newton Howard (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)
Laurent Perez del Mar (The Red Turtle)

Best Original Score for a Drama Film
Abel Korzeniowski (Nocturnal Animals)
Nicholas Britell (Moonlight)
Alexandre Desplat (The Light Between Oceans)
Jo Yeong Wook (The Handmaiden)
Clint Mansell (High-Rise)

Best Original Score for a Comedy Film
Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)
David Buckley and John Ottman (The Nice Guys)
Carter Burwell (Hail, Caesar!)
Andy Hull and Robert McDowell (Swiss Army Man)
Matthew Margeson (Eddie the Eagle)

Best Original Score for an Action / Adventure / Thriller Film
Christopher Young (The Monkey King 2)
John Debney (The Jungle Book)
Anne Dudley (Elle)
Simon Franglen and James Horner (The Magnificent Seven)
Rob Simonsen (Nerve)

Best Original Score for a Fantasy / Science Fiction / Horror Film
Johann Johannsson (Arrival)
Alexander Cimini (Dark Waves)
Michael Giacchino (Doctor Strange)
Cliff Martinez (The Neon Demon)
James Newton Howard (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)

Best Original Score for an Animated Feature
Laurent Perez del Mar (The Red Turtle)
Alexandre Desplat (The Secret Life of Pets)
Michael Giacchino (Zootopia)
Mark Mancina (Moana)
Dario Marianelli (Kubo and the Two Strings)

Best Original Score for a Documentary
Panu Aaltio (Tale of a Lake)
Chad Cannon (Paper Lanterns)
Bruno Coulais (Seasons)
Alberto Iglesias (Spain in a Day)
Jasha Klebe, Jacob Shea and Hans Zimmer (Planet Earth II)

Film Music Composition of the Year
Justin Hurwitz - Epilogue (La La Land)
Ramin Djawadi - Light Of The Seven (Game of Thrones)
Michael Giacchino - The Master Of The Mystic End Credits (Doctor Strange)
Michael Giacchino - Night On The Yorktown (Star Trek Beyond)
Andy Hull and Robert McDowell - Montage (Swiss Army Man)

Composer of the Year
Michael Giacchino
Alexandre Desplat
Justin Hurwitz
James Newton Howard
Fernando Velazquez

Breakthrough Composer of the Year
Justin Hurwitz
Chad Cannon
Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein
Simon Franglen
Daniel Hart

Best New Archival Release - Re-Release or Re-Recording of an Existing Score
Elmer Bernstein, Frank K. de Wald, Douglass Fake, Roger Feigelson and Joe Sikoryak (The Magnificent Seven)
Jeff Bond, Douglass Fake, Roger Feigelson, Jerry Goldsmith and Joe Sikoryak (Chinatown)
Frank K. de Wald, James Fitzpatrick, Jerry Goldsmith, Nic Raine and Matthew Wright (The Blue Max)
Frank K. de Wald, James Fitzpatrick, Nic Raine, Rosza Miklos and Jim Titus (The Thief of Bagdad)
Hayakawa Masaru, Ifukube Akira and Wada Kaoru (Godzilla)

Best New Archival Release - Compilation
Mike Matessino, Jim Titus and John Williams - 'The John Williams Jurassic Park Collection'
Jose Maria Benitez, Nacho B. Govantes, Alberto Iglesias and Alex Sanchez - 'Archipelago: A Film Music Retrospective'
Frank K. de Wald, James Fitzpatrick, Nic Raine, Rosza Miklos and Barry Weekley - 'Epic Hollywood: The Music Of Miklos Rosza'
Alexandre Desplat, Stephane Lerouge, Quincy Jones, Toots Thielemans and Jerome Witz-Gilles Guerlet - 'The Cinema of Quincy Jones'
Stephan Eicke, John Elborg, Hubai Gergely, Abel Korzeniowski and Luis Miguel Rojas - 'Early Works'

Film Music Record Label of the Year
Intrada Records (Douglass Fake and Roger Feigelson)
La-La Land Records (M. V. Gerhard and Matt Verboys)
Quartet Records (Jose Maria Benitez)
Tadlow Music (James Fitzpatrick)
Varese Sarabande (Robert Townson)

ARRIVAL OUT, LA LA LAND IN - OSCAR-ELIGIBLE ORIGINAL SCORES

Colour me deeply unimpressed with the Academy's music branch once again. In their seemingly arbitrary process of determining which submitted scores from the year in film are eligible for nomination, they've deemed Johann Johannsson's outstanding work from Arrival not to fit the criteria due to the sparing use of existing Max Richter pieces, yet have deemed Justin Hurwitz's work from La La Land to indeed fit them, despite the existence of a separate category for musicals that is supposed to render them ineligible for this award. Another Oscar to which La La Land is set to undeservedly cruise. Oscar nominations are due on the 24th of January.

Craig Armstrong (Bridget Jones's Baby)

Craig Armstrong (Me Before You)

Burt Bacharach (Po)

Lorne Balfe (13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi)

Christophe Beck (Trolls)

Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders (Ben-Hur)

Volker Bertelmann and Dustin O'Halloran (Lion)

Joseph Bishara (The Conjuring 2)

Joseph Bishara (The Other Side of the Door)

Nicholas Britell (Free State of Jones)

Nicholas Britell (Moonlight)

Lukasz Buda and Samuel Scott (Hunt for the Wilderpeople)

Carter Burwell (The Founder)

Carter Burwell (Hail, Caesar!)

Jake Cardoni (Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates)

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (Hell or High Water)

Jeff Danna and Mychael Danna (Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk)

Jeff Danna and Mychael Danna (Storks)

John Debney (Ice Age: Collision Course)

John Debney (The Jungle Book)

Alexandre Desplat (American Pastoral)

Alexandre Desplat (Florence Foster Jenkins)

Alexandre Desplat (The Light Between Oceans)

Alexandre Desplat (The Secret Life of Pets)

Ramin Djawadi (Warcraft)

Anne Dudley (Elle)

Fil Eisler (How to Be Single)

Danny Elfman (Alice Through the Looking Glass)

Danny Elfman (The Girl on the Train)

Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau (The Bronze)

Robin Foster (Anthropoid)

Steve Gernes and Duncan Thum (Off the Rails)

Michael Giacchino (Doctor Strange)

Michael Giacchino (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)

Michael Giacchino (Star Trek Beyond)

Michael Giacchino (Zootopia)

Harry Gregson-Williams (Live by Night)

Rupert Gregson-Williams (Hacksaw Ridge)

Rupert Gregson-Williams (The Legend of Tarzan)

T. Griffin and Dylan Stark (Life, Animated)

John Andrew Grush and Taylor Stewart (Ouija: Origin of Evil)

Hugi Gudmundsson and Hjortur Ingvi Johannsson (Autumn Lights)

Todd Haberman (The Charnel House)

Jamie Hall (10 Days in a Madhouse)

Daniel Hart (Pete's Dragon)

Richard Harvey and Hans Zimmer (The Little Prince)

Alex Heffes (Queen of Katwe)

Paul Hepker and Mark Kilian (Eye in the Sky)

Mike Higham and Matthew Margeson (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children)

David Hirschfelder (The Dressmaker)

Tom Holkenborg (Deadpool)

Julia Holter (Bleed for This)

Andy Hull and Robert McDowell (Swiss Army Man)

Ian Hultquist (Silicon Cowboys)

Ian Hultquist and Sofia Hultquist (The First Monday in May)

Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)

Alberto Iglesias (Julieta)

Mark Isham (The Accountant)

Mark Isham (Mr. Church)

Steve Jablonsky (Deepwater Horizon)

Steve Jablonsky (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows)

Henry Jackman (The Birth of a Nation)

Henry Jackman (Captain America: Civil War)

Henry Jackman (Jack Reacher: Never Go Back)

Christian Jacob (Sully)

Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan (Paterson)

Jo Yeong Wook (The Handmaiden)
Tim Jones (The Abolitionists)

Harald Kloser and Thomas Wander (Independence Day: Resurgence)

Abel Korzeniowski (Nocturnal Animals)

Jed Kurzel (Assassin's Creed)

Christopher Lennertz (The Boss)

Christopher Lennertz (My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2)

Christopher Lennertz (Ride Along 2)

Christopher Lennertz and Alan Menken (Sausage Party)

Silvia Leonetti (Armenia, My Love)

Mica Levi (Jackie)

Michael A. Levine (Landfill Harmonic)

Dominic Lewis (Money Monster)

Gary Lionelli (O.J.: Made in America)

Saul Simon MacWilliams and Dan Romer (Gleason)

Mark Mancina (Moana)

Clint Mansell (High-Rise)

Matthew Margeson (Eddie the Eagle)

Dario Marianelli (Kubo and the Two Strings)

Sune Martin (Land of Mine)

Cliff Martinez (The Neon Demon)

Alain Mayrand (No Letting Go)

Bear McCreary (10 Cloverfield Lane)

Brian McOmber (Krisha)

John Mellencamp (Ithaca)

Angelo Milli (Hands of Stone)

Ronnie Minder (The Legend of Ben Hall)

Jake Monaco (Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie)

Jake Monaco (Keeping Up with the Joneses)

Roger Neill (20th Century Women)

Thomas Newman (Finding Dory)

Thomas Newman (Passengers)

James Newton Howard (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)

James Newton Howard (The Huntsman: Winter's War)

Atli Orvarsson (Bilal)

Atli Orvarsson (The Edge of Seventeen)

John Ottman (The Nice Guys)

John Ottman (X-Men: Apocalypse)

John Paesano (Almost Christmas)

Eloi Painchaud and Jorana Pelletier (Snowtime!)

Daniel Pemberton (Gold)

Laurent Perez del Mar (The Red Turtle)

Rachel Portman (Race)

Steven Price (Suicide Squad)

Stephen Raynor-Endelman (Greater)

Heitor Pereira (The Angry Birds Movie)

Keith Power and Brian Tyler (Criminal)

A. R. Rahman (Pele: Birth of a Legend)

Brian Reitzell (Kicks)

Michael Reola (Believe)

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Patriot's Day)

Max Richter (Miss Sloane)

Max Richter (Morgan)

Michael Rohatyn (Maggie's Plan)

Jonathan Sadoff (The Meddler)

Theodore Shapiro (Collateral Beauty)

Theodore Shapiro (Ghostbusters)

Theodore Shapiro (The Invitation)

Theodore Shapiro (Zoolander 2)

Howard Shore (Denial)

Ryan Shore (Floyd Norman: An Animated Life)

Carlo Siliotto (Miracles from Heaven)

Alan Silvestri (Allied)

Joby Talbot (Sing)

Stephen James Taylor (Southside with You)

Brian Tyler (Now You See Me 2)

Nick Urata (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot)

Fernando Velazquez (A Monster Calls)

Jay Wadley (Indignation)

Benjamin Wallfisch (Lights Out)

Benjamin Wallfisch and Pharrell Williams (Hidden Figures)

John Williams (The BFG)

David Wingo (Loving)

David Wingo (Midnight Special)

Christopher Young (The Monkey King: Hero Is Back)

Geoff Zanelli (The Ottoman Lieutenant)

Marcelo Zarvos (The Choice)

Marcelo Zarvos (Fences)

Marcelo Zarvos (Our Kind of Traitor)

REVIEW - SICARIO (DENIS VILLENEUVE)

A stylish thriller whose technical prowess is as exhilarating to behold as it is admirable, communicating writer Taylor Sheridan's simplistic story with verve and vibrancy. Sheridan lays a bare narrative out bare; director Denis Villeneuve turns bare into spare, constructing powerful sensory experiences out of otherwise simple scenes with a startling soundscape and striking cinematography. Sicario has many merits, but chief among them is the highly successful collaboration between Villeneuve and his DP Roger Deakins - the two have a neatly matched artistic sensibility, and their combined storytelling technique is remarkably cohesive. Indeed, Villeneuve and Deakins are so well matched that Sicario slightly suffers as the work of art that they clearly strive for it to be - its stylistic parameters are too confined, too closed to interpretation, just a bit too perfect, and the film loses something in the way of humanity and plausibility as a result. It gains so much in the process, though, functioning as much as a tremendously tense thriller as it does a deeply unnerving horror film - the two converge in moments of disarming distress, accentuated by fine sound design and a complimentary, elemental score by Johann Johannsson. Motions toward political drama are less effective, unwanted diversions into vaguely allegorical territory from the script, but the film's stylistic strengths are enough to overcome Sicario's missteps.

2015 WORLD SOUNDTRACK AWARD NOMINATIONS

Nominations for three of five categories for the 2015 World Soundtrack Awards have been announced by the World Soundtrack Academy. Alexandre Desplat, Johann Johannsson and Hans Zimmer - all nominees for last year's Oscar (with Desplat the winner for The Grand Budapest Hotel) each receive two nominations, including Composer and Original Film Score. Nominations for Discovery of the Year are yet to be announced, and voting is open for the Public Choice Award on the WSA website. Current nominations are featured below:

Film Composer of the Year

• Bruno Coulais (3 Hearts / Diary of a Chambermaid / Fly Away Solo / Gemma Bovery / Mune, le Guardien de la Lune / Song of the Sea)
• Alexandre Desplat (Everything Will Be Fine / The Imitation Game / Tale of Tales / Unbroken)
• Michael Giacchino (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes / Inside Out / Jupiter Ascending / Jurassic World / Tomorrowland)
• Johann Johannsson (The 11th Hour / Sicario / The Theory of Everything)
• Hans Zimmer (Chappie / Interstellar)

Best Original Film Score of the Year

• Alexandre Desplat (The Imitation Game)
• Patrick Doyle (Cinderella)
• Johann Johannsson (The Theory of Everything)
• Antonio Sanchez (Birdman)
• Hans Zimmer (Interstellar)

Best Original Song Written for a Film

• Diego Luna, Gustavo Santaolalla and Paul Williams - 'The Apology Song' (The Book of Life)
• Lonnie Lynn, Che Smith and John Stephens - 'Glory' (Selma)
• Rita Ora and Diane Warren - 'Grateful' (Beyond the Lights)
• John Padgett and Saoirse Ronan - 'Tell Me' (Lost River)
• Christopher Taylor and Joseph Trapanese - 'Carry Me Home' (Insurgent)

2015 WORLD SOUNDTRACK AWARD NOMINATIONS

Nominations for three of five categories for the 2015 World Soundtrack Awards have been announced by the World Soundtrack Academy. Alexandre Desplat, Johann Johannsson and Hans Zimmer - all nominees for last year's Oscar (with Desplat the winner for The Grand Budapest Hotel) each receive two nominations, including Composer and Original Film Score. Nominations for Discovery of the Year are yet to be announced, and voting is open for the Public Choice Award on the WSA website. Current nominations are featured below:

Film Composer of the Year

• Bruno Coulais (3 Hearts / Diary of a Chambermaid / Fly Away Solo / Gemma Bovery / Mune, le Guardien de la Lune / Song of the Sea)
• Alexandre Desplat (Everything Will Be Fine / The Imitation Game / Tale of Tales / Unbroken)
• Michael Giacchino (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes / Inside Out / Jupiter Ascending / Jurassic World / Tomorrowland)
• Johann Johannsson (The 11th Hour / Sicario / The Theory of Everything)
• Hans Zimmer (Chappie / Interstellar)

Best Original Film Score of the Year

• Alexandre Desplat (The Imitation Game)
• Patrick Doyle (Cinderella)
• Johann Johannsson (The Theory of Everything)
• Antonio Sanchez (Birdman)
• Hans Zimmer (Interstellar)

Best Original Song Written for a Film

• Diego Luna, Gustavo Santaolalla and Paul Williams - 'The Apology Song' (The Book of Life)
• Lonnie Lynn, Che Smith and John Stephens - 'Glory' (Selma)
• Rita Ora and Diane Warren - 'Grateful' (Beyond the Lights)
• John Padgett and Saoirse Ronan - 'Tell Me' (Lost River)
• Christopher Taylor and Joseph Trapanese - 'Carry Me Home' (Insurgent)