Alexandre Desplat wins the 2008
IFMCA'S Film Score of the Year Award for
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON,
David Fincher's imaginative re-telling of a 1921
F. Scott Fitzgerald short story about a man who ages backwards from an old man to a baby. These are the fourth and fifth awards for
Desplat from the
IFMCA, having been named Composer of the Year in 2006 and 2007. The score also wins Best Original Score for a Dramatic Film.
Danny Elfman is named
Film Composer of the Year for his excellence in scoring four high-profile movies this year:
MILK, WANTED, HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY and
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE. The latter score also wins
Elfman an individual scoring award for Best Original Score for a Documentary Feature.
Canadian composer
Andrew Lockington wins
Breakout Composer of the Year for his two high-profile scores in 2008:
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH and
CITY OF EMBER.
Lockington is a former orchestrator for fellow Canadian composer
Mychael Danna, and worked with his countryman on scores such as
8MM, GIRL INTERRUPTED and
HEARTS IN ATLANTIS before embarking on his solo composing career.
Thomas Newman's score for Pixar?s
WALL·E wins Best Original Score for an Animated Feature.
John Williams' score for Steven Spielberg's
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL wins Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure Film, and
James Newton Howard wins for his score to
THE HAPPENING in the Best Original Score for a Horror/Thriller Film category.
Javier Naverrete's score to
INKHEART, which opened in parts of Europe in 2008, receives the award for Best Original Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction Film. The
Coen Brothers'
BURN AFTER READING wins Best Original Score for a Comedy Film for their longtime collaborator
Carter Burwell, and
Michael Giacchino wins Film Music Composition of the Year for his
"Roar Overture" from
CLOVERFIELD that played during the end credits of the monster 'reality' movie which otherwise did not include any other underscore.
Non-film winners include
Robert Lane and
Joseph Vitarelli, who win Best Original Score for Television to for their score for the HBO mini-series,
JOHN ADAMS; Norwegian composer
Knut Avenstroup Haugen, who wins Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media for the Funcom PC role-playing game
AGE OF CONAN: HYBORIAN ADVENTURES; and the
Intrada label, which wins Film Music Record Label of the Year for the third year in a row for their continuing excellence in releasing older, catalog scores, some for the first time, including their world premiere release of the complete score to
Jerry Goldsmith's 1978
THE BOY FROM BRAZIL, which wins this year's prize for Best New Release/Re-Release of an Existing Score.
2008 FILM WINNERS:FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR? The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, music by Alexandre Desplat
FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR? Danny Elfman
BREAKOUT COMPOSER OF THE YEAR? Andrew Lockington
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM? The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, music by Alexandre Desplat
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM? Burn After Reading, music by Carter Burwell
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE FILM? Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, music by John Williams
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION FILM? Inkheart, music by Javier Navarrete
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A HORROR/THRILLER FILM? The Happening, music by James Newton Howard
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE? Wall·E, music by Thomas Newman
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE? Standard Operating Procedure, music by Danny Elfman
FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR? Cloverfield: ?Roar Overture,? music by Michael Giacchino
OTHER CATEGORIES:BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION? John Adams, music by Robert Lane and Joseph Vitarelli
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA? Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, music by Knut Avenstroup Haugen
BEST NEW RELEASE/RE-RELEASE OF AN EXISTING SCORE? The Boys from Brazil, music by Jerry Goldsmith; produced by Douglass Fake (Intrada)
BEST RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE? El Cid, music by Miklós Rózsa; conducted by Nic Raine, produced by James Fitzpatrick (Tadlow)
BEST COMPILATION ALBUM OR BOX SET? Indiana Jones: The Soundtracks Collection, music by John Williams; produced by Laurent Bouzereau (Concord)
FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR? Intrada
The
International Film Music Critics Association (
IFMCA) is an association of online, print and radio journalists who specialize in writing about original film and television music.
The
IFMCA was originally formed in the late 1990s as the now-defunct ?Film Music Critics Jury? by editor and journalist
Mikael Carlsson, a regular contributor to Music from the Movies, and the owner of the Swedish independent film music label
MovieScore Media.
Since its inception, the
IFMCA has grown to comprise over 50 members from countries as diverse as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
Previous
IFMCA Score of the Year Awards have been awarded to
Dario Marianelli's
ATONEMENT in 2007,
James Newton Howard's
LADY IN THE WATER in 2006,
John Williams'
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA in 2005 and
Michael Giacchino's
THE INCREDIBLES in 2004.
For more information about the
International Film Music Critics Association, its members and the list of past awards, please visit http://www.filmmusiccritics.org or contact press@filmmusiccritics.org.