Strangely overlooked in this year’s Oscar nominations – even for Marvin Hamlisch’s kinetic score – “The Informant!” gets inside the highly unreliable thoughts of Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon), a biochemist turned whistleblower for Archer Daniels Midland. Amid beige cubicles, the story unravels in surprising and funny ways, complete with bad disguises and James Bond-style tactics gone wrong.
Hamlisch is also the composer behind the musical “A Chorus Line” and the movie “The Sting.” In a recent visit to Studio 360, Hamlisch sat behind the piano and conjured up the melodies from his long list of musical credits.
2009 has been a banner year for Hollywood – and with yesterday’s announcement of the Golden Globe nominees, it’s officially awards season. Before you watch the nominees work the red carpet (and, perhaps, get tipsy during the broadcast), hear how they got there in the first place.
Check out Kurt’s candid conversations with some of the nominees about being (and staying) creative in Hollywood.
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Kathryn Bigelow was nominated for Best Director for “The Hurt Locker” (which is also nominated for Best Picture and Best Screenplay)
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Jason Reitman’s also up for Best Director for “Up in the Air” (which is also nominated for Best Picture and four other awards), based on the book by Walter Kirn.
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Marvin Hamlisch was nominated for his killer score for “The Informant!”
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Gabourey Sidibe was nominated for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her break-out performance in “Precious.”
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And coming up…
James Cameron was just in the studio to talk about his new movie “Avatar” – listen for that interview this weekend. And later this month, we’ll talk to David Shore (creator of the nominated TV series “House”) about his hero’s not-so-secret resemblance to Sherlock Holmes.
This week in Studio 360, we heard from Marvin Hamlisch, the award-winning and always ebullient composer. Hamlisch has won nearly every major music award, including four Grammys, four Emmys, three Golden globes, a Tony, and a Pulitzer. Most recently, he composed the music for the new movie, The Informant!
But Hamlisch isn’t just a famous composer; he’s a storyteller with a signature, slapstick sense of humor (which made him a regular on the TV talk show circuit back in the day). In this bit of tape left on the cutting room floor, Hamlisch remembers a 1976 episode of The Mike Douglas Show with Tom Waits:
Here’s a video clip of the 1976 show:
Thanks to Studio 360 listener Donald Bistarkey Perrone for suggesting we ask Marvin Hamlisch about this TV episode! Listen to this week’s entire interview with Hamlisch here:
This week in Studio 360, we heard from Marvin Hamlisch, the award-winning and always ebullient composer. Hamlisch has won nearly every major music award, including four Grammys, four Emmys, three Golden globes, a Tony, and a Pulitzer. Most recently, he composed the music for the new movie, 
Studio 360 Blog 