Thursday, April 27, 2006

List Friday: Movie Music

In celebration of my conversion to Idol-dom (that’s American Idol, and I’m now caught in the same frenzy as everyone else), this List Friday is dedicated to songs that completely stole a scene or movie!

I got this idea when I found myself completely enchanted by scenes in “The Wedding Date.”
“Enchanted?” you gasp??
Yes… enchanted.

There two or three scenes that are wonderful, and I realized that I loved them because the music in the scene is fabulous. I probably stopped watching the movie and just focused on the music. And I’d watch them again. Peggy did point out that Dermot Mulroney is in all the good scenes, but I contend that the value is based in the music!!

Create your lists!!

6 comments:

Peggy said...

Most EXCELLENT of you to post this so soon after our lunch Francine! I'm so thrilled to have you onboard the American Idol Express!

I'll get to work on my list RIGHT AWAY!

molly_g said...

Okay, I have thought about this all weekend, and this is all I have. This is a tough one, because I don't think that you want me to list "soundtrack" movies, a la Garden State, or Say Anything. While it can be iconic (Say Anything, especially), sometimes the "soundtrack" movie uses music to take the place of real emotion, using the music to evoke a feeling from the audience. Anyway, here are the few that came to my mind:

1. 28 Days Later: the beginning, showing an empty London to the foreboding music of Godspeed You Black Emperor! (the exclamation is part of the band name).

2. Very beginning of Silence of the Lambs, American Girl. I dare you to hear that song and not think about that movie.

Shoot. There were more. I'll come back to this!!!

Francine said...

Well, I'd say that most people can't tell you much about "Say Anything" but the boombox scene is pretty iconic... it would qualify, IMHO. Especially because the movie is okay, but that scene is great... and the music makes it great...

Peggy said...

I think I'll just list my contributions as they come to me ... Molly, I know we thought of one at Mom's house on Friday, but I've already forgotten what it was ...

Oh, and Francine, "most people" can't recite dialog from Say Anything, but Molly and I can. So, yeah - the boombox scene is iconic so it belongs here. And when Molly and I talked about it, In Your Eyes is also in another scene in the movie - so both those scenes count for this list, IMHO. ;)

American Girl and Silence ... EXCELLENT Molly. You're exactly right.

And on with my contribution:

Free Fallin' in Jerry Macguire. I love how Jerry is searching for serendipitous music in his car and this is the only song with enough "oomph" to allow him to celebrate. That the lyrics are appropriate to what he's about to experience is ironic bonus.

Molly and I also threw out the scene where the touring folks all sing Tiny Dancer in Almost Famous.

WHOA - just realized all three movies in my list so far are directed by Cameron Crowe. Well, the dude does know how to put music to film, don't he?!

I'll list more when I think of them ...

Francine said...

Excellent listing... I haven't been very focused on developing one list, so I'll put 'em down one or two at a time too.

No offense about Say Anything. I was totally in love with Cusack and saw anything he made back then. (like it's any different now?)

The Wedding Date
Bad movie. I kept watching a scene here and there (on HBO) because I found the scene so charming. Why? Because I loved the music. Two Michael Buble songs, Sway and Home, are featured in the movie and they are just beautiful. I thought maybe I was just in love with Buble (like I was watching "When Harry Met Sally..." and listening to Harry croon), when I realized that the bachelorette scene where Dermot kisses her in front of all the girls is really fun, and KC is singing "Boogie Shoes" in the background... and as the kiss ends, you hear KC sneaking in the "Boogie down, boogie down." It's really well placed.

Francine said...

This was harder than I thought it would be...

An American Werewolf in London
The shower scene was totally hot... and the music they "showered" too? Van Morrison's Moondance. It was the perfect song for that scene, and I decided that I loved that song right there and then.

Actually, the entire movie has a backdrop of good, well placed music. Moon themed, of course. It's one of my favorite flicks from the 80s!