Miswanderlust
Ann 1Soundtrack Superstars
March 2nd 2008 05:03
I love movies. There is something about the anticipation you feel when going to see a new movie. Buying Junior Mints and a bottle water then searching for that perfect seat then escaping from reality for two hours is exquisite. During those two hours a good movie will make you completely forget that you are sitting in a large dark room with a bunch of strangers. Movies and music rank at the top of my entertainment list. When there is a perfect combination of the two …. A created soundtrack is exquisite.
The lack of a great soundtrack won't destroy a good movie, but a good one, a well-chosen one, a memorable one, can turn a solid film into something superb. Well-chosen songs can complement and deepen the on-screen images, shading in emotional tonalities and giving the film an anchor in time. This cuts both ways, of course. It's impossible to think of "Easy Rider" without hearing Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" as a symbol of '60s freedom. The brilliant soundtracks to John Hughes films such as "Sixteen Candles," and "The Breakfast Club" introduced a generation of teens to totally excellent, totally mopey British bands such as the Jesus and Mary Chain and Echo and the Bunnymen.
With its dark new wave, "Donnie Darko" captured 1988 just perfectly (though, as the Village Voice pointed out, replacing the Bunnymen's wonderful "The Killing Moon" with INXS' bland "Never Tear Us Apart". Thanks to "Reservoir Dogs" and a sadistic Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) it's impossible to hear Stealer's Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle With You" without thinking of an ear getting sliced off. And Tarantino's use of Dick Dale's "Miserlou" as the "Pulp Fiction" theme single-handedly revived the latter's career, while Uma Thurman's dance to Urge Overkill's take on Neil Diamond's "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon". One of the best soundtracked film of the '90s was 1996's "Trainspotting." The opening montage to Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life."
Here are some of my favorites:
Otis Day and the Knights - "Shout" (Animal House Soundtrack)
Simple Minds - "Don’t You (Forget About Me)" (Breakfast Club Soundtrack)
Elton John - "Tiny Dancer" (Almost Famous Soundtrack)
The Beatles - "Twist and Shout" (Ferris Beuller’s Day Off Soundtrack)
Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody" (Wayne’s World Soundtrack)
Iggy Pop - "Lust for Life" (Trainspotting Soundtrack)
Alice Cooper - "School’s Out" (Dazed and Confused Soundtrack)
Steelers Wheeler - "Stuck in the Middle With You" (Reservoir Dogs Soundtrack)
Violent Femmes - "Blister in the Sun" (Grosse Pointe Blank Soundtrack)
Nico- "These Days" (The Royal Tenenbaums Soundtrack)
Beta Band - "Dry the Rain" (High Fidelity Soundtrack)
The lack of a great soundtrack won't destroy a good movie, but a good one, a well-chosen one, a memorable one, can turn a solid film into something superb. Well-chosen songs can complement and deepen the on-screen images, shading in emotional tonalities and giving the film an anchor in time. This cuts both ways, of course. It's impossible to think of "Easy Rider" without hearing Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" as a symbol of '60s freedom. The brilliant soundtracks to John Hughes films such as "Sixteen Candles," and "The Breakfast Club" introduced a generation of teens to totally excellent, totally mopey British bands such as the Jesus and Mary Chain and Echo and the Bunnymen.
With its dark new wave, "Donnie Darko" captured 1988 just perfectly (though, as the Village Voice pointed out, replacing the Bunnymen's wonderful "The Killing Moon" with INXS' bland "Never Tear Us Apart". Thanks to "Reservoir Dogs" and a sadistic Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) it's impossible to hear Stealer's Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle With You" without thinking of an ear getting sliced off. And Tarantino's use of Dick Dale's "Miserlou" as the "Pulp Fiction" theme single-handedly revived the latter's career, while Uma Thurman's dance to Urge Overkill's take on Neil Diamond's "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon". One of the best soundtracked film of the '90s was 1996's "Trainspotting." The opening montage to Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life."
Here are some of my favorites:
Otis Day and the Knights - "Shout" (Animal House Soundtrack)
Simple Minds - "Don’t You (Forget About Me)" (Breakfast Club Soundtrack)
Elton John - "Tiny Dancer" (Almost Famous Soundtrack)
The Beatles - "Twist and Shout" (Ferris Beuller’s Day Off Soundtrack)
Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody" (Wayne’s World Soundtrack)
Iggy Pop - "Lust for Life" (Trainspotting Soundtrack)
Alice Cooper - "School’s Out" (Dazed and Confused Soundtrack)
Steelers Wheeler - "Stuck in the Middle With You" (Reservoir Dogs Soundtrack)
Violent Femmes - "Blister in the Sun" (Grosse Pointe Blank Soundtrack)
Nico- "These Days" (The Royal Tenenbaums Soundtrack)
Beta Band - "Dry the Rain" (High Fidelity Soundtrack)
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Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Some of my all-time favourite soundtracks are:
- Magnolia - I couldn't hate the movie anymore if I tried (I really really hated it). But Aimee Mann's soundtrack is divine. I would have preferred to have simply watched a blank screen and just listened to the soundtrack than actually watched the movie.
- About a Boy - I actually quite liked the movie as well, but the soundtrack by Badly Drawn Boy is fabulous. Kind of laid-back and folksy and just the right mood for the movie.
- Pulp Fiction - A girl friend and I played the Captain Kangaroo song so many times that another friend banned us from ever playing any song from the soundtrack while she was present.
Love the new site!
Kylie
Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
Check this out...
Comment by Miswanderlust
Killer Beats
Ramble On
Hipnotherapy
I am glad that you enjoy my new digs!
OMG this
- Magnolia - I couldn't hate the movie anymore if I tried (I really really hated it). But Aimee Mann's soundtrack is divine. I would have preferred to have simply watched a blank screen and just listened to the soundtrack than actually watched the movie.
ME TOO! I could not agree more!
I think my favorite Pulp Fiction song is actually Jack Rabbit slim. Love the twist contest scene.
Hope to see you again soon friend!
Mis
Comment by Miswanderlust
Killer Beats
Ramble On
Hipnotherapy
Great Minds indeed! HAHAHAHA!
Mis
Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
Not exactly in the same league, but I absolutely love the sound track from Shrek 2.
I absolutely agree...
Lilla ...
Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
Check this out...
Comment by Miswanderlust
Killer Beats
Ramble On
Hipnotherapy
Shrek 2 has Funkytown - Lipps, Inc. It is one of my favorite songs of all time!
Mis
So good to see you!
Comment by Miswanderlust
Killer Beats
Ramble On
Hipnotherapy
So right!!! How did we forget Saturday Night Fever!
Mis
Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
I think I have to go and strut, RIGHT NOW!
Ah, ah, Ah Ah,
stayin' alive,
Stayin' alive ...
Oh, such a cool sountrack and now it's made me think of Grease, too.
Comment by Miswanderlust
Killer Beats
Ramble On
Hipnotherapy
How could I have forgotten Grease.... is the word...
So good to see you!
Mis
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
I really love 'The Big Chill' soundtrack.
And Lilla, Shrek 3 soundtrack much better. Immigrant Song and Barracuda....can't beat that
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by Miswanderlust
Killer Beats
Ramble On
Hipnotherapy
Hiya! I listened to the Big over and over. I still think that playing "You Can't Always Get What You Want" at a funeral is brilliance.
Mis