Monday, September 22, 2014

IT WAS A TEENAGE WEDDING, AND THE OLD FOLKS WISHED THEM WELL:  The Dissolve's editors attempt to compile a list of the fifty greatest uses of pop music in movie history, with many, many clips.

16 comments:

  1. Joseph Finn11:25 AM

    Like I said there, I could complain about Beta Band being just outside of the top ten, but man if that isn't a strong list (and has given me a list of things to finally see, like Dancer in the Dark).

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  2. Two of my favorites: Jon Cryer doing Otis Redding in "Pretty in Pink" and the Timothy Hutton/caveman duet of "Heart of Gold" in "Iceman.

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  3. Marsha12:06 PM

    Yes, "Try a Little Tenderness" should be on here.

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  4. Marsha12:06 PM

    Hard to quibble with ordering (especially since they got #1 correct) but Sounds of Silence is way too low on this list.

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  5. Tosy and Cosh3:10 PM

    I said this over there, but a favorite piece of music trivia is that the high note at the end of the operatic section in "Bohemian Rhapsody" is not Mercury, but drummer Roger Taylor.

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  6. Adam B.3:27 PM

    And, for John Hughes movies, "Twist and Show" from Ferris.

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  7. -The Royal Tenenbaums, "Hey Jude."
    -Before Sunset, "A Waltz for a Night" (maybe doesn't count as it was not a preexisting song)
    -Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), "Le Mer" (maybe my favorite ever)
    -Casablanca, "As Time Goes By," "Knock on Wood," and (especially) "La Marseillaise"

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  8. (It's possible that of the above, only "Hey Jude" counts as pop music.)

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  9. That was actually me saying that, before I added a few more (the Simone songs) that clearly are pop.

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  10. Randy5:56 PM

    (Dancer in the Dark is only OK.) (Though the scene they discuss is great.)

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  11. Joseph Finn5:59 PM

    Nice, but my preference would be "We Are Not Alone" from Breakfast Club.

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  12. Randy6:03 PM

    My biggest beef with the list is how broadly everything is defined. There are musicals with original songs, musicals with pre-existing songs, movies with characters singing existing songs, movies with songs used on the soundtrack. By defining everything so broadly (including whatever they mean by "pop"), doesn't that end up with too many things getting excluded? Like, by their own criteria, shouldn't Somewhere Over The Rainbow or Make Em Laugh be included?

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  13. bill.6:19 PM

    A few years ago I tried a version of this question and most of the Dissolve's movies would be disallowed. It was a small post highlighted by Keith Coogan showing up in the comments. http://soquoted.blogspot.com/2006/04/great-musical-moments-in-movies-not.html

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  14. Alex_Gordon6:14 PM

    This was the one omission that popped out to me, though I would include Danke Schoen, as well.

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  15. Alex_Gordon6:15 PM

    I loved that Heart of Gold scene when I saw it in the theaters. Still think about it when I hear that song, though I remember very little else from the movie.

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  16. Alex_Gordon6:40 PM

    Maybe it's just some Cold War nostalgia, but how about James Brown's performance of "Living in America" in Rocky IV?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZUWQdSTQ7Q

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