Music makes the best movie moments
Posted: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 6:00 AM by Paige Newman
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Movies
These days, most films are packed wall-to-wall with pop songs. But it takes a special blend of music and cinema to make those moments memorable. For example, try to think of a single song from “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” Nope, I can’t think of any either. And yet, that film is filled with songs. Recently, director Cameron Crowe (“Almost Famous”) gave his top 36 music moments on film to Empire magazine.
20th Century Fox |
John Cusack tries to woo Ione Skye back with a little help from Peter Gabriel.
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Of course, Crowe is the master of creating great film moments with music. It’s impossible to listen to Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” without thinking of John Cusack holding a boom box over his head to try to win back Ione Skye in “Say Anything…” Jackson Browne’s “Somebody’s Baby” always makes me think of a young Jennifer Jason Leigh losing her virginity to a stereo salesman in a baseball dugout in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”
One of my favorite Crowe moments is in “Almost Famous,” after Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) walks out on the band and spends the night tripping on acid at a local party. His walk of shame ends with him getting back on the tour bus and encountering an uncomfortable silence. And then
Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” comes on the radio and all the band members, roadies and groupies begin to sing along. The joy of the song cuts through any grudges, discomfort or anger.
Sing-along moments are nothing new.
Tom Cruise serenaded Kelly McGillis in “Top Gun.” Timothy Hutton and pals sang “Sweet Caroline” to Uma Thurman in “Beautiful Girls.” But my favorite sing-along moment is in “The Deer Hunter”
when Robert De Niro, John Savage, Christopher Walken and their friends sing Franki Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes off You.” That moment of pure friendship and pre-war innocence makes what happens to the friends all the more poignant.
Bob Dylan recently said in Rolling Stone magazine that he hated how most songs in movies just got used over the end credits. I have to agree. Wouldn’t Bruce Springsteen’s “The Wrestler” have worked better within the movie than it did over the credits?
I love it when a song takes on new meaning. In “Silence of the Lambs,” Catherine Martin (Brooke Smith) is listening to Tom Petty’s “American Girl” while driving home, just before she is kidnapped by Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). Whenever that song comes on the radio while I’m driving at night, I get a chill. I’m assuming this is not what Petty intended.
The moments go on and on. The haunting use of The Doors' “The End” in “Apocalypse Now.” Duckie’s dance to Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness” in “Pretty in Pink.” The destruction of a non-working fax machine to the Geto Boys’ “Still” in “Office Space.”
Crowe also has some of my favorites on his list: Harry Nilsson’s “Everybody’s Talking” from “Midnight Cowboy,” Cat Stevens’ “Don’t Be Shy” from “Harold and Maude,” Cheap Trick’s “Downed” from “Over the Edge” (a great early Matt Dillon performance), The Delfonics’ “Didn’t I Blow Your Mind This Time” from “Jackie Brown” and Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life” from “Trainspotting.”
What are some of your favorite music moments in movies? Are there songs that just take you instantly back to a certain scene? Share them in the comments space below.
