With Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Simon & Garfunkel, and one of Mike Nichols first films, what is not to love about "The Graduate"? Mrs. Robinson (Bancroft) beings to seduce, and have an affair with, young Ben (Hoffman), shortly after his graduation. Mrs. Robinson happens to be the wife of his fathers business partner, and to complicate matters even more, Ben finds himself falling for their daughter.
My dad has been the driving force of introducing me to great films that I normally wouldn't have watched, or even had known about. "The Graduate," is one of the best examples of this. The amazing soundtrack only adds to, for a lack of a better word, the amazingness of the film.
The soundtrack is littered with Simon and Garfunkel tracks, which would lead me to watch the movie regardless of the story or actors. But easily the best song of the film, and most obvious, is "Mrs. Robinson." Not only was the song written for the film, but it encompasses everything about the movie.
The song reassures that "heaven holds a place for those who pray," so even though she is committing adultery, if she prays and repents, there is a possibility she will still be allowed into heaven. The song embodies the overall emotion of the movie, hopeless and wanting a change, and at the same time making light of hte situation.
"When Harry Met Sally," could be one of the first romantic comedies that I have ever seen. Harry (Billy Crystal) met Sally (Meg Ryan) as they were leaving college and instantly hate each other, surprise surprise. The film flashes through their lives as they each fall in and out of love and preiodically run into each other. They eventually form an unlikely friendship, and both of them appreciate the beauty in having a friend that is of the opposite sex. Harry however, is constantly saying that men and women can't be friends, it's impossible.
The film deals with the inevitability that a man and a woman who are as close as Harry and Sally, can't separate friendship from romantic relationship. Among many of the amazing songs throughout the film, including Allman Brother's Band, "Rambling Man," Ella Fitzgerald's "Where or When," and a slew of songs preformed by Harry Conick Jr., the song that embodies the entire film to me is Frank Sinatra's "It Had To Be You," (I couldn't find a Sinatra version, so instead the Dean Martin version will have to do).
The title of the song alone is perfectly fitting for the film, because, not to be cliche, it had to be both of them together at the end. The main message of the song is that no one else is as perfect as the woman who Sinatra is singing about, describing his lover as, "mean," "cross," and "boss," three traits that sum up Sally efficiently.
"When Harry Met Sally," is one of the most iconic romantic comedies of the 1980s, and the soundtrack is cluttered with romantic songs, which everyone has to kick back and listen to every once in a while.
As I was thinking of my next movie to talk about, one of my friends and I got into a conversation about the best love scenes in any movie. Almost instantly we came up with: "The Notebook," "Titanic," and anyone who has talked to me in the last few weeks will know, "Zack and Miri Make A Porno."
What I found most interesting about this conversation was that the only movie that played an actual song during the scene was "Zack and Miri" (see my previous post). In "Titanic," what I call the ultimate love-story, there is the instrumental version of "My Heart Will Go On," a song that everyone instantly knew, which was written for the film. The scene was so short, quiet similar to the time that Jack and Kate had together.
"The Notebook," which soundtrack is less than amazing, has a light score playing as Noah and Allie have sex for the first (second) time after years of being apart.
This got me thinking of what makes a good love scene. All three movies have intense build up. In "Titanic," the love scene happens hours before the ship is hit with the ice berg and the view has no idea of whether or not Jack is going to survive. "The Notebook" has years of build up, with an addition of the intense canoe ride that takes place between Noah and Allie when she comes to visit him. In "Zack and Miri," the build up is knowing that they are going to have sex, and it is just a matter of how it will change their relationship.
I thought that a song would be a major factor in our deciding of what makes the scene, but in reality it is just icing on the cake. What is really important is the chemistry between the actors, the context, and the uniqueness of the story that is being told.
Jason Segel wrote and starred in the hilarious "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," which follows Peter (Segel) attempting to deal with his breakup with Sarah (Kristen Bell). For Peter the breakup was out of the blue and hit him like a ton of bricks, and to try to take his mind off of things, he goes on a vacation. Unfortunately, Sarah, as well as her new boyfriend, are at the same resort as Peter. Peter has to deal with the breakup, while at the same time watching as his ex is with someone else.
The soundtrack for "Forgetting Sarah Marhsall," is nothing extraordinarily special, but the musical number that is most important to me, and the film itself, is Peter's Dracula puppet Musical, including fabulous numbers such as "Dracula's Lamenent," "A Taste for Love," and "We've Got to Do Something."
The story behind the Dracula Musical in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," is that Peter has been working on it for along time. Throughout the film you see the worst of Peter, right after his breakup, while on his vacation as he attempts to deal with the fact that Sarah is dating an international music sensation, and as he falls for Rachel (Mila Kunis) and ends up hurting both of them. The completion of the Dracula Musical shows the viewer that Peter has moved on and evolved out of the relationship with Sarah, something that didn't seem possible at the beginning of the film.
In an interview, Segel revealed that he had previously wrote a Dracula musical with puppets while he was out of work, thinking that it would be what would re-launched his career, and ultimately it sat around for 5 years, only to be used as the climax, and greatest part of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."
To me, "Good Will Hunting," is inspiring in one specific way. I have always wanted to write a script with my best friend about something that happened, or could have happened to us growing up. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote and stared (and co-stared) in the film which put them on the map to being the super stars that they are today.
The movie follows Will (Damon), a mathematical genius, as he goes through therapy and deals with the realities of his life. The soundtrack features 5 different Elliott Smith songs, "Angeles," "No Name #3," "Between the Bars," "Say Yes," and "Miss Misery." The heavy use of one artist in the soundtrack is unique, and adds to the melancholy tone of Smith adds to the movie.
In particular, "Say Yes," is one of the songs that sticks out to me the most, partly because it is one of my over all favorite songs, and I love hearing it in a movie that I enjoy so much. According to SongFacts.com, Smith said that this song was "insanely optimistic," and keeping that in mind, it is played while Skylar (Minnie Driver) and Will are on one of their first dates in a dollar store.
As Skylar and Will talk amidst the junk, "Say Yes," plays lightly in the back ground and flows into their conversation at dinner. As Will admits to Skylar that he was hoping for a good-night kiss, she suggests that they, "should just get it over with now." As she is saying this, the lyric of "Say Yes," is, "They want you or they don't/Say yes." The song is about whether or not someone is interested and how "No one says until it shows," specifically relating how it is very difficult to put yourself out there with someone you like.
"Good Will Hunting," is an interesting movie that I can't help but re-watch, and I'm not sure if it is because I forget what happens in the movie so quickly after seeing it, which I do. Or maybe it is because it is one of those movies where the plot isn't as important as the characters, who experience such fantastic change in the course of 2 hours. Man, I love movies.
I saw "Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou," in theaters with my dad when I was 10. As we walked out of the theater he asked, "Well, what did you think?" I didn't really know what to say, because there had been parts that I liked, but I wasn't sure if I actually liked the movie, mostly I thought that I didn't really get it. Once we figured out that I didn't know Homer's "Odyssey," and therefore completely missed the entire story of the movie, we went to the closest bookstore and bought a children's version to read.
The next night we went back and saw the movie again. We walked out of the theater talking about the adaptation, the soundtrack and the acting. To me, "O Brother," has always been a movie that I can watch in any type of mood I am. And, surprise surprise, one of my favorite parts of the movie is the soundtrack.
It's hard to pick one song out of the entire film, but the stand out song is easily the Soggy Bottom Boy's "I am a Man of Constant Sorrow." The song is one of the catalysts of the film as Everett (George Clooney), Pete (John Turturro) and Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson), record it after escaping from a chain gang in depression ridden Mississippi.
Everett, to say the least, is a man of constant sorrow. He was arrested, he is constantly looking for a very particular type of hair product, his wife got engaged to someone while he was in jail, convinces her to take him back, but she demands that she has her original ring, he finds the ring, and gives it to her after a flood and a near hanging, however she insists it is the wrong one.
Not only does "Man of Constant Sorrow," fuel the movie by creating the opportunity for Everett's wife to finally realize he is "bona fide," and worth taking back, but it also has many parrallels to the actual story of the "Odyssey" and "O Brother." In the beginning of the song, the narrator must "bid farwell," to his home, both Ulysses and Everett at one point (or many) are forced to leave their home.
Besides being one of my favorite Coen brothers movies, it is overall one of my favorite soundtracks to any movie. The soundtrack is full of blue grass and folk music, something I never appreaciated, to say the least I may have despised, but after falling deeply in love with the movie it was hard not to appreciate the music. An entire new genre of music was opened up to me through the wonderul movie of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
A Disney cartoon always has three things: a cute princess, an evil guy/lady, and at least one or two catchy songs. "The Lion King," to me, is the epitome of the great Disney movies with exceptional soundtracks, maybe even the best. With music by Sir Elton John and lyrics by Sir Tim Rice, it would be near impossible for the music to fail.
At the 1995 Oscars "Circle of Life," and "Hakuna Matata," were nominated and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," won for Best Music, Song. "Lion King," was created into a Tony winning Broadway Musical in 1997, which is still in production.
For those who don't know, "The Lion King," follows Simba, a young lion cub, after his father, the king, is killed in a stamped. Simba is forced to run away from his family and friends, into the African wilderness. While there he finds two friends, grows into an adult, and then after encountering one of his childhood friends, is forced to go back home and claim his rightful spot as King Simba.
"Circle of Life," plays as the powerful opening scene of every animal from the Sahara gathers to welcome the birth of Simba. The lyrics are uplifting, leaving the viewer, and listener, with the main message of that, obviously, life is a circle. More importantly, the lyrics urge for exploration, "There's more to see than can ever be seen/More to do than can ever be done/There's far too much to take in here/More to find than can ever be found," and to push yourself, which Simba has to do throughout his life.
More importantly, the movie opens and closes with "Circle of Life," which reinforces the theme, of dealing with life, but overall knowing that when bad things happen, it only happens because it is the circle of the life.
"Lion King," is easily my favorite Disney movie, animals that talk, dance and sing, Elton John, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Nathan Lane, and James Earl Jones. Although "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," was the biggest success out of the film, "Circle of Life," is the essence of the movie.
Sean Penn's movie-adaptation of Jon Krakauer's biography of Chris McCandless, follows his life after he graduates from college and decides to abandon his identity by traveling and wandering through western North America to find his true self.
The soundtrack is mainly composed of songs written and preformed by Eddie Vedder, front man to Pearl Jam, as well as a cover preformed by Vedder, and a collaboration with Jerry Hannan on the song "Society."
Vedder was approached by Penn to create the songs for the film, and Vedder's folky sound he created couldn't capture the journey that McCandless goes through in attempting to live a life of solitude more perfectly.
Because Vedder was asked to write the music after seeing a rough cut, all of the songs were created with Chris and the film in mind. However, "Long Nights," reinforces the haunting reality theme of abandoning your history to create a new being, which is portrayed throughout the entire film.
The movie opens to the empty void of the Alaskan wilderness, as Chris (Emilie Hirsch) is getting out of a car of a complete stranger. After their abrupt interaction, Chris beings to walk into the wild, and "Long Nights," beings to play. The first lyrics "have no fear/for when I'm alone/I'm better off than I was before," leaves the viewer feeling as if it is Chris telling them this.
What the viewer doesn't know is that previous to being in Alaska, Chris had grown up in an upper-middle class family and graduated from a prestigious university, only to disappear into the American West and travel for two years. As the viewer is brought into the film, Chris has created to the best of his ability who he wants to be in life, and he feels that his adventure in Alaska will finalize this process. "Who I was before/I can't recall," is echoing Chris' inner desires, and possibly the truth.
Throughout the entire song Vedder leads the viewer through Chris' entire self, by describing the new "soul that is inside me now," as a new friend that he "will forever know." The song continues to create the character of Chris by stating that "I will always be better than before," something that is constantly reinforced throughout the film as Chris sheds his old self and creates a new identity.
Throughout the film it is obvious that Chris resents the life that he had and more importantly hates how "every fucking person is so bad to each other so fucking often." Chris abandons all personal belongings and traces of his past in an attempt to live a simple life of solitude. Vedder's haunting voice, not only aides the haunting story of Chris, but acts as another character, almost an inner voice of Chris', and enhances the story telling process.
A great soundtrack will reinforce the theme and mood of the movie, without taking away from the film. Mike Nichols' "Closer" (2004) follows four characters dealing with relationships and adultery, and in doing so explores the meaning of love and the effect betrayal has on someone. The characters in film, as well as the film itself, are beautiful, yet it is full of depression.
The use of song throughout the film is minimal, but every song picked, does have an underlying tone of adultery or depressing beauty. Even the opera, Così fan tutte, in which Dan (Jude Law) and Anna (Julia Roberts) attend, while in the midst of an adulterous affair, is about fiancée swapping. (And unless you are an opera buff, there is no way you would know this).
The minimal use of song in the movie reinforces the minimal aspect of the movie in that we are simply watching four emotionally corrupt people hurt and destroy the ones that they claim to love.
Two of the songs struck me as a perfect puzzle piece fit for the films theme and mood, The Smiths' "How Soon is Now?" and Rice's "Blower's Daughter." The two songs, although different in style, The Smiths being an 80s indie rock band, and Rice an Irish folk singer of the late 90s, are similar in their beautiful outside that is laced with depressing lyrics.
"How Soon is Now?" plays while Larry (Clive Owen) is talking with Alice (Natalie Portman), at a strip club. He is questioning Alice, prying into her personal life, and the song plays faintly in the background, so faintly in fact, if you weren't looking for it you may not have noticed the switch from the strip club music that had been previously playing seconds earlier.
Although the song is obviously not the main feature of the scene, the lyrics, "You shut your mouth/How can you say/I go about things the wrong way/I am Human and I need to be loved/Just like everybody else does," is exactly what Alice would be thinking in the scene, but would never say.
In contrast, Rice's "Blower's Daughter," is the main feature of the opening and ending scenes of "Closer." The film opens as Dan and Alice walk towards each other on a busy street, only for her to be hit by a car. The beauty of their love at first sight is crushed by the accident.
The use of "Blower's Daughter," in the final scene as Anna is in bed with Larry, who has already fallen asleep, brings the viewer back to the beginning of the film. The first lyrics, "Life goes easy on me/Most of the time," leaves the viewer understanding that although this is what Anna wants, there is a part of her that will always be unhappy. "And so it is.../No love, no glory," are exactly the emotions that Anna leaves the viewer with.
As Alice, goes back to America, and we find that her real name is plain Jane Jones, as the line "I can't take my eyes off of you," repeats. The fact of the matter is that throughout the entire movie it is hard to take your eyes off of Portman, whether she is sporting short red hair, a cleaner longer brown bob, a pink wig as a stripper, or as the movie closes with long curly brown hair.
The repetition of the song leaves me with a more reinforced understanding that these people have not learned from their mistakes and will continue to make them in the future.
"Closer," is a great film, and although the soundtrack is minimal, it is effective, emotional and raw, just like the movie.
What other movie could be accompanied by DMX's "Party Up," The Pixies's "Hey," a 'nerdcore' rap about Star Wars "Fett's Vette" by MC Chris, and DJ Kool's "Let Me Clear My Throat"? None other than Kevin Smith's "Zack and Miri Make Porno." Not only did Kevin Smith create an amazing film about an unconventional love story, but the hodgepodge of music used throughout the film adds to the uniqueness of the story.
Zack and Miri are life-long best friends and roommates, who go broke, and resort to making a porn. With a cast full of actors and real porn stars, Smith not only creates a film that has pushed the limits to the very extreme of what can be shown in theaters, but he managed to create a very real, funny, and smart story.
The mash-up of songs that play throughout initially could be seen as if someones iPod threw up, but in reality the wide range of genres and time periods trap exactly what Smith was going for throughout the film, a lot of randomness with a lot of emotion.
If anyone every told me that a love scene with Seth Rogen, in a movie about making a porno, filmed in the backroom of coffee shop could be sexy, I would have laughed and said it would be impossible. However, the climatic love scene between Zack and Miri is not comical and with Live's "Lift Me Up," playing it emphasizes that it isn't a sex scene, the two are falling in love, or at least realizing that they have been in love for a long time.
At first it seems as if "Lift Me Up," could be a nontraditional love ballad, but once you read into the lyrics, "your feelings are too real," and "I'll lift you up, we can love or cry/Hey, I'm in love, I'll take you up again," you quickly realize that it is everything a love song should say. And what song could be better for one of the most nontraditional love scenes in Hollywood?
All in all the movie was great, the emotions were real, the comedy was spot on, and the music was nailed. What more could you want in a movie?
You can find a complete list of all the songs in "Zack and Miri" here.
If you are like me, you love music, movies, and the music that is in movies. To me a soundtrack can make or break a movie.
As a university student I spend the majority of my time watching movies and listening to music, when I'm not studying of course. I consume movies the way that most people consume oxygen. The movies that I watch range from classics, to action packed, romance, comedies, and box office smashes. If you enjoy any of these categories, and the music in them, then this is place for you.
With Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Simon & Garfunkel, and one of Mike Nichols first films, what is not to love about "The Graduate"? Mrs. Robinson (Bancroft) beings to seduce, and have an affair with, young Ben (Hoffman), shortly after his graduation. Mrs. Robinson happens to be the wife of his fathers business partner, and to complicate matters even more, Ben finds himself falling for their daughter.
