Monday, March 08, 2010

Music for Movies

Still recovering from my 100 Singles project -- but while I take a breather, a few thoughts about the nature of music in films, inspired by Nat over at Another Aging Hipster. . . .

Watching the Academy Awards telecast last night -- the one annual ritual that I hold sacred, no matter how dimwitted and flatulent and ostentatious the whole exercise can be -- I was thrilled, of course, to see my old boyfriend Jeff Bridges win the best actor award (about time!), and to see T-Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham pick up another statuette for the theme song to Crazy Heart. As the schlockfest lumbered on, between trips to the kitchen to refill my popcorn bowl, a thought occurred to me. Why don't they have a category for best compilation soundtrack? You know, as opposed to the best score category, which rewards only original composers, or the best song category, which is just for a single theme song. A great "various artists" soundtrack can totally sell a picture to me. In fact, I've often thought that that would be my dream job: To assemble songs for movie soundtracks. (Any studio honchos out there reading? You know how to reach me. )

As a music lover, I often pick my movies according to their music. Musical bio-pics are an easy sell for me, even for artists I didn't particularly like. (By the movie's end, inevitably I've become a fan.) We've had a string of good ones lately -- Cadillac Records, I Walk the Line, Ray -- but I'll go back farther. Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison in The Doors. That Jerry Lee Lewis thing with Dennis Quaid. The divine Jessica Lange as Patsy Cline (Sweet Dreams) and Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter. I even liked Lady Sings the Blues, and usually I can't stand Diana Ross. Done right, a good bio-pic is like a greatest hits album come to life, with really good liner notes.

Now, I would never buy the soundtrack CD for a movie like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings -- who buys those ponderous instrumental things? But I have been known to buy the soundtrack CD if the movie features a series of original songs, especially if they're performed in the movie, not just in the background. My favorite movie soundtrack of all time is Alan Price's 1973 songs for the Lindsay Anderson movie O Lucky Man!; that one's in a class by itself. But I really enjoyed Glen Hasard's soundtrack for Once -- I loved how the songs were worked into the story -- and thinking of Glen Hasard throws me back to another favorite soundtrack, for his first film The Commitments, an intriguing mix of scene-setting classic recordings and the actors performing other classic songs. If we're talking great original movie soundtracks -- again, songs, not just background score -- you have to mention the Bee Gees' triumph, Saturday Night Fever. I don't even like disco or the Bee Gees, and I get thrilled when the songs break out in that movie. How essential to The Graduate were those melancholy, satiric Simon & Garfunkel songs? And then of course there's one of the greatest rock soundtracks ever, A Hard Day's Night, which is so much better than all those other early 60s rock movies (ever see the Dave Clark Five's Having a Wild Weekend?), that it effectively killed the genre.

But I digress. As I work my way down my shelf of movie-related CDs, what I'm really thinking about today is those soundtracks that assemble already-existing songs slotted in to underlie the movie's story. Certain directors have a genius touch with this -- Oliver Stone, Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, and John Cusack come to mind (John Hughes could pull a few rabbits out of this hat too). All these guys are music lovers themselves, who bring that love to the films they direct. They know how a familiar song can establish the era, telegraph mood or character, and punctuate the story line. Back in the dinosaur days when they invented Oscar categories, popular music wasn't used in the same way, but pop culture has so come of age, that in the right hands music is as effective a tool as editing or visual effects for conveying a story. Using a song the audience already knows is more bang for your buck. Just think of how Scorsese used the songs in Mean Streets, for example -- the opening riffs of "Be My Baby" or "Jumping Jack Flash." You don't have to be a Kinks fan to love the use of "Nothin' in This World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout that Girl" in Anderson's Rushmore, or "This Time Tomorrow" in The Darjeeling Limited.

In the right hands, music can define time with surgical precision. Think about the Coen Brothers' brilliant O Brother! Where Art Thou?, the soundtrack of which had my head ringing with Depression-era music for months. Half the reason Forrest Gump was so much fun was because its soundtrack swiftly pinpointed each year of Forrest's march through history. American Graffiti would have been nothing without its nonstop stream of vintage rock and roll hits. I didn't even see the movie Bobby, but I've got the soundtrack -- as an aural portrait of 1968 it can't be beat.

Even more so lately, it's become a reliable index to the hipster quotient of a film to have a witty soundtrack compiled of alternative tracks mixed with lesser-known album cuts from classic artists. The Zach Braff film Garden State had a brilliant soundtrack that introduced me to tons of cool indie bands. Go back a couple of years farther to Empire Records, which assembled a great bunch of songs for its story about a day in the life of an indie record shop. Even better is the soundtrack John Cusack put together for his record-store geeks in High Fidelity. (And even better than that was Cusack's soundtrack collection for Grosse Pointe Blank.)

Just in the past year, I loved the soundtracks for (500 Days of) Summer (cool use of the Smiths!) and the deeply evocative period piece Taking Woodstock. The charming little film Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist was so totally about music, and what it means to certain kids, that it absolutely depended on having a killer soundtrack. Same with Pirate Radio -- you can't tell the story of the UK's 1960s offshore radio stations without a stream of the kind of music that those stations championed.

But it's late, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. So tell me -- what are YOUR favorite music movies and movie soundtracks?

29 comments:

The Modesto Kid said...

Have you seen Stroszek? Among other things (one of the greatest movies ever made IMO) it features brilliant use of popular music. The first half of the movie is set in Germany and dominated by by polka tunes -- the main character is an accordionist -- in the second half, he moves to America, to northern Wisconsin, and the soundtrack switches over to old country tunes. Only a few tunes, played repeatedly -- the way they capture Stroszek's frustration and decline, really masterful.

The Modesto Kid said...

Actually, now I'm thinking "Polka" is a poor descriptor for the music in the first half. It's German folk music played on accordion.

...And, "old country" does not really encompass the second half very well either -- the main songs from the second half are Silver Bell and Chet Atkins' performance of "You Were Always on My Mind", and a fantastic harmonica blues piece by Sonny Terry.

The Modesto Kid said...

Aargh, I mean Chet Atkins' performance of "The Last Thing on my Mind".

Holly A Hughes said...

Wow, that's pulling one out of the vault. I so loved that movie, though it was ages ago I saw it. (Anything Bruno Ganz does is okay by me.) I don't remember the music, though -- must Netflix it now!

wwolfe said...

There's a German movie from 1997 called "Bandits," that's roughly about a Shangri-La's-meet-Riot-Grrls band that becomes a hit after becoming wanted by the law and going on the lam. Terrific score that both propels the story and works as legitimate rock and roll, divorced from the experience of watching the movie. The climactic song, "Catch Me," in particular is a winner, starting with its painterly opening lines: "I heard you drove a silvery sports car/Upon the empty streets last night." Beyond that, I second your nominees, especially "Grosse Pointe Blank."

Holly A Hughes said...

Mmmmm, sounds tasty. I'd better Netflix that one too, and throw in Wings of Desire and An American Friend as well, if I'm gonna go on a German binge.

From the description, I wonder if it has the same feel as this new movie coming out with Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart, called The Runaways. I know that one's supposed to be a fictionalized biopic of how Joan Jett got her start -- if the music's any good it could be a real winner.

Merv said...

One that pops to mind is 1993's "So I Married An Axe Murderer". Mike Myers' movie is an ok flick, but I bought the soundtrack before I ever saw the movie. TWO versions of "There She Goes", the original by The La's and a cover by the Boo Radleys, piqued my interest. I can put this in the CD player and be transported back in time...

hot stix said...

Oooh ooo!! I got a lot to say about movie soundtracks...>Deep breath<...I gotta give a shout out to Rushmore (and Wes Anderson's first film, Bottle Rocket) for having AWESOME soundtracks...that scene in BR set to 7 and 7 Is by Love? Genius. And the scene set to 2000 Man by the Stones? Wes A. is the MAN for working great music into his stories.

Most of the other musical movies (NOT musicals, necessarily!) that I dig have original music written for them, rather than compiled soundtracks (Harold and Maude, Phantom of the Paradise, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Still Crazy), or cover songs by a band in the movie (Leningrad Cowboys Go America), but let us not forget one of the best...REPO MAN!!! Not sure how deep into the punk you are, Holly, but that is one tasty soundtrack, and the movie would not be as great as it is without it! Coup D'Etaaaaat!!

Holly A Hughes said...

Some great picks! I do love the So I Married an Axe Murderer soundtrack, Merv, thanks for reminding me. Repo Man is one I haven't seen, hot stix, but I did see the CD in a bin and noticed what a damn fine soundtrack it has. One minor minor quibble -- I don't think the Cat Stevens songs were written for Harold and Maude, but picked up after Tea for the Tillerman came out. But you are so right, that is a brilliant marriage of movie and music.

NickS said...

I don't know about complete soundtracks, but I have to say that having "Love and Happiness" over the opening credits of Love and Basketball is one of my favorite uses of music in any movie.

I remember Run Lola Run having a good soundtrack, but I have listened to it outside of the movie.

Holly A Hughes said...

I definitely need to see Run Lola Run -- I can imagine that a good soundtrack would be essential for that one.

Two more great compilation soundtracks that I've just remembered -- Almost Famous (a natural) and Clueless. And I recall Blast from the Past using music really well to contrast the two eras Brendan Fraser was trying to move between.

Holly A Hughes said...

Oh, how could I have forgotten Dazed and Confused? It made me fall in love with all that 70s musical dreck that I'd closed my ears to DURING the 1970s. (Thank goodness, once the movie was over I came to my senses again . . . )

pplist said...

A Hard Day's Night, of course (Best. Soundtrack. Ever!), but I'm also particularly fond of Easy Rider. Each song launched, and often ignited, its particular scene: "The Pusher," "Born To Be Wild,""Wasn't Born To Follow" (!), "If You Want To Be A Bird," "If 6 Was 9," "Kyrie Eleison," the title track, etc., etc. These tunes inevitably bring to mind the big bills being fed one by one into the gasoline tube, the hogs spitting gravel as they dig out, the beautiful desert mountains and hippies in the swimming hole, a mile-wide-grinning Jack Nicholson in white suit and football helmet perched behind Captain America, the scaffolding of the Mississippi River bridge, the lsd trip in the cemetery, the smoke rising from the. . .well, let's not give away the ending. Magic! Your excellent post brings back good memories and points the way to further explorations.

NickS said...

I just remembered two soundtrack albums that I have, though both are primarily a single artist. Six String Samurai (the Red Elvises) and The Harder They Come (Jimmy Cliff).

Two soundtrack albums that have tempted me based on their tracklists are The Big Chill and Wayne's World.

The soundtrack to The Big Easy also looks like it has some good songs. Though, again, that's getting away from the criteria that you set out in the post of a soundtrack that effectively compiles pop music of the day.

Anonymous said...

I don't think John Cusack has ever directed a film in his life, despite you listing him as a director alongside Scorsese etc. He did co-write some films like Grosse Point and High Fidelty, but Joe Strummer compiled the Grosse soundtrack, and composed the incidental music.

The best soundtracks? Ry Cooder's Paris Texas, The Natural (Randy Newman) and take your pick from any Hitchcock.

Holly A Hughes said...

Thanks for the correction -- apologies to George Armitage, and the estimable Stephen Frears, who DID direct those Cusack films. I have read that when Cusack co-produces, co-writes, and stars in a film, he has a great amount of creative input, and is heavily involved in the music choices. Joe Strummer's a guy I'd want to have compile my soundtrack!

And now I am mortified that I forgot Easy Rider, The Harder They Come (THE film that introduced me to reggae), and The Big Chill. I must have put them on another shelf in my collection!

Mark said...

I have to agree with you, O Lucky Man! is simply an amazing melding of film and music. O Lucky Man and the Beatles' soundtracks: A Hard Day's Night, Help, Magical Mstery Tour, and Let It Be are the soundtracks I listen to the most. Alan Price is amazing!

Barely Awake In Frog Pajamas said...

I've always thought that the soundtrack to the movie Until The End Of The World was a fantastic collection of songs.

Holly A Hughes said...

Wow, I just looked that up, and it is a brilliant collection of songs. I don't even know that movie, must Netflix it. I think I've gotta add Wim Wenders to that list of directors who insist on a great rock soundtrack.

Holly A Hughes said...

Just remembered another film with a soundtrack to die for -- McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Those melancholy Leonard Cohen songs -- they made certain you knew how lonely and doomed those characters were.

NickS said...

I should mention, since you have The Big Easy soundtrack that "Iko Iko" would definitely make my list of top 100 singles.

So good, and one of the stranger singles in the history of pop music. Recorded when they were fooling around in the studio not knowing that they were being recorded, singing and drumming on an ashtray. And it ended up being one of their big singles. You can't beat that.

Gary said...

I find myself listening to the soundtrack from Curtis Hanson's "Wonder Boys" a lot. Four Dylan songs and a bunch of other oldies. It's a laid back, cozy record.

The Modesto Kid said...

Something that just occurred to me -- what about soundtrack albums that are the only good thing about the movie? "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" is (imo) the archetypal example -- a wonderful record, a forgettable film.

Holly A Hughes said...

Luckily, I spared myself that pleasure. Dylan singing is one thing, Dylan acting, quite another.

I had forgotten that all those fine songs were in the Wonder Boys. I love that movie, but I sure don't remember the soundtrack.

Great story about Iko Iko, Nick. So much of that music was new to me when I saw the Big Easy, and I was, um, distracted by watching Dennis Quaid. But it was a tasty musical gumbo, wasn't it?

Vivalabeat said...

High Fidelity soundtrack is probably one of my most favorite. I can't say I love all the songs but it was great to hear some of them when I was watching the movie for the first time. :) There's also a movie called The 60s. I like the soundtrack (no wonder). And of course, The Boat That Rocked.

ssspune said...

Great post, Holly! I haven't even seen the film, but adore the Mystery Train soundtrack...and love the choice of "Season of the Witch" as the credits roll in To Die For

Crafty said...

Not exactly on point, because its not a compilation...music is integral to plot, but.....Harder They Come is THE BEST SOUNDTRACK OF ALL TIME and a personal desert island disc. Crafty

Gary said...

Remembered a couple more favorites:

Sondre Lerche's soundtrack for "Dan in Real Life"

The soundtrack for "Magnolia," featuring mostly Aimee Mann songs

Holly A Hughes said...

I think the soundtrack for Dan In Real Life was better than the movie! Though I did like the scene where Steve Carell sings "Let My Love Open the Door."