Music in Movies

It's clear to me that a good soundtrack is really what makes a lot of those shining sequences of brilliant cinema what they are. It's that combination of something visually stunning and a great song, that's what keeps you glued to the screen, it keeps your heart pumping with excitement. I thought I'd take a shot at coming up with my (not set in stone) top 5 musical tracks from a movie.

First of all I set up some rules. There will be no songs originally composed for a movie. So, there goes "Mrs. Robinson" from The Graduate. There will also be no songs that the actors sing themselves. So, that goes for any musical, or perhaps just a random song sung by an actor, for instance Paul Newman plays "Plastic Jesus" on a banjo in Cool Hand Luke. Finally, no classical music, just pop & rock is what I was looking for.

5) 2000 Man - The Rolling Stones

from the movie "Bottle Rocket"

I have Wes Anderson to thank for my love for The Stones, he directed and picked the music for this cool little flick starring Luke & Owen Wilson. In the movie they take part in a heist that goes wrong. This tune is playing as Owen Wilson makes his on-foot getaway from the cops and leads them into the warehouse that they tried to rob, as the police take him down, Mick Jagger's voice and the organ in the song pound through the speakers and truly make a great scene.

4) Heart of the Sunrise - Yes

from the movie "Buffalo '66"

This crazy rock 'n roller of a song plays as the actor Vincent Gallo walks into a strip-club and looks for a man he's trying to murder. Really it's a perfect song for the state of mind someone would have to be in to want to murder someone. It's fast and crazy and works perfectly as he pushes his hair back and aims his pistol. What happens next in the movie I won't say, but you can be sure that it was tracked well with the perfect song.

3) Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealers Wheel

from the movie "Reservoir Dogs"

This song is actually sorta going against my own rules because it's playing on a radio in the room the characters are in, and you can hear the actor Michael Madsen quietly sing-a-long to it for a few seconds, but I think if you see the scene you'll know why I had to put it in the list. As the radio DJ K-Billy says in the movie, the song is a Dylan-esque, pop, bubble-gum favorite, and the cheerfulness of the song works entirely too well as Madsen does his dance with his razor as he's about to torture the cop they suspect of knowing something. Of course though, what makes the scene horrifying, and the reason this happy song is on the list is because he was just gonna torture him for fun, not to get anything out of him.

2) Big White Cloud - John Cale

from the movie "Smokin' Aces"

This classic song barrels in as an assassin makes his way into a hotel room to off a snitch that everyone is after, the snitch is played by Jeremy Piven. There's some desperate quality to the song that magnifies how pathetic Piven's character has become in the movie. When the assassin arrives Piven is in the bathroom, he has evidence of drugs around his nose, and he has these big dark circles around his teary eyes. The song with its heavy piano chords and the best portrayal of a drug addict I've ever seen for some reason moves me, especially as Piven puts in contacts to change the color of his eyes. You'd really have to see the movie to understand.

1) Atlantis - Donovan

from the movie "Goodfellas"

One of my favorite movies, and just one of the best scenes ever filmed in my eyes. It's the definition of a great moment in film, great acting, cool look to the way it is shot, and of course the perfect song to go along. Martin Scorsese is without a doubt the master of mixing movies with the best classic rock songs, and this one is beautiful. The scene - the actors Joe Pesci and Frank Vincent get into a verbal argument, Pesci leaves, Pesci comes back, Pesci and his friend played by Robert De Niro beat the living hell out of Frank Vincent. Seems simple, but for some reason as De Niro is burying his heel in Vincent's face I'm completely captivated. There's also this great part where Joe Pesci is about to shoot Frank Vincent but De Niro hits the gun out of his hand, and it's just as the snare drum is picking up in the song, and then Scorsese gets a shot of the gun falling apart on the ground, it's beautiful. Then they stop the beating and respectfully apologize for getting blood on the floor of Ray Liotta's bar. This is my personal favorite musical moment in a movie.

Buffalo '66 - A tragic story of love, football, and murder

Buffalo '66 gives a dark portrayal of the sad, mundane existence that comes with living in an uneventful city. It is brilliantly put together by Vincent Gallo, the movie's writer, director, and main actor.

Billy Brown (Gallo) is back from his CIA government job and is coming back to visit his parents to show off his new bride. The trouble is he doesn't work for the CIA and he isn't married. It's actually his first day out of prison and his fake wife is a tap-dancer named Layla (Christina Ricci) that he kidnapped. All he wants is some appreciation from his unloving parents, and to get back at Scott Wood, the Buffalo Bills kicker who missed a field goal in a game he was betting on and consequently made him spend 5 years in prison.

As Billy's murderous mission unravels we see the very core of a man's pain and abundance of emotion. It is the greatest character study since Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver. However strange it might look at first glance (and the first 15 minutes of the movie is just a guy trying to find a bathroom to use) the movie is extremely gripping, and will in some way cause you to have feelings for the characters on the screen.

One great aspect to the film is the amusing dialogue. For instance when Billy kidnaps Layla and informs her that she'll have to put on a show as his wife, he says, "If you make me look bad... I will never ever talk to you again." A line like that pretty much goes down in film history as the most bizarre threat a kidnapper has ever said to his captive.

Billy's parents are played devilishly well by Ben Gazzara and Anjelica Huston. They're so evil and uncaring for their own son that you don't have to wonder why the Billy character has so many problems. In the movie his mother holds a grudge against him because his birth made her miss a Buffalo Bills game. She loves the Bills so much she even declares, "I wish I never had him."

Every frame of the film is dark, and wonderful photography. Gallo certainly delivers great cinematography in his debut. In particular the climactic scene near the close of the film wherein he enters a strip-club to find the former Buffalo-Bill Scott Wood, it is without a doubt some of the most interesting camera-work I've ever seen.

The movie may confuse you, it may disturb you, it may make you cry, it may cause you to laugh hysterically, in my case it made me hate the Buffalo Bills, but it will certainly hold your interest and leave an impression on you afterwards. It is also one of my favorite romances and it has a very unexpected "cute" ending.

I would urge you to take a chance with Buffalo '66, as it is one of my favorite movies.

Introduction

Hello, my name is John Shaff, and I love movies. Since a very early age I've been fascinated by them. Movies are like an escape, they can take away all the pains of reality and transport you to another world. In that manner, movies have kind of been the best counselor a boy like me could ever hope to have.

I sorta have my father to thank for my immense interest in cinema because my whole life he has constantly been dragging me in and out of the theater. He also never minded a film's rating, just so long as it was good, we'd go see it.

One particular memory was seeing the movie Gladiator when I was 6. I remember glaring in amazement at the Colosseum on the big screen and realizing I had started a life-long love-affair with movies. I was only in the first grade but I was already rooting for a movie to win Best Picture, and sure enough Gladiator did.

When I got into the second grade most of the other boys in my grade wanted to become firefighters, but I wanted to be a soldier. Why? Just because Saving Private Ryan was my favorite movie at the time. Movies have always had a strong influence on me, and I'm sure if I had loved the movie Backdraft as much I would've wanted to be a firefighter too.

As I get older my passion only grows more. I can't go a day without watching at least one movie, and my basic goal in life is to have an encyclopedic knowledge of films and film history. I hope to someday be able to direct and make great movies, much like Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Howard Hawks, and Charles Chaplin (some of my personal favorites.) I think of it like this-movies have given me so much, and I'd like to give a little back.

To this day, sitting in a theater is more like a religious experience than just a leisurely way to spend a couple hours. Cinema is the highest art form, it encapsules all other forms, such as music, photography, and writing. It is truly majestic. A good movie can set fireworks off in your soul.

So, I'd like to use this blog to share my opinions on movies I've seen, because it makes sense to talk about something you know.