As ridiculous as the 347 year old *** Clark can be, his whole "Music is the soundtrack to tour lives" quotes is...well, pretty ridiculous as well. Still, there's something about it that clicks, I think.
Sometimes music is overused and misused in movies. Like Cameron Crowe's recent film Elizabethtown. You know, it's easy to enjoy a movie just because there's lots of great music, when in fact underneath it all is an all-too familiar plot, silly-shallow characters, and...well, that's about it. But then there's filmmakers who place just the right song in just the right places and as a result makes a great film more magical. I think Wes Anderson is a great example. I mean, when Gwynneth Paltrow (the troubled adopted daughter in The Royal Tennenbaums) meets Luke Wilson on the train station while Neco's version of "These Days" plays...it sets a perfect atmosphere of moments all viewers can relate to.
So what's your top five favorite soundtracks?
Here's mine to start:
1. Rushmore: From obscure Kinks tracks ("Nothing in this World Stops Me Worrying About That Girl") to forgotten Donovan classics, the soundtrack's songs are as quirky and marginalized as Max Fisher.
2. Can't Hardly Wait: If the film had any depth or practical wisdom I wouldn't like it nearly as much as I do. It's just about naive, clueless highshool graduates with only two priorities: have fun and fall in love. I think its soundtrack, with greats like Third Eye Blind, Parliament, and Matthew Sweet, is the perfect pomp and circumstance for the film's characters.
3. Forrest Gump: Sure, maybe a double disc of nearly EVERY pop classic from 1955-1975 was a bit much. But like the movie, these songs never lose their heartwarming charm.
4. Stand By Me: No other film better illustrates childhood friendship. And the songs that the ragtag boys sing and walk along to as they search for a dead body remind us what it was like to be young. Standout track/scene? "Lollipop."
5. Night On Earth: Tom Waits, my favorite singer, did the wonderful soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch's breakthrough film.
Now, what are yours?