Use of Music in Film

[IrishCanadian25]

Honestly, has any film ever used music better to set / enhance the mood and setting better that Forrest Gump? They arrive in Vietnam to "Fortunate Son" by CCR, they go through 'Nam to Jimmy Hendrix and other artists of the 60's, they have the Beach Boys "Sloop John B." playing in the background at the platoon camp when Mike Love sings the lyric "...this is the worst trip I've ever been on." To this day, I cannot listen to the guitar solo of "Freebird" without picturing Jenny on the ledge. Just brilliant.

I've always respected Scorcese and his use of music in film, but as I arrive at "The Momma's and the Papa's" doing "California Dreaming" to show how Jenny is now a flower girl, I really have to ask - has ANY film used music better than Forrest Gump? And what are some others?

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Don't get me wrong, I love Scorcese, and his use of music in films, but he has the tendency to use one certain song in 3 of his films. The one song I'm talking about is "Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones. This is a GREAT song, but he uses it in The Departed,Casino,and Goodfellas. That's three films of his where you hear the same song. It just gets redundant after a while. The only case where I can remember this song was used in a really good way is in The Departed. He used it at the beginning where the history of Jack Nicholson's character was being explained.

Not only was Forrest Gump one hell of a movie, but the soundtrack was just gold. The music use during the war and after set a great vibe for that time period in the movie. The music Forrest Gump was great, but there have been other films that have used great music. Pulp Fiction had a pretty great soundtrack."Let's Stay Together" by Al Green was used to set the set mode for the meeting between Ving Rhames and Bruce Willis. "Surf Rider" was another great song in this film. This song was used during the end of the film when Samuel L. Jackson's character had his revaluation.

Although, I was critical of Scorcese's use of the song "gimme shelter", The Departed also had a pretty good soundtrack."Shipping Up To Boston" by the Dropkick Murphys was an awesome song. This song was used when Leonardo DiCaprio went to jail at the start of the film, and it was used towards the end.

 

[Mr. TM]

Forrest Gump was a great example of music in a movie. IC laid it down, with the CCR, Hendrix, and many other great songs. Another great one is Against The Wind by Bob Seger, as Forrest is on his run.

My pick is Dazed and Confused to go with these movies. The music is incredible, setting the tone of a typical day in 1970s Texas. Hurricane by Dylan as they enter the pool hall, Sweet Emotionas the muscle car drives up, and the climax of music as Lynyrd Skynyrd's Tuesday's gone plays.

 

[Cookie]

Scorsese is a name that comes up a lot. Obviously Tarantino is another one often recognized for his excellent taste in music and scoring his films.

I can't really answer your question right off the bat because I'd really need to think about it, but I'm almost positive I can find a movie that utilizes music better than Forrest Gump. I'll get back to you.

I've always been fond of Wes Anderson's music selections. I firmly believe that Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic and Darjeeling (I haven't seen Fantastic Mr. Fox yet) are ALL enhanced by his amazing musical selections.

I mean, I can't even imagine what this scene would BE like without Needle in the Hay. It would just be... wrong. I can't even imagine it. *If you haven't seen The Royal Tenenbaums and don't want to be spoiled, don't watch this.

[youtube]9pyBB7y8fDU[/youtube]

He's just got amazing, amazing taste and such a knack for marrying songs with the perfect moments in his movies. Guaraldi in Tenenbaums, Bowie's Life on Mars in Life Aquatic, lots and lots of The Kinks in many of his films, Lennon, Nico, Sigur Ros, Mark Mothersbaugh's work, the list goes on and on and on... just everything. I own pretty much all the soundtracks to his films and they're often on heavy rotation. Huge fan.

 

[X]

Scorsese is a name that comes up a lot. Obviously Tarantino is another one often recognized for his excellent taste in music and scoring his films.

I can't really answer your question right off the bat because I'd really need to think about it, but I'm almost positive I can find a movie that utilizes music better than Forrest Gump. I'll get back to you.

I've always been fond of Wes Anderson's music selections. I firmly believe that Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic and Darjeeling (I haven't seen Fantastic Mr. Fox yet) are ALL enhanced by his amazing musical selections.

I mean, I can't even imagine what this scene would BE like without Needle in the Hay. It would just be... wrong. I can't even imagine it. *If you haven't seen The Royal Tenenbaums and don't want to be spoiled, don't watch this.

[youtube]9pyBB7y8fDU[/youtube]

He's just got amazing, amazing taste and such a knack for marrying songs with the perfect moments in his movies. Guaraldi in Tenenbaums, Bowie's Life on Mars in Life Aquatic, lots and lots of The Kinks in many of his films, Lennon, Nico, Sigur Ros, Mark Mothersbaugh's work, the list goes on and on and on... just everything. I own pretty much all the soundtracks to his films and they're often on heavy rotation. Huge fan.

So, like, can we just get the wedding preparations started right now? Because you're like my freaking counterpart in all of your tastes. I absolutely adore Wes Anderson and I'd rank him in my Top 5 favorite filmmakers ever. Royal Tenenbaums is one great example of his excellent use of music in film, every song just works perfectly in the plot and tells it's own little story from the Stones to Nico to Elliott Smith to the Ramones.

Wes Anderson is right there next to Martin Scorsese in my book as being the best to utilize music in film of any filmmaker I've ever seen. If only I could find the ending to his first film Bottle Rocket on YouTube, as that would help prove my point. The way he matches the images on the screen with the Rolling Stones "2000 Man" is fucking amazing, and literally brings a tear to my eye.

God I love Wes Anderson. And you Cookie, you rock double hard.


Oh, and honorable mention to Dazed and Confused and SLC Punk, two films that utilized their music to perfection.

 

[INDYjon22]

I hate to rain on your parade X but you might want to make that wedding a manajatwa. I to absolutely adore Wes Anderson films and believe he is a genius when it comes to using music in film. All of his films are brilliant with the way the integrate music into the films.

Dazed and Confused, SLC Punk both had amazing soundtracks as well but I would also add Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in to that category because it did an amazing job of using music from the time period it was set in and using music that really fit the tone of the film itself.

I may get a little heat from saying this but I also loved the soundtrack for Shoot Em Up. Once again the music fit the film pretty much to a T. In fact, the soundtrack was probably my favorite part of Shoot Em Up, though I did like the movie as well.

 

[jmt225]

Xfear will back me on this one, and I'm surprise he hadn't mentioned it, but I would have to go with The Rules of Attraction as my choice. The music scattered throughout this awesome, awesome movie is just superb, and fits every single scene perfectly. Take for instance this scene below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6EPa9Fw3Lk

The asshole who uploaded this took off the Embed option, so I can only post the link, but take a look at that, if you could. You cannot tell me there would have been a better song for that scene.

And it's like that all throughout the movie. Shit Avary even found a way to incorporate George Michael's "Faith" into the film in a way that make complete sense and is absolutely hilarious.