The Man Can't Bust Our Music

June 5, 2003

I don't like to encourage any new categories for the AFI top-100 lists because I never like the results. (Atticus Finch—who cares?) But it seems to me the film institute is at the same time too abstract and too conservative. Where's the list of best mind-fucks? Best ugly duckling makeovers? Best cop-out endings? Best homosexual subtexts in a guy movie? Best "I'm sick of zis damn var" Nazi with a conscience?

And here's one that isn't even hard: Why is there no list of best musical soundtracks? It's obvious, everybody can have an opinion, and it's a sale of both a DVD and a CD. I've already got my top three: Max Steiner's King Kong, Carter Burwell's Raising Arizona, and if adaptations are allowed, Walter Carlos Wendy's A Clockwork Orange. (If not, then Bob Harris and Nelson Riddle's Lolita.)

Comments

M. J. Basial|6.5.03 @ 7:22AM|#

Josie and the Pussycats (2001). In addition to having an awesome soundtrack, the movie is just a blast. The director's commentary on the DVD points out some things you might have missed in viewing, such as Josie's handlers trying to push Valerie out of the band *not* because she's black, but because she's the *bass player*. (Soft spot in my heart for invisible bass players, given that I play one on weekends.)

The music is absolutely perfect rocker-girl-pop. It's what Avril Lavigne should aspire to.

That said, apparently many people don't love this film as much as I do. Those people are, of course, complete idiots. ;)

|6.5.03 @ 7:38AM|#

Best mind-fuck? Easy: try watching "The End of Evangelion" without ever watching the TV series behind it. I envy those who saw that movie for the first time without knowing the context it's meant to be taken in--it must have been one hell of a trip. Not that I don't love the movie anyway.

Mark S.|6.5.03 @ 8:34AM|#

Czar: "End of Evangelion?" Try the final episode of the TV series. (Ahhh the trials and tribulations of Shinji Ikari, Anime's Woody Allen.) It makes the final episode of "The Prisoner" appear lucent.

Franklin Harris|6.5.03 @ 9:45AM|#

"Max Steiner's King Kong"

Actually, I prefer John Barry's "King Kong" score (1976). Bad movie, great score.

Chris Puzak|6.5.03 @ 11:01AM|#

Best mind-fucks? Pretty much anything from Alejandro Jodorowski or Takashi Miike. Plus,it would be really funny seeing clips of their movies being aired on prime-time television when AFI has the the award ceremony.

David|6.5.03 @ 11:15AM|#

"The Magnificent Seven" theme.

Wirkman Virkkala|6.6.03 @ 1:25AM|#

"Musical soundtracks" is a bit wide, isn't it? "2001: A Space Odyssey" doesn't have an original soundtrack, but makes do (and does very well) with music appropriated from the scores of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss, Jr., and the Wondrous Ligeti. Appropriately, Mr. Cavanaugh mentions W. Carlos's adapted score for "A Clockwork Orange," but he/she didn't do all the music: some of it was lifted directly from standard recordings of classical repertoire, without benefit of synthesizer; and then there's that unforgettable artifact, "I Wanna Marry a Lighthouse Keeper." But I agree that Carlos's arrangements and performances (and a few totally original contributions) upstage the rest.

On the other end of the spectrum, there's Leo Kottke's great score for the great "Days of Heaven" - which is upstaged by one segment featuring Camille Saint-Saens's "Aquarium."

Bernard Herrman's best scores are better than any mentioned by Cavanaugh: "Psycho," "Vertigo," and his music for the Harryhausen fantasies are great. Nothing else in film history compares. His never-used score for "Torn Curtain" (for which Hitchcock fired him) is also arguably better than anything on Cavanaugh's list, and suggests another category entirely: Best Score Not Used by Hollywood Idiots, which class of idiots, I'm sad to say, Hitchcock himself finally belonged. (I understand that "Legend" had a good non-Tangerine-Dream score for the European version; I'll have to check this out. Perhaps the film is watchable!)

I'm glad Cavanaugh mentions Carter Burwell; Burwell's scores for a number of Coen films are superb. Cavanaugh mentions "Raising Arizona" (great film, fine music), but other Burwell scores for Coen films impressed me as much if not more, especially "Fargo." I also remember being moved by the score for "Miller's Crossing," though here, too, a bit of appropriated music - a singing performance of "Danny Boy," ostensibly played on a Victrola - upstages Burwell's contribution.

I like the score (Franz Waxman?) for "The Bride of Frankenstein." I think it's much better than the movie, actually; I'd put it in the Top Ten.

One of the best and most original scores for a film was the dual (schizoid?) approach of Ken Russell's "The Devils": Peter Maxwell Davies supplied very good avant-gardish stuff, while David Munro supplied great Renaissance hits; the mix was perfect for this fascinating political dystopian story set in Richelieu's France.

A number of movies have effectively used original avant-gardish scores, perhaps most successfully John Corigliano's "Altered States"; I think it may be his best work for any medium. Even the old thriller "Lady in a Cage" used an extremely dissonant score to unsettle the audience (it may be the movie's only saving grace). The willingness to "assault" the audience with music they would otherwise not hear should be more often indulged in. Though not always successful, it is easier to take than the millionth usage of mediocre (or worse) rock-n-roll scores, which too often horribly date a movie.

The limited tropes of popular music are often quite deadly to a movie. The other night I began watching "LadyHawke" again. I stopped, though: the score is so terrible - its appropriation of rock cliches so out-of-place - that I couldn't re-watch what otherwise would have been an enjoyable film. On the other hand, the solo electric guitar score for "Dead Man" is brilliant and perfectly done. But if the rocker who's responsible had added the usual drum set and bass guitar, the effect would have been ruined, and the movie along with it.

And of course we should not forget John Williams. We may rightly despise him for such terrible dreck as "Amistad," and for getting stuck in one groove after "Star Wars," but remember, he's capable of fine work: listen again to the score for "Catch Me If You Can," a nice little film with a neat little score. Maybe not AFI Top Ten material, but not worth hating, either.

James Russell|6.6.03 @ 1:26AM|#

As far as mind-fuckingly strange films go, it's hard to look past Carl Dreyer's Vampyr. Not only is it a vampire film from the man who gave the world The Passion of Joan of Arc, but it's possibly the strangest vampire film (actually one of the strangest films of any genre) ever made. But it's not American, it's French/German, and I'm sure the AFI doesn't believe films are made in countries other than the US (except when they borrow a few British films to put in their top 100 American movies list�link goes to a .pdf)...

Gilbert Martin|6.6.03 @ 1:27AM|#

My list of movies with great music soundtracks include Braveheart, Last of the Mohicans, and The Right Stuff.

Croesus|6.6.03 @ 2:07AM|#

A good "mind fuck" was _Angel Heart_.

|6.6.03 @ 2:15AM|#

S/T - Willie Wonka - The film that made me a libertarian. Or the Warriors (can you dig it?)

M/F - the ending of "The Last American Virgin" and Eraserhead.

Sir Real|6.6.03 @ 2:33AM|#

Best Soundtrack?

Koyaanisqatsi by Phillip Glass

DesertJo|6.6.03 @ 6:17AM|#

am i the only person left on the planet who likes the soundtracks to "The Falcon and the Snowman" and "To Live and Die in LA"?

"Warriors" was good (i should pick up that dvd one of these days), as was "Rockers".

|6.6.03 @ 9:51AM|#

Wirkman,

If we're talkin' John Williams you can't forget JAWS. Equal to Herrmann's "Psycho" in many ways. And "Vertigo" is impressive because it's both quietly lush and suspenseful.

I still can't find a link to the list of Heroes and Villians. I'll assume the Wicked Witch of The West tops the females!!

Killgrave|6.6.03 @ 10:02AM|#

The best "homosexual context" movie of all time is, without doubt, Patrick Swayze (sp?) "Road House". It is so blatant it's surreal! I strongly recommend it for those who love cheesy movies, and can appreciate the irony. It's a crown jewel of my collection!

|6.6.03 @ 11:07AM|#

Come on, no Danny Elfman fans here? I thought the lyrics of some of the songs from his band, Oingo Boingo, were pretty libertarian.

Seth D. Michaels|6.6.03 @ 11:34AM|#

A handful of movies with super-good soundtracks: "High Fidelity" and "Almost Famous," which for thematic purposes required good soundtracks, and "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tennenbaums," which didn't hinge on music but nevertheless have perfectly-selected soundtracks.

tim|6.6.03 @ 11:35AM|#

I'd put Pee Wee's Big Adventure in there, but I'm not a fan of later Elfman soundtracks, or even of post-1985 Oingo Boingo.

|6.6.03 @ 12:05PM|#

I can't believe none of you have mentioned the Star Wars Trilogy. (Or Jaws or the Indiana Jones movies or ET). Lawrence of Arabia is good too. And that's not even considering musicals.

|6.6.03 @ 12:15PM|#

Mind-fuck: Gabriel Over the White House (1933). The triumphant final scene has the president declare martial law and disband congress (at God's request). This wasn't some dystopian nightmare scenario, the president was the hero! That's a mind fuck.

Tim, wasn't Barber's adagio used in Elephant Man w/john Hurt? I thought it was much more famous for that, but I can't really remember.

S/T: Rock and Roll High School, or is that too obvious?

Subtext: Too many old westerns to count. How about the Lone Ranger?

Bryan Alexander|6.6.03 @ 12:28PM|#

Kurosawa's _Ran_.
The best Bernard Herrmann - pick one.
Oliver Stone's use of Barber in _Platoon_.
_Brazil_ (a movie we live in, anyway).

tim|6.6.03 @ 12:47PM|#

I should not have left out Stewart Copeland's Rumble Fish soundtrack-though Copeland should share the honor with Wall of Voodoo's Stan Ridgway.

The Barber adagio has achieved one kind of immortality by being permanently associated with Platoon, but I always thought the Barber adagio was a total bore. (I realize I'm alone in that judgment.) For my money, the best adagio in a war picture is the Albinoni adagio in Gallipoli.

Bernard Herrmann would obviously have to make the list several times, which is why I didn't mention him before, but if I had to pick one I'd go with either Taxi Driver or The Day the Earth Stood Still. And if there are no other candidates with a theremin, then eliminate Taxi Driver.

And how could I have forgotten Brian May's score for The Road Warrior? As a pure musical accompaniment, I don't think that has ever been topped: It follows the action on a cut-by-cut basis and still never loses the beat.

digamma|6.6.03 @ 12:55PM|#

Pee Wee's Big Adventure and Beetlejuice are Elfman's two best scores.

Spawn has a really good soundtrack if you're into that sort of thing, particularly the Wink / Stabbing Westward collaboration.

tim|6.7.03 @ 1:59AM|#

I'd concur on putting in a couple of John Williams scores-with Jaws leading the pack, not only for the shark theme but for the stirring high seas adventure music in the movie's third act-but not nearly as many as his supersized reputation would indicate.

But allow me to venture another opinion in which I suspect I'll be alone: John Williams couldn't hold Jerry Goldsmith's jockstrap. In a lot of ways Goldsmith is Williams's b-side, and in fact in some cases Goldsmith would do the music for the less prestigious of back-to-back Spielberg productions (Poltergeist, for example, while Williams got E.T.) He's been tarred by doing a lot of work on bad films-often a Goldsmith score is the only reason to see a movie-and is not unreasonably considered a hack.

Since I admire hacks, I'll make the case for Goldsmith. He's produced countless memorable scores in every style imaginable: waltz (The Boys From Brazil), march (Patton), tango (Six Degrees of Separation), avant-garde suite (Planet of the Apes), Ravel/DeBussy-type fantasia (incidental music in Poltergeist), ersatz church chant (The Omen), innumerable variations on Richard Rodgers's Victory at Sea music (he's the go-to man for commando/special forces pictures), novelty/merry-go-round music (Gremlins) and so on. Even when he clips a score, as he did in taking Leonard Bernstein's On the Waterfront for L.A. Confidential, he makes sure to steal a good one.

Make mine Jerry!

Jesse Walker|6.7.03 @ 2:49AM|#

The only Williams scores I like are *Jaws* and parts of *Star Wars* -- and the shark theme is half-pagiarized from the New World Symphony. Of course, I haven't seen *Cath Me If You Can*, so Wirkman may be right about that one.

Has anyone mentioned Carl Stalling yet?

Jesse Walker|6.7.03 @ 2:51AM|#

A related category: Records that seemed to have no good reason to exist until a soundtrack found a good use for them. My nomination: Kenny Rogers' version of "Just Checked In To See What Condition My Condition Was In," justified several decades after the fact by *The Big Lebowski*.

|6.7.03 @ 8:12AM|#

Uh, Jesse, wasn't that the original version of "what condition"? Back when Kenny Rogers was a rock singer, with the First Edition?

(Walter Carlos Wendy?)

Jesse Walker|6.8.03 @ 4:41AM|#

Mickey Newbury wrote it; I'm not sure if he brought a recording of it to market before Rogers did.

Kevin|6.8.03 @ 8:18AM|#

In fact - I've found that not only does the "Jaws" theme came ready made from The New World Symphony, but the Imperial March from "Star Wars" does a pretty good job of imitating parts of the fouth movement from said piece. I lost a lot of respect for Williams when I made those connections.

tim|6.10.03 @ 6:47AM|#

Williams is a hardcore self-plagiarist too. The Harry Potter theme is just the Schindler's List theme in 3/4 time with one blue note inserted.

|10.17.03 @ 10:13AM|#

Found this page because i had the tv on and they're shoing John Barry's "King Kong" (which i haven't seen since i was 10) and during the first scene where Kong shows, the score sounds just like one of the cuts off of Phillip Glass' Koyaanisqatsi. Ofcourse, I googled it and got this page. Sorry this is kinda off topic, but any one care to comment on the similarities?

But while i'm here, here are my nominations for best mind fuck:
* the end of Psycho
* "I am your father, Luke"
* end of Being There
* end of Dr. Strangelove
and more recently...
* Dark City
* Anything by Shyamalan so far
* Mememto
* Being John Malkovich
(speaking of mindfucks, why haven't they made a decent movie from a Philip K. Dick novel? Ok, ok, besides Blade Runner and Minority Report).

GernerMathisen Aina|9.10.04 @ 12:24AM|#

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