My Favorite Things: Movie Music Moments

For as long as I can remember, I've always been intrigued by the way the combination between a powerful song played during the perfect scene in a movie could captivate me. The mix between the two during a crucial scene has the ability to evoke so much emotion from the viewer. Every year when Oscar season comes around I'm left asking myself the same question: Why is there no category dedicated to movie soundtracks? Sure, they have best score and best original song, but I believe that the soundtrack backing a film can be equally as important and require almost as much talent as the latter two. That's not to say that these moments go unnoticed though. It would be hard to picture anything other than Patrick Swayze lifting Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing every time "I've Had the Time of My Life" comes on or Judd Nelson pumping his fist to "Don't You Forget About Me" in The Breakfast Club. Once you really think about it there are so many songs out there that remind us of those classic, magical movie moments. I've compiled a list of some of my favorite movie music moments, some you will definitely be familiar with and others that may be new to you. Most of these have fantastic soundtracks as a whole, so I definitely recommend checking them out on iTunes or 8tracks.

(Please note: Some of these scenes may contain spoilers!)

 

1. "Try a Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding in Pretty in Pink

When some people here this song, they think of the Jay-Z remake "Otis." Although that does pass through my mind as well, I prefer to picture Jon Cryer (or as you know him in this film, "Duckie") dancing his ass off around an eighties record store.

 

 

2. "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John in Almost Famous

We've all heard this song a million times, but when sung along to by an entire tour bus full of musicians it manages to add yet another meaning to this classic track.

 

 

3. "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve in Cruel Intentions

I realized recently that the main reason this ending always touches me is because the song's title literally defines the film as a whole. If you've seen it then you'll know I'm not being overly cheesy when I say that the ending really is bittersweet. If you haven't seen it then you're definitely required to have a movie night at some point this week, as this one is a classic nineties teen must-see.

 

 

4. "Somebody Kill Me" and "Grow Old With You" in The Wedding Singer

When I was in grade six I went through a huge Adam Sandler phase and probably watched The Wedding Singer every weekend, along with his other classics such as Billy Madison and Big Daddy. Not only because it's a romantic comedy, but also due to my love for music, The Wedding Singer was always my favorite. The first clip is so aggressive that it's hilarious and the second, well that one is for all you romantics out there ♥.

 

 

 

5. "Moon River" by Henry Mancini in Breakfast at Tiffany's

The ultimate Audrey classic needs little introduction, and I know most people have seen it, but seeing as it's one of my favorite films of all time there was no way I could leave it off of this list.

 

 

6. "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival and "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield

A couple years ago I took a class entitled "Music, War and Violence." My term paper was essentially a recap of the entire film according to the amazing songs that are dispersed throughout it. As tough as it is to narrow it down, these are my two favorites.

 

 

 

7. "I Say a Little Prayer For You" by Aretha Franklin in My Best Friend's Wedding

I'll never forget the first time I experienced watching this movie scene. I went to a boarding school in high school and on the weekends there would always be movies playing in the common rooms. One Sunday, I walked downstairs into a room full of around twenty girls singing along to this scene in the movie. Not only is the scene entertaining to begin with, it also reminds me of all of my fun movie watching memories from my high school days.

 

 

8. "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" by Frankie Valli in 10 Things I Hate About You

It would take a lot for me to find you a girl who finds Heath Ledger hard to resist. Not only is this even more adorable, since we get to experience a youthful Heath in this scene, but it is one of the many scenes that reminds us why he will always have a soft spot in most of our hearts.

 

 

9. "Superfreak" by Rick James from Little Miss Sunshine

If you haven't seen this feel-good movie, it is one of my favorites that I can guarantee almost anyone will enjoy. This scene always brings a smile to my face because to me it symbolizes staying true to yourself no matter how old you are.

 

The original version is nowhere to be found on Youtube, so click here to watch it!

 

10. "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones in Life or Something Like It

Some people prefer Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider looking sleek and sexy, others prefer to read about her constant charity work in the tabloids, but me, I prefer to think of her in this scene sporting a trucker hat and drunkenly singing along to this classic Stones tune.

 

 

11. "Dracula's Lament" by Jason Segel in Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Anyone who knows me well could inform you about the ginormous crush I have on Jason Segel, who is most definitely my dream man if one ever did exist. This may not be a magical movie moment for some people, but to me he is amazing, which is why this one made the list.

 

 

12. "Elephant Love Medley" from Moulin Rouge

Being the romantic that I am, I could not compile a list of music from movies without including what I know to be the largest love song medley to ever make it to the big screen. Baz Luhrmann never ceases to disappoint me with his movie soundtracks and Moulin Rouge is no exception. Due to Youtube copyright laws it was hard to find a proper version. The beginning of this clip is in a different language, but if you skip ahead you can view the clip :).

 

13. "Big Hard Sun" by Eddie Vedder in Into the Wild
Eddie Vedder actually provided the soundtrack for this entire film. This song is probably the most well known, but the rest of the soundtrack, and the movie in general is actually amazing. In case you haven't heard of it I also provided the trailer. The movie, which is backed by Sean Penn, is based on a true story about a young man who leaves his life behind in order to travel to Alaska. Emile Hirsh's portrayal of Christopher McCandless truly is stellar.

Trailer:

14. "Whole Wide World" from Stranger than Fiction
Hearing Will Ferrell sing anything semi-serious after "Afternoon Delight" in Anchorman is always a shock to begin with; however, the awkward yet somewhat quirky character that he portrays in this film is echoed in this scene as he serenades Maggie Gyllenhaal's character.

15. EVERYTHING from Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
There's not so much one epic musical scene from this movie that stands out so much as the soundtrack as a whole. Prior to watching the movie I had only heard of a few of the bands such as Vampire Weekend and Band of Horses, but there are a couple gems to be found here if you're an indie rock fan. My personal favorite musical scene from the movie is the one below where Kat Dennings and Michael Cera bond over their love for the song "Lover" by Devendra Banhart.

And, in case my mention of the Dirty Dancing and The Breakfast Club wasn't enough for you, here are those classic clips themselves.

 

Bonus track!
Finally, a recent favorite of mine that I found very clever was the combination of the song "Crown on the Ground" by Sleigh Bells to the opening scene of Sofia Coppola's new movie, The Bling Ring. Since it's still in theaters, the exact clip was hard to find but the beginning of this teaser shows sort of a mini version of the scene to which I am referring. Amplified in the movie, the intro to this song sounds like somewhat of a siren as the group of teenagers begins to break into the home of Paris Hilton. Anyone artsy will definitely understand why I found it so cool. Hopefully this clip will give you the gist of it.

 

There will most likely be a part two to this, as there were a few songs that I couldn't find clips for that I really wanted to include in this list. You might be asking yourself "What about songs from TV shows?" For me, that is not a whole different post, so much as a couple hundred. If there are any requests for songs from a particular TV series please send them my way and I will do my best to do a post on as many as I can. For now though, that is all!

With love,

Ciara ♥