When I’m watching a film, the music in it can be as important than many other aspects of the movie. A bad plot point can definitely be saved by the right music track sometimes.
Obviously everybody has a different opinion about what music they love. I listen to everything from rock to hip hop to opera, but classic rock is by far my favorite genre of music. I based my list on the place of music with certain scenes in the film and the overall soundtrack. This list was extremely difficult to formulate and I could easily interchange the films on the list into different spots.
10. Requiem for a Dream (2000)- Darren Aronofsky’s eerie and depressing film about heroin addicts uses basically one song during the entire film, “Lux Aeterna,” composed by Clint Mansell. The song is incredible and haunting, and is the perfect match for the tone of this movie. The song became so popular that it has been used in multiple other films and television programs.
9. Watchmen (2009)- Watchmen does a great job pairing songs perfectly with scenes. A great example is the scene when Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson) and Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) have a pretty graphic sex scene in a odd looking aircraft to the great song, “Hallelujiah,” by Leonard Cohen. My favorite scene (below), by far, is the intro set to “The Times They Are A Changin’,” by Bob Dylan.
8. The Girl Next Door (2004)- This film has a surprisingly awesome soundtrack. Everything from classics like “Under Pressure,” by Queen & David Bowie and “Baba O’Riley,” by The Who to 90′s alternative rock hits such as “Lucky Man,” by The Verve and “Take a Picture,” by Filter. Throughout the movie there are tons of classic rock and alternative rock hits, placed perfectly in scenes.
7. Blow (2001)- I don’t care what most critics say, Blow is a great film. It also happens to have an incredible soundtrack. Some soundtrack highlights feature Rolling Stones, Cream, Bob Dylan and of course “Blinded By The Light,” by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.
6. The Departed (2006)- The first of the Martin Scorsese film on the list. Scorsese is a master of creating soundtracks to his movies. The Departed features The Rolling Stones (a staple of any Scorsese film), Dropkick Murphys, and a Roger Waters only version of “Comfortably Numb.”
5. Almost Famous (2000)- This is the film that made me want to be a journalist for Rolling Stone when I was 12. A movie about a young music journalist profiling a rock band in the 1970′s doesn’t disappoint at all with the soundtrack. Some of my favorite songs from Led Zeppelin, The Who, Black Sabbath, Lynard Skynard, Deep Purple, Elton John are in this film and this list goes on. Below is one of my favorite scenes of the movie.
4. Casino (1995)- My 2nd Scorsese film of the list. It’s simple why I love this soundtrack, many Rolling Stones songs, and a lot of old crooner and great 50′s songs. Along with some old Italian songs added in there. Hard not love this soundtrack.
3. Goodfellas (1990)- My last Scorsese film of the list and the one with the best soundtrack. He uses a multitude of classic rock songs, including the Rolling Stones of course, and also Cream, George Harrison and Donovan among the others. Alot of great songs from the 50′s and 60′s are also included in the Goodfellas soundtrack. My favorite scene is when they show all the people Deniro’s character just had “whacked” to the tune of the piano ending of Clapton’s “Layla.”
2. Pirate Radio (2009)- The soundtrack featured during this film made me really like this movie. If I didn’t like the music, I definitely wouldn’t have enjoyed the movie as much as I did. Cream, Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimmi Hendrix, David Bowie, Jeff Beck, The Kinks, The Moody Blues, some of the best of 60′s and 70′s rock.
1. Dazed and Confused (1993)- As you can tell, I really love movie soundtracks that feature classic rock. Dazed and Confused is a classic teen movie about 70′s youth, kind of a early 90′s made Superbad featuring kid during the 70′s. This movie is a classic and features an incredible soundtrack, just check out the link to see the tons of great music featured in this film.
Honorable Mentions:Easy Rider (1969), The Hangover (2009), Invincible (2006), American Psycho (2000), Across The Universe (2007)
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