Tag Archives: movies

November Five-Star Shuffle: “I Can See Clearly Now”

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Grosse Pointe Blank
Grosse Pointe Blank

“I Can See Clearly Now”
by Johnny Nash
from the Grosse Pointe Blank Soundtrack
1972
Buy the album on Amazon

Okay, so this came on shuffle and I was “Oh man, I might have rated this too high… riding the way from a great film.”  Then I also thought, “This is unfortunate, I just reviewed the album.”  But fuck it.  This is a magnificent song.  I’m a few drinks in.  I still stand by that statement.  I wasn’t in a great mood when I started playback, but within fifteen seconds this song had changed my mood.  That, my friends, is the power of music.  The power to change your mood from bad to good, or from sad to glad, from peaceful to menacing or even from flaccid to erect.  You know I’m right.  Whiskey is delicious.

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October Soundtracks: Until the End of the World

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Until the End of the WorldUntil the End of the World
1991
Buy the album on Amazon

It’s been a long time since I saw this movie, and I don’t really remember it at all (confirmed by just watching the trailer), but I do remember I really liked it. I might have seen it in the theater when it was first released, though 1991 – I may not have entered my big Wim Wenders phase by then, ignited by Wings of Desire. I think I probably had though, because I remember the soundtrack coming out, and though not all of the songs made an impression, there have been a few that have stood out ever since I first heard it.

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October Soundtracks: Trainspotting

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Trainspotting
Trainspotting

Trainspotting: Music from the Motion Picture
1996
Buy the album on Amazon

I’m not a junkie or even a dabbler, but most of my favorite films are wrapped in heavy layer of drug use and overdose references: Dazed and Confused, SLC Punk!, Requiem for a Dream and Trainspotting.  It’s probably some weird escapism thing – watching a life I’ve never lived, the same way we’re fascinated by alien invasions in science fiction.  Big characters in outrageous situations.  Seeing the best and worst of people.  Depression.  Darkness.  Great soundtracks.  Trainspotting pretty captures all of those things.

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October Soundtracks: The Doom Generation

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The Doom GenerationThe Doom Generation
1995
Buy the album on Amazon

There are entirely too many great soundtracks I’d like to post for this month’s theme. So either I have to start posting with a much higher frequency, or we’re going to need to have this theme another time in the future. Since I can barely handle once a week, I guess it will have to be the latter. Anyhoo, on to this week’s post.

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October Soundtracks: Dream a Little Dream

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Dream A Little Dream
Dream A Little Dream

Dream a Little Dream Original Soundtrack
1989
Buy the album on Amazon

This one popped into my head because of a conversation Chris and I just had about Meredith Salenger.  I don’t even remember what the conversation was, but good lord, did I have a crush on her in high school.  In fact, this stupid little movie (and it is dumb, no doubt) is maybe one of my favorite films of all time.  Let it be known, I have a crush on this movie.  It might feature the Coreys and the main single from the soundtrack might be a cover done by a soap opera star, but dang it, this movie has a hold on me.

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October Soundtracks: Grosse Pointe Blank

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Grosse Pointe Blank
Grosse Pointe Blank

Grosse Pointe Blank: Music From The Film
1997
Buy the album on Amazon

I adore absolutely everything about the film Grosse Pointe Blank.  Part of it is a timing thing — it came out just a couple of months after I moved to NYC and served as a security blanket when I didn’t have a ton of friends to hang with.  I probably watched it 5 or 6 times that spring.  It also has a cast that are really at their best, including a great turn by Dan Akroyd as an insane hitman.  And the plot is killer — who doesn’t want to return to their high school reunion with the coolest job ever — assassin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy9MlIBv6xo

If you haven’t seen it, watch the damn thing.  But even if the movie is not your cup of tea, the soundtrack will be.  It’s full of 80s-era “alternative” hits as spun in-movie by Minnie Driver’s radio DJ.

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October Soundtracks: Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

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Twin Peaks“Twin Peaks”
by Angelo Badalamenti
from the album Music from Twin Peaks
1990
Buy the album on Amazon

“Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me”
by Angelo Badalamenti
from the album Music from Twin Peaks
1992
Buy the album on Amazon

Lance mentioned that Monday was craptastic in his last post, and I would upgrade that to the entire week shaping up to being pretty crapperific, However, the best thing I’ve heard all week was the reboot of Twin Peaks. Hell. Yes. That made me so happy. So then made me realize these two albums would make great entries for this month’s theme. Not entirely in the MNP vein (not that that’s ever stopped me) but they came out in the exact same formative time as most the other things we post here.

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Weird: “On & On”

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On & On
On & On

“On & On”
by DUM
2014
Buy the single on iTunes

Total hat tip to Sploid who just posted the video for “On & On” which uses footage from a Chrance favorite, The Neverending Story.  I was totally going to save it for a weird post later in the week, but the song is so fucking catchy it seems like a perfect pick-me-up for a craptastic Monday.

Check out another excellent DUM song/movie mash-up after the jump.

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October Soundtracks: Back to the Future

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Back To The Future: Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack
Back To The Future: Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack

Back To The Future: Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack
1985
Buy the album on Amazon

I had planned on going with something a little more alternative and a little more 90s for my first soundtracks post this month, but as I was glancing at my collection this guy really caught my eye.  I’m pretty sure that this was the first “rock” album I ever owned.  And I gotta say, it was a great choice for a kid who was drifting away from his country and orchestral music roots.

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October Soundtracks: Pump Up the Volume

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Pump Up The Volume
Pump Up The Volume

Pump Up the Volume
1990
Buy the album on Amazon

Since the theme choice is mine, it means I get to swoop in and do this entry before Lance does, since I know it would be at or near the top of his list as well (which is not to say he might not write his own entry about it). Maybe not the soundtrack to end all soundtracks (though it may just be), but certainly the movie of movies to me, and it’s tough for me to express just how important this movie and soundtrack were to me in my impressionable youth. I’m going to try hard not to write too much about the movie, because some day I’ll write a proper entry about it in the Movies category, but this came out right around the beginning of my freshman year of high school,  when I was just starting to become the MNP person I am today.

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