Elton John credits Cameron Crowe with reviving this song. Before Almost Famous, he rarely played it in concert; now, its one of his most popular songs.
I love how at first, it seems like the song is just underscoring the scene, but as it progresses, it becomes clear that the song is the scene. Simply the greatest movie-music scene in film history (though, this scene is a close second).
Thursday, August 14, 2008
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6 comments:
I have to go with the piano coda from Clapton's "Layla" that is played over the action in Goodfellas as all the dead bodies are found, the bodies of those that could connect Jimmy Conway to the Lufthansa heist.
That's a good scene, no doubt, but its a different kind of movie-music scene, one where the music underscores the scene, put in the by the director after the fact, and is not actually a part of the scene. That's a different category entirely. Great scene, though.
What about the "Sister Christian" scene from "Boogie Nights"; or more famous yet, "Bohemian Rhapsody" from "Wayne's World".
This is a subject I've actually given waaaaay too much thought to. You have "underscored" scenes, like the aforementioned Goodfellas, and you have "music as part of the scene" scenes, like Almost Famous, my personal favorite.
But in the latter category, you also have several subcategories, like "musicals" (which obviously have music integrated into the scenes), "performances scenes" (think Marty McFly at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance or Ferris Bueller and the parade), and "buddy road trip movie car sing-along scenes" (like Tommy Boy and Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle).
Everyone loves "Bohemian Rhapsody," but its not one of my favorites. My favorite "music as a part of the scene" scenes are, along with "Tiny Dancer" in Almost Famous: "Don't Stop Me Now" from Shaun of the Dead (perhaps the funniest of the scenes), "Sister Christian" from Boogie Nights (great call, bro), "Say A Little Prayer For You" from My Best Friend's Wedding (yeah, a chick flick, I know- great scene, bad movie), "In Your Eyes" from Say Anything... (great scene, REALLY bad movie), and "Stuck In The Middle With You" from Reservoir Dogs (just plain disturbing).
I'm having trouble with your differentiation between the music/movie integration in Goodfellas (Layla) and Reservoir Dogs (Stuck in the Middle With You). The music in each underscores the scene itself.
I understand the difference between those and Almost Famous, where the song itself becomes the scene, just as, say, "Age of Aquarius" becomes the scene at the end of The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
And, what is the difference between Almost Famous (Tiny Dancer) and Wayne's World (Bohemian Rhapsody)? Aren't they functionally the same as "Age of Aquarius" in The 40-Year-Old Virgin?
I'm not criticizing. I just want some clarification of your standard for what constitutes a movie-music scene. Your current standard, at least as I understand it, is indiscernible.
Perhaps I am misremembering, but in Goodfellas, "Layla" is playing in the background as Ray Liotta does some voice overs. No one in the scene knows that "Layla" is playing; it was added for effect after the fact. But in Reservoir Dogs, "Stuck In The Middle With You" is actually playing on the radio in the warehouse where the characters are; in fact, Michael Madsen's Mr. Blonde dances to the song as he tortures the cop. There, like the other examples I gave, the song becomes the scene. It would be closer in comparison the Shaun of the Dead than Almost Famous.
As for Almost Famous and Wayne's World, there is no difference, and I didn't mean to imply that there was. I just don't like the Wayne's World scene as much as other people do. And the only reason I would discount 40-Year Old Virgin is because that veers off into a Scrubs-like fantasy sequence (ie- the characters would have no memory of singing and dancing to that song because it "didn't really happen" in the context of the movie. And yes, I know how ridiculous that just sounded.). Great scene, though; fantastic way to end a movie.
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