CHEWER'S 250 GREATEST MUSICAL NUMBERS IN CINEMATIC HISTORY - Page 6

165. "The Star Spangled Banner", Woodstock

In two words - utterly iconic; the defining moment of Woodstock AND of Jimi Hendrix. 

166. "Your Song"- Moulin Rouge

I didn't care much for the film. But the lyrics and the music just work perfectly here.

Right movie, wrong song, for me personally.

167. "El Tango De Roxanne" - Moulin Rouge

One song in the movie where the do something truly unique and powerful with the song. The orchestration is killer, and crosscutting it with Ewan's broken-hearted crooning, and that short, sweet Come What May reprise from Satine. It's the film's true PERFECT song.

#168  Gregory and Maurice Hines  -- The Cotton Club

You could say their shoes are doing the singing...

IIRC, all the 'extra' dancers are really famous in the tap world.

169. "Elevator Song" - The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.

Just about any number from this, the world's first and best live-action Dr. Seuss musical, is a contender. But this one is the funniest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin Clark 

Right movie, wrong song, for me personally.

 

167. "El Tango De Roxanne" - Moulin Rouge

 

One song in the movie where the do something truly unique and powerful with the song. The orchestration is killer, and crosscutting it with Ewan's broken-hearted crooning, and that short, sweet Come What May reprise from Satine. It's the film's true PERFECT song.

 

I remember seeing this in the theater, and as soon as the singer busted out with "ROOOOXXXXANNNE" I completely cracked up - hearing that song done as a sultry tango was just such an unexpected move. 

170.  "Somebody to Love," Jim Carrey, The Cable Guy.

The second number in the list featuring Jim Carrey, "Somebody to Love" fit perfectly in this film.  The performance fits perfectly with the tone and other set pieces, maintaining a very surreal quality, especially with the editing.  There are cuts and fades from different shots of Carrey even though the song runs uninterrupted.  The whole number is played like a bad trip.  And the less focused Broderick becomes, the more piecemeal the Carrey and the scenery get, and all the creepy party people just add to the effect.  You can feel something is off, even though you can't exactly put your finger on it. 

Or you just can focus on Carrey's heavy lisp, bizarre facial expressions, and how he fingers his neck to enhance the vibrato, and simply relish in how very strange it all is.

^Yes! Amazing weird sequence from a seriously underrrated movie.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Dickson 

160.  "The Bells of Notre Dame" - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

 

Wow, talk about a movie that fell down the memory hole. I guess with no princesses Disney did not feel the need to keep this one in the collective consciousness.

172. "Marian The Librarian" - The Music Man (1962)

"Marion The Librarian" is usually overshadowed by the higher profile numbers "Ya Got Trouble" and "Seventy-Six Trombones" in The Music Man but it doesn't deserve to be.  It is  one of the finest movie musical numbers in film. Bear with me as I gush.

Con man Prof. Harold Hill has come to River City to dupe the townsfolk into buying marching band equipment so he can abscond with the payments.  He's a master at manufacturing false threat, misdirecting suspicion and charming anyone who might be onto him. Anyone, that is, except local librarian Marion Paroo who sees in Harold Hill a shade of shadiness if not blatant criminal dishonesty. Having provided a pre-formed crisis and solution ("Ya Got Trouble" & "Seventy-Six Trombones") at a town meeting he's got the town unwittingly on board with his scam. Next he turns his sights to Marian The Librarian, the only obstacle and threat left to overcome.

Marion, you see, is an outcast, a widowed, single mother with a falsely tarnished reputation brought on by local gossip and small-minded resistance to her her open-minded love of literature.  Prof. Hill has made it clear his scams often mix the business and the pleasures of the con ("The sadder but wiser girl for me.").  He intends to impede Marion's investigation into his past by doggedly pursuing her, with the end goal of frustrating her or romancing her, probably some of both.  HIll has encouraged a forbidden relationship between the Mayor's daughter Zaneeta Shinn and the local delinquent Tommy Djilas and their relationship craftily foreshadows that of Hill and Marion. As go the young, so go the old.

The number has a lot of muscle in its camp.  A terrific movie musical cast is assembled.  Preston was born for this moment, he's having so much fun.  Shirley Jones... Oh... My... God... It's hard to conceive her mixture of the wholesome and the desireable can occupy the same body at once (in sexy Librarian glasses no less).  There's an irresistably catchy tune set to playful lyrics.  And wonderful set design showcased to the hilt by shot framing and camera movement that just FLOWS everywhere.

The Music Man is rightly considered safe family entertainment. But there's a tense, pulsating, sexual frission throughout the whole thing. Hill is on the con and on the prowl. After years of isolation Marion is warming to the idea of a life beyond her role as devoted widow. The Professor makes a tactical visit to Marion's home turf, the town's public library, where she, as the Libraian, is in control. He's gotten under her skin. If he can defeat her in the Library, he's won. His angle: insist that she go on a date with him.

The sexual tension builds as the scene flows from control to chaos. We start with slinky thrumming strings pulsing out a metronomic beat.  Throughout patrons will move about the library like clockworks figures in time to this beat.  Right off the bat Hill blows in and begins his assault, referencing Marion's scandalous past as an approach vector for a date.  He's the snake trying to hypnotize his prey.  She's resigned to ignore him and he warns her: "You're not listening Marion."  How can he hypnotize her if she doesn't listen?  In fact the entire song is Hill's hypnosis routine: the pendular swinging of the marble bag, the tick-tock beat of the music, the mesmerizing movement of the dance, the long drawn out "librarian" or "Marion" that ends each verse.  You're feeling sleepy...  Do as I command...

He's quickly onto her weakness: maintaining silence and order in the library.  A quick threat to upend his marble bag onto the floor causes Marion to gasp and for the first time ever (we assume) the Librarian is shushed by her patrons.  She's exasperated but we're just getting started.  The blocking here is terriffic: she retreats but he's always on top of her.  When she finally whirls around to object he's gone, frustrating her further.  Background action starts to creep in, keeping in step with the beat and supporting the action, not distracting from it.  Marion gets momentarily dreamy as Hill sings about the moonlight and then catches herself.

The first half of the song occurs between Hill and Marion and its action revolves around her checkout desk.  At the halfway point Hill's seduction via song ceases and the sequence gives itself over fully to choreographed movement and dance.  Having said (sung) his piece Hill recruits everyone in the library to his purpose and the entire library is on their feet.  In short amount of time the dance sequence incorporates ballet, soft shoe, acrobatics and waltz.  While attempting to settle everyone down Hill covertly trips Marion and she falls backwards into his lap.  As she wrestles away from him a line of boys waltzes in and sweeps her away.

In this transformative moment Marion finally concedes, or rather, she sort of collapses into joy. Danced around the library she flings off her glasses and the most beautiful look of joy appears on Shirley Jones' face. You just have to see it to understand it. She partners up and reels around the library with the boys, mind you, not one at a time, but the whole endless perpetually refreshed row of boys stacked together front to back: Marion facing boy after boy after boy... At this joyous moment Marion's emotional life has cracked wide open. Right there in front of her, represented by that line of dancing boys is the potential of relationships/romances/lovers stretching into her future.  Before long she's tap dancing on the table, being shushed and she could not care less.  She flashes an  "I'm being naughty" grin and then spins individually from boy to boy to boy... and back in Harold Hill's arms.

And the moment is gone.  She's realizes been suckered by the snake and she's steamed. Literally, she's heaving, out of breath and peeved.  He sings one more verse as her pursues her upstairs, makes his final play, stuffs a marshmallow in her mouth (how sexually inappropriate!), steals a peck on the cheek, dodges a slap and makes his escape down the dumbwaiter, over the checkout desk and out the door.  The final beat of the music ends on Marion slumped over the railing, chin on hand, huffing her bangs out of her eyes in exasperation.

It all goes down in less than eight minutes.

double post

triple post

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Dickson 

I came down on Art Decade's 2001 choice pretty hard, so I feel I owe him a Kubrick.  

 

Not that my opinion counts one way or the other, but after thinking on both sides of the argument for a few days, I really think Art was correct in that - it IS choreography, and it IS an iconic musical moment in film, if not a "number" per se. 

Now can I get a ruling on "The Enterprise"?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammerhead 

Now can I get a ruling on "The Enterprise"?

 

Ruling: get that weak shit outta here. 

I say it's just as much a musical number as the 2001 sequence. Plus-- original music!

173. "The World's Greatest Criminal Mind"-The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Sadly, I have no clip at the moment. While Howard Ashman and Alan Menken get a lot of (deserved) credit for reinvigorating the Disney musical with The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, Disney was already making baby steps with this and the equally underrated Oliver & Company.

GMD's songs and score were by Henry Mancini, and he clearly had a lot of fun coming up with gleefully nasty lyrics ("Worse than the widows and orphans you've drowned", anyone?). But the real stars here are Vincent Price on vocal duty for Ratigan and legendary animator Glen Keane. Both here and throughout the rest of the film, Price is clearly having the time of his life, hamming it up to a degree he couldn't even get away with in live action, providing one of the first great Disney villains of the Renaissance. And Keane matches him beat for beat with the powerful, grandiose and often hilarious movements of Ratigan.

The big, Busby Berkeley-esque finish is also terrific.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Dickson 

I'd say a musical number is a little more than moving model spaceships in time with music.

In 2001 it IS in time, to give a suggestion of a dance. 

ST:TMP it's just a evocatively scored, terrfically acted and filmed tracking shot (that is IMO an inferior reference to 2001). 

It may be a subtle difference, but it's a difference. 

Honestly, I don't consider either of them to be musical numbers. Apologies if I was obscure on that point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Dickson 

I'd say a musical number is a little more than moving model spaceships in time with music.

You're a terrible person and a bad dresser.

174. The Color Of Money "Werewolves Of London" (1986)

A masterful character moment, Cruise's choreographed dance & mime to Warren Zevon's classic tune follows well in the Hollywood musical tradition where the song is the external anthem for the internal workings of a character. Here, the song says it all: Vince is magic. He's a werewolf on the prowl.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art Decade 

 

174. The Color Of Money "Werewolves Of London" (1986)

 

 

A masterful character moment, Cruise's choreographed dance & mime to Warren Zevon's classic tune follows well in the Hollywood musical tradition where the song is the external anthem for the internal workings of a character. Here, the song says it all: Vince is magic. He's a werewolf on the prowl.

I thought it jwas merely letting us know his hair was perfect.

to diverge for a second....

re: ST-TMP ....weak

if you must go Trek, at least get some dancing in....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srzXnDa2rw4

OK, got that out of my system

175. Breaking Glass "Eighth Day" (1980)

Long forgotten yet crazy influential, this number from the "punk" film Breaking Glass is it's grand centerpiece.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Dickson 

I'd say a musical number is a little more than moving model spaceships in time with music.

You could say that an action scene with music is a "dance sequence", but when action is meant to evoke dance, it's a little bit different, and usually pretty clear.   Star Wars fighters swooping to John Williams' music could be called rhythmic, but Kubrick's scene is clearly meant to be a dance between spaceships.  Even if, fundamentally, and broken down to their basic components, both scenes feature the same thing (models timed to song), the ability for the viewer to discern the difference, to me, makes all the difference.

176. "Moon River" - Breakfast at Tiffany's

Fascinated by the enigma of Holly Golightly, Paul Varjak sits down at his typewriter. And as if on cue, the sound of a lonely guitar rises from downstairs, carrying with it his first glimpse of the real girl behind the real phony.

177. The Muppets Man or Muppet. Do I really have to give a reason? OK, if you don't like this song or movie, your dead inside.

178.  THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY - 'So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish'

One of the few funny moments in the film.  It's a great melody with some genuinely funny lyrics.  It starts off the film on the right foot and makes you think that HEY! THIS WILL BE A FUNNY MOVIE!  Alas, twas not to be.

Anyways, here's some singing dolphins.

179.  BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID - 'Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head'

It's not technically a performance, but the entire scene is essentially choreographed to the music, and the soundtrack is pretty much exclusively the song.  It's a character moment for the involved parties and the song and the footage enhance and complement each other perfectly.

180. Living Out Loud "The Ecstasy Dance" (1998)

Richard LaGravenese (writer of The Fisher King) is apparently a fan of non-sequitur musical numbers in dramas. In this forgotten gem, we see Holly Hunter's lonely divorcee take ecstasy & let loose in a lesbian dance club where, out of nowhere, everyone breaks out into a choreographed dance number. It's movie magic made easy.

181. Paths of Glory - "The Faithful Hussar"

Just a truly moving scene and a perfect ending to the film. A great testament to the unifying, hopeful power of song. And the singer is Kubrick's wife!

182. Ferris Bueller's Day Off - "Danke Shoen"/"Twist and Shout"

I'm not a fan of the film or Ferris as a character, but this moment I love. Hughes always knows how to use music to great effect and here he goes all out, playing up the joyous energy of the film.

183. "I'm Going To Go Back There Someday" - The Muppet Movie

"Exterior, Desert: Night! We knew right where you were!" In a quiet campfire scene, on the eve of the film's third-act showdown, Kermit wrestles with self-doubt about his dream of 'making millions of people happy', and the trouble he's leading his newfound friends into because of it. But it's inexplicably appropriate that the true importance of the adventure is expressed by Gonzo, whose dream is even more unrealistic and whose need for a stabilizing influence is infinitely more urgent. In any other universe, Paul Williams' song might have been another hit for the Carpenters; as it is, it's a jewel hidden in plain sight, waiting to be discovered by nostalgic now-grown viewers.

So glad this thread is still going!

184.  "Doo Wah Diddy"  - Stripes (1981)

Honestly, can you ever NOT think of this movie whenever you hear the original Manford Mann tune on the radio?  Talk about a song that's unexpectedly forever linked to a movie!  

This bit kind of sums up the entire film in a single minute:  60's counterculture humor meshed with traditional Army values.  Not to mention that the song works perfectly in tempo with marching cadence.  "Hey, we're walking!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas Booth 

179.  BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID - 'Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head'

 

It's not technically a performance, but the entire scene is essentially choreographed to the music, and the soundtrack is pretty much exclusively the song.  It's a character moment for the involved parties and the song and the footage enhance and complement each other perfectly.

 

 

Yeah, speaking of this.

185. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" - Spider-Man 2

In the movie going on in Peter Parker's head, this is his Smallville theme. This is something the new Spider-Man will lose, and possibly the most endearing thing about Raimi's trilogy: Peter Parker is truly a dork, and the fact that this is the first song in his head to celebrate his new freedom and seeing his life choreograph around it is just a wonderful, whimsical thing.

186. "Exile" - L.A. Story

I don't care if Enya symbolizes everything you hate about whooshy world-musicky new-ageyness, this is a fucking awesome sequence.

C'mon, folks.  Not much further to 200!

187.  "We Could Have Been Anything That We Wanted To Be" -- Bugsy Malone (1976)

I have a dream of sitting both Israeli and Palestine down together and forcing them to sing this song.  

This sweet finale song from the goofy, but lovable Bugsy Malone is all about healing, man!  After a messy mass "splurge-gun" massacre at Fat Sam's, all the principals just stop and grin at each other while covered in whipped cream.  Oh, violence never solves anything, but a Paul Williams song just might.  It's catchy as all hell.    

I still insist that this is the Foster movie that drove Hinckley over the edge rather than TAXI DRIVER.  

188. "Not to Touch the Earth", The Doors (1991)

Now, I am not going to defend the movie itself as being anything but complete bollocks (well-acted and entertaining bollocks, but bollocks nonetheless)....but this scene really nails it; I have often heard that The Doors live were a crap shoot - one night they could be the greatest band on Earth, the next they could be head-smashingly frustrating. Kilmer was fantastic in the role, inhabiting the Jim Morrison everyone wanted to see (whether or not that bore any relation to the actual person), and did his own singing....and in this clip, it is mayhem - The Doors are playing one of their more underappreciated songs, the dark and dissonant "Not to Touch the Earth" as clips weave in and out of Morrison's excesses beginning to catch up with him as some sort of bacchanale unfold in the audience and Indian Ghosts (?!?) dance around on stage. 

I like to think this is what any given night when The Doors were "on" looked like. 

I am just putting this out there as a "for your consideration" moment. Because this movie is by no means a great movie, but it was made in those heady days when cocaine addiction was a cause for HIGH COMEDY. 

Plus it's kinda batshit nuts and knows how stupid it is. 

The thread's slowed down a lot, so I might as well go for broke.

189. "(I've Had) The Time of my Life", Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, Dirty Dancing

The scene is iconic, referenced by who knows how many different films and TV shows, and the song was a hugely successful pop hit.  Is it cheesy?  Sure.  But everyone remembers it.  And Swayze absolutely owns.

I would never have nominated it myself, because I am utterly unfamiliar with the movie (I guess unfamiliar with the source material, as it were - I am defnitely aware of it as a pop-culture phenomenon, and generational touchstone). 

But I think anyone who disputes something from Dirty Dancing being on the list is an idiot - I'd say that if nothing else, DD and Footloose were the biggest "musicals" of the decade of the 80s. 

"Jekyl and Hyde?"  Hoo boy.  Time to class this place up again!

190.  "Don't Rain on My Parade"  -  Funny Girl (1968)

Easily the high-water mark of this film, this Act One closer just erupts off the screen due mainly to Streisand's awesome belting.  Great use of the New York Harbor, and that long helicopter push-in at the end is some impressive stuff.  Too bad the movie never really recovers this energy (the second half of the film is a real slog), but this sequence is a knockout.  

I just posted a Streisand clip, and yet DIRTY DANCING gets the slur???

60s Streisand gets a pass.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art Decade 

60s Streisand gets a pass.

I read that as Phil Hartman doing Frank Sinatra.

(Followed by something like "She had an ass like the back end of a '57 Coupe Deville, and she wasn't afraid to show it off!")

191. "Dancing In the Dark" - The Band Wagon

One more Astaire for the road, as he and co-star Cyd Charisse get to know each other outside of work:

and for extra credit here's Steve Martin and Gilda Radner's affectionate tribute:

http://videolog.tv/video.php?id=451266

I am going to get caught at the end of the page, and that makes me sad...

192. The Wiz -  "Ease On Down"

Mabel King scared the hell out of me as a kid, so maybe that is why I can't go with her song, but this encapsulates everything great about this film. With knockout performances by Michael Jackson and Diana Ross before both of them became monster parodies of themselves. The joyful, throw-up-your-hands dancing, the catchy tune, and the fact that I can sing this everyday just walking out my door. I have never lived in an inner city, nor have I ever been black, but this is the Wizard of Oz musical matches the 1939 everytime I think about the music.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ratty 

"Jekyl and Hyde?"  Hoo boy. 

That's Jekyll and Hyde: Together Again. And you've gotta give it some props for knowing exactly what kind of movie it is - the final shot is Robert Louis Stevenson's corpse wildly spinning in its grave. 

193. White Christmas "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing" (1954)

Vera-Ellen. You can't have a list like this without mentioning her. A razor sharp example of "perfection in movement", she could make Gene Kelly look like he had two left feet.

Danny Kaye (the "David Warner" to Donald O'Connor's "Derrick O'Connor") keeps up admirably.