WHERE MUSIC LISTENS TO YOU

Film Soundtracks: Classic Cuts and Christopher Walken

Posted over 3 years ago
...from the Three Degrees of Separation Dept: ...I have a grip of movie soundtracks that I listen to on the regular-- especially moody Ennio Morricone, Vangelis and James Horner/ London Symphony, orchestral stuff when I'm sitting at the keyboard working...tunes set the tone and tell you what's happening onscreen even if you're looking away from it...there are flicks I enjoy viewing because of their soundtrack or score; everytime I hear Massive Attack's "Angel" or "Golden Brown" by the Stranglers I think of Guy Richie's caper classic Snatch...Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" reminds me of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (and the summer of '89 when I graduated from high school and went to college)...Moby's "Porcelain" will always cause me to think of The Beach, that underrated Leo DiCaprio flick that boasts a really phat soundtrack..."Miserlou" will forever evoke images of Jules Winfield and Vincent Vega cruising through the Valley in Pulp Fiction, Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me" warps me back to high school-- come to think of it, didn't John Hughes throw up lyrics from David Bowie's "Changes" before the screen shatters and fades onto the Shermer campus? That's a double whammy...the list goes on and on......I've noticed that Adam Sandler uses a ton of pop/ rock tunes to augment the thrust of his movies and though the premises for these vehicles often push the envelope of credulity, I've got to hand it to the folk over at Happy Madison (Sandler's production company) they know how to sprinkle in the pop slices for maximum effect, clearly evidenced in the movie click which stars Sandler, Kate Beckinsale, David Hasselhoff and Christopher Walken (another one of my favorite thespians)...as I write this, I'm reminded of covering the film Wedding Crashers (which actually used Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rhondo A la Turk" during the football game sequence) and is also a film I'll check from time to time but not for the music-- the dinner table scene...Will Farrell's cameo...the quail hunting incident? Sometimes I'll go to a screener and know that I'm watching a hit and such was this film (I felt the same way while watching Brokeback Mountain)...I got some really sweet copy from Walken that I never used (because everyone wanted Vince Vaughn/ Owen Wilson stories) but blah-blah-blah...my trusteds know where I'm going with this......meeting the King of New York was a really surreal moment because CW's the man..."eccentric" but a great actor nonetheless-- there were definitely "Ground-control-to-major-Tom" moments but that's forgiveable...dude's been in some of my top 100 flicks; Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, A View to a Kill, Biloxi Blues, King of New York, Batman Returns, True Romance, Pulp Fiction, Things to do in Denver When You're Dead, Basquiat, Gigli (kidding) and Man on Fire..and then there's all that Saturday Night Live shite...dude's led a full life...but he's out there, son...waaay out there, kid...here's an excerpt:"...When dude walked into the room I half expected him to pull out a wristwatch (like he did in Pulp Fiction) but that didn't quite happen...There's an old colloquialism that goes "avoid meeting your heroes at all costs -- they're never as interesting to meet in the flesh as you'd imagined they'd be." I walked into the roundtable at the Four Seasons bearing the latter in mind because, you never know, yo..."*See for yourself*":http://chronicridicule.blogspot.com/2005/06/christopher-walken-king-of-new-york.html

Comments (4)

  1. Sureshot says I recently caught Christopher Walken in John Turturro's 'Romance & Cigarettes, and thought his performance as Cousin Bo stole the show. The man still has it an abundance. I think I'd fall to pieces if I were ever to meet such an icon of cinema in person.
    Permalink posted 12/09/2006
  2. Mike the Knife says I think Walken is the King, but, seriously, Crash. "A View to a Kill"? (That would be this Bond-o-phile's worst-of-series, in a three-way tie with "The Man With the Golden Gun" and "Octopussy.") Re: Pop tracks in movies: Cameron Crowe's use of Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" in "Say Anything," and Elton's "Tiny Dancer" and Cat Stevens' "The Wind" in "Almost Famous." Like these films or not, they were very effective narrative and mood-setting choices.
    Permalink posted 12/09/2006
  3. CrashPryor says ...yeah but I'm the guy who likes the bond movies with the best bad guys...so most of the Bond films I like are Connery joints...View to a Kill, however, still counts because Walken was a real scumbag in it...plus Grace Jones gets all kinds of crazy as Mayday...
    Permalink posted 12/09/2006
  4. Mike the Knife says We're of a similar mind on the Connery installments. "You don't expect me to talk, do you, Goldfinger?" "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die."
    Permalink posted 12/09/2006

Comment on this Post

Login using email and password below.

Forgot Password?

Don't have an account?
Join MOG. It's Free!

© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved