scene + heard.

Whether it’s Iggy Pop’s jackhammering “Lust for Life” scoring the heroin-crazed introductory chase scene from Trainspotting, or Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore going all clay-crazy over the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody” in Ghost, directors have always seemed to love scoring big scenes with a well-chosen song. Here are five of my personal favorite scenes with songs.Sigur Rós – “Starálfur”
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou“I'm going to find it and I'm going to destroy it. I don't know how yet. Possibly with dynamite.” So famed oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) vows revenge on the mythical “jaguar shark” that killed and ate his friend. Following dustups both romantic and piratical, Zissou and crew finally gather in his underwater craft, waiting for the shark. The spotted sea monster appears out of the briny deep, dwarfing the ship. The entire crew gapes wordlessly in amazement, and upon witnessing the majestic creature, Zissou decides not to blow it up. Besides, they’re out of dynamite anyway. The strange and beautiful Wes Anderson moment is paired perfectly with “Starálfur”, featuring a string section, Jónsi Birgisson’s ethereal voice and keyboard synthesizers that practically sound like sonar. Elton John – “Tiny Dancer”
Almost FamousA love letter to classic rock, Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical film focuses on his teenage years writing for Rolling Stone magazine and traveling around the country in the 1970’s with bands like Led Zeppelin and the Allman Brothers. Crowe’s character William (Patrick Fugit) sits on a tour bus with archetypal band Stillwater and their families, friends, and groupies. Bad acid trips have been taken, girlfriends have been shagged by bandmates, and everyone is staring bleary-eyed out the window at the sun, hating themselves and each other. “Tiny Dancer” plays. One by one and almost reluctantly, heads begin to nod along with the tune. Smiles appear. Gorgeous "band aid" Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) quotes a line and suddenly the whole bus is joyously singing along. In the space of a verse and chorus, grudges are forgotten and friendships are restored. The song serves to remind everyone why they’re on the bus: it’s all about the music, man. In what could have been an entirely contrived scene, Crowe’s direction instead deftly exposes the film’s central theme.Thom Yorke – “Analyse”
The PrestigeNothing punctuates a movie ending’s final twist like a superb end credits song. In The Prestige, rival magicians Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) compete in a bitter and obsessive quest for fame in turn of the century London. Like an expert magician’s trick, the film’s head-scratching conclusion leaves more immediate questions than answers. Yorke’s lyrics sound almost tailor-made for a magician taunting his audience (“You're just playing a part...there's no time to analyse”) and the spooky minor piano chords and tense electronic beats pick up the mood right where director Christopher Nolan leaves off.Nico – “These Days”
The Royal TenenbaumsRichie Tenenbaum (Luke Wilson), a former tennis prodigy who’s gone off the deep end and fallen in love with his adopted sister Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow), waits at the bus station for her. The bus arrives and suddenly we’re viewing everything in slow-motion through Richie’s eyes, over Jackson Browne’s (who also wrote the song) fingerpicked guitar chords. Margot steps off, all windswept hair and gothy eye shadow, a literal Venus in furs. Strings, Nico’s voice, and an intensely poignant cinematic moment arrive simultaneously. “These Days”, both melodically and lyrically, captures the whole of Margot’s introspective, emotionally bruised character and Richie’s longing for her.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – “Le Nozze di Figaro: Duettino - Sull'aria”
The Shawshank RedemptionCourtesy of Mozart, wrongfully imprisoned Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) shines a ray of dignity and hope into the gloomy prison walls of Shawshank. After gaining the trust of the guards, Andy slips into the warden’s office, locks the door, and places The Marriage of Figaro on a phonograph hooked up to the public address system. The elegant aria blasts out over the entire penitentiary. As narrator and fellow inmate Red (Morgan Freeman) tells it: “I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it…For the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free.”