Rob’s Finds

Rob is back with plenty of lists this week. First there’s “100 Best Movie Soundtracks”. Here are a few:

The Empire Strikes Back 
John Williams, 1980

For the first Star Wars sequel, the Wagnerian bombast of Williams’s music for the original was supplemented by melancholy romantic motifs and the darkly brilliant, dum-dum de-dum dum Imperial March.

The Sound of Music 
Rodgers & Hammerstein, 1965

Was there ever a more complete soundtrack? Probably not. From the goofy Lonely Goatherd to the elegiac Edelweiss, via the soaring title song, The Sound of Music is as invigorating as an Alpine climb.

The Harder They Come 
Various, 1972

Jimmy Cliff’s buoyant title track and You Can Get it if You Really Want are the evergreen hits that helped turn pop audiences’ ears to reggae, but the supporting acts, The Maytals and The Slickers, provide the mournful magic here.

Oh, yeah, The Harder They Come. Saw that in NYC in 1977 where it supposedly had been playing every weekend since it was released in ’72. Here’s a taste:

My favorite soundtrack is from The Shawshank Redemption. I must have listened to that 1,000 times while writing.

Then Rob takes us from musical scores to another kind of score — as in “The Top 10 Scores”:

The American film industry took a giant leap forward in 1903, with the release of The Great Train Robbery, a thrilling 11-minute movie about a Wild West holdup. The silent picture was the first “heist” film ever made and it has since inspired a legion of imitators who have gone on to tell bigger and better tales of cunning criminal capers and impossibly big scores. We’ve decided to pay tribute to this exhilarating genre by presenting a list of the top 10 most electrifying criminal schemes ever executed on film. Our selections are based upon the size of the score, the bravado of the criminals and the complexity of the job. We’ve also included corresponding movie clips for each of the highlighted films to allow you to watch the thievery unfold.

Nice list, but how can you exclude The Spanish Prisoner:

Another list from Rob: “Top Ten Acting Performances by Musicians”:

Musicians often get laughed at for having aspirations to act in film, and usually it’s pretty easy to see why. After all, no one’s basing acting classes around Britney Spears’ performance in Crossroads or Mariah Carey’s turn in Glitter, and even most of Elvis Presley’s movies are best forgotten. Still, there have been a number of singers, rappers, and rock stars that successfully crossed over into the world of acting, often to huge critical and popular acclaim. The following are ten of the most famous examples. In the interest of keeping things eclectic, this list will focus more on those who are still best known as musicians, rather than artists who eventually became full time actors, like Will Smith, Mark Wahlberg, or Jamie Foxx.

10. Dwight Yoakam in Sling Blade

“You know that I can’t so much as drink a damn glass of water around a midget or a piece of antique furniture.”

Although he’s never been a true mainstream star, Dwight Yoakam is one of the most successful musicians in country music, having scored more than 30 hit singles over the course of 20 albums. Along the way, Yoakam has also nurtured a side career as a character actor, appearing in films like Panic Room, Crank, and Wedding Crashers.

His best performance, though, came in 1996’s Sling Blade, where he played the film’s main antagonist. Yoakam is terrifyingly good as Doyle, the alcoholic, abusive boyfriend of the film’s lead female character. He plays the role with just the right amount of smarminess and brutality, and received an unexpected but well-deserved amount of praise upon the film’s release. He was ultimately overshadowed by Billy Bob Thorton, who won a best actor Oscar nomination for his lead role, but Yoakam’s performance is still one of the most memorable aspects of the film.

9. Dolly Parton in Nine to Five

“If you ever say another word about me or make another indecent proposal, I’m gonna get that gun of mine, and I’m gonna change you from a rooster to a hen with one shot! And don’t think I can’t do it.”

Buxom country star Dolly Parton is known for a number of things outside of her singing career, not least of which is her major theme park in Tennessee, but back in the 80s she managed to also make a name for herself in acting. She made her screen debut in 1980’s Nine to Five as gun-toting southern secretary Doralee Rhodes, and it remains her most famous role. The film follows three career women as they try to make their way in a modern office filled with egotistical male coworkers.

After being passed up for promotions and enduring constant sexual harassment at the hands of their boss, the three kidnap him and hold him prisoner while they try and find a way to prove his involvement in illegal business dealings and get rid of him for good. Parton basically plays an exaggerated version of herself in the film, but it’s a trick she does well, and her folksy, aggressive style blends perfectly with the performances of Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as her coworkers. The result is a now-classic movie, and Parton’s unique character even earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.

Hit the link above for the other 8.

And finally, Rob brings us some whimsy: Movie Mashups:

Take any film you wish, and photoshop the scenery, characters or titles into the style of a famous movie poster for a different film: The Dambusters in the style of Ghostbusters, Finding Nemo in the style of Jaws, etc.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Thanks, Rob, for more of your finds.