Dustin Rowles at Pajiba! (tagline: Scathing Reviews for Bitchy People) recently wrote up a wonderful little post about the use of music in movies, as well as a tangent about the death of the mix-tape, called "Damn, It Feels Good To Be a Gangsta". Go forth and check it out, I highly recommend it. And don't neglect the comments, as there are many more wonderful suggestions there. If you like what you see, check out "Pajiba's Guide to Third-Date Flicks" as it is also equally entertaining.

The post got me thinking. I am equal parts movie and music lover, and those moments when a wonderful scene and a wonderful song come together can transport me into a state of synergistic ecstasy. And there have been many times when I have fallen in love with some song just because of a movie or when a movie scene has tied some song in my mind to the visuals, binding them together inextricably.

So, I present my version of the movie scene mix-tape. Two notes before I go on. First, this list is not presented in any kind of order. Second, this list is far from comprehensive. There are many scenes that have songs attached to them in my mind, but which I would not include since I am not sure if it is a good thing in those cases. For example, I will always associate the song Shitlist by L7 with the opening scene (disturbing, NSFW for R-rated lang. and violence) of Natural Born Killers. The same could also be said about the song Stuck in the Middle and the infamous "ear scene" (disturbing, NSFW for lang. and violence) from Reservoir Dogs, as I see Michael Madsen dancing around everytime I hear that song. Also, sometimes a song will be incorrectly linked in my mind with a scene. One of the videos I went looking for when researching this was of the wine discussion between Paul Giamatti and Virginia Madsen in the movie Sideways, which I associate with the song Fearless Love by Bonnie Raitt. Amazingly, I found the video (NSFW, lang.), but was surprised to discover a different song playing in the background. I guess Fearless Love was played earlier in that sequence and my mind mapped it to a later scene.

Now, on to the list.

Movie: 28 Days Later Song: East Hastings by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
I think the thing I love the most about this one is the tension between the escalating, pounding cacophany of the music and the static long shots of the empty streets with one lone figure trudging along. Even towards the end, when Boyle begins to let the camera move around a bit more frantically, the music still outpaces the intensity of the shots and creates a wonderful sense of an impending "something".

Movie: Strange Days Song: Hardly Wait sung by Juliette Lewis
Nothing much really going on here except that I really love the movie and I love the song. Strange Days was one of two mid- to late-nineties dark sci-fi noir films, the other being Dark City, that I adore, but which no one else seems to. And since Strange Days is set in the "futuristic" year of 1999, I fear no one else ever will, since the movie now seems very dated. Warning! about the video: This video may not--and I'm feeling like a broken record here--be safe for work, or home. Ms. Lewis is not wearing anything under her see-through top. Watching the video though, I am not sure if you can tell or not, since she is mostly lit from the rear in the scene. And no one on YouTube has marked the video as inappropriate, which makes me think that the only way anyone would notice is if, like me, they had seen the later portions of the movie where she is seen in better light.

Movie: Wayne's World Song: Foxy Lady by Jimi Hendrix
I know many who, even to this day, cannot hear this song without doing Garth's fox ears over their head.

Movie: Kingpin Song: Showdown by Electric Light Orchestra
I'm not sure if this one holds up well outside of the context of the movie or not, but I always see Bill Murray doing that mock-scared hand waving gesture every time I hear the intro to this song, so I included it in this list. The movie Kingpin contains many great montages with many great montage songs, but this one is the best I think. The Farrelly Brothers are, like Quentin Tarantino, directors who are very passionate and involved with creating the soundtracks for their movies. Both the Farrellys and Tarantino are, in my opinion, masters of matching unexpected but perfect songs to scenes in their films.

Movie: Before Sunrise Song: Unknown by Unknown
I have no idea what song this is or who sings it, so I debated putting it on the list. I kept it in because I truly love this scene and, even though I have never searched to find the artist who sang the song or tried to download it, the song is a wonderful choice for setting the mood. I love how the "looking away when the other person looks at you" starts as something genuine and sweet and becomes almost a playful game by the end of the scene, and the song adds to that feeling.

TV Show: Lost Song: Wash Away (Reprise) by Joe Purdy
From the end of episode three / season one.

Movie: Kill Bill Vol. 1 Song: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood by Santa Esmerelda
Two very attractive women: check. Two katanas: check. Dramatic final showdown: check. Percussive and slowly building flamenco disco tune that serves as the oddly perfect soundtrack for this: check.

Movie: Jackie Brown Song: Across 110th Street by Bobby Womack
Across 110th Street, a song about Harlem, is used twice in the movie Jackie Brown, a movie set in Southern California in the suburbs of Los Angeles. The video above is the song in the opening credits. The song also closes the movie in a long take focused on Pam Grier's face as she drives away to her new life. As the chorus comes on, she begins to half heartedly mouth the words; a wide variety of emotions play under the hard shell of her face. It is still one of the best endings to a movie I have ever seen.

So that is my incomplete and unordered list. There are many other scenes I could have put here. Nicole Kidman dancing in the rain to Sweet Home Alabama in the movie To Die For. Luke Wilson shaving as Needle in the Hay plays in the movie The Royal Tenenbaums. The news team in the movie Anchorman doing the harmonies on Afternoon Delight. But, I think this is at least a nice representation of my love of those crossroads where film and music intersect.

Those wishing to add their own favorites are encouraged by this blog's management to do so in the comments.