Monthly Archives: August 2008

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Song of the Day #38: ‘Hey There Delilah’ – Plain White T’s

Today I celebrate the joys of product placement.

I wonder if musician guest spots on TV shows do any good. I’m talking about the sort of thing where The Shins, say, turn up playing the local bar on Gossip Girl (that hasn’t actually happened, as far as I know… it’s just a hypothetical).

One such guest spot I remember, because it combined two of my favorite things, was Aimee Mann’s appearance on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She played two songs in the background of a couple bar scenes and even got to deliver a line (“Man, I hate playing vampire towns”). But I doubt any non-Aimee Mann fans ran out to buy her album.

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Song of the Day #37: ‘Waltz’ – Julie Delpy

And on the seventh day, we come full circle.

While Kath Bloom’s ‘Come Here’ signaled the beginning of a romance in Before Sunrise, things are quite different nine years later when Julie Delpy performs her ‘Waltz’ in Before Sunset.

I remember being both excited and scared when I heard Richard Linkater, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy had reunited to film a sequel to Before Sunrise. On the one hand, I was dying to know what happened with Jesse and Celine and I relished the thought of spending another 90 minutes with them. On the other, I felt the first film was perfect and when you mess with perfection the only way to go is down.

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Song of the Day #36: ‘If You Want Me’ – Marketa Irglova

OK, so I’m breaking the rules again with this pick, or bending them anyway.

Marketa Irglova is listening to a recording in this clip from Once, but it’s a recording of her own music and she does sing along to the tape, so I think it counts.

I had plenty of Once scenes to choose from — the whole movie is made up of scenes that fit my criteria for this week’s theme — but I really had no other choice. For me, this is far and away the best scene in the movie.

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Song of the Day #35: ‘Man of Constant Sorrow’ – The Soggy Bottom Boys

When I talk about the use of music in movies, I throw around a lot of names (Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson and Martin Scorsese are the most common) but I often forget to include the Coen Brothers. And that’s a major oversight, because these guys have done great things with music in all their films.

Start with the original scores, all penned by the wonderful Carter Burwell. From the banjo-and-yodel version of Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ in Raising Arizona to the pounding bass drums of Fargo‘s Nordic-inspired title song; from Barton Fink‘s edgy violins to that gorgeous and melancholy Miller’s Crossing theme.

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Song of the Day #34: ‘Your Song’ – Ewan McGregor

Moulin Rouge is one huge heaping mess of a film. At times it feels like a runaway train in danger of flying off the tracks into a fiery pileup. But somehow it keeps its balance and emerges as one of the most memorable films of the 00s.

Most of the credit, in my opinion, belongs to Ewan McGregor. I can’t imagine another actor pulling off the naive innocence and the unabashed romanticism of his Christian, let alone one with a terrific singing voice to match. Nicole Kidman got the Oscar nod for this film, but McGregor was its MVP.

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