UK film magazine Empire asked writer-director and former rock scribe Cameron Crowe to make a list of the greatest musical moments in movies. Instead, the Jerry Maguire auteur came back with 36 suggestions. It’s a pretty entertaining selection, and it includes the apocalyptic, Pixies-soundtracked conclusion to Fight Club, which is certainly one of my favorite rock-related scenes. (You can see the clip below, though it’s both foul-mouthed and full of spoilers.)
Meanwhile, his No. 1 choice is a Cat Stevens-assisted sequence from the great Harold and Maude. But there are a number of notable omissions, including the "Tiny Dancer" sequence from Crowe’s own fantastic Almost Famous, and the lack of anything from The Big Lebowski (you could do a Top Ten list which comprised great music moments just from The Big Lebowski. Well, I could.) I’m also 99.9% sure that there’s nothing from The Graduate, although that seems so unlikely that I’m concerned by eyes are deceiving me.
What do you think of Crowe’s list? And what’s your favorite movie-music moment?
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More from EW’s Music Mix:
Tarantino reveals ‘Inglourious Basterds’ soundtrack details
Parachute: No. 1 album on on iTunes, no. 6789 on list of things I learn today
Brian Williams has 99 problems but his musical taste ain’t one
T.I. duet with Mary J. Blige leaks days before he begins his prison sentence
Bitter sweet symphony at the end of cruel intentions
I don’t know why it has always stuck with me, but in Se7en there is a scene where Morgan Freeman is in the library doing research, the cameras are panning from above while Bach’s Air on a G String plays. Beautiful piece of cinema.
I love the scene Crowe mentions in Royal Tenenbaums, and basically the entire movie could be listed with it, but I especially love Elliot Smith’s “Needle in the Hay” during Richie’s suicide scene.
Howard Shore’s score in Return of the King when the Riders of Rohirrim appear.
suicide scene in Royal Tennenbaums, Stalafur by Sigor Rios in The Life Aquatic when they discover the Jaguar Shark, not a movie, but the scene in scrubs where Dr Cox is trying to save the transplant patient with the rabies infected organ while “How to save a life” by the Fray is playing, and the worst i’ve seen was “Halleluiah” in Watchmen during the Archie sex scene.
This is random, but I love “Day-O” in “Beetlejuice.” It’s just so random and out there and yet makes perfect sense in the movie.
My other all time favorite movie-music moment is Nina Simone singing “Sinnerman” at the climax of “The Thomas Crowne Affair” (1999). The bouncy piano score and the lines “run to the river…run to the sea” as the Crowne clones evade the police just makes me grin and giggle every time I watch it.
Even though Cruel Intentions wasn’t a good movie in my opinion, Bittersweet Symphony did seem perfect at that moment.
I agree totally with the list and Stephanie with Royal Tennenbaums for Ruby Tuesday and Needle in a Hay (also spawned its own Kermit version).
Most of my favorite songs are based off movie moments that I love.
So I’d also include Dropkick Murphy’s Shipping off to Boston in The Departed, O Fortuna from Excalibur.
Celine Dion belting out “My Heart Will Go On”
The ending of Magnolia with Aimee Mann’s “Save Me.” Completely moving, and perfect piece of film-music interaction.
I think one of the best movie-music moments ever is, the part in Say Anything, where Jack Cusick is holding the big stereo over his head, blaring “Your Eyes” to his lday love. It’s a heartbreaking and endearing scene, and one of my favorite movies of all time.
Everybody Knows in Pump Up the Volume. Great movie/music combos.
I liked Crowe’s choice of Falling Slowly from Once, but When Your Mind’s Made Up just blew me away in that movie. The whole sequence with the thrown-together band and the jaded soundboard operator and Glen Hansard raising it another notch repeatedly as the scene plays out – it gives me goosebumps every time.
One from my youth – the ending to Last American Virgin as the kid drives away in his car after getting dumped by the girl he took and cared for after his buddy had kicked her aside when she got pregnat, all set to Just Once by James Ingram. A great scene from a cheesy 80′s movie.
I agree about “Tiny Dancer” from Almost Famous. Also, “That Thing You Do”, specifically when they hear their song on the radio for the first time.
Jesus and Mary Chain at the end of Lost In Translation, Baba O’Reily in Summer of Sam, Jessie’s Girl in Boogie Nights
Elliot Smith’s Needle in the Hay in The Royal Tenenbaums
Brahms at the end of There Will Be Blood
and Just Like Honey at the end of Lost in Translation