Puttin' on the Ritz

One of my favorite scenes in movie history would have to be in the 1974 hit Young Frankenstein when Dr. Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) and "The Creature" (Peter Boyle) perform "Puttin' on the Ritz."

The scene is comical and seems to lighten up your mood.

[Source:  YouTube]

Against the Wind

I recently watched Forrest Gump for the millionth time (literally), but I completely forgot how awesome the soundtrack is.

[Source:  Wikipedia]

The CD was released June 28, 1994 with two discs.  It was re-released in 2001 with some additional tracks.

Disc one:

1. "Hound Dog" performed by Elvis Presley
2. "Rebel Rouser" performed by Duane Eddy
3. "(I Don't Know Why) But I Do" performed by Clarence Henry
4. "Walk Right In" performed by the Rooftop Singers
5. "Land of 1000 Dances" performed by Wilson Pickett
6. "Blowin' in the Wind" performed by Joan Baez
7. "Fortunate Son" performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival
8. "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" performed by The Four Tops
9. "Respect" performed by Aretha Franklin
10. "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" performed by Bob Dylan
11. "Sloop John B" performed by The Beach Boys
12. "California Dreamin'" performed by The Mamas & the Papas
13. "For What It's Worth" performed by Buffalo Springfield
14. "What the World Needs Now Is Love" performed by Jackie DeShannon
15. "Break on Through (To the Other Side)" performed by The Doors
16. "Mrs. Robinson" performed by Simon & Garfunkel

Disc two:

1. "Volunteers" performed by Jefferson Airplane
2. "Let's Get Together" performed by The Youngbloods
3. "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" performed by Scott McKenzie
4. "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)" performed by The Byrds
5. "Medley:  Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" performed by The 5th Dimension
6. "Everybody's Talkin'" performed by Harry Nilsson
7. "Joy to the World" performed by Three Dog Night
8. "Stoned Love" performed by The Supremes
9. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" performed by B.J. Thomas
10. "Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man)" performed by Randy Newman
11. "Sweet Home Alabama" performed by Lynyrd Skynyrd
12. "It Keeps You Runnin'" performed by The Doobie Brothers
13. "I've Got to Use My Imagination" performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips
14. "On the Road Again" performed by Willie Nelson
15. "Against the Wind" performed by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
16. "Forrest Gump Suite" composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri

In the 2001 re-release, they added tracks "Running on Empty" performed by Jackson Browne and "Go Your Own Way" performed by Fleetwood Mac.  In the movie, the two songs were featured int he scene where Forrest ran for three years straight.

Let It Go

To me, Idina Menzel has one of the best singing voices ever.  Not only does her voice just sound incredible, but her vocal range can't compare to the majority of singers around today.

The first time I heard her sing was when I heard "Defying Gravity" from the Broadway production of Wicked.  The last two minutes of the song brings goosebumps to my arms every single time I hear it.  She hits the notes and holds them for an impressive amount of time.

But most recently I was incredibly impressed with her performances in Disney's Frozen as Elsa.  I particularly love the song "Let It Go."  Menzel sounds completely flawless (as usual) and the song is very good as well.  Written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, the lyrics fit her voice perfectly.

[Source:  YouTube]

Best Song Ever

There is a new One Direction song out and even though they will be releasing a third album in the near future, their sound is not changing - usually singers change their sound a little bit by now.  The music video, which was released earlier today, is a promo for their movie This Is Us which will hit theaters at the end of August.  I have to say that I am never disappointed with One Direction's music videos.  This one is just as funny and creative as the others.

The song talks about how they each danced with a girl to "the best song ever," but he can't seem to remember the words.  To him, though, remembering the words doesn't matter because he "won't forget her."

The First Time

In the movie The First Time, Aubrey (Britt Robertson) meets Dave (Dylan O'Brien) in an alley outside a party they both attended.  There was automatically a connection between them and they spent the whole weekend together, even though they both had their own love lives which - well I won't give anything away if you have yet to see the flick.  I usually don't like movies that are sappy and romantic like this, but it was such a good movie.  One of my favorite parts was the soundtrack.  A soundtrack for a movie is extremely important.  If the movie is good but the music is bad, the movie will not be as good as it really should be.  Here's the soundtrack:

Silly Boy - The Blue Van
Teenage Daydream - The Nights
We're #1 - The World Record
Lonely Soul - The Nights
Trouble - Wait.  Think.  Fast.
The End - Best Coast
Head Spin - The Jamestown Story
Vampire's Kiss - John Gold
Girls Like You - The Naked and Famous
Sweet Louise - The Belle Brigade
Coming Home - The Pete Kilpatrick Band
Til The Morning - Bahamas
In Your Mind - Phonograph
I Cannot Love You  - Telekinesis
Can't Stop Thinking - Buva
Come On - The Wind
Wait For Me - Motopony
Mama - Sorta
Come And Go - Danica Rozelle ft. KU
Anne With An E - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Oh My Love - The Concretes
Diamond Eyes - Michael Haggins
Out Of Touch - Liz Boden and The Axes
If It Be Your Will - Leonard Cohen

Music in movies

I realized that I have not yet spoken about the music in movies.  Some movies have fantastic music, while others seem to fall a little short.  Whether it's a musical or not, nothing is better than a movie with some decent tunes.  I created a list of movies with a great soundtrack (in no particular order):

1. Grease
2. Billy Madison
3. GoodFellas
4. Saturday Night Fever
5. Titanic
6. Pulp Fiction

I feel like I don't even need to explain why the Grease soundtrack is amazing.  If you have seen the movie, you probably agree with me that the songs in that movie are timeless.  And if you don't agree, then you're not cool.

Billy Madison is truly one of the funniest movies I have ever seen and the soundtrack just adds on to the fact that the movie is incredible.  You can never go wrong with artists like The Cars, The Ramones, Jackson 5, Billy Squier, E.L.O., and Styx.

GoodFellas is a classic movie about the mob.  The songs included in the movie are perfectly chosen to fit each scene they are in and that is an important factor when it comes to creating a movie.

Saturday Night Fever, according to some, is the BEST movie soundtrack EVER.  Most of the soundtrack contains the Bee Gees, the greatest disco band.  With some KC and the Sunshine Band and The Trammps' "Disco Inferno", the people may not be exaggerating and this may be the best movie soundtrack ever.

Now, I probably should not have put the Titanic on the list, being as though every song is instrumental except for "My Heart Will Go On".  But, "My Heart Will Go On" is simply an absolutely amazing song, so that counts, right?

In parts of the movie Pulp Fiction, you just feel the need to start laughing.  On this soundtrack, they include the scene with John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson, "Royal with Cheese".  While the songs are good, the dialogue makes the album.