My Favorite Movie Soundtracks

Music plays a big role in movies. Aside from film scores, songs (those with lyrics) also set the tone and mood of a film. They also express characters’ emotions or tell stories on their own. After watching so many films, I have come up with a list of my favorite movie soundtracks. I listed 14 songs. Now let me count them down.

(Note: The embedded clips are the actual scenes from the movies where the songs are played. They may contain spoilers. Thanks to those who posted the videos on Youtube! )

14) Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) by Harry Belafonte – Beetlejuice (1988)

Jason Derulo sampled this in one of his songs.

 

This Tim Burton film is full of randomness, and one of them is this scene when these diners lip-sync and dance to Harry Belafonte’s song against their will.  Winona Ryder should have joined them.
 

13) Yoo Hoo by Imperial Teen – Jawbreaker (1999)  
      

 Is it just me, or does Rose McGowan look like a younger Sylvia Sanchez?

      
Rose McGowan and the gang strut their stuff on the hallway while Imperial Teen’s Yoo Hoo plays. This is probably the best entrance ever! Never mind that the film is a dud. Watch it when you’re tired of pa-deep and pa-intellectual films. It won't hurt.
     

12) The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel – The Graduate (1967)
 

The song is played in other scenes, but this one is a non-spoiler for those who haven’t seen the movie.

      
I would love this song whether or not it was played in the movie. Listening to Paul Simon’s voice (I think it’s his) accompanied by the guitar (and other instruments later) is just relaxing, despite the song being actually inspired by the assassination of JFK.  
     

11) To Sir With Love by Lulu - To Sir, With Love (1967)

 Lulu, who looks like Jersey Shore’s Snooki here, sings the theme song to Sidney Poitier, one of my favorite actors.

      
I used to be a teacher, and I taught students about subject-verb agreement and the like. I don’t think I’ve changed their life that much. I wish I had been more like Sidney Poitier in this movie. Too bad I’m not black, and I didn’t teach a bunch of problematic English high school students. It must have felt great to have someone make a song for you.  
       

10) Norwegian Wood by the girl who played Reiko - Norwegian Wood (2010)  
       

 I loved this song the first time I heard this. This part is perhaps the only scene that I liked.

      
I didn’t know that it’s a Beatles song and that the movie is titled after it. I watched the movie without knowing what it is about. I just watched it because a friend was raving about it. It turned out to be just a movie about a bunch of suicidal people who haven’t discovered lubricant. Don’t hate me, Murakami fans. I’m sure the book is better than this film.  
     

9) Moon River by Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
       

 I can’t think of anyone who can top Audrey Hepburn.

      
Audrey Hepburn singing. ‘Nuff said.
        

8) I’ve Seen it All by Bjork and Peter Stormare – Dancer in the Dark (2000)
       

 I have this thing for eccentric female musicians.

       
Bjork breaks into a song and dance number while in the middle of a railroad. Now I've seen it all. The movie, directed by Lars von Trier, was awarded the Palm d’Or at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. And Bjork? Well, she just got the best actress award.

        

(See my top 7 favorite soundtracks after the jump.)

From Tori With Love

My personalized CD business in college exposed me to various genres of music. Before giving the CDs to my classmates, I would listen to each song to make sure that it plays well. This made me appreciate cheesy love songs, alternative, rock, ballad, and even emo music. Prior to that, pop music is the only music I listened to. It is through this way that I discovered one of the most talented musicians ever – Tori Amos.

My favorite redhead. (Image is from this site.)

Once, a classmate requested Tori Amos’ A Sorta Fairytale, and it immediately became my favorite. Before that, Spark, another favorite, was the only Tori Amos song I knew. To be honest, I could not understand both songs’ meaning at first since I have not gone through what the songs are about – love and miscarriage. There’s just something in them that made me keep listening, aside from Tori’s unique, haunting voice that sounds better when accompanied by the piano. Since then, I have listened to most of Tori’s songs and watched most of her videos. I thought this made me a true blue fan, but I realized that I still did not know her well enough to be considered as such. I didn’t even know her real name until recently.