15 Comments

  1. Mine isn’t necessarily any one specific moment, from a movie or country. I just really like the music choices on the TV show, Gilmore Girls. It’s one of my favorite shows, though it’s sadly defunct now. The Paladinos, the original directors and writers/creators, integrated a lot of great music that fit nicely into the show, which was how I was happily introduced to Sam Phillips and Grant Lee Phillips.

  2. Mine isn’t from a movie either, but whatever. It makes much more sense if you’re familiar with the television show it comes from (Freaks and Geeks, IMO the best show ever made about high school), but I’ll try to explain the context as best I can because it’s too damn good for me to pick something else.

    First of all, the show is set in 1980. The girl you’ll see in the video wearing a heavy army jacket is depressed as a result of directly witnessing her grandmother’s last moments of life, as well as accidentally offending a mentally-handicapped boy her age (who you’ll also see) when she offhandedly referred to him as “retarded” (instead of “special”) while attempting to defend him against some perceived teasing. His arm is broken because he fell over while running away from her after what she said, obviously adding to her guilt. The awkward little kid you’ll see is the depressed girl’s brother. He has a crush on the tall cheerleader you’ll see him approach, and is determined to make the dance she has promised him a “slow one.” What follows is my favorite use of music in any visual medium ever, and I highly recommend seeking out the show itself. The scene I’m talking about starts at the 4:30 mark:

    Sorry for the long comment, everybody.

  3. Wayne & Garth singing Bohemian Rhapsody was classic… as was Bill Murray blasting music from the Statue of Liberty in Ghostbusters (2?)

    My favorite, or at least one that sticks out the most, was the opening of one of my favorite movies. The music surrounding the helicopter ride intro to Black Hawk Down set such an incredible stage for the rest of the movie.

  6. I watched the whole first season of Freaks and Geeks in a weekend this summer, and was highly recommended it to my best friends shortly after.

    My choices: “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John in Almost Famous and (hold the laughter) “It Feels Good to be a Gangsta” by The Geto Boys in Office Space

    Is this the first time the word “gangsta” has appeared on this blog?

  7. Ill take credit for the first appearance of “gangsta”, and I will also co-sign the Office Space reference (and further credit your correct “misspelling” of the band’s name).

    I also think Chef from South Park deserves a shout here, especially in light of Isaac’s recent passing. Nothing like a random Chef song out of nowhere,

    “Sometimes you kill your teacher, and they find…”

  8. Anything from American Graffiti. Excluding Wolfman Jack! ;-)

    My daughter is a Freaks and Geeks fan. Bigtime. I’ve only seen one episode but I liked it.

  9. Oh yeah, one of the beauties of having a daughter. When the studio re-released Grease my daughter and I got to dance in the aisles at the theater. It was almost a modern day cult film much like Rocky Horror Picture Show was back in the day. I really enjoyed doing that with Dink. Fun times! :-)

  11. Office Space is great. Mike Judge (the director) also created the great “Idiocracy.”

    My brother still doesn’t understand the greatness of “Office Space.” Then again, he’s often not worked in an environment like that.

  12. Just a shout-out to the great Stephen King who has used country music in his novels and movies for years. And he always just kinda slid it into the background for what it is – America’s music.

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