Our special ramp-up to the Oscars continues...a long and totally unsolicited backward glance at the music that permeated the films of 2008. Today we'll tackle 11 through 19 on the list.
(Note: our ordering is based on the-numbers.com's box office gross results for 2008, but we're skipping over any movies that were actually released in 2007, such as Juno.)
One of the real soundtrack standouts in this group is Tropic Thunder. Ben Stiller is fantastically unafraid to turn up the volume on the music in his films and he rightly picks exactly the kind of turgid gas guzzlers that underwrite his broad sense of parody. Dropping Enigma's "Sadeness" during the fake trailer for Satan's Alley, for instance, had to be the funniest film-music moment of the year. The wonderful George Drakoulias did music supervision on this one too, which never hurts.
The other standout in today's list is Twilight, a project that managed to snag Alexandra Patsavas (The O.C., Chuck) to do music supervision. Patsavas has an ear for passionate, angsty music that really speaks to the preoccupations of youth, so she was a great catch for Director Catherine Hardwicke. However you feel about the whole Twilight phenomenenon, a Patsavas soundtrack is always worth a listen.
11. Twilight,
directed by Catherine Hardwicke. Music supervision by the talented Alexandra Patsavas (The O.C., Chuck).
Used some score by Carter Burwell, but also a multi-artist soundtrack including "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse and "Leave Out All The Rest" Linkin Park, both bands that the author Stephenie Meyer says she listened to while writing the books. It was Patsavas though who brought in the real highlights of the soundtrack with "Full Moon" by Black Ghosts, and "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" by Iron and Wine. Other tracks include "Let Me Sign" by Robert Pattinson, "15 Step" by Radiohead, "Spotlight (Twilight Mix)" by Mutemath, "Decode" and "I Caught Myself" by Paramore, "Go All The Way (Into the Twilight)" by Perry Ferrell, "Tremble for my Beloved" by Collective Soul, "Eyes on Fire" by Blue Foundation, "Bella's Lullaby" by Carter Burwell, "La Traviata" by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and "Claire de Lune" by Claude Debussy.
12. Mamma Mia!, directed by Phyllida Lloyd. Score by ABBA's Benny Andersson and music book by Catherine Johnson. A fully non-score soundtrack if ever there was one, Mamma Mia! features the music of pop band ABBA, as sung by an ebullient Meryl Streep, who looked like she was having the time of her life making this film.
13. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, directed by Andrew Adamson. Used primarily score by Harry Gregson-Williams, but also a few non-score tracks like "The Call," sung by Regina Spektor, "A Dance Round the Memory Tree" by Oren Lavie, "This is Home" by Switchfoot, and "Lucy" by Hanne Hukkelberg.
14. The Incredible Hulk, directed by Louis Leterrier. Music supervision by Dave Jordan. Used score by Craig Armstrong and non-score tracks including: "Over Under Around and Through," by Joe Raposo,"Danto" by French pop band Kaoma, and the ultra-high energy "Soundtrack" by Balkan hip hopper Frenkie.
15. Wanted, directed by Timur Bekmambetov. Music supervison by Kathy Nelson. Score by Danny Elfman, but also featured licensed tracks including "Every Day is Exactly the Same" by Nine Inch Nails and "Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman.
16. Get Smart, directed by Peter Segal. Used primarily score by Trevor Rabin, plus a few licensed tracks like "Take a Chance on Me" by ABBA, "Ain't No Other Man" by Christine Aguilera, Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" from Dead Poet's Society), "Anna (El Negro Zumbon)" by Les Brown and the Band of Renown, and "Hey Come Over" by Ella Rouge.
17. Tropic Thunder, directed by Ben Stiller. Music Supervisor George Drakoulias. Used some score by Theordore Shapiro (The Devil Wears Prada, Blades of Glory), but primarily featured a multi-artist soundtrack including "Sadeness" by Enigma, "Name of the Game" by the Crystal Method, "Run Through the Jungle" by Creedance Clearwater Revival, "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield, "Sympathy for the Devil" by the Rolling Stones, "The Pusher" by Steppenwolfe, "Frankenstein" by Edgar Winter, "Ball of Confusion" by The Temptations, "War" by Edwin Starr, "Get Back" by Ludacris, "Cum on Feel the Noize" by Quiet Riot, and "Low" by T-Pain. And let's not forget hip hop parody "I Love That Pu**y" by Brandon T. Jackson (as Alpa Chino).
18. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, directed by Rob Cohen. Used
score by Randy Edelman.
19. Journey to the Center of the Earth, directed by Eric Brevig. Used
score by Andrew Lockington.
Comments