The Nature Boy

I just finished watching the Top 100 songs in American movies from the AFI 100 series on CBS. There is typically a lot of rancor to these lists, but I've got to give credit where due, they put together a terrific list and a very watchable show that I"d buy on DVD in a minute if they put it out. Just a great sampling of tunes over the years. I'm looking for a complete list, but Somewhere Over the Rainbow was 1, As Time Goes By #2 and Singin in the Rain #3.

PopcornTreeCt

It was decent. Too much Barbara Streisand though.

lisadoris

The list was okay but obviously not a list everyone will agree with. My major beef is that there weren't more contemporary songs credited. I know there's been some crappy movie music over the years but after looking at their nomination list there were a few songs that just got robbed.

The Nature Boy

Well, with all due respect, were you familar with the films and context of the older songs? The fact of the matter is, so many movies today will use contemporary songs, but it looks like this list was resticted to songs written for the screen. There simply is not a great deal of that going on today, or at least not at the level it was previously. But any list of this nature is up for debate, and there was a segment from the AFI prez in the middle of it saying she welcomed and encoruaged it as a means of stimulating film discussion.

towbinaj

Here's the list. i enjoyed the show. It was fun to see how many I owned. I can't believe take your breath away from Top Gun didn't make it.

1. "Over the Rainbow," "The Wizard of Oz," 1939.
2. "As Time Goes by," "Casablanca," 1942.
3. "Singin' in the Rain," "Singin' in the Rain," 1952.
4. "Moon River," "Breakfast at Tiffany's," 1961.
5. "White Christmas," "Holiday Inn," 1942.
6. "Mrs. Robinson," "The Graduate," 1967.
7. "When You Wish Upon a Star," "Pinocchio," 1940.
8. "The Way We Were," "The Way We Were," 1973.
9. "Stayin' Alive," "Saturday Night Fever," 1977.
10. "The Sound of Music," "The Sound of Music," 1965.

11. "The Man That Got Away," "A Star Is Born," 1954.
12. "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," 1953.
13. "People," "Funny Girl," 1968.
14. "My Heart Will Go On," "Titanic," 1997.
15. "Cheek to Cheek," "Top Hat," 1935.
16. "Evergreen (Love Theme From `A Star Is Born')," "A Star Is Born," 1976.
17. "I Could Have Danced All Night," "My Fair Lady," 1964.
18. "Cabaret," "Cabaret," 1972.
19. "Some Day My Prince Will Come," "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," 1937.
20. "Somewhere," "West Side Story," 1961.

21. "Jailhouse Rock," "Jailhouse Rock," 1957.
22. "Everybody's Talkin'," "Midnight Cowboy, 1969.
23. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," 1969.
24. "Ol' Man River," "Show Boat," 1936.
25. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin')," "High Noon," 1952.
26. "The Trolley Song," "Meet Me in St. Louis," 1944.
27. "Unchained Melody," "Ghost," 1990.
28. "Some Enchanted Evening," "South Pacific," 1958.
29. "Born to Be Wild," "Easy Rider," 1969.
30. "Stormy Weather," "Stormy Weather," 1943.

31. "Theme From `New York, New York,'" "New York, New York," 1977.
32. "I Got Rhythm," "An American in Paris," 1951.
33. "Aquarius, "Hair," 1979.
34. "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," "Shall We Dance," 1937.
35. "America," "West Side Story," 1961.
36. "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," "Mary Poppins," 1964.
37. "Swinging on a Star," "Going My Way," 1944.
38. "Theme From `Shaft,'" "Shaft," 1971.
39. "Days of Wine and Roses," "Days of Wine and Roses," 1963.
40. "Fight the Power," "Do the Right Thing," 1989.

41. "New York, New York," "On the Town," 1949.
42. "Luck Be a Lady," "Guys and Dolls," 1955.
43. "The Way You Look Tonight," "The Swing Time," 1936.
44. "Wind Beneath My Wings," "Beaches," 1988.
45. "That's Entertainment," "The Band Wagon," 1953.
46. "Don't Rain on My Parade," "Funny Girl," 1968.
47. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," "Song of the South," 1947.
48. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," "The Man Who Knew Too Much," 1956.
49. "Make 'Em Laugh," "Singin' in the Rain," 1952.
50. "Rock Around the Clock," "Blackboard Jungle," 1955.

51. "Fame," "Fame," 1980.
52. "Summertime," "Porgy and Bess," 1959.
53. "Goldfinger," "Goldfinger," 1964.
54. "Shall We Dance," "The King and I," 1956.
55. "Flashdance ... What a Feeling," "Flashdance," 1983.
56. "Thank Heaven for Little Girls," "Gigi," 1958.
57. "The Windmills of Your Mind," "The Thomas Crown Affair," 1968.
58. "Gonna Fly Now," "Rocky," 1976.
59. "Tonight," "West Side Story," 1961.
60. "It Had to Be You," "When Harry Met Sally ...," 1989.

61. "Get Happy," "Summer Stock," 1950.
62. "Beauty and the Beast," "Beauty and the Beast," 1991.
63. "Thanks for the Memory," "The Big Broadcast of 1938," 1938.
64. "My Favorite Things," "The Sound of Music," 1965.
65. "I Will Always Love You," "The Bodyguard," 1992.
66. "Suicide Is Painless," "M-A-S-H," 1970.
67. "Nobody Does It Better," "The Spy Who Loved Me," 1977.
68. "Streets of Philadelphia," "Philadelphia," 1993.
69. "On the Good Ship Lollipop," "Bright Eyes," 1934.
70. "Summer Nights," "Grease," 1978.

71. "The Yankee Doodle Boy," "Yankee Doodle Dandy," 1942.
72. "Good Morning," "Singin' in the Rain," 1952.
73. "Isn't It Romantic?" "Love Me Tonight," 1932.
74. "Rainbow Connection," "The Muppet Movie," 1979.
75. "Up Where We Belong," "An Officer and a Gentleman," 1982.
76. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Meet Me in St. Louis," 1944.
77. "The Shadow of Your Smile," "The Sandpiper," 1965.
78. "9 to 5," "9 to 5," 1980.
79. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," "Arthur," 1981.
80. "Springtime for Hitler," "The Producers," 1968.

81. "I'm Easy," "Nashville," 1975.
82. "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead," "The Wizard of Oz," 1939.
83. "The Rose," "The Rose," 1979.
84. "Put the Blame on Mame," "Gilda," 1946.
85. "Come What May," "Moulin Rouge!" 2001.
86. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," "Dirty Dancing," 1987.
87. "Buttons and Bows," "The Paleface," 1948.
88. "Do Re Mi," "The Sound of Music," 1965.
89. "Puttin' on the Ritz," "Young Frankenstein," 1974.
90. "Seems Like Old Times," "Annie Hall," 1977.

91. "Let the River Run," "Working Girl," 1988.
92. "Long Ago and Far Away," "Cover Girl," 1944.
93. "Lose Yourself," "8 Mile," 2002.
94. "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," "The Big Chill," 1983.
95. "(We're Off on the) Road to Morocco," "Road to Morocco," 1942.
96. "Footloose," "Footloose," 1984.
97. "42nd Street," "42nd Street," 1933.
98. "All That Jazz," "Chicago," 2002.
99. "Hakuna Matata," "The Lion King," 1994.
100. "Old Time Rock and Roll," "Risky Business," 1983

Painkiller

I own four of them. BTW, any Streisand is too much.

Giles

I missed the first hour of this, and though I feel it is a pretty predictable list: here are some my personal (not included) faves:

Watership Down - Bright Eyes
The Who's Tommy - Pinball Wizard
Sweet Charity - Rhythm of Life
Monty Python and the Life of Brian - Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
Little Shop of Horrors - Suddenly, Seymour
South Park - It's Easy, MMMKay

for shame no 'Love Theme from Mahogany' or 'Endless Love'

Ewan's rendition of Elton John's "Our Song' was powerful and emotional. That song was the most memorable from 'Moulin Rouge'

what no Fiddler on the Roof, Oklahoma, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita.. oi!

______________

The Nature Boy

And I stand corrected by the posted list lisadoris, there are indeed a few songs on there not written for the screen like unchained melody or born to be wild. The most suprising ommission to me is "Laura's Theme" from Dr. Zhivago, which was a pretty huge song. My most personal dissappointment is the ommission of "A View to a Kill" by Duran Duran. AWESOME song. Runner up would be "East Bound and Down" from Smokey and the Bandit, but I can't say I expected either one to make it. I guess there might be a tad much Babs on the list, and I think the Midnight Cowboy song is a bit high at 22. It's really not a great song, just often repeated in a great movie.

And I was shocked to learn and see "Zipadee doo dah"(sp) from "Song of the South" was included(with footage of the film!). It certainly didn't look like something we should not be allowed to see, and perhaps even an important film considering the merged live action and animation. I think it's time to realize that Birth of a Nation and the Jazz Singer are two of our alltime classics with some questionable racial stuff, and there's probably nothing that will stop the earth from spinning in the movie. Just put the damn thing out.

bsktballDude1

It was nice to see "Come What May" from Moulin Rouge one of my favorite films on the list. Along with songs from Butch Cassidy, The Graduate and "All That Jazz" from Chicago.

And as a fan of Audrey Hepburn it was great to songs from Breakfast at Tiffany's and My Fair Lady high on the list.

Giles

and no, 'Papa Can You Here Me?' from Yentl

Giles

but that wasn't her voice it was Marni Nixon's

Triple S

No songs from "This is Spinal Tap?"

Booooo-urns!

bsktballDude1

Even so, she is still enjoyable to watch.

Giles

and if you haven't seen the DVD edition of the film, rent or buy it to hear Hepburn's original undubbed singing voice in the disc's supplementary material section.

Giles

seeing how the special noted three songs from West Side Story it just reminded me how wonderful the film is. Every element of the film is perfect, the singing, the dancing, the cinematography, the cast. Even though 'America' is cited as the most energetic captivating film moment, I personally found the choreography and the song 'Cool' to be equally if not more stunning.

Jericho

for more recent movies, I've always liked Cameron Crowe's use of music in his movies

the big train

At the end of the show, I was thinking: "All of those songs from musicals... three songs from The Sound of Music, three songs from West Side Story, three songs from Singin' in the Rain and ZERO songs from Oklahoma!"?


I guess that AFI lady will be happy tonight.

PopcornTreeCt

No 'Tiny Dancer' from Almost Famous?!

The Nature Boy

Two more that I just remembered that didn't make it. The title shamefully escapes me, but the theme from Manhattan should have made this for sure, and I wish that "My Rifle, My Pony and Me" by Ricky Nelson from Rio Bravo made it.

And in another generation, "Stuck in the Middle" from Resevior Dogs will be here.

I might have to edit my thread title....

The Nature Boy

I would have much rather seen "See Me, Feel Me" or the big finale(I get the Music?). And I also think "Christmas morning" is quite underrated and "Extra Extra" is the greatest short song ever! The Pinball Wizard in the movie kind of leaves me flat.

Michael Corvin

I watched some of this. That is a solid top 10. I think they got it right.

Giles

there are a lot great moments from the film, Pinball is the only moment though when you get to actual see 'The Who' perform, which I personally like.

The Acid Queen is also another standout song.

whille Russell's film is somewhat on the kitchy side, I would love to see a newer director revisit the music and film it similiar to style and visual intensity that the Broadway play version had. Townsend's new song which he had written specifically for the play version is a beautiful stunning song (between Tommy's parents),

[Shameless plug: Here in Washington DC, the Studio Theatre is about to open a new production of the music starting July 15th. Being an avid 'Tommy' fan and having seen the New York Original Broadway production, the touring Broadway version at the Kennedy Center, I can't see how radically different this production will be]

lisadoris

Yep I am familiar with the older songs and their contexts (glad you caught that the songs didn't necessarily have to be written for the screen).

The song I was really surprised didn't make it was "In Your Eyes" from Say Anything. Whenever you hear that song (at least for me) I think of John Cusack standing outside with that radio. It so fit the character and the movie plus it's a great song.

I was also happy to see that hip-hop made a small appearance. Would have much preferred "Gansta's Paradise" from Dangerous Minds over "Lose Yourself" but beggers can't be choosers I guess. "Time Warp" either or any Blues Brothers tunes but I'm not surprised about that.

Giles

"Candle on the Water" - Pete's Dragon

majorjoe23

I came up with my top 10 omissions this morning:

Miserlou, Pulp Fiction
Bohemian Rhapsody, Wayne's World
A Quick One While He's Away, Rushmore
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down), Kill Bill
Needle in the Hay, The Royal Tennenbaums
Stuck in the Middle With You, Reservoir Dogs
A Man of Constant Sorrow, O Brother Where Art Thou
If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out, Harold and Maude
A Hard Days Night, A Hard Days Night
Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight, This is Spinal Tap

Not a single song from a Tarrantino or Wes Anderson soundtrack made it in?