1. "Llorando" by Rebekah del Rio - from Mulholland Drive
At Club Silencio in the middle of the night, the film's two protagonists -- both women with crises of identity -- watch a strange, slow stage show. A woman quietly walks out into the spotlight, and begins to sing this song, a Spanish-language a cappella version of Roy Orbison's "Crying". I warn you, in no uncertain terms it will *break* *your* *heart*. Even if something completely unexpected didn't happen silently in the middle of the song, it would still be one of the most powerful musical moments ever put on film.
2. "The Conversation" by John Williams - from Close Encounters of the Third Kind
On the clear, star-filled night when man and alien finally meet for the first time, the common language is music, and this simple/complex, innocent/wise interchange of melodies is a breathtaking example of John Williams at his most powerful. His five-note melody taps directly into the subconscious and holds us mesmerized.
3. "Willow's Song" - from The Wicker Man
Haunting. Absolutely haunting. In the film, a woman calls this siren song to the pious police chief in the next room, methodically knocking on the wall that separates them as she sings. (It's Britt Ekland in the film, but I seriously doubt it's her singing voice). He manages to resist the temptation, but the song that's left behind is a bit of early-70's Celtic folk that is equal parts alluring and menacing.
4. "The Hero" by Queen - from Flash Gordon
Thought I was going to pick the title song, didn't you? No way... this closing-credit mashup of Queen's best moments from the film goes full-blast and almost wipes out the memory of that cheesy "The End…?" that closes the film itself. A perfect ending to a movie that turns the entire last half-hour into one continuous Brian May guitar solo.
5. "Koyaanisqatsi" by Philip Glass - from Koyaanisqatsi
This Hopi chant opens the most ambitious nonfiction film trilogy ever produced. It's a melding of ancient song and modern technology that endlessly revolves in your mind for days after experiencing it.
6. "The Rainbow Connection" by Kermit the Frog - from The Muppet Movie
A frog, a banjo, and a message. It's just that simple. The lyrics are a little obscure, but that just makes it easier to project your own hopes and dreams onto it. And need I say that the final reprise makes for one of the most emotionally uplifting (and technically impressive) endings to a film ever?
7. "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio - from Dangerous Minds
Coolio's double-pitched voice in this song makes for one of the creepiest rap songs I've ever heard. Gangsta rap never really had any appeal for me, but this reworking of Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise" perfectly conveys the bleakness of inner-city life that everyone else at the time was trying to glamorize.
8. "Knights of the Round Table" by Monty Python - from Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Everyone loves "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", but in my opinion, this song's much more hilariously inventive. Where else can you hear "Round Table" rhymed with "impeccable", "unsingable", and "Clark Gable"? Plus a solo played entirely on helmets...
9. "The Voice of Love" by Angelo Badalmenti - from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
This instrumental piece saves FWWM from becoming the most unrelentingly depressing film ever. Laura Palmer is repeatedly abused, tortured and torn apart by forces she can't control, and when the horror of death finally comes, a pair of angels are there to save her, accompanied by this slow, heavenly ray of hope.
10. "All Over the World" by ELO - from Xanadu
It's tough to choose only one song from Xanadu... but everything I love about ELO is in this one: the high, close harmonies, the soaring strings, the obligatory vocoder, the 50's rock chord pattern given a fresh sheen of 70's lacquer. Impossible not to feel all the way down to your toes.
11. "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel - from Say Anything
The image of John Cusack holding a boom box over his head has become an iconic cinema moment, and this song deftly sums up the irresistible pull of love... "In your eyes I see the doorway of a thousand churches /The resolution of all the fruitless urges". It affirms that sometimes risking everything is the best thing you can do.
12. "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield - from The Exorcist
Nothing about The Exorcist is subtle; that's how it's designed. This clanging, weirdly off-kilter instrumental gives just the right amount of menace to a film that is almost entirely music-free for the rest of its harrowing two-hour length.
13. "Wise Up" by Aimee Mann - from Magnolia
Midway through Paul Thomas Anderson's confusing three-hour epic, each character reaches their emotional nadir, and they spontaneously (and simultaneously) begin lip-synching this song. It's an audacious move that questions the very authority of the director, but so help me, it worked. Beautiful pain.
14. "Boom-Shak-a-Lak" by Apache Chief - from Dumb and Dumber/Threesome/etc.
This completely unintelligible ditty found its way into several mid-90's movies. It's silliness taken to the extreme -- Rastafarian dancehall complete with cartoony "boinggg" sounds. Irresistible! After over a hundred listens, all I can discern is that the lyrics have something to do with dancing.
15. "Gollum's Song" by Emiliana Torrini - from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The unsung hero of the Lord of the Rings songs, from the point of view of Gollum. I've never heard more loneliness infused into a song before... the echoey refrain of "we are lost, we can never go home" throws a familiar character into an entirely different, sympathetic light.
16. "The Touch" by Mark Wahlberg - from Boogie Nights
A cover of a song from the original animated Transformers movie, this one manages to cram in every bad 80's rock cliché, from the "motivational" subject matter to the cheesy electronic drums. It's as if they distilled the very essence of an overblown, pastel decade and channeled it into four minutes of music. Plus, it's a hilarious reminder of why Mark Wahlberg rapped instead of sang.
17. "Lose Yourself" by Eminem - from 8 Mile
This was the first time I was absolutely dazzled by the sheer intricacy of wordplay in a rap song. Examine the beautiful double-rhyme scheme of stanzas like "Snap! Back to reality/ Oh! There goes gravity /Oh, there goes Rabbit, he /Choked, he's so mad, but he /Won't give up that easy..." and top that with the sheer frustration of the rapper as he tells a tale that is, in essence, both the character's and his own at the same time. Amazing.
18. "Stayin' Alive" by Supple - from Hurricane Streets
The original is nothing less than untouchable, but this version of the disco classic is done acoustically, with the snaky bassline replaced by a cello, and the lead sung in hushed, menacing tones. It's rare that a cover version of a song makes me like the original even more, but this one delivers.
19. "Spybreak!" by the Propellerheads - from The Matrix
In the spring of 1999 American action cinema finally became relevant again over the course of three minutes during this scene of slow-motion, balletic firepower. This song took a great scene and made it a classic for the ages.
20. "Little Green Bag" by George Baker Selection - from Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs wasn't the first movie to show its protagonists walking together in slow motion like warriors heading into battle, and it certainly wasn't the last, but this is one *fierce* opening to a film.
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