I am ready for this to be a bit controversial of a list, but here we go. Also, movie musicals were left off of this list.
10. The Wedding Singer: I almost did not include this because it has some movie musical like properties, but ultimately decided on it. It has great 80s songs, first of all, but each song also serves a nice purpose in the film, especially when Sandler sings them. When you throw in the two great Sandler original songs, it really takes shape. There are actually two volumes of this soundtrack and both have stellar songs from this decade that gets mocked so often.
9. Garden State: I feel this soundtrack was a precursor to all of these indie movies with pretentious soundtracks. Of course, I like a certain amount of pretension, so it works for me. The soundtrack is a perfect mood setter for this moody, melancholy movie. It gives the film atmosphere and when you listen to the songs you can actually remember in what scene they appeared. It is a wonderful meshing of sound and picture.
8. Do The Right Thing: First of all, this soundtrack features the brilliant Public Enemy song "Fight the Power" and it does not need to have any other song on it to be amazing because that is just how amazing that song is. However, it also has a ton of other great songs that have deep meaning for a powerful movie. The movie integrates these songs in exceptional ways, which is really the true testament to a good movie soundtrack and Spike Lee loved Public Enemy so much he let them do the entire soundtrack to a movie later in his career.
7. Romeo and Juliet: To be honest, I am not sure this is a soundtrack featuring music I would normally find appealing, but in the context of the film and with the idea of the film in my head, it totally works. I almost feel like I have to take this soundtrack as 1 big piece of work instead of individual songs. I know there was a second volume of this one released as well, which is just how popular the music of this film became. The movie, which was a daring version of a classic story is helped out by this weird, eclectic soundtrack.
6. Friday: With a perfect blend of contemporary hip-hop cuts and classic funk/soul jams, Friday is the perfect soundtrack for a day of smoking weed and longing in the hood. What more can you ask for from a movie about smoking weed and lounging in the hood? You get Rick James, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and The Isley brothers, but you also get Cypress Hill and 2 Live Crew providing music for this stoner comedy. Because the movie gets violent, it is good to have some harder hitting music, but it is also to have those grooved out songs during the weed smoking sections of the movie.
5. Superfly: Curtis Mayfield did the entire soundtrack and while the movie spends a lot of time glorifying the drug trade, Mayfields gorgeous songs often counteract that. I found the film to be mostly forgettable when I saw it, but the music stays with you, man does it stay with you. With insane grooves, smooth vocals and socially aware lyrics, Mayfield soars over the exploitation trappings of the film this soundtrack serves.
4. The Graduate: This is one of those obvious choices when it comes to movie soundtracks, but what are you going to do? It is a great soundtrack. It is a great album, and it is a great way to service a great movie. I cannot say anything else about this soundtrack that has not been said on any list like this, but damn, whether you are watching the movie or just listening to it, you undoubtedly feel something.
3. (500) Days of Summer: You may question this choice, or at least how high it is, but this is my list and not yours. First of all, it services the movie exquisitely. From there, it just has insanely great music. A lot stuff from artists I had never heard of, but such great songs. What makes a great soundtrack may be different to different people, but I think this list makes it clear that the way a song is used in a movie helps elevate a soundtrack and is there a more perfectly placed song that Hall and Oates' "You Make my Dreams"? I think not. This is album I can listen to and let it transport right back to this movie.
2. 8 Mile: This might be the most controversial choice on my list, but if you know me, it should make perfect sense. There are two different soundtracks to this film, 1 with contemporary songs, many dealing with issues talked about in the movie and of course the soundtrack of songs used in the film. My choice is the one used in the film because this movie features the most brilliant collection of 1990s hip hop music. It hits on every level. It works as background music to a wonderfully 1990s hip-hop story, but it also hits hard as a compilation of hip-hop's golden era. It almost acts as a hip-hop starter kit.
1. Reservoir Dogs: Honestly, this spot could just be reserved for any Tarantino film because no one puts together songs the way he does. He is an artist at it, but it is not just his song choice, it is knowing exactly at what moment to cue up the song. I went with this one because, well the music is directly mentioned repeatedly and called to because of Steven Wright's wonderful deadpan DJing. You get the classic "Little Green Bag" moment, the perfect use of "Stuck in the Middle with you" and of course, my favorite, "Hooked on a feeling." Movie Soundtracks just do not come any better than this right here.
Feel free to leave some of your favorites in the comments and feel free to trash any of my selections as well.
I do want to make it known, I clearly went with soundtracks of songs, not just movies with a score, or orchestra music. It was a personal choice I made. Also, I decided O Brother Where Art Thou was too much of a movie Musical to be included, otherwise it would have been very high on my list.
