What’s The Rumpus?

So before even starting my paper for class, I decided to idiotically undertake a personal project even though my completing it does nothing to help my grade nor my college career. It was out of sheer geekiness and probably a little bit of boredom. Despite the ipod revolution, I still am very much a subscriber of mixtape culture. I have a cruddy lil stereo from the 80’s with an audio imput. I used to use it to record NPR stories off the web, but lately I was just dealing with music, but I’ve always had this idea in the back of my head to do a movie mixtape where I capture audio of my favorite songs used in films. So the other night I hauled a helluva whole bunch of my DVD’s down and created the following tape.

 

SIDE A

1. Boogie Nights – Jesse’s Girl – Excellent because Alfred Molina begins by discussing mixtapes It’s also good because the entire song is played, which often doesn’t happen thanks to editing. This is my favorite scene in that entire film. Molina is one of my top three actors and his cracked out performance in a bathrobe makes the film. 

2. The Big Lebowski – Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In) – A fantastic dream sequence that really ties the film together.

 3. Rushmore– A Quick One While He’s Away – This performance by The Who is from the amazing bizarre Rock and Roll Circus (worth seeing just for George Harrison’s introduction “And now ladies and gentlemen…dig The Who.). The fact that it’s live really makes a difference, the CD soundtrack is the original record which, though wonderful, lacks passion. Here, Roger Daltry is pumped as he belts “forgivenforgivenforgivenforgiven!” and adds to the ironic vengeful nature occurring in the film. The music bows out for a few seconds while Harold Bloom (Bill Murray) reports Max Fisher (Jason Schwartzman) to the police, and then makes a rousing return as Max is carried out of school by two officers.

4. Shaun of the Dead– Don’t Stop Me Now- Word to the wise, ZOMBIES HATE QUEEN. So when the jukebox in Shaun’s (Simon Pegg) safe haven pub starts up with this super positive song, he and his friends must act quickly to keep the elderly owner zombie down. Worth it for the choreographed on tempo pool cure strikes.

5. Moulin Rouge – Roxanne – I know my masculinity is compromised by saying I like this film, but at least this is one of the less flamboyant songs. The tango version of the Police manages to come off classier than, say, Jim Broadbent singing “Like A Virgin.”

6. Reservoir Dogs– Little Green Bag – An excellent introduction by comedian Steven Wright enhances this opening credits song even more. I know some of you might think “Stuck In The Middle With You” would be a better choice, but there is that point where Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) leaves the room to get the gasoline. Sometimes it’s better to go with a less obvious choice.

7. Manhattan –Rhapsody In Blue – Though we lose out by not being able to see the beautiful cinematography of Allen’s 1979 film, we gain by being able to hear his dialogue. Having dialogue on the mixtape separates it from being just a taping of CD soundtracks (Which I also do a lot, but if this works out well, I may end up selling my soundtracks….except for Grease on vinyl)

8. Lost in Translation – What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding? –I haven’t watched this film in a while, but the karaoke scene is memorable. And I think Bill Murray’s choice to play quieter roles in the past decade makes him able to do things that other SNL cast members can’t do. Imagine Chevy Chase covering Elvis Costello…then clean up that vomit.

9. Rock n Roll High School –Do You Wanna Dance – In Clint Howard’s greatest film of all time, the Ramones take over the halls of a high school and they never sound as joyous than in this penultimate tune.

10. The Royal Tenenbaums– She Smiled Sweetly – A more obscure Rolling Stones song  pops up at my favorite point of this film. A lot of his critics describes Wes Anderson’s directing as detached and unemotional, but I really find this scene to be both beautifully sweet and heartbreaking. It is followed by the equally charming Ruby Tuesday, and neither are on the film’s soundtrack…alas.

11. 24 Hour Party People– Digital – Craig Graziano’s pick for the best rock movie of the past ten years, with Steve Coogan playing music fan Tony Wilson in a hilariously more elite than thou way. I hope we start to see more of him in America. The first hour really shines chronicling the rise and fall of Joy Division.

12. Goodfellas – Layla – I’m considering going back and rerecording Side A for quality reasons, and when I do, I’ll probably change this to the song “And Then He Kissed Me.” Even without the epic tracking shot, it’s just worth it to hear Karen (Lorraine Bracco) ask Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) “What do you do?” after getting the best seats in the house.

13. Adaptation –So Happy Together – Number one with a bullet! Charlie Kaufman composes a self reflexive masterpiece in this film about himself (Nicholas Cage). After the screenwriter attends a script doctor’s seminar, the film becomes a fast paced mix of sex, drugs, violence and this hit Turtles song.

14. Bottle Rocket – This is the Story – As you can see, I have a thing for Wes Anderson soundtracks, but the reason is that he and writing partner Owen Wilson really do think about what songs to use in their scenes, creating mixtapes so they can construct the dialogue with the appropriate background music. This Proclaimers song gave me goosebumps the first time I heard it.

15. Trainspotting– Lust For Life – This may be the only time the dialogue surpasses the song on this tape, but Ewan Macgregor’s rally against choosing life dominates over Iggy Pop sneer. Next time Iggy.

16. Fight Club –Where Is My Mind – As Dr. Campbell said in class “Oh look, the phallic symbols are crashing to the ground.” And maybe using this song in a film about psychological deviance is laying it on a bit thick. But to be honest, it simply is an amazing song by the Pixies and the first one I had heard by them, adding to the personal significance. Lead singer Frank Black is certainly a film buff. The opening track on the album Doolittle is all about Un Chien Andalou by Luis Bunuel. “Slicin’ up eyeballs whoa ah ho ho!”

SIDE B

1. North By Northwest-Opening theme – Bernard Herrmann is a genius, we’ve already discussed it. I once put this on a mixtape that didn’t even have anything to do with film, cuz it’s just that good.

2. Blue Velvet –In Dreams – Psychopath Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper) pulls over to the side of the road, screams at idiot boy (Kyle MacLachlan), then proceeds to play the song and slowly repeat the lyrics “In dreams….I walk with you….In dreams….I talk to you…In dreams your mine…all the time….forever….in dreams.” Talk about a possessive nature.

3. Bound – She’s A Lady – So Tom Jones is funny, the final line of dialogue is funny, and the Wachowski brothers (pre-Matrix) do a marvelous job appropriating a somewhat creepy “female worship through male eyes” and turning it into a feminine anthem.

4. A Clockwork Orange– Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and The William Tell Overture – Alex (Malcolm McDowell) loves Beethoven in a way that current delinquent youths just don’t appreciate. Keep your ears open, because when the 14 year old punks start humming old Ludwig Van and and crooning Gene Kelly….a hard rain’s gonna fall.

5. Citizen Kane –Charlie Kane’s Celebration Song – Before it all goes sour for Orson Welles  tragic protagonist, he gets a chance to sing and dance with a bunch of lovely ladies to his very own personal theme song! This scene is spoofed wonderfully in one of my favorite Simpsons episodes “He’s Monty Burns! I’m MISTER Burns!”

6. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou – Ping Island/Lightning Strike Rescue Op – My final piece from a Wes Anderson film is from his resident score composer Mark Mothersbaugh. The ex-Devo frontman uses a variety of instruments, he’s very orchestral for The Royal Tenenbaums and here he employs electronic synthesizers which swell into a many brass instruments. But to some, he’ll always be known for the theme to Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats.

7. Jackie Brown– The Lions And The Cucumber – Ordell (Samuel L. Jackson) embodies badassity in this film, and when he finally finds out what’s up, he calls bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster) who is in on the scam that left him cold. Trumpets blaze as Ordell quietly but profanely sets his terms for the final showdown.

8. Chunking Express – Dreams – The obvious choice would have been California Dreamin’ since it’s played so often, but this Cantonese cover of the Cranberries is near exact to the original and is sweet, which of course means that Wong Kar Wai is screwing with you. He’s the new Godard! The song itself is sung by the female protagonist.

9.  Magnolia –Wise Up – Aimee Mann’s music was a huge inspiration for PT Anderson’s three hour attempt to get over his own personal issues. Some people balk at the concept of all the characters singing the lyrics along with her, but it’s a boldly inventive move to others.

10. Nightmare Before Christmas– What’s This? – How could I leave out Danny Elfman? I mean, he’s even singing! This track, along with his magnum opus (The Beetlejuice Theme) get featured in any movie that even attempts to portray a facade of magical realism. It’s a good transition from the melancholy Aimee Mann.

11. Duck Soup– To War! – Not a lot of people know that many early Marx Brothers films had musical interludes, and this one beats them all, with a troop of soldiers being used as a giant xylophone and an hoedown interlude. Woody Allen’s monologue concerning this scene at the end of Hannah and Her Sisters really sets it as an immortal piece though. Life goes around once, why don’t you make the most of it?

12. Amadeus –The Magic Flute – So Mozart composed his most playful opera at the same time as his most emotionally devastating Requiem. Papageno’s song is spritely despite the fact that Mr. Mozart is only hours away from death. An anarchic film for music lovers everywhere.

13. Modern Times –The Tramp’s Nonsense Song – At the very end of this 1936 film, the  Little Tramp starts with a dance, opens his mouth, and low and behold, sound comes out, even if it is Italian-sounding gibberish. This is his grand exit, for Chaplin never made another film as the Tramp. His dance really makes the song, as he pantomimes the narrative of the tune, but then again, pantomime was always his strong point wasn’t it?

14. Dr. Strangelove –We’ll Meet Again – I almost totally forgot about this song being featured in Kubrick’s film, but when I remembered, I knew that I had the perfect closing. Introduced by Peter Seller’s eternally bizarre line “Mein Fuhrer…I can walk!” For an excellent cover of this song, check out Johnny Cash’s American IV record. It’s the last song that was released before his death…and a beautiful way to close.

So there. I spent a good 7 hours of my week on the tape and this blog post, but maybe you’ll be inspired to check out some of these films or come back to them and remember how good they are, or even make your own Movie Mix Tape…well maybe you’re not that crazy, you probably like your iPod just fine.