Late Night Music Part 56....................."Musical Movie Scenes Part 2"
Ok, I know it's been a few weeks since I had something really original, and I know I've done "Musical Movie Scenes" a while a go (actually was "Late Night Music" Part 3, and to date, is the only entry without a single comment.....clears throat). Anyway, something I always wanted to focus more on was the musical aspect of the movies, which often crosses paths with the music industry and features some great musical performances on the big screen. Also, PLEASE RELAX I WILL BE MAKING A PART 3! PLEASE DO NOT FREAK OUT IF ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE SONGS IS LEFT OFF OF THIS LIST!
In order to be considered in this category the song had to be PART OF THE PLOT OF THE MOVIE for example, "She's Like The Wind" from "Dirty Dancing" would not be considered because it is simply a soundtrack song, no characters from the movie sing it. The song could be sung by the actual actor or pre recorded and lip synched, as long as the character is the one singing the song. Also receiving votes in this category were "Sooner Or Later" performed my Madonna as "Breathless Mahoney" in the movie "Dick Tracy", "We Haven't Finished Yet" performed by Robert Townsend and Tressa Thomas in "The Five Heartbeats", and "Never Had a Friend Like Me" performed by Robin Williams in "Aladdin".
"Man of Constant Sorrow"- "O Brother Where Art Thou". I have always been intrigued by this movie. Not only because of his almost confusing storyline (based on the Homer's "The Odyssey"), or because of the fact that it was filmed near and around my hometown in Mississippi, but just by the fact that it is so dang creative. I would recommend anyone that appreciates good artistic works to see this film just due to the fact that the writing and acting are phenomenal. In the movie, George Clooney (as Ulysses Everett McGill), leads his crew of escaped convicts and Tommy, the guitar player who "sold his soul to the devil in order to play the guitar", and record this song in a radio station in rural Mississippi just to make some money. They call themselves the "Soggy Bottom Boys", and the song quickly becomes a hit all around the state.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krwywj_gIjk
"Heart Is a House For Love"- "The Five Heartbeats". In 1991, Robert Townsend was one of the hottest writers in Hollywood and came out with the script for "The Five Heartbeats". Loosely based on the real life story of the Dells, it tells the story of a Motown-esque group's rise to fame in the 1960's. Absolutely one of my favorite movies. The scene here is the group, still relatively new playing at an Apollo style theater in New York City. The crowd is hostile, and Duck (Robert Townsend) isn't allowed to play the piano on his own songs due to the "house rules" of the house piano player having to play all music. What follows is a classic scene. Every time I watch this movie, I think Harry J. Lennix looks more and more like Barack Obama.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqUay9wtsCk
"A Whole New World"- "Aladdin". In the early 90's, Disney was hot after the super mega blockbuster "The Little Mermaid" rounded out the 80's returning the Disney animated musicals to the forefront of American entertainment, and to make expectations higher, the previous year's "Beauty And The Beast" became the first animated film in the history of movies to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture (and only 2009's "Up" has been nominated since). So, in 1992, "Aladdin" came out with some catchy tunes, an all star cast, and pretty good overall film. Seen here is the signature song from the movie, which takes place as Aladdin (who has temporarily wished himself to be "Prince Ali" is wooing Princess Jasmine for her hand in marriage. This song was later recorded by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle (see "Late Night Music- That's What Friends Are For"). Always one of my favorite songs to sing, I'll always remember singing this song with Holly Jones in 2000.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVxUUotm1P4
"Be Our Guest"- "Beauty And The Beast". Speaking of the devil! This song sung by Vermiere, voice by the late Jerry Orbach (who you may remember as Detective Lennie Briscoe on "Law And Order") and Mrs. Potts, voiced by Angela Lansbury as the members of the Beast's castle try desperately to impress Belle in order to make her fall in love with the Beast and turn him back into a prince. Might be my favorite Disney musical scene here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC8xcagMcTY
"So Long, Farewell"- "The Sound of Music". For those of you who are fans of this classic film, I'm sure I will get some booing on my choice of music for this film. However, this is still my favorite song from this 1965 film. The Von Trapp children entertain the guests of their father by performing a "good night" number that Julie Andrews (Maria), their governess (I guess a fancy word for "nanny") has taught them. Very entertaining scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEIzyhu5txE
"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"- "Dreamgirls". I have to admit, this is the one film on this list I have NOT seen. However, this performance from Jennifer Hudson in 2006, basically won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, in what was her film debut. Seriously, it just goes to show you how stupid "American Idol" is when a performer like that can't win.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ViWltu0PJk
"You're Gonna Lose That Girl"- "Help!". On the heels of their first motion picture "A Hard Day's Night" in 1964, the Beatles came together the following year for their first motion picture in color, which had a working title of "Eight Arms To Hold You". In the scene here, the Beatles are recording their album, but Ringo is kidnapped at the end for his ring, which he does not know is a sacrificial ring that belongs to a Eastern cult and is needed to make sacrifices to their goddess. Even though Ringo agrees to give it back, it's stuck on his finger, and what follows, while not great acting, was pretty funny and of course features some great music. This is without a doubt my favorite song on that album.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLD5SVctBrw
"White Christmas"- "Holiday Inn". Few people know that the famous Christmas song made famous by Bing Crosby in 1942 wasn't even from a "Christmas Movie", as "Holiday Inn" was released in the summer of 1942 with all of the film's music being written by Irving Berlin, and featuring Fred Astaire starring alongside Bing Crosby. The film follows the musical group through various holidays as they perform songs for their guests at the "Holiday Inn". The funniest part about this video, is while Bing Crosby was an outstanding singer, it is obvious he has no idea how to play the piano and is doing an awful job hiding that fact.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Mjb4yLMeK8
"Somewhere Out There"- "An American Tail". I still remember going to see this movie in the theater in 1986 being 5 years old and singing along with this scene. The main character, Feifel Mousekewitz, has been separated from his family after immigrating from Russia to America in order to flee the evil cats of Russia. Feifel sings this song in a distant duet with his sister Tanya. The song was later recorded by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVr2eOBmo_U ).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRjb8sMjYu8
"Dueling Banjos"- "Deliverance". I had the great opportunity to raft down the Chatooga River on the Georgia/South Carolina border where this movie was filmed in 2000, and I'd be lying if I wasn't a little bit spooked. One of the best films of the 1970's, Deliverance is the story of 4 friends taking a canoeing trip for the weekend. It featured Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, and Ned Beatty in his film debut. This scene near the beginning of the movie features Ronny Cox (Drew) playing with a local mentally handicapped boy who is obviously a musical savant. In the background, Burt Reynolds is trying to arrange their cars to be driven to nearby Aintry, Georgia so they can pick them up after their trip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tqxzWdKKu8
"Getting To Know You"- "The King and I". This is the only song ever featured on "Late Night Music" that was introduced to me not through popular culture, but through my elementary school music classes who sang this song.................at exhaustion. I seriously sang this song 20000 times in Mrs. Lee's music class as it was one of her favorite songs. To any of you who was ever in my elementary school class, I'm sure you remember. This 1956 musical features the story of a British school teacher (Anna Leonowens played by Deborah Kerr) being hired by the King of Siam (Yul Brenner) to teach his many children. After a rocky start with the children, Anna sings "Getting To Know You" with the children to show them how much she was learning to love them. I have to admit, I still love this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aVbJhg23Ao
"Hakuna Matata"- "The Lion King". This song, written by Elton John for the 1994 Disney Blockbuster (by the way, the period between 1989 and 1999 is without a doubt the best period of Disney movies ever) is not only catchy, it's very positive. In the movie, Simba's father Mufasa, the King of the Lions, has been killed and Simba has been forced to runaway from home to save his own life. He teams up with Timon and Pumba who teach him that life is all about "Hakuna Matata"....no worries.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejEVczA8PLU
"Cryin"- "Be Cool". I remember going to see this movie at the theater in Baton Rouge in 2005 and was blown away by this performance by Christina Milian (playing up and coming pop superstar Linda Moon) and the real life Aerosmith. Booked by her new agent/manager John Travolta, Linda is a down and out lounge singer looking for her big break, and boy did she make the most of it with this unreal performance. This movie is actually quite hilarious and features Vince Vaughn, Cedric The Entertainer, Andre 3000, and the Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. In this video, Christina Milian is so sexy you almost forget how ugly Steven Tyler is.........almost.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V44eHaCbd3Y
BONUS VIDEO- "Best Of My Love"- "Be Cool"
Opening sequence after the prologue of "Be Cool"- Christina Milian lights up the stage here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5foVjR6koQ
In order to be considered in this category the song had to be PART OF THE PLOT OF THE MOVIE for example, "She's Like The Wind" from "Dirty Dancing" would not be considered because it is simply a soundtrack song, no characters from the movie sing it. The song could be sung by the actual actor or pre recorded and lip synched, as long as the character is the one singing the song. Also receiving votes in this category were "Sooner Or Later" performed my Madonna as "Breathless Mahoney" in the movie "Dick Tracy", "We Haven't Finished Yet" performed by Robert Townsend and Tressa Thomas in "The Five Heartbeats", and "Never Had a Friend Like Me" performed by Robin Williams in "Aladdin".
"Man of Constant Sorrow"- "O Brother Where Art Thou". I have always been intrigued by this movie. Not only because of his almost confusing storyline (based on the Homer's "The Odyssey"), or because of the fact that it was filmed near and around my hometown in Mississippi, but just by the fact that it is so dang creative. I would recommend anyone that appreciates good artistic works to see this film just due to the fact that the writing and acting are phenomenal. In the movie, George Clooney (as Ulysses Everett McGill), leads his crew of escaped convicts and Tommy, the guitar player who "sold his soul to the devil in order to play the guitar", and record this song in a radio station in rural Mississippi just to make some money. They call themselves the "Soggy Bottom Boys", and the song quickly becomes a hit all around the state.
http://www.youtube.com/wat
"Heart Is a House For Love"- "The Five Heartbeats". In 1991, Robert Townsend was one of the hottest writers in Hollywood and came out with the script for "The Five Heartbeats". Loosely based on the real life story of the Dells, it tells the story of a Motown-esque group's rise to fame in the 1960's. Absolutely one of my favorite movies. The scene here is the group, still relatively new playing at an Apollo style theater in New York City. The crowd is hostile, and Duck (Robert Townsend) isn't allowed to play the piano on his own songs due to the "house rules" of the house piano player having to play all music. What follows is a classic scene. Every time I watch this movie, I think Harry J. Lennix looks more and more like Barack Obama.
http://www.youtube.com/wat
"A Whole New World"- "Aladdin". In the early 90's, Disney was hot after the super mega blockbuster "The Little Mermaid" rounded out the 80's returning the Disney animated musicals to the forefront of American entertainment, and to make expectations higher, the previous year's "Beauty And The Beast" became the first animated film in the history of movies to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture (and only 2009's "Up" has been nominated since). So, in 1992, "Aladdin" came out with some catchy tunes, an all star cast, and pretty good overall film. Seen here is the signature song from the movie, which takes place as Aladdin (who has temporarily wished himself to be "Prince Ali" is wooing Princess Jasmine for her hand in marriage. This song was later recorded by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle (see "Late Night Music- That's What Friends Are For"). Always one of my favorite songs to sing, I'll always remember singing this song with Holly Jones in 2000.
http://www.youtube.com/wat
"Be Our Guest"- "Beauty And The Beast". Speaking of the devil! This song sung by Vermiere, voice by the late Jerry Orbach (who you may remember as Detective Lennie Briscoe on "Law And Order") and Mrs. Potts, voiced by Angela Lansbury as the members of the Beast's castle try desperately to impress Belle in order to make her fall in love with the Beast and turn him back into a prince. Might be my favorite Disney musical scene here.
http://www.youtube.com/wat
"So Long, Farewell"- "The Sound of Music". For those of you who are fans of this classic film, I'm sure I will get some booing on my choice of music for this film. However, this is still my favorite song from this 1965 film. The Von Trapp children entertain the guests of their father by performing a "good night" number that Julie Andrews (Maria), their governess (I guess a fancy word for "nanny") has taught them. Very entertaining scene.
http://www.youtube.com/wat
"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"- "Dreamgirls". I have to admit, this is the one film on this list I have NOT seen. However, this performance from Jennifer Hudson in 2006, basically won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, in what was her film debut. Seriously, it just goes to show you how stupid "American Idol" is when a performer like that can't win.
http://www.youtube.com/wat
"You're Gonna Lose That Girl"- "Help!". On the heels of their first motion picture "A Hard Day's Night" in 1964, the Beatles came together the following year for their first motion picture in color, which had a working title of "Eight Arms To Hold You". In the scene here, the Beatles are recording their album, but Ringo is kidnapped at the end for his ring, which he does not know is a sacrificial ring that belongs to a Eastern cult and is needed to make sacrifices to their goddess. Even though Ringo agrees to give it back, it's stuck on his finger, and what follows, while not great acting, was pretty funny and of course features some great music. This is without a doubt my favorite song on that album.
http://www.youtube.com/wat
"White Christmas"- "Holiday Inn". Few people know that the famous Christmas song made famous by Bing Crosby in 1942 wasn't even from a "Christmas Movie", as "Holiday Inn" was released in the summer of 1942 with all of the film's music being written by Irving Berlin, and featuring Fred Astaire starring alongside Bing Crosby. The film follows the musical group through various holidays as they perform songs for their guests at the "Holiday Inn". The funniest part about this video, is while Bing Crosby was an outstanding singer, it is obvious he has no idea how to play the piano and is doing an awful job hiding that fact.
http://www.youtube.com/wat
"Somewhere Out There"- "An American Tail". I still remember going to see this movie in the theater in 1986 being 5 years old and singing along with this scene. The main character, Feifel Mousekewitz, has been separated from his family after immigrating from Russia to America in order to flee the evil cats of Russia. Feifel sings this song in a distant duet with his sister Tanya. The song was later recorded by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram. (http://www.youtube.com/wat
http://www.youtube.com/wat
"Dueling Banjos"- "Deliverance". I had the great opportunity to raft down the Chatooga River on the Georgia/South Carolina border where this movie was filmed in 2000, and I'd be lying if I wasn't a little bit spooked. One of the best films of the 1970's, Deliverance is the story of 4 friends taking a canoeing trip for the weekend. It featured Burt Reynolds, Jon Voight, and Ned Beatty in his film debut. This scene near the beginning of the movie features Ronny Cox (Drew) playing with a local mentally handicapped boy who is obviously a musical savant. In the background, Burt Reynolds is trying to arrange their cars to be driven to nearby Aintry, Georgia so they can pick them up after their trip.
http://www.youtube.com/wat
"Getting To Know You"- "The King and I". This is the only song ever featured on "Late Night Music" that was introduced to me not through popular culture, but through my elementary school music classes who sang this song.................at exhaustion. I seriously sang this song 20000 times in Mrs. Lee's music class as it was one of her favorite songs. To any of you who was ever in my elementary school class, I'm sure you remember. This 1956 musical features the story of a British school teacher (Anna Leonowens played by Deborah Kerr) being hired by the King of Siam (Yul Brenner) to teach his many children. After a rocky start with the children, Anna sings "Getting To Know You" with the children to show them how much she was learning to love them. I have to admit, I still love this song.
http://www.youtube.com/wat
"Hakuna Matata"- "The Lion King". This song, written by Elton John for the 1994 Disney Blockbuster (by the way, the period between 1989 and 1999 is without a doubt the best period of Disney movies ever) is not only catchy, it's very positive. In the movie, Simba's father Mufasa, the King of the Lions, has been killed and Simba has been forced to runaway from home to save his own life. He teams up with Timon and Pumba who teach him that life is all about "Hakuna Matata"....no worries.
http://www.youtube.com/wat
"Cryin"- "Be Cool". I remember going to see this movie at the theater in Baton Rouge in 2005 and was blown away by this performance by Christina Milian (playing up and coming pop superstar Linda Moon) and the real life Aerosmith. Booked by her new agent/manager John Travolta, Linda is a down and out lounge singer looking for her big break, and boy did she make the most of it with this unreal performance. This movie is actually quite hilarious and features Vince Vaughn, Cedric The Entertainer, Andre 3000, and the Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. In this video, Christina Milian is so sexy you almost forget how ugly Steven Tyler is.........almost.
http://www.youtube.com/wat
BONUS VIDEO- "Best Of My Love"- "Be Cool"
Opening sequence after the prologue of "Be Cool"- Christina Milian lights up the stage here.
http://www.youtube.com/wat
Be Cool
Aladdin
The Five Heartbeats starring Barack Obama
O Brother, Where Art Thou? Filmed in Madison County, Mississippi
posted by General 5A Pigott at 2:35 PM
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