December 11, 2006
The 2006 Oscar Winner for "Song From A Film"...
Posted by Hal Bogerd at December 11, 2006 12:00 AM...should be "Whole Wide World" written by Wreckless Eric from "Stanger Than Fiction". How many songs do you actually remember from movies? In the movie-not some smarmy tune written that plays over the closing credits as you run out of the theatre numb from the latest Hollywood attempt at entertainment.
A song that is actually important to the movie-not a song from the soundtrack that barely played in the background during a bar scene and had nothing to do with the film. A song IN the movie, important if not essential to the feel or emotion of the film.
I'll never hear Wreckless Eric's "Whole Wide World" without Harold Crick (Will Ferrell-and no, I am not a fan) coming to mind. I'm old enough to remember when "WWW" first achieved minor cult status on college radio. "Whole Wide World" was originally released on Stiff Records, home of Nick Lowe, Graham Parker (no, not Parsons even if this site is HickoryWind), Ian Dury, and yes, Wreckless Eric. Marc Forster should be congratulated for his inspired resurrection and perfect placement of "Whole Wide World" in "Stranger Than Fiction" and Eric Goulden aka Wreckless Eric should receive the 2006 Oscar for "Song From A Film". I don't want to play the spoiler so I have to leave it at that. I've tried and tried (in vain) to get a young couple I know to go see the film and until they do I won't reveal why this song is so perfect for this film.
Is there a song that makes you think of a movie scene everytime you hear it?
PS: If you haven't seen "Stranger Than Fiction" go see it with the one you love.
There are a few that I can think of where the songs are so well placed and intagrated into the movie, that it becomes entwined....
Every time I hear Cat Stevens, especially "If You Want To Sing Out Sing Out", I think of Harold plucking on the banjo at the edge of the cliff, after pushing his car over. (Harold and Maude)
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"Flowers on The Wall" brings the image of Bruce Willis drumming on his dashboard right before he runs into Marcellus, and Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell" can't be heard without thinking of Travolta and Uma dancing cener resteraunt at Jack Rabbit Slims. (Pulp Fiction)
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To a lesser extent, The Pixies "Where is My Mind" does conjure up buildings falling, being viewed thru the plate glass of a high rise. (Fight Club)
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Though by no means one of my favorites, I could argue that "Garden State" did a wonderful job of merging images and music, with the Shins and Coldplay as the catalyst.
I will state the obvious with "In your Eyes" from Say Anything. And I totally agree with this post- Whole Wide World was the *perfect* song choice. Also, "I brought you flours" might be one of the greatest movie lines ever.
Posted by: valerie at December 11, 2006 10:19 AMGlad to hear somebody agrees with me Valerie! Thanks for your comment.
Posted by: Hal at December 13, 2006 7:17 PM
