Just for fun. Three movies spring to mind for myself when I think of what moves me here. In no particular order.
Rocky Horror Picture Show. So camp it is brilliant! Tim Curry slays it! Just way too much to begin to mention. I can still get a blast from it now. Let's do the Time warp again!
The Blues Brothers. Ah, Jake and Ellwood. Just for the record this was the second VHS tape I ever bought( first was Enter the Dragon) Just so right....
Rock of Ages. Now before you all run off gagging, it most certainly was not for Cruises wooden performance. Catherine Zeta Jones was notable though. No it was for the pair who stole the show.
Alexander Nevsky is one of the best, absolutely entrancing without the film at all, provides complete accompaniment to the story. West Side Story doesn’t count as it began as a broadway musical, just like Porgy and Bess, another fantastic score but not composed specifically for film. Mary Poppins was composed specifically for film (not at the level of Nevsky, just an example). I would pick Bernard Herrmann as the number one composer of film score music for the depth and breath of his compositions. My favorite composers of film scores include both Bernsteins, Steiner, Waxman, Korngold, Tiomkin, Goldsmith, Mancini, Rosza, Newman to name those who wrote many great scores. Even the little known Erich Zeisl wrote The Postman Always Rings Twice, a great score. How about Victor Young for the Wizard of Oz? Many great songs and score in that one. I forgot to mention all original movie scores and songs Gershwin wrote in Shall We Dance and Damsel in Distress (not broadway musicals). All those great Disney movie original scores and songs. 10 best is tough to pick, 200 best is more like it (Rocky Horror Picture show-also a musical not written for film).
Finally! Someone who knows something about film music. The overwhelming majority of responses to this thread sadly prove the movie executives correct in their move from professional movie composers to pop music.
Alexander Nevsky is one of the best, absolutely entrancing without the film at all, provides complete accompaniment to the story. West Side Story doesn’t count as it began as a broadway musical, just like Porgy and Bess, another fantastic score but not composed specifically for film.
And then there is the one that towers over all the rest, the one (and only) where director Sergio Leone fulfilled his goal of having the music written first and then the movie, the one where the music truly does make the movie, Ennio Morricone's masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in the West.
Cabin in the Sky. 1943 with Ethyl Waters, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong and Busby Berkeley. Songs by Yip Harburg. Yip Harburg deserves special mention. He wrote all the songs for The Wizard of Oz including the number one movie musical song of all time, Over the Rainbow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yip_Harburg
On another front, I can't believe nobody has mentioned 42nd Street.
I absolutely agree with Cabin in the Sky and Wizard of Oz. I do like many Morricone film scores as well. The music of Braveheart just don't seem as memorable but is a good film scores as well. Eraserhead and Good Night and Good Luck used already published music and the former had unique sounds, no Bernard Herrmann level composition for sure. Most younger people have not heard or seen the classic film scores of the 1930s to 1980s. I have among my large music collection, 400+ film soundtracks, mostly LPs. I have eliminated many more because I can sit through them as listening music only (I have about 300 more that I need to remove from my home).
So how about
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
with an incredible line up of stars of the time but principally for the debut of "Singin' in the Rain" by Cliff Edwards.
Cliff Edwards, or Ukulele Ike as he was known at the time went on to be both the voice of Jiminy Cricket and the singer of "When you wish upon a Star". It's quite a movie.
Unfortunately, Singin in the Rain was written for a The Hollywood Music Box Revue and recorded several times prior to the movie where Cliff Edwards made it super famous (so not written for a soundtrack/movie). The Pinocchio song was a film original as great as Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
Well okay, theHollywood Music Box Review was a couple of months or so prior to the movie and Cliff had the film debut. He was a very memorable performer. The Mouseketeers have provided some rather colorful reminiscences of Cliff...
I mentioned that one before because I'm a highbrow. They were showing it on PBS so I told all the guys at work about it. The next day were they like, "DUDE!" It was pretty cool. As if that's not enough, Paul McCartney auditioned for the Quarrymen by doing the Eddie Cochran number from that movie.
Some of my favorite jazz infused soundtracks include The Sweet Smell of Success and the Man with the Golden Arm. The most memorable opening soundtrack is for The Killers (dum de dum dum).
Many great suggestions, but I think that the distinction between “music movie” and “movie music” has gotten blurred. Some great (best?) music movies not mentioned yet:
“Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould”. Brilliant “I Called Him Morgan”. Documentary film about the great Jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan. “A Great Day In Harlem” ”The Benny Goodman Story”. ”Fantasia”. While some might argue that the central theme here is the classic Disney animation, I would argue that it is the music, some of the greatest Classical works ever composed, that is. “Amazing Grace”. The great Aretha Franklin. “Lady Sings The Blues”. Billie Holiday. “Straight No Chaser”. Monk.
Some great movie music:
”On The Waterfront”. Another fantastic Bernstein score. Not a lot of it, but I can’t think of another score that does a better job of serving the film’s plot. ”The Pawn Broker”. Great Quincy Jones score. “Elevator To The Gallows”. Miles. “The Mambo Kings” “Manhattan”. Classic Woody Allen. “Ivan The Terrible”. Another great Prokofiev score. “The Adventures Of Robin Hood”, “Sea Hawk”, and just about any other score by Korngold.
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus is notable in many ways, particularly because of the performance by the Who. The film wasn't released for what, 30 years or something because the Who so upstaged the headliners.
On another front, the bar scene in D.O.A. is truly riveting.Check it out.
I really liked the movie "Once," and thought it really showed how the creation of music flows. I also like "The Commitments" and think it's a fun movie and soundtrack. "Sing Street" is another fun music and coming-of-age movie.
Wow, someone mentioned my late friend and composer Aminadav Aloni for Once soundtrack he composed in 1973. He was a leader among composers of Jewish choral music in the second half of the 20th century. This was an unusual film experience for him.
Don Juan DeMarco - a wonderful little film with Dep, Brando and Dunaway. The opening track is "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" receiving a Grammy nomination for best song but don't be fooled,
The infectious score was composed, orchestrated, and conducted by Michael Kamen and was performed by the London Metropolitan Orchestra. This is great red book mastered by Bob Ludwig of nearby Gateway Mastering Studios. Top shelf stuff that makes a great gift!
Paris, Texas - A dark, interesting movie with Ry Cooder keeping it all moving.
aforementioned, Cal - Mark Knopfler, nuff said.
Gladiator - No surprise, but a subwoofer tester and mood gratification.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Fun ride that can take you down very interesting bluegrass roads, if you chase the artists.
5 is a good stopping point. More Peace!, Pinthrift
Don Juan DeMarco - a wonderful little film with Dep, Brando and Dunaway. The opening track is "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" receiving a Grammy nomination for best song but don't be fooled, The infectious score was composed, orchestrated, and conducted by Michael Kamen and was performed by the London Metropolitan Orchestra. This is great red book mastered by Bob Ludwig of nearby Gateway Mastering Studios. Top shelf stuff that makes a great gift!
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is easily one of the best rock musicals ever and Criterion just released in Blu Ray and 4K.
The 5th Element. Any score by. Eric Serra is highly enjoyable.
Once Upon a Time in America. Epic orchestrations by the master Ennio Morricone.
If you want a wonderful example of film underscoringcand and electronic music. Seek out the Val Killer movie The Saint. Graeme Revell is great. He also did Sin City and The Crow.
SO, kind of kidding in my first post, but THRILLED, THRILLED that someone listed The Commitments...AWESOME, and thank you. For some reason (senior moment??) I totally forgot to list it.
I also should have listed The Glenn Miller Story as I am a big band fan, and Help! and A Hard Days's Night (call me Mr. Obvious); Saturday Night Fever (for some of us) is a classic. I realize many hate the BeeGee's and disco, and I get that as I am a soul music fan (1950's and '60's), but whenever SNF comes on, I always listen to the opening. Both film-wise and music wise, this low-budget, throwaway film that was considered kind of a joke became culturally significant. I have to believe it was the music and dancing...the "plot" is kind of thin, right?
Anyway, great film music conductors and those who write and choose the music to accompany the visual have a tough job. Most of the time, they do a pretty good job making the film more enjoyable at the very least, and spectacular when they are at the top of their abilities.
It impressed Oliver Stone so much.... that he rushed out and made ’natural born killers’.
’Love & a .45’ is the funner, funnier, hipper, more alt film...more sublime version of ’Natural Born Killers’. The kind of film... where there are scenes in there..that might just stay with you for the rest of your life. In the end, that’s all you can ask of a good film. The are lines in it, that are insanely quotable, and will stay with you for a long time.
(just because this film has not been mentioned yet)
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.