Soundtracking: The Best Musical Moments of 2019
Wednesday, January 1, 2020 at 10:48AM by Chris Feil
Another year of Soundtracking has brought plenty of reflection on music in the movies. From more milquetoast musical biopics to studio musicals to pop songs reinvented through their placement into cinematic narratives, songs on film in 2019 were as ripe for dissection as ever. Let's discuss the best musical scenes of 2019.
Honorable Mentions:
- Cats' thesis: "A cat is NOT a dog, OKAY?!"
- Ash is Purest White making "YMCA" cool again
- MidSommar's creepy folk songs and Frankie Valli irony
- "Thunder Road" catharsis in Blinded By The Light
- Knives Out punctuating its middle finger finale with The Rolling Stones
- Joni Mitchell's "Blue" distilling The Last Black Man in San Francisco's melancholy...
10. "I Got 5 On It" by Luniz - Us
Yes, this could be more ascribed to how the song was used in the trailer than it ultimately was in the film, but no previously existing song saw its legacy completely transformed by its use in a film with such immediacy as this. Leave it to a genius like Jordan Peele to make a former vibe song fit snuggly next to the menacing orchestral themes from Jaws or Psycho. And Lupita Nyong’o’s offbeat snapping as it plays on the radio during the film is a subtle clue of the twist to come.
9. Tom Hanks singing "Won't You Be My Neighbor" for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
It’s as simple as one beloved icon stepping into the Keds of another. What is it in Tom Hanks singing Fred Rogers’ signature song that stirs such instant tears? A feeling of safety? The uncanniness of one childhood father figure assuming the visage of another? Or just the uncynical simplicity of it, the rarest of artistic leaps these days? Regardless of whether its one or all of these things, what Hanks and director Marielle Heller achieve here is transportive.
8. The power of Vivaldi in Portrait of a Lady on Fire
I’ll keep it brief so as not to spoil the very final moments of a film still to come for wide audiences, but consider this a less gloomy cousin to Nicole Kidman’s one-take wonder in Birth. An exquisite and open to interpretation catharsis to a film whose mind, body, and soul already feels like it’s bursting.
7. Marriage Story reinterprets Company
It takes some iron-clad nerve to repurpose songs from the classic marriage-obsessed musical Company as Marriage Story does. It takes real narrative finesse to make it not bleak as hell when its serving a narrative about divorce. Instead, these songs get pseudo-inverted with Scarlett Johansson’s Nicole getting to be freer than ever and Adam Driver’s Charlie delivering an admission that he has some changing and self-reflection to do.
6. Ma's WTF use of "September"
There’s no better distillation of the kind of camp that this potential cult classic is serving than the tonal whiplash of this post-number needle drop. But there’s no better example of the kind of crazy this movie has for how that effect is maybe not intentional?
5. Gloria Bell's "Total Eclipse..." of paintball
The easier answer would be the film’s closing titular anthem as a rediscovery of self, a recreation of the original film’s perfect ending. But using the dramatic heights of Bonnie Tyler to christen Gloria’s paintball revenge on her cowardly former boyfriend is unexpectedly triumphant and an outward explosion of the power adult contemporary sentiment Gloria usually keeps within the private confines of her home and car. It’s musical revenge on fuckboys as self-actualization exercise.
4. Wild Rose comes home to "Glasgow"
Listen, we’ve all bought an album for the one popular song before to so-so results, but “Glasgow” makes Wild Rose worth it. Add in the Mary Steenburgen story and you’ve got an underdog Oscar contender of a song. The emotional tidal force of this thing can’t really be denied.
3. Her Smell's fourth act
You would think that it’s the stark silence of the film’s fourth act that would soothe the consuming tension of everything before it, but nope, that doesn’t come until the one-two punch of Becky Something’s impromptu stripped set. First, she reimagines Bryan Adams “Heaven” as a piano lullaby to her daughter. Then, she bares her soul, burdened with more regret and demons than she can acknowledge at once, with the original song “Control”. The film constantly shifts its approach, but this tonal and musical pivot is what makes the film a rewarding one.
2. Love (and so much more) in Hustler's Club
Lorene Scafaria’s masterful (and yes vastly underrated) Hustlers is not wanting for brilliant musical sequences. Take your pick among them for which could be the greatest: Jennifer Lopez’s instantly iconic entrance to Fiona Apple, the thesis statement of “Control” as its opener, “Miss You Much” as curtain call. But for this viewer, its act one finale of "Love in This Club" (with surprise cameo appearance) captures the optimism of pre-financial fallout and the revelry of supportive female companionship with pop perfection.
1. Climax's "Supernature" showcase
One of the most bravura sequences of the year, kicking off a film that’s in constant motion with a flurry of awe-inspiring dance and harmony. Director Gaspar Noe’s revisited theme of “all beautiful things get destroyed” has never worked so well becuase he’s never rendered something as vibratingly gorgeous as this. My theatre cheered throughout this “opener” as no other audience I was a member of did in 2019 - not for superheroes, not for musicals, not for anything. A party!
All Soundtracking installments can be found here!
Reader Comments (11)
Good list but no mention of JLo’s iconic dance to Fiona Apple’s Crimimal ? The musical moment on film this year for me :)
Love love love Climax!!!
I'd include something from "Rocketman" surely, probably either "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" (superb choreography) or the title tune.
Also:
"Theme from a Summer Place" in "The Irishman" (not a unique song choice but memorably used)
"Out of Time" in "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood"
And for Joni Mitchell, it would be worth mentioning also the tragically underseen "The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open," which uses "Little Green" to heartrending effect.
Rami ..., that’s included in number 2
I doubt anything will top in my book, the use of the (original) "Catchy Song" from The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (which Oscar has already shortlisted).
Climax 😍
Great list. But No. 1 has to be the ending of Gloria Bell. The whole song plays as a mini-movie unto itself unfolds. Breathtaking. And a damn great pop song. Respect to Brannigan.
To me the best use of music this year was in Blinded By The Light when our hero first really hears Bruce's music. It reminded me of that moment in The Miracle Worker (yes, I'm serious).
Thanks Suzanne, not sure how I missed that LOL
The beach scene in Portrait of a lady on fire
Jennifer Lopez stripping to Fiona
Adam Driver singing in Marriage Story
Booksmart fantasy musical scene
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in JUDY. I mean we all knew the song was going to be featured, but its placement and delivery is probably the movie's best part.