Feta means "slice' in Greek.

[captqitn]

..... kind of a let down, huh?


It means obese in Swedish.

[captqitn]

My 10 Most Favorite Musical Moments in Movies
 
 
1.  2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)   After a long (and hilarious) musicless stretch, Dr. Poole finally makes his way to the moon excavation site which has unearthed a black monolith.   The choral work by Gyorgy Ligeti is just stone cold bone chilling, ramping up to the ultimate deafening squeal of the monolith's communique.   Any creature with a nervous system could enjoy this simple but devasting sonic incline.
 
2.  Allegro Non Troppo (1977)   The 70s Italian answer to Fantasia.   The evolution sequence thats set to Ravel's Bolero is so filthy with amazing creature design, you can't help but be thankful for the simplistic nature of the music.   It becomes the safe ground to take in the gorgeous rapid fire transformations of the beasts marching toward a slightly over symbolic finale.
 
3.  Fantasia (1940)    Stravinsky's Rite of Spring perfectly interpreted by the Philadelphia Orchestra sets the scene for Bill Roberts and Paul Satterfields' take on evolution.    They take a more scientific approach and flesh it out with amazing glowing pastels.  The synchronization of music to image is masterful.
 
4.  The Big Bang and Other Creation Myths (1981)   Faith Hubley attacks the mechanics of evolution from a completely different viewpoint.   Marrying Afro-Cuban rhythms with a Kandinsky-Using-Colored-Pencils visual style, she makes the whole logic-defying dance come alive like a great party.     (I'm making a realization just now that I'm terribly fond of animated interpretations of Darwin's work).
 
5.  The Gay Divorcee (1934)    The Continental sequence features two of the most graceful dancers of the 20th century locked together with marionette strings of music.    Neither is the puppeteer or puppet, they are in perfect corporeal harmony.   And if that isn't enough, while doing the Continental, you kiss while you dance.     Sold.
 
6.  Tron (1982)   A short but amazing opening sequence.   Wendy Carlos's music finally meets its match in some mind-bending (if rudimentary) computer generated lovesauce.   I always imagine that the electronic composers of that generation were waiting for someone to visualize what they were reaching for.   This is a hella good shot at capturing the sound of math.
 
7.  An American In Paris (1951)  Of course the ballet sequence is the pinnacle of this movie, but its Gene Kelly's romp with the Parisian rapscallions to the tune of I Got Rhythm that will make a person happy they occupy a body.   To see one so loose and so completely linked to the music around them is to appreciate why we have them.
 
8.  Rock & Rule (1983)   This film is chock full of great music from Lou Reed, Debbie Harry, Iggy Pop, Cheap Trick and Earth Wind and Fire, but the finale sequence featuring the song "Send Love Through" is so absurdly over the top that it wins top honors.   Robin Zander and Deborah Harry literally destroy a demon with the power of rock.   
 
9.  Fantasia 2000 (2000)  Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" is matched up with a Hirschfeldesque animation style to create a wonderful New York couple in this super belated sequel.   The premise is great, but its the endearing set of characters that makes this a classic.
 
10.  Popeye (1980)   When Shelley Duvall's Olive Oyl sings Harry Nillson's "He Needs Me" there is a simplistic perfection that happens that completely disarms a person without pushing easy buttons.   
 
11.  Yesterday Today and Tomorrow (1963)    The "Salome" sequence.    Y'all know why it has to be on this list.  Don't make me say it out loud.

[Jesse]

Awesome list. Thanks for letting us in on it yesterday.

[Tripp]

1.  2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)   After a long (and hilarious) musicless stretch, Dr. Poole finally makes his way to the moon excavation site which has unearthed a black monolith.   The choral work by Gyorgy Ligeti is just stone cold bone chilling, ramping up to the ultimate deafening squeal of the monolith's communique.   Any creature with a nervous system could enjoy this simple but devasting sonic incline.
............



It's Dr. Floyd, isn't it.?   Heywood Floyd.?    Frank Poole is on the Discovery  (played by Gary Lockwood)

[Tripp]

Rite of Spring is one of the most bad-ass pieces of music ever written.

[Doctor Rock]

I was going to point that out.  Cap, Tripp is right, it's Dr. Heywood R. Floyd.

[captqitn]

Thank you!!!   This is why I was checkin with y'all first.

It was in fact Dr Heywood "jablowme" Floyd.

[Tripp]

I'm sure we've talked about this before but who here is into classical music.? I haven't found a strain to explore in a while but I've been thinking about some Bartok..  The last composer I kinda got into was Shostakovich and that's been a few years.

[captqitn]

Bartok is tricky.    I've lucked out with some amazing records, but then when I tried to scoop up a bunch, an awful lot of it was pretty snoozy.     (if you like Stravinsky and Shostakovich, I'm guessing you don't like snoozy music much).

I give a super high recommendation for Martinu.    Early 20th century Czech.   His great stuff is a weird cross between vertigo and a punch in the face.



On a more pop note, I just got Sufjan Stevens BQE symphony (performed by Brooklyn Philharmonic) in a cool CD/DVD/Viewmaster pack.    It is really quite good.   One dud right in the middle, where he decided to throw in electronic noises for some unknown reason, but the rest is wonderfully arranged and peformed.   RIYL Boston Pops.

[captqitn]

Sufjan killed Crappity.   

[Jesse]

Kubrick was such a master at scoring his movies with classical music, including the aforementioned '2001'. I think that his use of Bartok in The Shining was the first time I was aware of a music cue frightening me. Take that, Bernard Hermann.

While I love me some Stravinsky, I'm not ashamed to admit that I always to back to Tchaikovsky.

And on my own pop note... just bought a ticket to see Dirty Projectors with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Could be cool.

[Moetown]

I really like the Motoring moment in Boogie Nights.

[Jesse]

...what about Bohemian Rhapsody from Wayne's World?

[Mister Chaddy]

9.  Fantasia 2000 (2000)  Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" is matched up with a Hirschfeldesque animation style to create a wonderful New York couple in this super belated sequel.   The premise is great, but its the endearing set of characters that makes this a classic.

I LOVE that piece.  It's the only part of Fantasia 2000 that really made any sort of impact on me.  Nice choice!

[Mister Chaddy]

Is it Rock and Rule, or American Pop that has the great "Night Moves" sequence?  Those two films get mixed up in me brain pan.