Thursday, August 27, 2015

Riske Business: Songs from Movies That I Love But Probably Shouldn't (Vol. 5)

by Adam Riske
More hits from your least favorite DJ.

Song: "Reflection"
From: Mulan
Artist: Christina Aguilera



Is this a safe place to tell an embarrassing story? Of course it is. Back in my senior year of high school, my crush on Christina Aguilera was so strong that I convinced my girlfriend to go with me to a Destiny’s Child/Christina Aguilera concert because I WANTED TO GO. She even let me buy a Christina Aguilera tour t-shirt. Yes, I once owned (and wore) a Christina Aguilera tour t-shirt. OMG, I’m embarrassed by that. My crush only grew in Ms. Aguilera’s “Dirty” phase (the more water you throw on her, the dirtier she gets) but I also like X-Tina’s clean phase aka Reflection from the Mulan soundtrack. Not much to say here. I just think it’s a really pretty song with good lyrics. I also think X-Tina is singing this song outside of a Burbank Chinese restaurant. The dove release at the 2:27 mark is a nice touch too. BTW…Mulan is super underrated. I love that movie.

Song: "As the World Falls Down"
From: Labyrinth
Artist: David Bowie


I love this song so much. It makes me want to take a nap and float off into wonderland. Too bad the visuals scare the shit out of me. It’s so freaky despite it displaying my no. 37 ranked dream of all time, which is to slow dance with a pre-terrible Jennifer Connelly. As a young kid watching Labyrinth, I was pretty sure this sequence was what my high school prom was going to be like.

Song: "Addams Groove"
From: The Addams Family
Artist: M.C. Hammer


No one asked me ahead of time if this could be my groove, but I fully endorse it being as much! I used to watch MTV as a kid and pray that they would play this video because I loved it so much. It’s a part of my childhood in a weird, special way. OMG! 1991 CGI! That Hammer head at the beginning of the video (see what I did there?) looks so terrible. I love it. I also love music videos for movies where the actors from the movie are forced to appear and camp it up. There’s some major mugging going on in this video from the likes of Christopher Lloyd and Raul Julia (RIP). Also great is the sing-along section at the 2:06 mark. It’s as if M.C. Hammer thought we wouldn’t be able to help ourselves but might not know the super repetitive lyrics by this point in the song. P.S. How great would it be if there was an Addams Family-themed haunted house? Double P.S.: Patrick, we should do a podcast one day on The Addams Family. #Adams2Legit

Song: "No Sunshine"
From: Exit Wounds
Artist: DMX


Remember when DMX was a movie star? Those were the days. I like DMX’s music for the most part but "No Sunshine" is a whole other animal. It’s one of his sensitive gangsta anthems and those always kind of crack me up. This song can’t touch Bill Withers' original classic, "Ain’t No Sunshine," but it’s still pretty good for a cover. I totally want to re-watch Exit Wounds now.

Song: "Black Suits Comin’ (Nod Ya Head)"
From: Men in Black II
Artist: Will Smith introducing TRA-KNOX



I have such affection for Will Smith music from Will Smith movies. I don’t know why. It’s almost always clean (and somewhat horrible) rap, but it just works for me. I listened to this song a lot (un-ironically) back in 2002. I’m fascinated by "Nod Ya Head" because it’s so fleeting. It exists solely to promote the awful Men in Black II and has zero shelf life as a result. I can also very easily do the "Nod Ya Head" dance, which makes me feel better. Lemme see ya F Ya Head!

Song: "Trespass"
From: Trespass
Artist: Ice-T and Ice Cube



The John Wick of songs. It’s going to kick you in the dick! Right from the jump Ice-T is asking how many bullets my back can hold and then at the 0:45 mark Ice Cube just blows the doors off of this mutha fucka. When his part jumps in I’m all like “WOOOOOOOOOO!” This video is like I Declare War for adults. I love the part when Ice-T is rapping and then interrupts himself so he can bust a cap at some treasure hunters. It’s so crazy. This video is SOOOOOO CRAAAAZZZZYYYY! It glorifies violence and stuff. Have you seen Trespass btw? You should really watch Trespass. The good one (directed by Walter Hill). Not the one starring Nicolas Cage.

Song: "Speed"
From: Speed
Artist: Billy Idol



This song does everything right from the first seconds. It shows clips from Speed! I love when movie music videos do that. It gets me so jacked for the movie! It looks like there are a lot of junkies at this club that Billy Idol is playing at. Maybe they’re on….wait for it…SPEEEEEEEEED! Do you think Billy Idol heard that the movie was called Speed and thought “so they’re like on drugs, roight?” I’m convinced this video is just the cast wrap party for Mad Max: Fury Road. Hey, I just thought of a way to make Speed even better. Put that dude with the flame-thrower electric guitar from Fury Road on top of the bus!

Song: "I Wanna Sex You Up"
From: New Jack City
Artist: Color Me Badd



This is probably my favorite panty dropping song of the 1990s, which weirdly comes from the gritty crime drama New Jack City. It’s just one more reason that movie is so great. We watched it during an F This Movie Fest 2 after all. Did you think that was a mistake? Of course it wasn’t. We know what we’re doing! I love that the lead singer of Color Me Badd looks like former White Sox player/manager Ozzie Guillen. I love that these guys look so much like ordinary fellows that I could easily be the fifth member of CMB. I love the God-awful dancing. I love the lyric “We can do it till we both wake up.” What? That’s creepy! “Makin’ love unti we drown” is also pretty good. This song should have been in Wolfgang Petersen’s Poseidon.

Songs from Movies That I Love but Probably Shouldn't Vol. 1
Songs from Movies That I Love but Probably Shouldn't Vol. 2
Songs from Movies That I Love but Probably Shouldn't Vol. 3
Songs from Movies That I Love but Probably Shouldn't Vol. 4

7 comments:

  1. Huh. Bryan Abrams really does look a bit like Ozzie Guillen. Weird.

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  2. Awww yeah, "Trespass" speaks right to this white boy's 14-year-old heart. I like the little "Guerillas in the Mist" callback in there - I don't remember this one from back in the day but I like it.

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    1. This post just sent me on a nostalgia trek. Watched the Trespass video and the Guerillas In Tha Mist Clip. I think I'll watch the Ricochet title track next.

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  3. I saw MC Hammer perform live in 2010, and while it was one of the greatest moments of my life, I was slightly disappointed that he didn’t bust out the Addams Groove. If you didn’t live through the Addams Groove, you can never understand the Addams Groove.

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  4. Another song from a movie that I love is The Bangles' cover of "Hazy Shade of Winter" (originally by Simon and Garfunkel) from the Less Than Zero soundtrack!

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    1. Reminds me of another time Ain't No Sunshine was sampled for a hip hop soundtrack joint: Kid Frost from the American Me soundtrack.

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