Thursday, April 19, 2018

Riske Business: Songs I Love from April Movies

by Adam Riske
The column that happens when you don’t want to review Isle of Dogs anymore.

Song: “Maniac”
By: Michael Sembello
From: Flashdance



Jennifer Beals in this video looks like me when I’m getting ready to do a podcast. I’ve still never seen Flashdance (should I?), but I remember the parodies from movies such as Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. I don’t appreciate how the video goes from side butt to terrifying at 0:53. It’s like Pazuzu became a Baseball Fury. I’m not gonna lie, I really want to program a Friday Night Double Feature of Flashdance and Honey right now. The keyboard (?) at the 2:30 mark takes this song up a notch to the stratosphere. It might be the greatest thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life.

Song: “Live to Tell”
By: Madonna
From: At Close Range



Fuuuuuuuuccccck is ‘80s Madonna some great music! I mean, just take my advice and run on the treadmill to “Like a Prayer.” Whoooo! I love “Live to Tell” as well. I need to finally watch At Close Range. I have it on my DVR because MGM HD and I are soulmates. I bet when Madonna was in the recording studio laying down this track, Sean Penn was looking for her and was all “Is that Ma-donna in there!!!!????”

Song: “Deep Cover”
By: Dr. Dre and introducing Snoop Dogg
From: Deep Cover



I can’t tell you how great it is to be reminded that back in the early ‘90s every rap and hip-hop artist was wearing Chicago White Sox gear. They were like “Get out the way. We’re striking out these fuckers like Jason Bere” or “And we don’t stop. Magic Number’s only seven for the muthafuckin’ Sox!” That’s it! Mike, Adam Thas, Mark and I are starting a gangsta rap group that only raps about the Chicago White Sox. Rob can cameo anytime we talk 1993 because his Phillies made the World Series that year. He’d be all “They call me Rob Kruk. And I park in Lot B cause I don’t give a fuck!” Deep Cover is a pretty good movie, btw.

Song: “Shy Guy”
By: Diana King
From: Bad Boys



I love music videos like this where the cast of the movie were super involved. It makes me miss the days when Will Smith was cool and Martin Lawrence was tolerable. I dig this song, too. It’s good “going to the mall to buy new cologne and maybe a CD” music. Too bad I was only twelve when this song came out because I was a shy guy in my youth. In fact, I still have the urge to hide when the pizza delivery guy shows up and someone else is home that can get the door. Call me up, Diana King! My favorite part of this video is the sizzle reel from 2:42-3:03. Doesn’t it make you want to watch Bad Boys again immediately? Patrick, can we do a podcast on Bad Boys? [Ed. note: Shit just got real.] I remember this movie got zero stars in the Daily Herald. That’s horseshit.

Song: “New”
By: No Doubt
From: Go



This song is incredible. It was partly ruined for me for several years because in high school a girl (who liked me) did a dance to it during a variety show. She knew I dug it and it was her way of expressing her feelings for me. When I saw that, I was not having any of it because I wasn’t into her. She asked me what I thought and I said I wasn’t paying attention and that I didn’t like that song anymore. It made for an awkward post v-show IHOP outing with cast & crew. Sometimes you got to be the villain. If you’re reading this, Courtney, I’m sorry.

Song: “The Climb”
By: Miley Cyrus
From: Hannah Montana: The Movie



I once took a quiz on Facebook called something like “What song is your anthem?” and I got back “The Climb” as my answer. It was totally worth Cambridge Analytica having all my personal data. When I got that result I wasn’t taken aback by it. I embraced it. When life hands you lemons – it’s the climb. When Reserved Seating gets less than five comments – it’s the climb. When the Casper Awards goes belly up – it’s the climb. That Miley Cyrus has a lovely voice, btw. Have you heard her sing “Malibu?” Chills, am I right?

Song: “Drive It Like You Stole It”
By: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo
From: Sing Street



Have you seen Sing Street? No? What the hell is wrong with y….I mean, you should watch Sing Street. It’s wonderful. The soundtrack is wall-to-wall terrific, but the standout song/sequence is this one: “Drive It Like You Stole It,” a ridiculously catchy tune and fun video. On second thought, this video shows a lot of people being beat up. What’s up with that? It’s hard to daydream about Lucy Boynton when the next shot is someone getting punched in the face. Maybe that montage from Money Train Patrick and I discussed on a recent podcast was preparing me for this.

Song: “Hey Ma”
By: Pitbull and J Balvin (featuring Camila Cabello)
From: The Fate of the Furious



I still don’t like The Fate of the Furious, but the soundtrack is good and I really dig the song “Hey Ma.” It’s a reminder of the best scene in the movie when Dom drag races in Cuba. Why the hell couldn’t the whole movie have been just Dom and Letty getting in car adventures in Havana ooh na-na? The Fast franchise needs to scale back, yo! And Scott Eastwood never again! I also like this video because when Pitbull shows up onsite, he is truly living up to his claim that he’s both Mr. 305 and Mr. Worldwide. P.S. Can’t they find a way to write off Ramsey and level up to Camila Cabello for Fast 9 & 10? No movie has ever improved by the addition of a hacker.

What songs from April movies do you love?  

11 comments:

  1. You definitely need to watch At Close Range stat. The entire score is based on Live to Tell which is haunting and awesome. Also watch Walken's outstanding performance and think about "joy of performance". He's in the zone in this movie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I'll probably watch it this weekend. I'm looking forward to it.

      Delete
  2. Your ISLE OF DOGS comment makes me laugh because I saw it and tried to settle on my thoughts about it and realized I didn't think much of anything. It's just there. Geez, I had more thoughts about Tomb Raider. That's sad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had a lot of trouble connecting to it. It felt like every 5 minutes was interrupted by exposition, flashbacks or more table setting. I liked Bryan Cranston's character but that's about all that stuck with me.

      Delete
    2. Yes, he was the best part, but even his arch felt forced and unearned.

      Hey look, I just had a thought about it.

      Delete
    3. I had one moment where I thought to myself "this is such indie nonsense." It was hard to recover from that. Greta Gerwig was terrific as Person I Would Mute on Twitter.

      Delete
    4. Boy, that character was awful. Thanks American for going to another country and whining about it and trying to change it.

      Delete
  3. hahahahahaahahaha --> "I once took a quiz on Facebook called something like “What song is your anthem?” and I got back “The Climb” as my answer. It was totally worth Cambridge Analytica having all my personal data."

    Also, I remember loving "Flashdance" when I was young, but I suspect it hasn't aged well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I first saw Flashdance fairly recently. It's... odd. (Also, Problematic in many ways.) And a whole lot of things make no sense at all, such as why does the ~18-y.o. heroine have no family? And if she welds by day and dances by night, when does she sleep? It feels like a considerably longer movie cut down to a lean 97 min, which I believe is the case. Weirdly enough, as a Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer joint, in its visual and editing style, as well as its thin "I guess I'm not awesome/but maybe I really am awesome?" story, the movie it perhaps most resembles is Top Gun. The photography is pretty nice, though, spotlighting a rarely scene industrial-town-in-autumn look.

      Anyhow, the YouTube movie review show Welcome to the Basement did a solid review of the flick a while back. Overall, I'd say it's just odd, memorable, and short enough to justify a watch for those curious.

      Delete
  4. Other songs from movies released in April past include:

    "The Secret of My Success" by Night Ranger - The Secret of My Success
    "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls - City of Angels
    "Pet Sematary" by The Ramones - Pet Sematary
    "I'll Remember" by Madonna - With Honors

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't you wish Hollywood still made movies like With Honors? I didn't even love that movie but there are no movies like that being made anymore and that bums me out.

      Delete