Tag: top 5

The dirtiest movie soundtracks ever

Posted on by victorfraga

Films and music have had a long and exciting history. This dates back to the era of silent films, which were scored by a live band, and even sometimes, an orchestra. A good filmmaker knows that audiences watch with their ears as much as they do with their eyes, recognising a whole new dimension to the cinematic experience. A film’s soundtrack has a profound effect on audiences, contextualising what they see on screen by grounding it in their emotions.

That said, here are my top four favourite films with the dirtiest soundtracks that have elicited the most visceral emotions from myself (and audiences, more broadly) since their premiere.

1. Shaft (Gordon Parks, 1971):

It’s quite rare that a soundtrack supersedes a film, but Isaac Hayes’ work on the soundtrack of 1971’s Shaft changed the landscape of music in film for generations to come. He, along with guitarist Charles “Skipp” Pitts, had worked on the soundtrack, experimenting with abstract melodies. This now iconic sound was only possible through the use of the iconic Cry Baby Classic Wah pedal, an essential part of guitarist Skip’s studio rig. It’s this out-of-the-box (at least at the time) experimentation that gave the Shaft soundtrack its unique quality — something that has stayed with it to this day.

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2. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2017):

Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos gave audiences plenty to take away from his modern retelling of the tragedy of Iphigenia, where Agamemnon is forced by the goddess Artemis to sacrifice his daughter after having killed a sacred deer. However, one unexpected takeaway is the most random use of Ellie Goulding’s dance floor hit Burn in cinematic history. The film opens with violence, a pulsing heart in the middle of an operation, juxtaposed with blaring classical music: Franz Schubert’s Stabat Mater in F minor. This sets the tone for the rest of the film, as it approaches its crescendo without batting an eye. Indeed, the smattering of classical pieces from the likes of J.S. Bach, György Ligeti, and Piette-Laurent Aimard ground and subdue the ostentatious nature of the film itself, giving you the false sense that everything will be okay when things couldn’t be further from it.

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3. Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977):

From the mind of Dario Argento, the cult classic Suspiria has sent many a viewer down the rabbit hole — if the rabbit hole was a dance academy in some obscure town in Germany. While a lot can be said about the different aspects of this iconic film, nothing is more synonymous with Suspiria than its score. The film’s soundtrack, created by Italian progressive rock band Goblin, helped push Argento’s horrific technicolour vision. The band created a slew of eclectic tones and featured one of the earliest uses of synths in horror that gave audiences the lingering feeling of dread all throughout the film. The film has since been remade in 2018 by Luca Guadagnino with Thom Yorke taking over soundtrack duties.

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4. Thoroughbreds (Corey Finley, 2017):

Thoroughbreds is Cory Finley’s black comedy directorial debut, which can be described as Heathers (Michael Lehmann, 1979) without the remorse. While this technically is a black comedy, we’re dead serious when we say that this film will move you like no other. A huge reason for this is Erik Friedlander’s jangly nerve-wracking score. Friedlander is a classically trained cellist who has worked on films like 2017’s Oh Lucy (Atsuko Hirayanagi). While the score does add to the film’s visceral effect, where it truly shines is when Friedlander uses silence as a tool to stretch tensions to their breaking point. He bends the elements of tension to his will and inflicts it upon the audience like a knife in the dark. All in all, Thoroughbreds will go down in the history of cinema as a cult classic, and so will Friedlander’s score.

Life lessons from gambling?

Posted on by victorfraga

Gambling movies tend to fall into a few different categories. Some revolve around the glitz and glamor most people associate with Las Vegas. Others show the seedy underbelly of the industry. Some are high-octane fuelled adventures, and some are funny buddy movies.

It doesn’t matter; they all have one thing in common – they’re exciting and teach us a lesson. In this post, I’ll go over my favourite gambling movies and what fun life lessons they can teach us.

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1. Casino Royale (Martin Campbell, 2006):

The lesson learned here is that it’s always possible to remake yourself. Up until that point, the Bond franchise had become a little stale. It was the same formula over and over again:

  • Super-villain versus super-spy – no points for guessing who always won;
  • Some over the top plan;
  • Camp humour; and
  • Weird, wonderful gadgetry that was just way too convenient.

It worked brilliantly back in the 1960s, and I still find those movies fun to watch. But box office statistics showed that Bond needed a makeover. It was a big departure from the previous movies and something of a gamble itself.

In true form for a gambling movie, the bold bet paid off. It won critical acclaim and approval from a somewhat unexpected source. It was the only 007 movie to make it past Chinese censors.

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2. Rounders (John Dahl, 1998):

This is one of those movies that show the more sordid side of gambling. It’s all high-stakes and entirely illegal gambling. Malkovitch, as usual, delivers a gritty performance as the villain of the piece. That said, it is also quite humorous at times.

The life lesson learned? Never give up and don’t believe what you see on the big screen. This movie makes a gambling addiction seem like nothing serious when, in fact, it can be just as devastating as alcoholism.

Click here in order to find out the key talking point from John Dahl’s Rounders.

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3. Rain Man (Barry Levinson, 1989):

This movie is an example of what good acting and directing are all about. Production cost $25 million, but the box office takings were $345.8 million. It’s about a hustler played by Tom Cruise with an autistic brother who’s great at gambling.

The classic life lessons are that you can never judge someone entirely from what you see outside, and that family is important. (Especially, in this case, when being estranged from your father loses you your share of $3 million).

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4. Ocean’s Eleven (Steven Soderbergh, 2001):

The lessons in this movie were simple:

  • No one gets hurt;
  • Only steal from the bad guys; and
  • Go all in.

George Clooney played the lead role as a recently paroled ex-con working a heist. It’s extremely entertaining thanks to the complexity of the plan. It epitomises the idea “go big or go home”.

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5. Maverick (Richard Donner, 1994):

Okay; so this is a pretty ancient movie by modern standards. That doesn’t make it any less fun to watch. It’s a gambling movie set in the wild west, so what’s not to love? Maverick is a clever poker player who meets his match in the feisty Annabelle.

The movie is fun, and the message is clear – sticking to the straight and narrow is good, but sometimes being a bit of a cheat is fun too.

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That concludes the roundup. Are these the life lessons that you learned from the movies? If not, why not let us know what you thought the lessons were?

The TOP 5 most thought-provoking Star Wars films!

Posted on by victorfraga

It’s beginning to feel that Star Wars has become its own cinematic universe, rather than just a franchise. With the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story (pictured above), we’ve now seen the second of many proposed spin-offs, in addition to what will soon be nine core films. And while there are now countless rankings littered around the internet of which of these films are best or most enjoyable, we don’t talk as often about which ones gives us the most to think about. So that’s what we’ll focus on here.

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1. Solo: A Star Wars Story (Ron Howard, 2018):

The public is still digesting this newest Star Wars film, but it seems that with specific regard to the franchise it will ultimately be among the most thought-provoking. That’s because this is the film, more than any other before it, that forces us to confront the somewhat sudden reality noted above: that Star Wars is now its own cinematic universe. One of the more interesting responses to Solo’s release came from The Ringer’s Sean Fennessey, and posed the question of what happens when a Star Wars story isn’t special or when, as the story also mentioned, such a story lacks a “wow factor.” The point here is not that Solo is a bad film, but that it feels more ordinary or run-of-the-mill in the context of a world in which we suddenly get a new Star Wars movie every year.

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2. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Rian Johnson, 2017):

The Last Jedi was polarizing, and by this writer’s estimation, disappointing. However, it was also particularly intriguing simply by way of introducing more new things to the universe than any other entry since The Phantom Menace (George Lucas, 1999). We saw a Jedi stronghold/training island for the first time, for instance, in something of a loose homage to Luke and Yoda’s time together in The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980). We saw a space casino, in a possible throwback to the iconic cantina scene that also felt vaguely like pandering to young audiences. A wealth of one-of-a-kind games has rapidly grown the online casino gaming business, to the point that more young people are familiar with these types of games, and might have related to the playfulness of a space casino. We saw new creatures, new types of Imperial Walkers, a new Sith lair, Imperial Guards that actually did something, etc. Basically, in everything from setting to characters, The Last Jedi just established a new look.

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3. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Gareth Edwards, 2016):

Not to harp too much on the newest of the Star Wars films, but there’s an argument to be made that Rogue One is actually the biggest outlier of them all, in terms of feeling like a one-off project. While not without flaws, it earned sweeping critical praise essentially for being a terrific war movie, with more than a few reviews comparing it to Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998). That might be a little bit of a stretch, but it does speak to the idea that Rogue One, more than any other film in this rapidly expanding franchise, taught us to question what a Star Wars film could be. It was the first such film made without a Skywalker, and while it directly concerned the events of A New Hope (George Lucas, 1997), it felt very much like a successful telling of a tale that simply happened to exist in the same universe. It opened the door for potentially limitless types of films for the franchise to explore.

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2. Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith (George Lucas, 2005):

Revenge Of The Sith might be the most thought-provoking film of them all strictly from a character standpoint. Say what you might about the prequel trilogy, but despite insistent reliance on silly creatures, cheesy visuals, and questionable acting performances, this trilogy accomplished its core goal: to depict the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker. Most who care about or even study the Star Wars saga agree that Anakin is in fact its core character, and Revenge Of The Sith is the film that really shows how he transitioned from promising Jedi to devastating Sith apprentice. It’s a film with some interesting messages about loyalty and influence somewhat cloaked in over-the-top (and actually fairly spectacular) action sequences.

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5. Star Wars: A New Hope (George Lucas, 1977):

If Revenge Of The Sith had the most going for it from a character perspective, A New Hope was probably the most significant in terms of pure filmmaking. Naturally it’s the film that started this whole, improbable ride, and it changed cinematic science fiction for all of time. As one ranking of the films put it, A New Hope showcased an exhilarating mix of old movie tropes and newfangled technology. It also combined an almost Old West style of drama and action with the unusual, unique zen of the Force. It was simply an original effort, and one that we can still look back on and be fascinated by when we think of how it set the tone for so much that was to come.