10 of my favourite movie musical numbers

Some time ago I made a list of my favourite musical moments in non-musical movies. So this list is a natural follower! It also happens to match the first challenge in the new Movie Monday blog. (Note: no animations accepted on the list! Why? It would be filled with Disney songs, and I already made that list.)
 

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10. Time Warp in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

This movie is so insane. It doesn't have a sensible moment in its running time! And I appreciate and respect that. Time Warp is the catchiest and thus my favourite song in the musical, so it has the honour to inhabit the last but not... well, yes, the least position on the list. In a list ranking songs according to their ability to get stuck on your head, this would be number one by a bullet! ... Aaaand just when you thought I would get through with this without mentioning the Glee version, I go and mention the Glee version. Because it's brilliant and Kurt is brilliant and so on and so forth.




 9. My Favourite Things in The Sound of Music (1965)

It's just so very sweet, okay? And so is Julie Andrews, ah!




8. Greased Lightning in Grease (1978)

 I used to love Grease, but then I watched it too many times and now I just kind of unactively like it for the nostalgic value. Still, there's no denying the entertainment value of John Travolta's hips and the always-makes-your-feet-restless value of the beat in Greased Lightning.

7. Good Morning in Singing' in the Rain (1952)

I could've and maybe should've chosen the most iconic musical scene in the history if cinema, but decided to go with this one instead without much ado. I just like the melody and the enthusiastic and cheerful mood of the scene. And the tap dance. Oh, the tap dance.

6.  Can I Have This Dance in High School Musical 3 (2008)

Haha, I think it's appropriate to talk about a black sheep here. Me and High School Musicals go way back, and it would've been unfair and evasive to ignore that fact when making this list. Now, about this particular song and scene. Sometimes I've been joking that I want to dance to this at my wedding, and unfortunately it wasn't always pure joking. I have now accepted that this song will indeed have nothing at all to do with my wedding, whatsoever, but while I'm beginning to forget the lyrics to all the other HSM songs, I still find myself listening to this once in a while. It's quite nice, really. And not half as cheesy as it could be.




5. A Little Priest in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

 Well, first, if there's Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and singing involved, it can't end up being nothing too bad. Sweeney Todd is pretty great, and I chose this scene for its quirkiness, its relevance to the plot, and for the pure joy of watching Johnny and Helena work their magic together.




4. Cell Block Tango in Chicago (2002)

Chicago is sexy and chic and just unresistable. It has many, many awesome musical numbers, but Cell Block Tango is hands down my favourite. Those murderesses just kick ass! After this, no one can say that murder is not an art.




3. Somewhere Over The Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

It doesn't get much more classic than this. Judy Garland, stuck in the dull, colourless Kansas, dreams of a better place somewhere over the rainbow, not knowing that's exactly where she will end up soon enough. Oh, I adore this song.

2. Dancing Queen in Mamma Mia! (2008)

This movie is such a joy. It's the ultimate pleasure without a single drop of guilt. Meryl Streep and the girls dancing around a beautiful Greek island, singing this timeless, feel-good ABBA song, is so much fun - just a thought of it is somehow uplifting and makes a smile sneak up on your face. The best thing is, you don't necessarily have to be young and sweet, only seventeen, to a be dancing queen. It just takes some growing back down.




1. El Tango De Roxanne in Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Moulin Rouge! had to be number one, of course. Deciding on just one song, scene, number, was a much trickier job to do. Your Song, Elephant Love Medley and Come What May finally lost, though only by inches, to the dramatic, thrilling, flamboyant, goosebumps-quaranteed El Tango De Roxanne. Oh, how vividly we feel the heart-rending pain of Ewan McGregor. You just want to give him a big hug. But only after he's stopped singing! Don't you dare interrupt the magic in action.

My happy Halloween week

Just a week or two ago I leaped over to quite an unknown territory and tested my nerves with horror. Mikaela linked me a post of hers, recommending some must-see flicks of the genre, and as Halloween was suitably just around the corner, I decided to continue the journey of exploration in the world of serial killers, masked murderers and creepy kids. To begin with, I noticed I actually wasn't so totally hopeless on the field after all, as I had already seen quite a few of the movies Mikaela mentions. However, there was, and still is, a lot to be seen. I was supposed to watch a lot more movies last week, but it was more hectic that I expected (and it doesn't really get easier for another week, sigh), so here are the fruit of my mini horror movie marathon. (I know the first one isn't horror, but since it has the word ' horror' on its title, it'll do.) The quest goes on after the surge of deadlines and other obligations passes by.

 The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

directed by Jim Sharman / starring Tim Curry, Susan Sharadon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O'Brien

I finally managed to watch this film, because they had a 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' themed episode on Glee and I wanted to get something out of it. I did get quite a lot out of it, something other than Time Warp, Dammit Janet and Toucha Toucha Touch Me stuck in my head all week, too. Cult films are quite difficult to get in, and I can't say I'm 'in it' after only one watch. This should be seen on stage, with the water pistols and toasts. But the music is catchy, and you can't blame the film for holding anything back or being ashamed of what it is. Two thumbs up for that, and next stop, West End! Finally, here's Glee doing the Time Warp again. Because Kurt is so freaking lovely as a balding creepy old man. (But I'm strongly anti-Quinn nowaways. Not that I'm bitter or anything, if you know what I mean...)

All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)

directed by Jonathan Levine / starring Amber Heard, Anson Mount, Whitney Able, Michael Welch

This is the type of horror I usually go to. A bunch of teenager in somewhere secluded, and a mysterious someone killing them off one by one. No fear for nightmares here, because the biggest angst comes from not guessing who the killer is or guessing who it is too soon. Movies like this are usully quite entertaining, best served cold with a group of friends. All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is about Mandy Lane, a girl who turns into a hot babe during the summer and suddenly all the boys love her. The movie tag line says it quite well: 'Everyone is dying to be with her. Someone is killing for it.' Amber Heard sure is beautiful, and this the way I like horror the most: entertaining, harmless and forgettable.

 

Scream (1996) 

directed by Wes Craven / starring Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, Courtney Fox, David Arguette, Drew Barrymore

I'm almost ashamed to say that I had NEVER seen a Scream movie before. Pathetic, right? Oh well, after seeing it, I can't say I've missed that much. The killer, Ghostface or whatever, is somehow more amusing than scary, stumbling around and all. (Maybe the asscociations to Scary Movie also kind of hinder the wanted effect, haha. I just thought about the cloak dude hiding behind the couch, giggling...) And I still have disagreements about the killer's identity. I hate being wrong like this! Maybe some lonely boring night I'll watch the sequels, too, but I can't say they're very high on my list of priorities...

 The Omen (1976) 

directed by Richard Donner / starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Harvey Stephens 

To conclude my Halloween week, I raised the stakes and put on something REALLY scary. This is the kind of horror that has potential to give you sleepless nights... A cute little kid as the reincarnated Satan... Um, hello, quite cheery. The film didn't give me a lot of frights while watching, but afterwards that eerie mood just didn't go away, not even with aid from an episode of Big Brother. Hrrr. Anyway, the kid wasn't scary in the way the kids are in modern horror movies. It almost felt that the actor wasn't acting at all, like when he smiled, I saw, on my mind's eye, someone waving a lollipop or making a funny face behind the camera to make the kid smile. And actually that was quite creepy. Like, he just happens to be the reincarnation of all evil, but the doesn't really care, shit happens, let others deal with it. If you know what I mean.