volume 144 - game night
music from my favorite movies 😌
memes of the week 🤠
not the Hokas!!
🥲😌
hahahaha
this all i want to do with me lads tbh
happy Tuesday y’all :)
today’s all about music that fuels my favorite movies. i recognize that there’s really good tv out there but i just love watching YouTube and movies way more
for context, some of my all-time fav shows are: Barry, The Bear, and How To with John Wilson. (it’s definitely hard to have a fave show while it’s still in-production, like how GoT was up there for me then the last season happened 😪)
great tv has that same attention to detail as movies do, but i don’t want to wait 2-3 episodes for a show to get good? my time is limited! and i don’t want to fall under the sunk cost fallacy 😅
i like the finality of movies. i can start and finish them in one sitting. because of the time limitation, it feels like there’s even more focus on what makes the cut
when it comes to movie preference, i generally lean towards rewatchability than prestige. both coexist though and it’s never all the way one way. i also love bad movies that are funny (but not bad in the “i hate myself after watching this” sense)
in recent years, Veronica and i have exchanged bad Christmas movies lmao. one year it was a really religious movie called Christian Mingle:
(which i just found out was directed by Corbin Bernsen?![!!]) it’s basically a long ad for the Christian Mingle dating site sprinkled with racism and also a universe where they eat at a steak and cake restaurant lmao
getting back to the music, it plays such a big part in movies. it sets the tone, reinforces a mood, ties to character development, and so much more:
Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s (2008) soundtrack has more contemporary songs from around that time. i will forever associate CAKE’s “Love You Madly” with the opening intro
in No Country for Old Men (2007), a Western crime thriller, the Coen Brothers made a deliberate choice to have a very limited, minimalist score. it only heightened the thriller vibes with the audience having no reprieve
the GOAT composer Hans Zimmer has done the scores for movies such as The Lion King, Inception, and Interstellar to name a few. there’s still so much i don’t know about his legend and just how vast his contributions are. he even has a separate wiki page for his discography spanning from the 1980s to now 🥵
all that being said, today’s spotlight is about the soundtracks for my fav 4 😌
as you read, think about some of your favorite movies and see if you can remember its score / soundtrack. why or why not? the answer may surprise you 😉
and with that, let's get to the music for the week ❤️🔥
- claudio / claud / @offballscreen
this week’s music ⤵️
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Directed by: Wes Anderson
Released: 2014
whenever i think Wes Anderson, i think about his obsession with colors and framing. his films are often filled with whimsy as well which brings lightness and comfort for a genuinely easy watch
in Grand Budapest, the main engine moving the plot is around concierge extraordinaire Gustave H. (played by Ralph Fiennes). he stars and shows again why he deserves all the flowers:
i love how meta it’s set up: in the opening scene, a young woman is reading a book about Gustave H., then we cut to the author interviewing the lobby boy (Zero aka Mr. Mustafa) that worked with Gustave H., and finally we experience him in his fullest effect running the hotel
this is also a great example how Wes uses miniature models to visualize the world he’s created:
Accepted
Directed by: Steve Pink
Released: 2006
Accepted is all about the sense of belonging that comes with finding your community. Justin Long’s character creates a fake college that initially was to get away with not getting into other schools, but turns it into one where everyone is accepted for who they are and what they want to pursue
it’s dope to see him in a confident, witty protagonist role! even with his character’s name being Bartleby Gaines lmao. it’s a complete 180 from his performance in Dodgeball, where at one point there’s a montage of him getting destroyed by dodgeballs
also, this is early Jonah Hill where he plays a more passive, law-abiding role (which he eventually learns to let go) delivering hella one-liners lmao. which is completely different from his part in Superbad:
if we want to go deep, this is an allegory for current society in the sense that we can revise and create new traditions + we can all coexist
it’s my comfort food when i’m feeling out of place 😌
Game Night
Directed by: John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein
Released: 2018
not gonna lie, this is one of those movies i’ve binged endlessly and know from top to bottom. it’s such a goofy whodunnit with a sprinkle of John Wick action. there’s so much about this movie that i love:
the score (along with the funny ass titles) is a mix of moody electronic music that’s just spooky enough to build suspense but doesn’t cripple your anxiety
the GOAT Jesse Plemons aka Meth Damon plays an unforgettable role as the creepy cop neighbor that just wants to be a part of their game night
the neighborhood they live in is filmed bokeh style to look like it’s a board game
each character is developed really well where they each have room to cook
directed by Sam from Freaks and Geeks!
goofy Rachel McAdams showing off how her versatility
and the list goes on 😈
honestly, i think any crowd can appreciate this movie. and it clocks in a lil over 90 mins, which is the sweet spot for movies
whenever i miss my friends, i throw this on and feel at home 🥲
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Directed by: The Daniels
Released: 2022
this hits on so many different levels for me. i have a ton of empathy for all the characters being a second generation POC + child of divorce looking at what each generation / individual is going through
the meta aspect of it was done seamlessly as well. as on brand with The Daniels’ style, it’s just plain fun. i also love that A24 just greenlit tf outta this movie to let them pursue their vision
from the crew to the main cast and everything in between, i’m glad they got their flowers and hopefully will be remembered in the culture for decades to come
this movie made me cry so damn hard 😭😭. i’m grateful that it lets me access these feelings. it means so much to me that i can’t help but feel Everything Everywhere All at Once 😉