Scenes with great use of a song
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my best friends girl. man comes around
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Though it’s not an award-winning “classic” kind of film, I find the film My Best Friend’s Girl from 2008 to be pretty hilarious and well written. One of the best aspects of the film is its effective use of songs, including the use of Linda Ronstadt’s “”You’re No Good” over the opening credit scene, the use of Nena’s “99 Red Balloons” in a scene when the characters played by Dane Cook (Tank) and Kate Hudson (Alexis) dance at a high school prom, and the use of John Hiatt performing “Have a Little Faith in Me” while Tank has a self-reflective period after blowing it with Alexis. My favorite, though, is one of my favorite uses of a song in a film scene I’ve ever seen. In the clip, which can be seen above, Tank walks into the church as Alexis’ guest to her sister’s wedding, just before he decides to cause the havoc that will lead to Alexis dumping him. The scene plays to the song “The Man Comes Around” by Johnny Cash. The combination of sound, editing, and cinematography (and costuming on Tank, for that matter) is brilliant, particularly when the red lights in the back of the church look like devil horns on Tank’s head as he walks … just moments after Alexis’s sister has said, “You brought Satan to my wedding!” in reference to Tank.
Last summer on Tunesmate, we brought up the subject of notable instances of songs used over credits. Can you think of other instances of scenes within the middle of a film that are particularly effective use of songs?