Friday Filler: Rolling in Cinema
By Craig Kennedy - April 4th, 2008; 12:01 am
In celebration of the opening of Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Stones concert film Shine a Light, this week’s Friday Filler is my Top 10 favorite Rolling Stones cinematic moments. Starting from the top:
- (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction - Apocalypse Now (1979) When Apocalypse Now came out, the three biggest things in my life were my best friend Jim, The Rolling Stones and my G.I. Joe. When we saw the water skiing scene in the commercial for Apocalypse Now, it seemed like the coolest thing ever. At 10 years old, I was too young to see the movie, but we used to listen to the Stones’ greatest hits collection, Hot Rocks, over and over and over while playing war with our G.I. Joes, reenacting what we imagined the movie to be like. A Stones fan and a movie fan merged.
- Paint It Black - Full Metal Jacket (1987) There’s just something about the end of this Kubrick movie. First he puts you through the intense urban sniper sequence. Next comes Matthew Modine’s odd voiceover as the soldiers march in silhouette singing the Mickey Mouse Theme. Finally, there is the quick cut to the end credits as Paint It Black kicks in. It gives me a chill every time.
- Out of Time - Coming Home (1978) I saw this many years after my G.I. Joe adventures at a time when I was finally starting to wise up to the idea that war wasn’t fun. This movie had a boatload of Stones songs and I could’ve picked any one of them, but Out of Time sticks out in my mind the most.
- Gimme Shelter - Goodfellas (1990) I probably could’ve made this whole list just from Stones songs in Scorsese movies, but I wanted to spread it out. Here we have one of the best songs in one of his best movies. A match made in heaven.
- She Smiled Sweetly - The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) This could actually have been Ruby Tuesday instead, but Wes Anderson always has a knack for picking album cuts that aren’t instantly familiar to everyone so I’ll do the same.
- Jumpin’ Jack Flash (Live) - Night Shift (1982) If memory serves, the version of this song from Love You Live appears several times, most memorably when Michael Keaton is singing the opening guitar licks as his adopted theme song.
- You Can’t Always Get What You Want - The Big Chill (1983) I’ve kind of grown to hate this movie, but the soundtrack remains the best thing about it and this is the best part about the soundtrack.
- 2000 Man - Bottle Rocket (1996) Rare use of a song from an album most people don’t like very much: Their Satanic Majesties Request.
- Tell Me - Mean Streets (1973) Early Scorsese, meet early Stones.
- I Am Waiting - Rushmore (1998) I suppose it’s not fair that half of this list is made up of Wes Anderson and Martin Scorsese movies, but those guys know how to pick music for their movies. What can I say?
Filed under: Miscellaneous
Related Posts: - Review: Shine a Light (2008) ****
- What’s Doing in Berlin
- LiC Shines a Light on The Rolling Stones
- Movies You May Have Missed: 7/29/08
- Sinatra x Scorsese
Wonderful idea here Craig. All great choices. I think the placement of of 2000 Man in Bottle Rocket is one of the greatest uses of pop music in all of movies (that I’ve seen at least). Absolutely perfect moment.
I don’t recall the music in Coming Home too well (been a while) but Ashby was always such an astute judge of how to compliment a scene with just the right song. Trouble in Harold and Maude would be another of my tops.
And the Stones in Mean Streets and Goodfellas are fucking perfect placements, as I’ve gotten older I’m sometimes tempted to call Mean Streets my favorite Scorsese, but that’s a little off topic.
I just got back from a screening of Shine a Light and one thing I will say is that my eyes are sore. Fans of the Stones only, it was really good. The only mistake anyone could make it assuming the film is anything more than a concert film, because it is not. That is all.
Awesome. I like #’s 4, 5, and 10.
Awesome list, Craig. #4 is my fave, definitely.
And I have to agree with you about The Big Chill: I loved the film the first time I saw it but it was a fast fade. But the use of You Can’t Always Get What You Want at the beginning is priceless.
I loved Scorsese’ use of Gimme Shelter in Departed too, which probably only opened him up to folks making more comparisons between Departed and Goodfellas.
You know, Scorsese and Anderson are by far the two directors most talented at using existing music for movie soundtracks. Both of them have an incredible ear for what will fit a scene or moment perfectly, like Kubrick before them.
Glad you liked the show Nick. You sound exhausted. I’m cautiously excited. I’m even going to brave the gawdawful horrors of Universal City Walk to catch it in IMAX.
Good call on Scorsese and Anderson, Joel. I’d throw Tarantino in there too, but with him it always kind of feels like he’s just showing off his music collection. Not in a bad way, and Anderson is a little guilty of that too, but with Scorsese you get the impression he just feels it and it’s a natural extension.
Mustn’t forget Can’t You Hear Me Knocking from Casino as Joe Pesci kicks the crap out of assorted bad ass types. Plus Moonlight Mile from the film of the same name.
Very astute list, Craig. You’ve outdone yourself, which is a difficult task for you even on a slow day.
Bravo…
Ah, I was just about to bring up Casino–which also has Satisfaction, Heart of Stone and, yes, Gimme Shelter (one of my favorite montages in the Scorsese ouevre is the Gimme Shelter/Joe Pesci goes crazy and kills a bunch of people one in Casino).
Good job, Miranda!
Oh yeah, not having been around when it was released and having only seen it about three and a half years ago, I hate The Big Chill.
I saw it on IMAX, I wonder how it would look on a normal screen, but I was impressed. Compared to U23D it is less visually appetizing, but I mean, come on, it is the Stones!
I really like 4/7/10, the most, I mean, I like them all.
You know Miranda, there were a bunch that ended up on the cutting room floor including all the great stuff from Casino..particularly Sweet Virginia which is oen of my all time favorites…but alas, my memories of Casino are fuzzy at the moment and including it felt a little dishonest. If I’d planned this, I would’ve started a month ago and actually watched movies like Zabriskie Point and several others, but hey, it’s Friday Filler. We can’t work TOO hard at it.
Glad to see the list has inspired some tasty cinematic Stones memories however.
I didn’t catch U23D Nick. I was busy liking the Stones when U2 was huge. I was weird that way: all the movies and music I liked growing up were older than I was. Anyway….IMAX it is.
Great and well written concept Craig! It was a real treat to be prompted to recall film moments so vividly enhanced by soundtrack selection.
Oh, my. Universal City Walk. I’ve seen a few movies there. Average age is what, 15? I once went to a “Deadwood” cast party up at the The Shout House there, too. Not as cool as you’d think.
Knowing that Shine a Light isn’t much more than a concert disappoints me a little. U23D was pretty cool, but I’m a huge U2 fan and besides, it was in 3D. I like the Stones, but I was hoping to get a little more backstage insight. Oh well, I’ll probably go anyway.
Don’t get me wrong. It is so much more than other concert films, and there are enough Stones documentaries out there. About 20 minutes of the 120 min film is backstage and archive footage, it is a really good film though, imo.
I liked the use of “Sympathy for the Devil” in Fallen. The song was the perfect underscore for that film’s sardonic ending, though the rest of the movie was so-so.
I don’t mind Tarantino’s soundtracks because half the songs are usually new to me and aren’t just used for showing off (well, most of them aren’t). However, I hate it when a film gathers together the usual suspects as a cheap way to set the scene. This is especially true for movies set in the 50s or 60s. I’ve heard one too many White Rabbits (love the song, though), San Franciscos, and Time of the Seasons.
As a SF Bay Area resident all I can say W.J. is keep your goddamn hands off my city’s signature tunes :-)
Seriously, I know what you mean about recycling stock period tunes. But to be fair to filmmakers it’s hard to evoke time and place without using songs that remain most recognizable to it.
“I hate it when a film gathers together the usual suspects as a cheap way to set the scene.” Yes!!
I suspect a motivated, intelligent blogger could write a whole post complaining about just such a thing.
I actually blame The Big Chill for that whole phenomenon.
I’d also like to make a special shout out for Jane’s Addiction’s cover of Sympathy for the Devil as it was used in the movie Alien Nation.
I intentionally limited the list to original songs, but that one stands out as a cover that doesn’t piss me off.
I am a sucker for The Big Chill, it is deeply flawed and responsible for a lot of crap we see in films today, but I have a lot of time for it.
Great thread. I think if I ever hear Buffalo Springfield’s “For What it’s Worth” in a movie about the 60s again then a coke’s getting thrown at screen (hopefully I won’t be at home).
Even Fincher was guilty of this to some degree in Zodiac.