Cinematic songs have a way of making the most of any movie. A good choice of music in the background as the movie unfolds, makes it more interesting. However, not every movie soundtracks, is capable of capturing the attention of the listener and remaining in their memory forever. In most cases, we end up forgetting the film but the song still lingers in our minds. Of all the cinematic songs, the following has never lost their taste.

One of the most influential soundtracks is “Wish I Was There” by Zach Braff from the album Garden State. It brought the best out of the films Zero 7, The Shins and Iron & Wine. The movies sold first to large audiences, all thanks to the track.

Top Five was another movie soundtrack, which was very successful. It was intelligently incorporated in a comedy involving top rap musicians. This sold the comedy and the talents of the likes of Kanye West, LL Cool J and Slick Rick.

In addition, there is the infamous The Gambler, which enlisted tracks such as That Glow by St. Paul (listen on Youtube) and the Broken Bones and Common people by Pulps (listen on Youtube as well). The two tracks enhanced the film.

Tracks from Boyhood have been evident in the films produced in 2014 and early 2015. The band is known for their mixtape collection of songs. Their alluring music made them suitable for use in Sundance film and others.

Lisbon Soul, Italian guy who sing in English, has released a recent hit titled Blue Steel Eyes (listen on Lisbon Soul Youtube account or on Lisbon Soul Jango account). It is already being rated as a potential soundtrack for upcoming films. With the positive feedback that the track is gaining, nothing will prevent it from finding its way in most movies. By this author you should listen also at “Love in reverse” (on Lisbon Soul Bandcamp account).

The above soundtracks can be said to be the main reason why the films in which they were applied (or in which they can be applied like the case of the Italian singer) remained successful. The songs are good to the ear and they marry with the story line.

Sources and official websites:

Popsugar about Boyhood

Lisbon Soul on Soundcloud and Lisbon Soul Twitter account

Cinema and music seems two completely different worlds. The truth is that they, most of the time, belong to the same world as music is always used in movies to emphasize certain scenes and to give real emotions to the public.

The origins of musical presence in cinema reflect the diversity of a popular phenomenon born in exhibitions and in the cabaret, at the beginning of the twentieth century. The highly heterogeneous nature of the music has always been a good fact for cinema and its diffusion. On the other hand, cinema and movies often promoted a certain song or author, leading then to the international prominence (the data on this study by the rock magazine Rockol.com show it clearly).

The birth of films, the first large-scale organization of production companies and technical improvements helped a lot the the presence of the music itself in movies.

To understand the importance of music in movies we can just think about the “Academy Awards for Best Original Score”, an award given each year to the best movie soundtrack.

Among winners in the past we have seen soundtracks of the best movies in history of the cinema, such as “The Full Monty” and “Titanic”, both in 1997, “Shakespeare in Love” in 1998, “The Lord of the rings” both in 2001 and 2003. In the history of this award, the most winning author has been Alfred Newman, american composer, who also received the highest number of nominations (he shared the first place with John Williams, american composer and pianist).

Music and cinema have always been together and they’ll always be.

The Law Abiding Citizen

A man who lost his child due to murder takes retribution to the next level. This high octane suspense film takes betrayal and deception in a painfully obvious manner, giving the audience a 360 degree overview of what is happening. A carefully planned out strike of terror, hunk actor Gerard Butler was able to sneak in to a prison. With access to underground networks and high powered devices of terror, Jamie Foxx takes deception and betrayal to a whole different level.

Roman holiday

In a different stroke of themes, the classic film Roman holiday is all about the story of a princess who wanted to be a regular girl who meets a man who was actually a journalist. Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck definitely took Romantic comedy to a whole new level. This film also led to Hepburn’s crucial status as an award winning actress with an Academy Award for outstanding female performance. Who said betrayal and deception had to be scary? (more →)

Gambling has always been an interesting topic, with issues like deceit, loss, success and violence. How the high rollers live their lives and how it can be taken back. There is a sense of challenge in creating a tasteful film related to gambling per se or maybe some games like roulette (people developing a winning roulette strategy, getting the unwanted attention of the casino manager) or poker (the coolblooded, smart bluffer challenging the top champion). Is it symbolic, used as an instrument to present an idea? Was it used as a literal device to carry a story?

Films related to gambling range in a wide variety of styles. Here are some notable films for your to consider:

The 1995 Martin Scorsese film, Casino was a film adapted from a book by Nicholas Pileggi and Larry Shandling. The film stars Robert De Niro who plays the character Sam Rothstein, the premise was that Rothstein runs casinos along Las Vegas with the backing of the Mafia. He also needed to create a front to mask his identity due to gambling charges back in the East. The Mafia sends Nicky Santoro to protect Rothstein but he ended up setting his own casino operations. The film also stars Sharon Stone who plays a prostitute whom Rothstein is attracted to but is really into her pimp, Lester Diamond.

Taking a different level of intensity, the Croupier is a 1998 film starring Clive Owen. He plays an aspiring writer, Jack Manfred who is not getting anywhere into his passions. He had to take the job of a croupier to make ends meet and his father helped him get an interview. Manfred ends up getting drawn into the world of gambling which was thriving in South Africa where the story was set. It was a unique take on gambling, focusing on the decay of humanity and how gambling could change lives for the worst, but still draws you due to its glitz and glamour. It is a brilliant evocation of gambling and life as similar concepts: they are both games of chances.

Le Mans is a film by Steve McQueen released in the late 1970s. The film shows to the audience the challenging lives of racers, outside the racing circuit and inside. Sometimes, the drama outside the road tends to be harder to escape, and it makes for a film that offers an incredibly rich drama and dialogue. It is one of the best known racing films with a focus on conflict and characterization. (more →)