In Honor of the Oscar’s, Here’s My Top Film/Music Selections

By Jack Stephen

Rumble Fish (1983), directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

This movie could be one of my tops of all time; it is a perfect film. It has a great cast (including Tom Waits as a soda jerk), excellent soundtrack, and wonderful production design. The film is shot in black-and-white except for the rumble fish; it looks incredible. The soundtrack by Stewart Copeland of the Police is on point. I have always been a Police fan, especially Stewart Copeland, as he is a top drummer, as tight as they get. The percussion on this score is used in such an interesting, unique way. Being the composer on this really allowed him to let loose.  The track “Don’t Box Me In” is a collaboration between Copeland and Stan Ridgeway of the band Wall of Voodoo, who had the alternative hit “Mexican Radio,” which had a pretty cool video back in the day; I can still see that lizard being spun on a spit over an open flame. Based on the book by S. E. Hinton, this could be the best film adaption of one of her books. Hinton’s books were my middle-school experience, as I read them all. I felt like I could really relate to Rusty James the lead character, played by Matt Dillon, who was just a young guy who’s lost and takes it all for granted. Lucky to be alive and lucky to learn his lesson, by the end, it all made sense to me.  

Boogie Nights (1997), directed by P. T. Anderson.

This movie probably has the best film soundtrack ever. There are so many awesome tracks tying together a great movie. The film incudes a great performance by Burt Reynolds. At the time, I hadn’t seen him in a bit, and he just stole almost every scene he was in. There was also a great scene with Alfred Molina smoking crack as he is playing “Sister Christian” by Night Ranger, followed by “Jesse’s Girl” by Rick Springfield. It was fucking tense!  

The top scene was probably the New Year’s Eve party wrapping up the 1970s. William H. Macey enters the house, and the Steadicam camera operator is catching everything, in a single three-minute take. “Do Your Thing” by Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band is playing. It was perfect, as a broken man morally corrupted by the porn business can’t take his wife (played by real life porn actress Nina Hartley) fucking another dude as she has done over and over. New Year’s Eve 1979 seemed like a good enough of a time to end it as any. Watch this movie or listen to the soundtrack or do both, you won’t be disappointed.  

Miller’s Crossing (1990) directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.*

This film was super cool and had a lot of great performances, especially by John Turturro and Albert Finney. There are choice phrasings in the writing, along with excellent exclamations, including “What’s the rumpus?” and “gave him the high hat.” A Boston Irish mob tale, this film did it so well. The scene that really struck me was the attempted assassination scene of Albert Finney’s character Leo O’Bannon. The song spinning on the phonograph was “Danny Boy” by Danny Patterson. Leo’s lying in bed smoking a cigar just winding down, as the assassins come in. He is ready to roll as his house starts to burn. He escapes effortlessly, jumps out the window, kills the assassins with their own Tommy gun, and even guns down the getaway driver just as the last notes of “Danny Boy” trail off—pretty sweet. I remember almost cheering; it was just badass.

My favorite Coen brothers’ movie is The Serous Man. This movie is so fantastic, it has a little bit of everything: deep philosophy, cool tunes, and a classic protagonist downfall. The score features some classic Yiddish tunes mixed with some Jefferson Airplane. I laughed out loud during the scene when the Columbia Record Club collections guy finally got through on the phone. I and many other people were duped by this Columbia Record Club scam back it the day. You got seven cassettes for a penny, then you would get billed full price for a selection of the month or something of the sort. I think I still have a few of the cassettes. I and a lot of other suckers got turned over to collections. It was always a cool experience though. I remember seeing the record club ad on the back of a magazine and mentally picked some albums. 

One day, I filled it out, cut the check for one cent, and mailed it in. It was fun to get the cassettes in the mail, but the bill later came back to haunt me. Don’t overlook this film, it’s a real gem.

*Note: Back in my acting days, I was a day player on the Coen brothers’ film True Grit. As it went, my on-camera shot got cut down, but it was still pretty cool to spend the day with Joel and Ethan Coen on a film set in north Austin. Almost to the end of the movie, you can see me lumbering across the screen for a couple of seconds. So it goes in the acting business.  

Do the Right Thing (1989) directed by Spike Lee.

I am a big fan of Spike Lee. He takes chances and does some amazing filmmaking. This film really blew mine and a lot of other people’s minds. It is a simple tale of a hot day in Harlem when things sort of boil over. Radio Raheem is killed by the police in the climax. His character is almost the catalyst by happenstance. He roams the neighborhood holding a boombox blasting “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy, and he is respected by everyone. His refusal to turn off the song during the confrontation at Sal’s leads to his downfall. Sal crushes the boombox with a baseball bat, sending Radio into a blind rage. “My music” he yells!  

My favorite Spike Lee film is Mo Better Blues, the follow up to Do the Right Thing. It didn’t really get the same attention, but what a fantastic film. It stars Denzel Washington as Bleek Gilliam, the beleaguered trumpet player who juggles women, club owners, and musicians’ egos. It also has an excellent soundtrack by Branford Marsalis and a great story—where do you go when you lose everything and what might you do? 

This film really brought it home for me as I was always a big Jazz head. It was like I was getting to peek behind the curtain. All the while, I was just another fan, sitting on a bar stool at El Chapultapec, the famous Denver jazz club.

A vignette:  

I am standing just off stage. My heart is pounding. I take a deep breath to try and get composed. I’m up next. I peek through the curtain. The crowd is hot, maybe 100 or so patrons having a pretty good time, judging by the sound of things. The host riffs on the last comic, a couple of the digs land and the crowd enjoys the callback. He takes a beat and starts hyping me up. He says they’re so lucky to have me there tonight, nonetheless I’m the one who feels lucky. This is happening! He says my name. I part the curtain and head to the stage. I shake his hand as the crowd cheers. I take the mic out of the mic stand and place the stand aside. I face the crowd.

What song is my entrance music? “Outshined” by Soundgarden

My Top Songs for Valentine’s Day, Part II

By Jack Stephen

“Why Worry” by Dire Straits.

Mark Knopfler is one of those great guitar players who is also an incredible songwriter. I have always been a fan. He has many great songs and some great albums. Dire Strait’s first album, self-titled, has several songs that hit kind of under the radar, such as “Six Blade Knife” and the seminal “Sultans of Swing.” My favorite song of theirs is “Skateaway,” off the Making Movies album. There is a really cool video and story with this song. It involves a girl who moves to Los Angeles, trying to make it with a dream and a pair of roller skates. You can feel the heartbreak and hope.  

Dire Strait’s monster hit “Money for Nothing” really personified the zeitgeist of my generation.  “To get the chicks for free” felt like a good plan back in 1986 or so. Great video; I did some digging and found out that this was the first video MTV played in the United Kingdom. Of course, everyone thought they had the inside info knowing that Sting belted out the “I want my MTV” at the end; but that was no secret. It just made the song a bit cooler. I could relate to the marketing scheme. I didn’t have MTV and had to go to the neighbors to watch it. Watching “music videos” ended up being a huge influence as to how I began to appreciate music, because music shifted off the radio a bit; and then it was “What a cool video.” 

“Money for Nothing” and “Why Worry” are both on the Brothers in Arms album. What an epic album this is! I am also a fan of the tracks “Your Latest Trick” and the title track “Brothers in Arms.” “Why Worry” is a pretty fantastic ballad with a nice long intro, probably so the bride and groom have time to make it to the dance floor for their wedding song. I love how it feels full of hope and has that deep lyric: “and you make sense of what I do.”  

“Throwing It All Away” by Genesis.

Genesis is quite the group. I’ve gotten into them only within the last few years or so. They’re one of those band that I ignored but now can’t really figure out why? I don’t really know what happened between Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel.* Regardless, I’m a fan of Genesis in any iteration. I just really appreciate all the experimentation. When they crush, they really crush. Phil Collins leads the way on so many cool tracks, including: “Man in the Corner,” “No Reply at All,” and “ABCAB.” Phil Collins later went on to have one of the most successful solo careers of any artist, like, ever. He had so many awesome, funky tracks, such as “I Missed Again,” “I Don’t Care Anymore,” “Inside Out,” and “Don’t Lose My Number.” I love how Genesis was always willing to try so many interesting ideas, which ended up leading to some greatness, because they did have a lot of duds. “Throwing It All Away” is just a real sweet song, and a reminder that all the failed relationships I had led me to my most perfect love. 

*[Peter Gabriel had one of the most epic romantic songs of my generation “In Your Eyes.”  This is mostly because of the movie plug when John Cusack played the boombox loudly outside Ione Skye’s window in the film Say Anything… This was an interesting move for two reasons: 1) that was how difficult it was to try and get laid/meet women back in my generation, we simply had a lot of questionable ideas; 2) if someone were to duplicate this move today, that girl is calling the police.]

“Waiting for a Girl” by Foreigner.

Foreigner, what a great fucking 1980s rock band. They sang about chasing women and getting drunk in the bar. For example, listen to “Double Vision.” That was how it went in the 1980s, 90s, and maybe a bit in the early 2000s. How else are you going to meet someone to sleep with you? You’re going to have to get out of the house, and the ladies are going to be out at the bars. We were still in the jukebox generation.

I remember sitting in some bar somewhere in Dallas. I would be just chilling by myself, maybe waiting on a friend. There would be a Budweiser and shot of Jameson sitting in front of me. I was rocking a badass mustache. I lit a Winston light, put a coaster over the top of my beer and wandered over to the jukebox with a one-dollar bill, three selections coming up. I leaned on the jukebox. The stance was crucial to looking cool but not like a poser. It’s got to be fucking natural! I scrolled through slowly, got to find a good one. There’s only about 15 patrons in here right now, everyone is going to know these are my selections. Got to do it right, I felt confident. I took a drag off my cigarette like a movie star. I decided to go with Red Hot Chili Peppers up top, followed by some Smiths, and finished it off with “Waiting for a Girl” by Foreigner. I moseyed back to my bar stool. After I plopped down, the most beautiful bartender sauntered over and asked if I would like another shot, with a smile. I looked my future wife in the eyes and said “Your goddam right I do...and can I get your number?”

“First Gymnopedie” by Yusef Lateef.

A vignette: It’s a cold snowy Saturday evening. It’s been a cold snowy day, and the heavy flakes are still dropping like they would on a movie set, slowly and deliberately. We are draped with blankets, and we feel something stirring in the air. Three beautiful elk walk down the street.  They’re looking at us almost with what feels like the same thought: What the fuck are you doing? They walk down the street slowly. We watch them go rest in our neighbors’ yard. With the amount of snow on the ground and falling in the air, I realized I forgot something about snow, how it absorbs so much sound. This whole experience has been…just…so…quiet.