MetaChat - Overused movie music.

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31 July 2010

Overused movie music. This cinematical post is a little half-baked (as most of their content is) but I like the subject of movie music that you never want to hear again. What are your votes most overused music in movies?→[More:]Mine would be "I Will Survive" which is in at least: In And Out, Four Weddings And A Funeral, The Replacements, Men In Black II, Man On The Moon, The Adventures Of Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert, The First Wives Club and Coyote Ugly.

post by: octothorpe at: 22:12 | 8 comments

I like "Carmina Burana" just on principle, but I do think it's overdone.

I sometimes wish it was playing in the elevator on my way up to my office in the mornings. That or "Ride of the Valkyries."

posted by Thats Numberwang! 31 July | 23:16

"Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood. Pachelbel's "Canon". "O Fortuna" by Carl Orff. "Let’s Get It On" by Marvin Gaye. "Spring" from Vivaldi's "Four Seasons".

posted by arse_hat 31 July | 23:31

"Oh Yeah" by Yello. And omg after Watchmen I never want to hear Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" again, whether it's in a movie or not.

posted by BoringPostcards 01 August | 00:08

When I watched Little Women (1994) I really liked the Thomas Newman soundtrack.
Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJL39_YuUC0

Then I noticed that it was used ad nauseam for many many other previews, sneak peeks, blurbs of other movies that had nothing to do with it, and often where Thomas Newman wasn't even the composer of the soundtrack. It was like the go to theme music if you wanted something intellectual sounding involving university quads or autumn leaves. I wish I could remember some examples, but really, it was in everything. Anyway, it's still a good score, but I got quite sick of it after a while.

posted by mondaynoaware 01 August | 04:45

Here's a good example of what I was talking about, from the Sense and Sensibility preview, which has a perfect good soundtrack of its own by Patrick Doyle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJMnm28vAqQ

:)

posted by mondaynoaware 01 August | 04:55

For a while "Salisbury Hill" seemed to be a movie go-to choice, but I haven't seen it used in a while.

And for me "Hallelujah" overstayed it's welcome pretty early on. It seems like it's used whenever they've run out of ideas but still need to hit an emotional chord.

posted by Slack-a-gogo 01 August | 07:57

Barber's Adagio for Strings is used a lot.

posted by octothorpe 01 August | 08:29

I think the trailer-making people got the point after "Salisbury Hill" was in the Shining [sic] recut trailer.

"Hallelujah" definitely needs to be on the list, but BP, I respect Watchmen for using the original instead of the much-better-known Cale/Buckley/Wainwright covers. It's also one of the few times it's been used ironically.

I don't mind, the way some people do, trailers re-using another movie's theme music. Often it's just a licensing availability issue. But individual pieces can become overused.

posted by dhartung 01 August | 15:30

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