Needledrops

Journal Entry - 4.27.2025

Here are some of my favorite movie soundtracks. No particular order, just great movies and songs.

Elf (2003)

Director: Jon Favreau

Songs: Main Title, Pennies From Heaven, You Make Me Feel So Young, Sleigh Ride, What Christmas Means to Me

Arguably my favorite movie of all time. The amount of nostalgia that this opening scene pumps through my veins is unreal. I watch this once a year on Christmas Eve every year, and it is just a perfect movie in all respects. I can watch this clip and be completely rushed with all the feel-goodness of it, and that's what a movie should do.

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Director: Wes Anderson

Songs: These Days, Lullabye, Stephanie Says, Wigwam, Fly, Everyone

Start to end a perfect soundtrack. Off the rip with Hey Jude, then going into the Velvet Underground, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, The Clash, and more. These songs hit all their marks and Wes went full music bro with this one. Some movies would be lucky to have one of these songs, but this one is stacked with 'em.

Submarine (2010)

Director: Richard Ayoade

Songs: Piledriver Waltz, Stuck on the Puzzle, Glass in the park, Hiding Tonight

Per my Spotify 2024 top songs, Stuck on the puzzle and Piledriver waltz were my number 1 and 2 most listened to songs. I think I listen to this soundtrack the most on a daily basis. These songs are just brilliant by Alex Turner, and it makes this movie especially unique because of it.

Lost in Translation (2003)

Director: Sofia Coppola

Songs: Girls, Too Young, sometimes, Brass in Pocket

Maybe it's cause I listened to this soundtrack the whole time I was in Japan, but I've got a special place for this one too. The scene above of Bill Murray's character first looking at those lights with the song is how I felt. Again, maybe cause I was trying to recreate this scene. Anyways, Coppola and Anderson have similar styles when it comes to music choices.

The Graduate (1967)

Director: Mike Nichols

Songs: The Sound of Silence, Mrs. Robinson, April Come She Will, Scarborough Fair

Who doesn't want to listen to Simon & Garfunkel for 2 hours? I mean maybe some people, but I'm not one. Especially since I finally connected who Mrs. Robinson was after watching this. It's a great movie about figuring out your shit after college and the music matches it perfectly.

About Time (2013)

Director: Richard Curtis

Songs: Mid Air, Friday I'm In Love, How Long Will I Love You, Gold in Them Hills, The Luckiest

This soundtrack is the perfect mix of fun and absoultey heartbreaking. Going from Friday I'm in Love to the Luckiest? Cmon now, chill out. The first time I watched this and Mid Air played, something great was happening. Now it's one of my favorite movies of all time.

Blue Velvet (1986)

Director: David Lynch

Songs: Blue Velvet, In Dreams, Love Letters

Rest in peace David Lynch. The scene above with In Dreams by Roy Orbison is just so wacky I love it. The opening with the title song Blue Velvet playing is amazing and made me realize I was gonna love this movie.

Good Will Hunting (1997)

Director: Gus Van Sant

Songs: Say Yes, No Name #3, Between the Bars, Angeles, Miss Misery

I mean a movie stacked with songs from Either/Or and what brought us Miss Misery has to be included here. Thank you Elliott Smith and thank you Matt and Ben.

500 Days of Summer (2009)

Director: Marc Webb

Songs: Sweet Disposition, Us, Hero, Bookends, She's Got You High

"I love the Smiths." Okay yeah that's pretty great Summer, but we've also got Regina Spektor throughout this thing with some Temper Trap and Mumm-Ra. Here's another example of a really unique soundtrack that hits all the right marks and one you can listen to on its own outside of the movie.

Midnight In Paris (2011)

Director: Woody Allen

Songs: Si tu vois me mere, Recado, Let's Do It Let's Fall In Love

This is up there for my favorite intro to a movie ever. The rest of the soundtrack is total fun. Similar to Lost in Translation, I listened to this on repeat when I was in Paris for the first time in 2023, so it is ingrained in my head. Did you know Sidney Bechet shot someone because they said he played the wrong note?

Extra

Others I don't have the time to include but I still love:

La La Land, The Brutalist, Call Me By Your Name, Forrest Gump, A Clockwork Orange, Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Into The Wild, Boyhood, The Holdovers