Radiohead in the Movies
It's entirely possible that the British band Radiohead are The Beatles of our generation. No, they have never achieved anywhere near the popularity that the fab four attained. If anything, Thom Yorke and co. have taken measures to insure they never achieve that kind of fame and success, like when they put out their album "In Rainbows" and told fans they could pay whatever they wanted for it. But The Beatles pushed the boundaries of where pop music could go in the 60s, taking directions that none of their contemporaries could have imagined. They opened up entirely new avenues, and that is precisely what Radiohead has done since their formation. As a result, Radiohead is the favorite band of many an artist, and film directors are not immune to that. Here are three films that have used the music of Radiohead to great effect.
50/50
Thom Yorke hates the song "High and Dry." Thom Yorke hates most of the songs his band wrote prior to the release of their 1997 seminal album "OK Computer." He refuses to play many of them live. Nevertheless, "High and Dry" remains a Radiohead fan favorite, and it is used to haunting effect in the 2011 "cancer comedy" "50/50." After being informed that he has cancer and only has a 50/50 chance of living, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character is shell-shocked. A montage set to this gorgeous song follows, and we in the audience connect with the character's torment.
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
For his modern day interpretation of the iconic Shakespeare romantic tragedy, innovative filmmaker Baz Luhrmann enlisted the best alternative artists of the 90s to form the soundtrack. He was smart enough to approach Radiohead, who were still new at the time, and the band was just as eager to work with him as the other way around. When we first meet Romeo, the lonely guitar strings of "Talk Show Host" play over. The band even wrote a new song for the film's closing credits, a dark, menacing acoustic ballad called "Exit Music (For a Film)." That song would later be included on "OK Computer," and is a fan favorite.
Vanilla Sky
There are few directors who know how to utilize pop music into their films nearly as well Cameron Crowe. He's in a rarefied league with the likes of Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. It's no surprise; he used to write musician profiles for Rolling Stone Magazine. As a result, one can always expect a Cameron Crowe film to have a sensational soundtrack, and he opens his underrated 2001 psychosexual drama with the opening chords of Radiohead's 2000 masterpiece "Kid A," an album which was far different from anything of its time. Crowe is setting up the audience for a similar ride, and while his film may not be as unique as "Kid A," you had to appreciate where his head was at.
Some filmmakers use a song so well in their films that the song becomes better simply by association. Given Thom Yorke's talents as a songwriter, this scenario will likely never play out with Radiohead. Even still, some directors have found creative uses to incorporate the monumental music of this Oxford outfit.
50/50
Thom Yorke hates the song "High and Dry." Thom Yorke hates most of the songs his band wrote prior to the release of their 1997 seminal album "OK Computer." He refuses to play many of them live. Nevertheless, "High and Dry" remains a Radiohead fan favorite, and it is used to haunting effect in the 2011 "cancer comedy" "50/50." After being informed that he has cancer and only has a 50/50 chance of living, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character is shell-shocked. A montage set to this gorgeous song follows, and we in the audience connect with the character's torment.
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
For his modern day interpretation of the iconic Shakespeare romantic tragedy, innovative filmmaker Baz Luhrmann enlisted the best alternative artists of the 90s to form the soundtrack. He was smart enough to approach Radiohead, who were still new at the time, and the band was just as eager to work with him as the other way around. When we first meet Romeo, the lonely guitar strings of "Talk Show Host" play over. The band even wrote a new song for the film's closing credits, a dark, menacing acoustic ballad called "Exit Music (For a Film)." That song would later be included on "OK Computer," and is a fan favorite.
Vanilla Sky
There are few directors who know how to utilize pop music into their films nearly as well Cameron Crowe. He's in a rarefied league with the likes of Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. It's no surprise; he used to write musician profiles for Rolling Stone Magazine. As a result, one can always expect a Cameron Crowe film to have a sensational soundtrack, and he opens his underrated 2001 psychosexual drama with the opening chords of Radiohead's 2000 masterpiece "Kid A," an album which was far different from anything of its time. Crowe is setting up the audience for a similar ride, and while his film may not be as unique as "Kid A," you had to appreciate where his head was at.
Some filmmakers use a song so well in their films that the song becomes better simply by association. Given Thom Yorke's talents as a songwriter, this scenario will likely never play out with Radiohead. Even still, some directors have found creative uses to incorporate the monumental music of this Oxford outfit.
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