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Are these the top 10 songs in movies?

Another list? Darn tooting! This time it’s about two great things that go great together: movies and music. CNN’s Screening Room has named its Top Ten Songs in Movies. Not soundtracks, not scores, but singles used during a particular scene. As expected, the list is heavy on the male-dominated scenes and, somewhat less expectedly, fairly violent.

Their Top 10:

10. Trainspotting, “Lust for Life” by Iggy Pop (opening scene)

9. Dr Strangelove, “We’ll Meet Again” by Vera Lynn (atomic ending)

8. The Royal Tenenbaums, “Needle in the Hay” by Elliot Smith (Richie’s suicide attempt)

7. Say Anything, “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel (Lloyd’s boom box serenade)

6. Almost Famous, “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John (bus sing-along)

5. Muriel’s Wedding, “Waterloo” by ABBA (talent show triumph)

4.

Apocalypse Now, “The End” by The Doors (awaiting orders in Saigon)

3. Goodfellas, “Layla” by Eric Clapton (Jimmy”s murder spree)

2. Reservoir Dogs, “Stuck in the Middle With You” by Stealers Wheel (ear slicing)

1. Easy Rider, “Born to Be Wild” by Steppenwolf (opening scene)

Now, I love Nos. 7–5. I had a poster of Lloyd’s grand romantic gesture from Say Anything on my dorm room wall. And I dare you not to feel unbridled joy as Muriel and Rhonda come out in their white ABBA outfits in Muriel’s Wedding. This movie made me forever love Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths. Heck, let’s watch it again, just because we can.

As for the other selections on CNN’s list, I would have picked a scene from Wes Anderson‘s film Rushmore instead of Tenenbaums. And I would have gone for the “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” Uma scene from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction instead of the unfortunate Van Goghing of a victim’s ear in Reservoir Dogs. Also, no mention of The Graduate anywhere on this list? Didn’t that film practically pioneer the use of popular music in movies?

To balance out the bloody and the manly, I thought I’d add some gay, girly and (whenever possible) gay girly selections to the list. Since CNN’s list makers seemed impressed by showy outer death and destruction, how about some quiet inner devastation? In Love Actually, Emma Thompson realizing her husband is being unfaithful — set to Joni Mitchell‘s “Both Sides Now” — will break your heart, guaranteed.

To unbreak your heart (without the help of Toni Braxton), try the sheer joy of the moment in Harold & Maude when Maude takes to the piano for Cat Stevens “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out.” When she gets up from the piano to dance and it keeps playing, my heart definitely sings out.

For more joy tinged with absurdity (and again featuring the unstoppable Ms. Collette), how about Olive’s dance in Little Miss Sunshine to Rick James‘ “Superfreak.” Oh, heavens, the giggling.

And, since I promised you a gay girly one, too, how about more quiet devastation? When Claude (Alison Folland) puts on Patti Smith‘s “Pissing in a River,” things get intense. You also get to see cute pink-haired punk Leisha Hailey. (Note: some NSFW language, so beware.)

Are there others? Certainly. The love scene between Paulie and Tori in Lost and Delirious to Meshell Ndegeocello‘s “Beautiful” is, well, beautiful. Bill Murray karaoke-ing to Roxy Music’s “More Than This” in Lost in Translation was a sublime snapshot of connection set to some really bad singing. And then there are my favorite ending credits ever, the last scene in When Night Is Falling, set to a jubilant choir singing Leonard Cohen‘s

“Hallelujah.” I cannot tell you how happy I was to see that the little dog lived.

So, what are your favorite songs in movies? Do you agree with CNN? Do you disagree with me? Discuss or, better yet, sing it.

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