The Best Soundtrack Songs of Film

Many components go into making a movie good. A movie needs a good foundation provided by a screenplay. It needs good casting to put the right people into roles that will make the movie standout. Of course it also needs good directing and a good actors to be cast, but one thing that can often be overlooked is the soundtrack. Music can set the scene of a movie, even when the viewer doesn't realize that the music is setting the tone.

There are two types of music that makeup the soundtrack of a movie. The film score is background music specifically created to accompany a movie and help set the mood, many times on a subconscious level. Even so, there are a number of composers so good, that their music stands out for beyond just background music. Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Danny Elfman, and more recently the Nine Inch Nails front-man, Trent Reznor, have done excellent jobs in their roles.

Even then, a great soundtrack song, dropped into the right moment of a film, can set not only the mood, but make a scene or even the movie itself more memorable. In some cases, years after the movie is released, a song from a soundtrack could be more remembered than the movie it was used for. The following are examples of some of these songs that have played integral roles in making a movie standout.

1. "After Dark" by Tito & Tarantula: From the movie From Dusk till Dawn, this song was the one that played during Salma Hayek's memorable scene as an exotic dancer in the nightclub full of vampires. Not only was "After Dark" the perfect song for Santanico Pandemonium to dance to while memorizing the crowd, it was part of the experience that introduced Salma Hayek to mainstream American film and vaulted her career from that point on. Tito & Tarantula also played the night club band in the movie that played the song and eventually transformed into vampires. While the band never made it big in mainstream music, their song will forever be remember for helping launch the career of Salma Hayek and elevating Robert Rodriguez into mainstream while giving George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino acting careers.

2, "Dead Souls" by Nine Inch Nails: Not only is Trent Reznor gifted in scoring films, but with his band Nine Inch Nails, he set the tone for the movie with his song "Dead Souls" in the movie The Crow. When Eric Draven comes back from the dead and comes to terms with his second chance to avenge his and his fiancée's death, he runs along the rooftops of the city, displaying his athletic abilities and chance taking that will making him the anti-hero that viewers will cheer for. The Crow became one of the most successful comic book movies at the time and helped elevate the goth, industrial, and nu-metal music movements in the music industry. With a soundtrack that included The Cure, Pantera, Henry Rollins, and Stone Temple Pilots, it was the Nine Inch Nails song that helped cement the feeling that Eric Draven was a superhero of sorts and a character that people would dress as every Halloween over twenty years later.

3. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers: Originally released in 1988 by the Scottish duo, the song saw little success initially. It failed to chart in the top ten in the UK, never found any success in the United States, and oddly topped the charts in Iceland, New Zealand, and Australia. Five years later, it was launched into the mainstream media when it found itself in the movie Benny & Joon which starred Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson. During the movies run in the theaters, it reached the top ten in both the US and Canadian charts and was certified as a gold selling single. Even though a gold single is considered successful, the song found itself playing at sports events and being inserted into other soundtracks of entertainment including Doctor Who and Pitch Perfect. The song grew to be more memorable than the movie itself.

4. Bring Me to Life by Evanescence: Another song that traveled farther than the movie it was featured in was "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence. Featured in the Daredevil movie, the song hit top ten in fifteen different countries and won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Before the release of "Bring Me to Life", Evanescence had never seen national success in their previously released music. Once they collaborated with Paul McCoy of 12 Stones, Evanescence vaulted into the mainstream and singer Amy Lee became a mainstream gothic/hippie darling. The song set the scene for Elektra's breakout as a superhero and helped cement Jennifer Garner as not only a television actress, but as an actress than could potentially carry a movie on her own.

5. Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees: Initially a song that wasn't included in the movie Saturday Night Live until post production, the Bee Gees song not only became the hit of the movie's soundtrack, it became the unofficial song of disco. It also helped vault John Travolta into mainstream movies and led the soundtrack that was the highest selling soundtrack of all-time (until The Bodyguard surpassed it). The soundtrack won a Grammy and the album was certified 15x Platinum.

6. You're the One That I Want by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John: Reeling in from the success he had from Saturday Night Live in 1977, John Travolta went on to star in Grease and sing the hit song along with Olivia Newton-John. The song plays as Travolta and Newton-John lip sync to it in the finale of the movie, as they finally end up happily ever after. This scene ended up being the most famous scene from Grease and even sparked Halloween costumes with girls dressy up as the "bad girl" Sandy. Counting it's releases and re-releases, the soundtrack for Grease became the top-selling soundtrack of all-time with over forty-four million copies sold.

7. #1 Crush by Garbage: The Garbage song is the only Garbage song to end up number one on the American charts despite all their success. The song that singer Shirley Manson was worried about because she didn't think fans would understand that it is about a stalker, was also called "disturbing" by Garbage's own drummer and producer, Butch Vig. Despite the reservations by the band, the song was perfect for the Romeo + Juliet that starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes. "#1 Crush" reached number one on the Modern Rock Charts and won Best Song from a Movie at the MTV Movie Awards in 1997.

8. When Doves Cry by Prince: Prince's first number one hit in the United States, the song was featured in Purple Rain which also starred Prince. This single was the top-selling single in the United States in 1984 according to Billboard Magazine and solidified Prince as one of rock music's most important artists in the 80's. Rollingstone Magazine lists "When Doves Cry" as the fifty-second best song of all-time, Spin Magazine listed it as the sixth best song of all-time, and VH-1 listed it as the fifth best song of the decade. One of the odd aspects about the song, especially considering how well it was received in dance clubs, is that it features no bass line. Most dance music features bass lines that give those dancing to it a rhythm to move to.

9. Mrs. Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel: Obsessed with Paul Simon's work, director Mike Nichols kept insisting the Paul Simon write him a song for his movie "The Graduate". Originally called "Mrs. Roosevelt", Nichols had Simon change it and inserted it into his hit movie. The song worked great and despite the lyrics not really following the storyline of the movie, it set the tone for the inexperienced Benjamin Braddock played by Dustin Hoffman and his seducer played by Anne Bancroft.

10. The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News: The song written for and performed by Huey Lewis and the News, gave the band their first number single in the United States' Billboard Hot 100 charts and their second number one single on the rock charts. It was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards as well. The song is played several times throughout the famous movie trilogy including a scene when Marty McFly is auditioning for a Battle of Bands show and one of the judges complains the song is, "just too darn loud." That judge is comically played by Huey Lewis himself.

Photo is a screencap from the movie From Dusk till Dawn

The Death of Baseball Card Collecting

One of the special things a kid was able to enjoy in the past, but is lost to the current generation of youth is baseball card collecting. Sure, there are still baseball cards being produced every year, but after 1990 the industry hit an all-time low when cards became extremely mass produced. What made it even worse was that the industry was peaking so high with companies that were manufacturing cards, that adults were scrambling to collect every rookie card and every "limited edition" card they could, pricing kids out enjoying collecting for the fun of it.

Baseball cards pre-1990 had that cardboard feel to it that made it feel accessible to a kid who was looking to learn more about Major League Baseball. Afterward, various companies "glossed" up their cards, even producing limited edition cards that were made of real gold (gold leaf that is), and the price of a baseball card pack jumped from 49 cents a pack to several dollars a pack. Before 1988, there were only three companies producing baseball cards in the United States...Topps, Fleer, and Donruss. In 1988, Score began production on baseball cards and the prices for packs stayed low, but in 1989, Upper Deck started to make baseball cards too, creating a premium card that cost more to buy than its competitors. Topps also released Bowman in 1989, but at this point, Bowman really hadn't caught on with collectors.

Then the 90's hit. Leaf upped the ante, releasing a set of cards that jumped up so high that rookie cards of Frank Thomas and Sammy Sosa reached up into a couple of hundred dollars a card, while other popular cards in the set included Ken Griffey Jr.'s second year card (also reaching triple digits) and John Olerud's rookie card. Topps joined the premium market by creating Topps Stadium Club and creating insert cards called Topps Gold that became the "it" card to find in each of their boxes of packs. Then, Topps "topped" themselves with Topps Finest and creating another insert card called Topps Refractors that utilized a type of glossiness that gave the card a rainbow appearance. Upper Deck countered by creating their own subsets that cost even more.

While pack prices jumped up, Score unintentionally drove their baseball card prices the other way when they mass produced their cards so much that prices for their sets dropped to single digit range in dollars. Score not only boasted the most cards in a set (893), but the most extensive biographies of players on the back. While they did well in design, their mass production cheapened their reputation until 1991 when Score produced their own premium card set called Score Pinnacle.

At this point, if a kid were a fan of a player such as Craig Biggio, including the inserts, all-star cards, record breakers, and the regular card of the player, the kid would have to buy up to twenty cards per season of the individual star player. Maybe this would have been okay if the cards were as affordable to a kid as they were pre-1990, but insert cards priced kids out of collecting their own favorite players. Inserts could easily reach triple digit numbers, but even then, Upper Deck upped the ante even more when in 1997, they started to produce cards that had game used memorabilia attached to it. All of a sudden, fans could own a small patch of a player's jersey or a sliver of a bat.

The three big companies pre-1988 enjoyed humble beginnings and stumbled onto producing baseball cards. Topps formed in 1938, but had their roots tracing back further into American Leaf Tobacco which formed in 1890 as a tobacco importer that fell apart during the Great Depression. They rebranded themselves Topps and entered into the baseball card market. Fleer originally began in 1906 as a bubble gum manufacturer which manufactured Dubble Bubble which set the standard for bubble gum being stereotyped as a pink color product. Fleer had an earlier attempt into entering the sports card industry in 1923, but failed. In the 70's, they sued Topps for the rights to produce baseball cards and by 1981 they were granted rights to do so. That is when Donruss, originally a producer of candy and later on cards for entertainment and racing joined baseball card making too. It was the companies that followed that were created with the intentions of solely making baseball cards (and later other sports) and making as much of a profit as possible.

By the end of the century, most of the brands went bankrupt and/or were bought out by competitors. Donruss/Leaf ended up being bought out by Pinnacle Brands (Score), but then they too went bankrupt and now produce low level cards for the NFL and NHL. Upper Deck eventually acquired all of the Fleer line of cards and still holds the naming rights to this day. All that is left in the baseball card industry is Topps and Upper Deck. Unfortunately, the desire to collect cards on the scale of the 80's and before, have nearly all, but disappeared and the recent fad of collecting "online" cards has even started.

Kids will no longer enjoy baseball cards the way their parents once did. No longer will they look onto the back of a card to see a player's career statistics. They'll just got to Wikipedia, Baseball Reference, or ESPN for that now. The fun of ripping open a pack and checking out which players you got has nearly disappeared. Baseball cards are more of an after thought or a stocking stuffer type of gift now, instead of the main gift like they were for kids in 80's. It's depressing in a sense because it was one of the last great things a kid could collect that they could pass down to their kids when they got older. Holding a baseball card of your favorite baseball player in your hand was like having some sort of connection with them without ever even meeting them. Now that's gone.

The Future That Hanna-Barbera Promised Us

In 1963, the creators of TV cartoon shows such as The Flintstones and The Yogi Bear Show, created a show set in the near future that entertained children for two years, before being rebooted in 1985 and 1987. That show, famously known as The Jetsons, gave children of the Cold War era a glimpse into how the world would turnout by the year 2000. Because of this cartoon, adults often make jokes questioning where are their flying cars and robots.

One aspect of The Jetsons that is often overlooked is the reason why their futuristic cities are sitting on adjustable columns, high in the air. Because of pollution on ground level of Earth, the architects of what would become Orbit City as well as other cities from the cartoon, created these highly elevated cities to avoid the severe levels of pollution and smog. Hanna-Barbera made projections of a society that not only rapidly moved into the future within 37 years, but also gave hope that even with the potential of Earth becoming polluted, humans could find a way to avoid the filth.

The majority of fans when the show originally aired were obviously children, so the aspect of mass pollution was lost on them. Children focused more on the flying cars, the talking dog (Astro), the robots, and all the gadgets that George Jetson and his family took for granted. In a time before the United States Environmental Protection Agency was formed and climate change became known to the mainstream, The Jetsons forecasted a future where it was necessary for humanity to avoid what we had created.

Some could view The Jetsons as a hopeful promise of a future, even if it has yet to come, but it could also be seen as a forewarning to a future that shows that humanity failed to effectively deal with what we had done to our own planet. A hidden layer of despair, covered with the promise of technology. With all the technology that they had at their disposal, it appears that none of their scientists took the time to try to figure out how to reduce the pollution levels and let humanity enjoy the natural resources of Earth. Without being on the surface of Earth, how would Elroy ever get a chance to enjoy a wonder of the world like the Grand Canyon? How would Judy ever get to enjoy the sand between her toes while strolling along the beaches of Southern California?

In 1987, the space-age family ran into the prehistoric Flintstones family in a movie called The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones. In comparison, it would seem that the life of the Jetsons in Orbit City is better and fare more free of stress, but without the worries of pollution and the fact that Flintstones lived in a time less harmful to their surrounding environment, it could be said that the Flintstones were the ones truly living in a utopia known as Bedrock. At least Fred could take Wilma and Pebbles to the beach, forest, or desert without worrying about the filth that the Jetsons would have to wade through.

Questions About the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

In the sewers of New York City, four innocent turtles found themselves covered in "ooze" and they transformed into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. When they took this human-sized form, the became superheroes who battled the evil forces of Shredder and audiences of their television show and movies enjoyed their adventures. But there are unasked questions that need to be asked.

With their new found forms, can they really be called turtles? They are turtles in origin, but with their mutation, they formed hands, the ability to talk, the ability to learn martial arts, order pizza, and much more. Could they in essence be considered more human than turtle now? If so, then could they be considered citizens of the United States? Do they have the same basic rights as any other human?

Assuming they are teenagers, it would be a while before they get to the senior years, but without social security, 401k's, or pensions, the turtles have nothing to live on when they get older. How would they be able to afford the rising price of pizza? Maybe they'll eventually work as greeters at Walmart. At least Splinter has the turtles to help him in his older years.

Eventually the turtles will presumably have to move out of the sewers too, otherwise their health could be in jeopardy with the accumulation of filth that has collected in the surroundings of their home. One could presume that April O'Neil would invite the turtles to live with her, but that would be too strange if she found true love and had kids with her husband. As a bachelorette, it's feasible that the turtles could live with her, but not afterward.

Also with their new found human-like forms, can the turtles fall in love with a human female and mate? If so, what would their children's biology be like? Would one turtle falling in love before the others possibly break up the group like Yoko Ono?

While the turtles have had more than their fifteen minutes of fictional fame, no one has asked the right questions about their future. The turtles may be brave heroes, saving the city of New York from Shredder, but they have not amassed any type of fortune to live off of in their golden years. Perhaps, like many teenagers, they believe that they are indestructible and will be virtually guaranteed a happy life in their older years.

Photo: Promotional photo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie released in 1990

Will Teleportation Devices Lead to Ethical Issues?

Watching science fiction movies and television shows, one of the most common methods of transportation is teleportation. One of the most famous lines from Star Trek is, "Beam me up Scotty." In Stargate, the characters step through a portal that takes them millions of miles away to other planets. The theory of instant travel poses a serious question, especially if some form of this technology turns out to be real one day. If you are teleported somewhere else, are you really you or is it a clone of you that ends up in the final destination.

The movie The Prestige really takes the ideal of teleportation into an ethical direction when Hugh Jackman's character uses a device designed by Nikola Tesla (played by David Bowie), which creates a copy of himself and either himself or his copy is teleported to a spot within a few hundred feet of the original spot. Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman's character), sets up a water tank and drowns in what appears to be his original self as he falls through the floor, only for his copy to enjoy the standing ovation from the upper deck of the auditorium. The survivor of this magic trick by Angier, is essentially a clone, but can it be said that he is soulless? If it is a clone, it definitely poses a question to those who are religious at the very least. The clone believes he is Robert Angier, but how could he be Angier, if Angier is also drowning underneath the stage at the same time?

The same can be said for Star Trek. The transporter essentially breaks down a person's molecules and reconstructs them in a new location. If you are deconstructed though, have you not essentially been killed off, only to have a clone of you created somewhere else? Even taken out of a religious context, if you're atheist, would you not have died if you were transported and sent to an endless blackness/nothingness abyss? From a religious standpoint, has the man operating the device played God by creating a new person, regardless or not if the clone has a soul?

Another question that could be asked is if you are religious, would the man operating the transporter be held accountable for murder? Or could the person who is transported be considered a suicide, especially if they believe that it is a copy of themselves that ends up on the other side?

On a side note, could a transporter such as the one on Star Trek be used for medical purposes. The transporter takes you apart and re-assembles you at another location, but if it is able to do this, could ailments such as cancer or other life threatening conditions be left out purposely?

While a teleportation device might be necessary in the future and probably end up being practical (I.E. Star Trek), will it pose some sort of ethical or even self-preservation issues in the future? Possibly. Will people feel peer pressure if they are unwilling to be teleported somewhere? As seen in Enterprise, a Star Trek series prequel, some of the characters do feel pressured by others to teleport. It's a scary thought that an individual could be pressured into basically killing themselves to save some travel time.

Photo: Still from Star Trek the Next Generation

Minor League Baseball's Best Mascots

The play on the baseball field has always been the focus of fans for as long as baseball has been around, but some teams have been able to spice up the game by the antics of their team mascots that represent them off the field and in between innings. Mascots such as the Philly Fanatic and the Padres' Friar have been fan favorites at the Major League level, but Minor League Baseball has been able to beat out their mainstream counterparts.

Almost every team in the minor leagues has a mascot that entertains fans during the games, attends local functions on behalf of the team, and stars in viral videos to boost the awareness of their team's promotional nights. Because of their unique mascots, many minor league fans believe that their favorite minor league teams possess a more entertaining mascot than their big league counterparts.

With this in mind, here are the top mascots in Minor League Baseball.

1. Thunder (Lake Elsinore Storm): The green dog from Southern California is the most entertaining mascot in the minors, let alone in the California League. Thunder can often be seen dancing on the dugouts, giving high-fives to fans before the game, and finding himself distracted while running the bases against kids. The Storm feature multiple mascots that also include Jackpot the Rabbit and Ace the Fastest Squirrel in the World, but Thunder is definitely the head honcho of the Padres' Single-A team. You can tell just by the large shoes he wears.

2. Cosmo (Las Vegas 51s): Cosmo's storyline says he's an alien from the planet Koufaxia who survived a spaceship crash. Since 2001, he has taken over as the mascot for the Mets' Triple-A team and has remained a fan favorite while the wearer of Cosmo's costume grinds it out inside the costume in the Las Vegas heat. To entertain fans, Cosmo has even raced a cow (well a person in a cow costume).

3. Sandy the Seagull (Brooklyn Cyclones): Another Mets' minor league representative, this Single-A team plays in the New York-Penn League and in 2014, Sandy was a finalist for top mascot in Minor League Baseball. Sandy is often found taking pictures with pretty girls and dancing with the team's cheerleaders. The Cyclones are also notorious for their promotional nights that celebrate pop culture successes such as TV's Seinfeld and Curious George from children's books. Sandy becomes a fan favorite for pictures on these nights, taking pictures with people who have dressed up for these special nights.

4. Ferrous (Lehigh Valley IronPigs): This Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies features a pig wearing a baseball jersey with the number 26 on his back (26 is the atomic number for iron). This mascot is perhaps one of the most helpful in the minors. He can occasionally be seen shining the shoes of an umpire between innings. Ferrous has also participated in the famous ALS Ice Bucket Challenge with his girlfriend FeFe, starred in a video teaching people CPR, and even has participated in a homerun derby featuring minor league mascots.

5. Kazoo (Pensacola Blue Wahoos): It's said that aquatic creature took an interest in the Pensacola baseball stadium that was built on the bay in 2012. Kazoo instantly fell in love with the Reds' Double-A franchise in the Southern League and has been their mascot since. Full of energy, Kazoo has been in fights with the Pensacola Ice Flyers' mascot, Maverick, in the middle of a hockey game.

Photo taken by Daniel Millhouse on 7/28/2015

Reboots Coming to a Television Near You

With the resurgence of movie reboots in the past decade, it shouldn't be a shock that television wouldn't be far behind. Television had been drifting into an endless void of reality shows and the world of the television writer was shrinking rapidly. Now, the writing industry will be making a comeback, but unfortunately not on original terms.

Popular shows such as Full House, Married With Children, and Coach will all pick up where their original runs left off. Another 90s favorite, Boys Meets World, has already picked up where it left off, but in the form of Girl Meets World with Cory and Topanga as the parents. Even The Odd Couple was remade with Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon playing Felix and Oscar. Rumors of other hit shows such as Three's Company, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and Green Acres have been rumored to also be in discussions for a reboot.

Has the industry really run out of good ideas? No, they still exist, but studio executives are unwillingly to give many new intellectual properties a chance. They prefer to error on the side of caution by greenlighting shows that contain characters that America has already built a love for. These reboots may answer questions such as, "Whatever happened to Coach Fox after the show ended?", but there is no reason to expand these answers beyond something more than a reunion episode or movie.

Internet streaming services have benefited from the lack of original writing on standard and cable television. The most watched Netflix shows, House of Cards and Orange is the New Black were both turned down by primetime networks.

If any good can be said to have come from the revival of old shows, it's the fact that children's favorites such as Reading Rainbow and The Muppets will be making their comebacks as well.

Television needs to drift back towards original programming. Reality shows have gone as about as far as they can go with shows such as Hollywood Cycle, Ax Men, and Big Brother scraping the bottom of the "topics" barrel. With talented writers everywhere to be found, there are hit ideas out there that are waiting to be discovered. Will there be flops? Yes, of course, but successful shows will more than make up for the flops.

*Photo Credit: Married With Children promotional photo