We sing the praises of 17 musical moments from non-musical movies

Film Features Inventory
We sing the praises of 17 musical moments from non-musical movies
From left: My Best Friend’s Wedding (Screenshot), Beetlejuice (Screenshot), (500) Days Of Summer (Screenshot), Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (Screenshot), Hocus Pocus (Screenshot) Graphic: Allison Corr

One of the magical things about a well-done musical is its ability to make bursting into song and dance seem organic to the world of the film. Pulling that off is a tricky achievement even when the audience walks in expecting it, but it’s an almost unfathomable thing to accomplish as a left turn in an otherwise non-musical story. Unfathomable is not impossible, though—and succeeding at it is worth celebrating. Omitting any scene where the showstopper was performed in a character’s professional capacity (Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom’s “Anything Goes” opening or Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s puppet show, for example), here are 17 of the best musical moments from non-musical films.

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From Opera Man to “Lunchlady Land” to “The Chanukah Song,” music was a key part of the Adam Sandler brand in the early days of his career. But when it was time to film his 1995 star vehicle, , the comedian traded his acoustic guitar for a symphony. “Billy Madison’s Victory Song” is built upon classical strings and woodwinds, giving the interlude a stirring sense of grandeur that makes the out-of-nowhere verse from a thought-dead clown that much funnier. What truly elevates it, though, is the sequence’s sloppy, grade-school choreography. Billy’s third-grade pals wag their fingers in unison as they tell him to “work real hard and stick it out” and later the entire gang—including Norm Macdonald’s drunken Frank—march through the grass before swiveling their hips to the beat: “Do you have any more gum, more gum, more gum, more gum.” It’s the perfect blend of overwrought and under-rehearsed, a clever fusion of the film’s offbeat absurdity and childlike dopiness. Also, it gives us the everlasting image of a grinning, flannel-clad Macdonald marching with loony authority while struggling to remember both his lyrics and choreography. [Randall Colburn]

192 Comments

  • mrrpmrrpmrrpmrrp-av says:

    fuck slideshows but I hope this had the Penis Song from The Sweetest Thing.

  • awarrens-av says:

    Genuinely don’t understand how the Aimee Mann sing a long from Magnolia didn’t make this list.

    • doctor-boo3-av says:

      Absolutely – I like Anchorman plenty but they chose the wrong Step Brother to use as a segue to the next choice. 

  • izodonia-av says:

    Huh. I assumed this would be “That scene from Magnolia and 17 other songs”.

  • zwing-av says:

    Prom Tonight from Not Another Teen Movie isn’t on here, list invalid.

  • risingson2-av says:

    Not arguing any of these but you could have looked a bit earlier. Two memorable examples from the top of my head: “drum boogie” in Ball of Fire, and the lovely and incongruent “My rifle, my pony and me” in Rio Bravo, a scene of macho men loving each other through music.

  • donttouchdennis-av says:

    This list was made by white people with no rhythm.

  • jw999-av says:

    Leaving out Bande à part is one thing, but you could at least have mentioned where that Simple Men scene comes from.Also gonna say “The Mamushka” from The Addams Family, and pretty much any of Groucho’s numbers in the Marx Brothers films, assuming those don’t count as musicals. (“Lydia the Tattooed Lady,” for preference.)

    • harrydeanlearner-av says:

      “A Night At The Opera” could be considered a musical I guess…but Duck Soup definitely isn’t and has that crazy “Guns” song to boot….

      • bio-wd-av says:

        You think the laws are rough?  Just wait till I’m done with them!  I just rewatched Duck Soup, holds up wonderfully. 

        • soveryboreddd-av says:

          Atleast Rufus T. Firefly was honest when he sang if you think this country is bad off now just way to I get thru with it. I’ll take him any day over the ass hat we have running the country now.  

    • erakfishfishfish-av says:

      If you’re going to bring up The Addams Family, bonus points for Pugsley dressed as a turkey singing “eat me!” (Which is just a preamble to one of the funniest goddamn scenes in all of film.)

  • gaith-av says:

    I’d like to shout out the scene in Lincoln where the Congressmen pass the Thirteenth Amendment, and start singing “The Battle Cry of Freedom” right then and there. Historical? I have no idea. Awesome? Indubitably.

  • jayrig5-av says:

    If we’re assuming that he was actually first and foremost a sailor, then I’d nominate Seu Jorge doing Bowie throughout Life Aquatic. The scene with the countdown as pirates are getting closer and closer has always stood out. 

  • tmage-av says:

    I’m not sure if kids cruise anymore but this scene spoke to an entire generation of young adults who had spent the weekends of their teenage years aimlessly driving around, looking for parties and rocking out when an iconic song came on the radio

    • uselessbeauty1987-av says:

      Fuck this scene is just the best. So many memories. 

    • bcfred-av says:

      This is just an egregious oversight. Certainly it’s the best-remembered scene from the movie.

      • mikep42671-av says:

        I suppose because the movie was based around the music scene (there were several other musical numbers from Crucial Taunt) – just a guess why it was left out; watched this recently and it still holds up.

        • bcfred-av says:

          True, but it wasn’t associated with the plot in any way (except that they all love music). It was just a bunch of dudes rocking out in a car.

          • browza-av says:

            Right. “Ballroom Blitz” and “Feed My Frankenstein” were in-movie musical performances so they’d rightly be ruled out. This was a bunch of dopes lipsynching.

      • ultramattman17-av says:

        It sent ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to #2 on the Billboard charts nearly two decades later! Hell, I’d argue that this scene is why ‘Rhapsody’ holds its modern-day status as possibly the most beloved rock song of all time.
        In fact, it probably stole that crown from ‘Stairway to Heaven’ – which Wayne’s World also makes fun of.

        • bcfred-av says:

          No Stairway? Denied!!

          • laurenceq-av says:

            Layers of irony since the actual “Stairway” riff was removed from home video and all subsequent releases due to legal action by Zeppelin.  Only those (like me) who saw the theatrical release got the full joke.  

        • goodshotgreen-av says:

          I was a senior in high school when this movie came out and it was the first time I heard this song. 

    • bio-wd-av says:

      Its a law that when Bohemian Rhapsody is one you BETTER bop your head!

    • skipskatte-av says:

      It also brought Bohemian Rhapsody (which had kind of faded from consciousness since Live Aid) into the 90s in a BIG way, where it’s managed to stick ever since. 

    • jbyrdku-av says:

      I think of this scene every time Bohemian Rhapsody plays on the radio, and I wasn’t even old enough to understand most of the film upon its release. I did, however, happen to have a few older siblings who were of the perfect “aimlessly cruising and rocking out” teenage set when Wayne & the Team head banged into eternity.Millenial here, but I still show the proper respect.

    • mammaccm-av says:

      Yes!!!!!!!!!While my fav might be Young Frankenstein (because that movie is perfection), this scene is first thing that popped into my head when I saw the article title. Hell, I know guys that still do the “head bopping hair thing” and they don’t have hair anymore😂😎

    • erakfishfishfish-av says:

      Wayne’s World was the first time I ever heard Bohemian Rhapsody. I was surprised to find out later there was a whole ballad section before the operatic part.

      • dmarklinger-av says:

        Me too! I got excited when my local DJ announced that it was up next, but when I heard a slow piano ballad I was immediately disappointed and I figured he must have cued up the wrong song.

  • scortius-av says:

    LIST FAILS WITHOUT GREAT BALLS OF FIRE FROM TOP GUN.  As soon as the family shows up, you know Goose is going to buy the farm.  This was a brief and terrible respite before he slams his face into the canopy.

    • duke-of-kent-av says:

      I have a theory that Top Gun is less an action movie and more just a great big flamboyant musical with jets. In addition to Great Balls of Fire, there’s also the scene where all the sailors break into song in the bar to You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling and the other one where they oil themselves up and play volleyball to Playin’ With the Boys. You just don’t get that kind of showmanship out of most action films.
      The movie would not be nearly as entertaining or enjoyable without its iconic soundtrack.

      • bcfred-av says:

        The funniest part of the bar singalong, beyond the fact that a microphone would be that readily available, is that a bunch of 20-something pilots would know the words to that song. 

        • doctorwhotb-av says:

          Well, the song itself was about 20 years old as well as one of the most played songs of the late 20th century, which would mean that they would have heard it as children all the way into adulthood.

  • thechain-av says:

    ‘nuff said.

  • uselessbeauty1987-av says:

    ROCK THE FUCK OUT OF THOSE DRUMS DALE!

  • peon21-av says:

    I have to add my all-time favourite to the list:
    (Napoleon Dynamite gets silver.)

  • endymion421-av says:

    The Orbison cover in “Blue Velvet” was hypnotic, beautiful, scary, and completely rewatchable for many reasons. It is hard to top Heath Ledger running around/crooning and being equal parts seductive and ridiculous. Ledger, and his character, really throw themselves into that performance

  • uselessbeauty1987-av says:

    I’ve always found the Say a Little Prayer scene to be almost a parody of that kind of scene. 

    • ericmontreal22-av says:

      It probably is at least to some degree—the film was afterall P J Hogan’s big Hollywood follow up to Muriel’s Wedding. (Whatever happened to him anyway.) Which was much more obviously subversive of rom-coms but had plenty of such scenes…

    • bcfred-av says:

      Couldn’t agree more, especially the idea that an entire restaurant would cheerfully join in.

    • j-kitty-av says:

      Bingo!

  • Robdarudedude-av says:

    You missed some good ones:

    • lostlimey296-av says:

      Some absolutely shocking omissions there.

    • soylent-gr33n-av says:

      Props for including The Enemy Below. Here’s the homage to it from The Hunt For Red October (which I damn well sure would have included on this list):

    • Robdarudedude-av says:

      Here a few more. A cute moment from the ending of Star Trek V. The first attempt was funnier, but this is more touching.And Star Trek: Picard wasn’t the first time Blue Skies was sung:A meta moment in Spider-Man 2And even I almost forgot this unforgettable scene in DeliveranceAnd a singing contest breaks out in the middle of a battle!

    • junwello-av says:

      Damn it, I don’t have time to watch “Please Wake Up Mothra” now, but I won’t be able to stop thinking about it until I do.  

  • perlafas-av says:

    This is how you do a proper Holmes interrogation scene :

  • shoch-av says:

    Sorry, but…..

  • shoch-av says:

    Oh, and…You’re welcome. x

  • cjob3-av says:

    Cuban Pete doesn’t qualify?? 

    • robgrizzly-av says:

      Yes! Whenever I watch The Mask, I’m in full anticipation of one particular scene, my favorite in the film. If this were a Disney movie, Royal Crown Revue’s “Hey Pachuco” would be its “ Under the Sea.” Its “Be Our Guest”. “Its Friend Like Me”. It is the showstopper and I lose my shit over it, it is so good! The moves! The yellow zoot suit! The Cameron Diaz! This number is super iconic to me, and I no bs got into the whole 90s Swing Revival as a result!

  • ericmontreal22-av says:

    Not to be too pedantic but, in regards to the ballet in I’m Thinking of Ending Things, “A Charlie Kaufman movie doesn’t need any help being weird, but I’m Thinking Of Ending Things steps things up (so to speak) with an extended An American In Paris-style ballet sequence that seems to come out of nowhere in its second half. It’s not completely random (the musical Oklahoma! is one of the film’s many recurring pop-cultural references), but it is disarming.”

    I
    mean An American in Paris was a decade after Oklahoma!, and I see no
    similarity except that it’s a dance piece (yet a different reviewer on
    this site also went on about how American in Paris it was—I’m thinking
    maybe this is the only older musical anyone writing on this site knows
    😛 ). But, regardless, this has nothing to do with it. It uses
    different music and not the iconic Agnes deMille choreography but
    “story” wise the whole ballet in Ending Things *is* the Oklahoma! dream
    ballet (which caused years of dream ballets in musicals)—the exact same
    basic story points. (Which is why I still don’t quite get how it fits
    with Ending Things but, that’s a different point…) Just minus a chorus
    and massive condensed (we have the happy/love pas de deux, the wedding,
    the villain interrupting the wedding and taking off with the woman, and
    the two men battling with the hero being killed). Here’s the version
    from the OK film, using the original stage choreography—at the one minute mark:

  • brontosaurian-av says:

    Uhmmm …. This was in incredibly white list.

    • mifrochi-av says:

      If there’s one thing Black cinema is not known for, it’s music and choreography. Now a mediocre Joseph Gordon Levitt move, on the other hand…

    • brontosaurian-av says:

      Does this count? Not so much dancing, but definitely singing.

      • orangewaxlion-av says:

        Erivo ran away with the movie in a stacked cast, but I wonder if her two major songs in the body of the movie count as her rehearsing in the context of her career? At least two of her numbers have in narrative purposes beyond her career though.In terms of POC musical numbers— maybe since I watched it last week— but I still love the incongruity of the daoist song in A Chinese Ghost Story. A little Canto-opera/traditional stuff, 80s synths, and weird quasi rap in a maudlin rom-com action period horror?

    • perlafas-av says:

      More specifically, it’s a list incredibly devoid of Dooley Wilson.

    • doctorwhotb-av says:

      Yeah, they’re going to use a rendition of ‘Shout’ and it’s Ferris Bueller and not Animal House?

    • recognitions-av says:

      AVClub.txt

  • shadowplay-av says:

    That Stroll of Joy scene set to Hall & Oates pretty much sells the entire 500 Days of Summer movie for me. It’s so good that I just gave in to the movie when it happened.

    • skipskatte-av says:

      All it took was looking into that reflection and seeing Star Wars-era Harrison Ford wink back and I was hooked.

    • robgrizzly-av says:

      It’s so relatable. If you’ve ever had That Stroll, they really, really get it right. Similarly, The 40-Year Old Virgin celebrates sex with a big musical number:

  • diabolik7-av says:

    This is just sheer joy in the middle of a delightfully weird pic.

  • useditunesgiftcard-av says:

    2 Dan Aykroyd Moments that I absolutely love:Also, Bette Midler singing “I Put A Spell On You” is just amazing. It’s possibly my favorite version of that song. She killed it.

  • highlikeaneagle-av says:

    Casablanca anyone? 

    • lostlimey296-av says:

      Yeah, that scene is kind of a high point of one of the best movies ever made.

      • highlikeaneagle-av says:

        I guess they could rely on this for its omission: Omitting any scene where the showstopper was performed in a character’s professional capacityBut it wasn’t just the band. Shit, it was Victor Laszlo’s doing for the most part. 

        • skipskatte-av says:

          Not to mention that most of the extras were actual French refugees who had just fled the Nazis, which makes that scene an even bigger gut-punch.

          • junwello-av says:

            Whoa, I didn’t know that. It explains why the scene packs so much punch.

          • skipskatte-av says:

            Another tidbit, most of the Nazis were played by German Jews, who had also recently fled the Nazis. Which must have been extremely weird and uncomfortable. 

          • junwello-av says:

            Holy shit, no kidding.

          • recognitions-av says:

            To be fair, this scene was ripped off from Grand Illusion, so they could have included that instead.

    • ronniebarzel-av says:

      I was shocked — shocked! — that the La Marseillaise number wasn’t included on this list.

    • bio-wd-av says:

      Its why I’ll always say the French national anthem is fucking awesome and one of the best anthems for any nation.  Still love the US one though.

      • highlikeaneagle-av says:

        I’m of the considered and long-held opinion that the Star Spangled Banner is kinda trash, but La Marseillaise is probably the best national anthem in the world.

        • bio-wd-av says:

          I like Star Spangled Banner, not nationalistically but because its a well put together song.  But I agree that La Marseillaise is a beauty.  You want a terrible national anthem?  Britain.  God Save the Queen sucks!  Rule Brittania would be far superior. 

      • junwello-av says:

        I’m not arguing … however I was a little startled when I took a class on the French Revolution and learned that the full song includes the line “May impure blood/Water our fields.” (The secret sauce that makes French cuisine so famously delicious?)

  • Spoooon-av says:

    Sorry, any list of this nature that excludes the Axe Gang from Kung Fu Hustle is instantly invalid

  • maymar-av says:

    I hate the hell out of All These Things I’ve Done, and Southland Tales was probably a pretentious mess, but somehow, that one scene sold the whole thing for me.

    • misstwosense2-av says:

      Thissss is the one I was looking for. Except I LOVED this stupid movie and believe the song is a legit masterpiece. Deal with it!I haven’t watched it since it came out so I just watched the clip. So cringey and bad but damned if I wasn’t invested by the end again. I think you just had to be a heterosexual (or semi het) teenage girl in the late 90s to really appreciate this sequence, lol.

      • maymar-av says:

        Admittedly, I’m sure most of my distaste was just because of “I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier,” since I found anything mentioning the military during the mid-2000’s that wasn’t critical (even if it was nonsense) cringey.

  • robynstarry-av says:

    Heath Ledger dancing on those steep concrete steps in Ten Things I Hate About You has always made me irrationally nervous.

    • anguavonuberwald-av says:

      That’s almost all I can think about in that scene! I would be flying ass over teakettle if I tried that.

    • kennyloggedin-av says:

      I live a couple of miles from that high school. The stairs are even more intimidating in person!

  • the-misanthrope-av says:

    Load more slideshows -said no-one, ever

  • puddingangerslotion-av says:

    Where on earth is that little dance scene from Bande à Part? Simply classic, captures your heart. Or the entr’acte in Holy Motors? Accordion to some, it’s a must see.

  • wookietim-av says:

    What I don’t quite grasp in terms of “I’m thinking of ending things” – how come the older version of the boyfriend seems to kill his younger self? Didn’t quite grasp the symbolism of that…

  • drinky-av says:

    Navin R. Johnson did NOT die because the new phone book is here… M. Emmet Walsh (shown in 10/19 “My Best Friends Wedding” photo) took a few shots in his general direction, and some oil cans may have died… but Nathan lived on, to invent the OptiGrab™, battle with Ironballs McGinty, and find his special purpose.

  • valky-ree-av says:

    I had a Hal Hartley ‘Trust’ poster on my college wall! Love all his films. Shame you only now see Martin Donovan playing exclusiveley as a government agent in every film or TV show he’s in.

  • raycearcher-av says:

    If you think about it, Hocus Pocus and all the other movies that posit “what if there actually were evil witches in Colonial America” are kind of messed up. It’s like if you made a movie where the premise was “what if the Nazis really were beset by evil Jews out for blood libel?” At least Sleepy Hollow works from the broader premise of “what if witchcraft was just a thing,” but Hocus Pocus goes full Warlock: witches were totally real, and killing them was the unambiguously correct choice.

  • bcfred-av says:

    Let’s do some Monty Python!Start with classics, followed by a public service announcement from the Roman Catholic Church.

  • flashredial-av says:

    I like to think 10 Things I Hate About You is a secret prequel to The Dark Knight and that Heath Ledger is playing the same character, because organizing that production number with the marching band is totally something Joker would do.

  • martyfunkhouser1-av says:

    Slideshow? Ugh. Just shrink your browser to about cell phone size – even a bit bigger – and you can scroll like God intended.

  • curtazone10-av says:

    This movie was much better than it had any right to be, ESPECIALLY this Ben Folds-penned musical number.

    • orangewaxlion-av says:

      I do appreciate how it is primarily a remake of She’s All That while not being as boring. (The inexplicable dance number here and presence of Anna Paquin aside.)

  • ultramattman17-av says:

    The Beetljuice ‘Day-O’ scene is one of my favorite moments in all of cinema, and my favorite ‘micro-genre’ of movie scene – people involuntarily dancing. (See also: the Floor Show from Rocky Horror Picture Show)

  • skipskatte-av says:

    If they were only going to pick one from a Mel Brooks movie, they got it right, but I still have a soft spot for “The Inquisition”.

    • soylent-gr33n-av says:

      And the only good scene from Robin Hood: Men in Tights:

      • macthegeek-av says:

        Both of which came several years after Monty Python had a go at it:

      • ospoesandbohs-av says:

        I know Men in Tights isn’t his best film, but it’s got its moments.“You mean you changed it to Latrine?”“King illegal forest to pig wild kill in it a is!”“Wisdom and counsel, that’s easy. But this is sacrimental wine! It’s only used to bless things… Wait a minute! There’s things here! There’s rocks, there’s trees, there’s birds, there’s squirrels. Come on, we’ll bless them all until we get vashnigyered! Join me!”

  • ronniebarzel-av says:

    Can I just throw the opening to “Get Over It” out there for consideration? Not only is it a musical number in a non-musical, it was a one-shot with pretty decent/complicated choreography.

    • orangewaxlion-av says:

      Doesn’t this movie have a stage musical the cast performs somewhere towards the end? I also have pretty positive memories of another in camera trick where they have some shots transition from a party/dance to a close up of Ben Foster and eventually zoom back out to everyone else hiding out of frame and I thought there was relatively a lot of pizazz to this teen comedy people seldom seem to revisit.

      • ronniebarzel-av says:

        Your memory serves you well! Yes, there is a musical adaptation of “Midsommer’s Night Dream,” supposedly written by Martin Short’s charaacter but actually with songs co-written by EGT winner (and O nominee) Marc Shaiman.

    • dmarklinger-av says:

      Kirsten Dunst, Colin Hanks, Sisqo, Carmen Electra AND Vitamin C?? That is officially the most 2000’s movie ever made.

  • sockpuppet77-av says:

    Does it have to be the whole song? This is so charming that I don’t care how short it is.  The music starts at 1:45.

  • officermilkcarton-av says:

    Newman making a song about shitty religious tchotchkes into a touching tribute to his dead mother is amazing.

  • backwardass-av says:

    If Will Ferrel gets two entries (neither of which I would argue with); then Steve Martin (and company!) surely also deserves another mention for this Randy Newman gem from Three Amigos:

    • amessagetorudy-av says:

      Nice but I would go with this number in the movie over that one. The “…eh-smile?” part, while a little …. racist?… still makes me chuckle. It’s got dancing too!!!

  • ospoesandbohs-av says:

    I have a couple submissions.

  • bio-wd-av says:

    Im gonna be sappy as fuck, but I’m going with Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Audrey Hepburn is my favorite actress from any era of film, and usually when her singing is brought up, its because of the dubbed My Fair Lady. But she had a genuinely wonderful voice. Soft, gentle but clear. Makes me wonder if she should have done torch songs or even light country. Its just such a simple, beautiful moment. It reminds me of my late mother, another empathic woman also killed by cancer. Like a river, its peaceful yet always moving. I know the movie has problems (LORD I KNOW WHICH ONE IT IS) But I always remember the first time I saw the film and walked away with a smile on my lips thinking, what a film. If I could sum up my heros career and life in a single moment, its that. Waiting round the bend, a huckleberry friend.

    • bobfunch1-on-kinja-av says:

      I posted a clip of “Meglio Stasera” from The Pink Panther way down at the end of the thread. Another Blake Edwards/Henry Mancini classic.

    • junwello-av says:

      This is really sweet, genuinely. It’s nice when pop culture can give us happy moments remembering loved ones.

  • demonfafa-av says:

    What about “Scotty Doesn’t Know” from Eurotrip?

  • bio-wd-av says:

    I’ll add one more. The use of Ooh La La from the ending of Rushmore. Its the best use of music in a Wes Anderson film, which is saying something because he times songs almost always perfectly.

  • benweez-av says:

    Lots of omissions already mentioned, but I’m not mad because I always look on the bright side of life

  • bigal72b-av says:

    That bit in Ferris Bueller is where I go from on the side of Ferris & Co. to rooting for Rooney to get their asses (hmm, maybe I could have worded that better).Also, so many classic music moments left off this list.What about this (or is the entire movie basically considered a ballet with some dialogue, which is fair)?

  • browza-av says:

    …….nah.

  • browza-av says:

    Tim Burton has a knack for this

  • chiwoodrow-av says:

    How can you not include the Wise Up sequence from Magnolia? –

  • bootska-av says:

    No Naked Gun?

  • spoilerspoilerspoiler-av says:

    PUDDDDDIN ONNNNA RIDDDDDZ

  • ginghamboxer-av says:

    If it has music in it, it is a musical. Sorry sweaty.

  • laurenceq-av says:

    No “Down with Love”?  BOOOOOO

  • j-kitty-av says:

    Kevin Kline – I Will Survive – In and Out. delightful!

  • natalieshark-av says:

    Out of all of Lynch’s work, “In Dreams,” is the one I would pick as well. I’ve always felt like it fits so well in that film. The fact that you’re in Frank’s terrifying world of violence and it also comes with musical numbers just kicks it up a notch. You’re deep in this dream and it plays by its own rules. That’s horrific.

  • viralafrika-av says:

    This has been a very nice experience.

  • renodrew-av says:

    If I had to pick the best Heath Ledger scene, I’d have to stick with 10 things I hate about you, but this is a really close second…

  • lankford-av says:

    The thing about “Tonight You Belong to Me”, it’s just so fucking sublime, tender beautiful and then they pause for Bernadette to pick up her trumpet and when she plays its so goddamn funny and beautiful at the same time. Its just delightful.

  • hulk6785-av says:

    Another omission: Starlord singing “Come And Get Your Love” at the beginning of Guardians Of The Galaxy. Sets the tone for the whole movie, and was so fun that it got a hilarious revisit in Endgame.

  • jw999-av says:

    The Coens are also great at this. I guess the songs from Inside Llewyn Davis are disqualified under the “professional capacity” rule, but are the Soggy Bottom Boys really professionals? How about Buster Scruggs?

    • ptgkc1-av says:

      It took this long to recognize the Coen Brothers?Hail Caesar!And of course, Jackie Treehorn presents…

    • erakfishfishfish-av says:

      I would disqualify Buster Scruggs because that segment is specifically a musical.If I had to pick a top Coen music moment, it would be Jesus Quintana’s introduction via Spanish-language cover of Hotel California.

  • robgrizzly-av says:

    Omitting any scene where the showstopper was performed in a character’s professional capacity

    Doh! There goes my Jessica Rabbit pick! Gotta wave goodbye to Madonna in Dick Tracy as well (I have a type). Okay, so I’m not including performers, biopics, montages, lullabys, or – which are usually about people undercover; something I would put in the ‘professional’ sub-class. A shame, since The Mask of Zorro has a banger. Here’s what I’m left with:Joker and his goons trashing the Gotham Museum, is Batman indulging in a legit musical moment. Dancing to Prince for what felt like the full duration of the song (it’s only a buck forty-five, but kid me thought this scene took forever), we get to revel in a little wanton property damage.
    Ex Machina is a serious movie with serious ideas. That’s why when it takes a minute to stop and just shake its hips, the flash of levity is almost hard to believe; A random musical moment where our maybe-villain just cuts a rug? It only adds to the surreal nature of the film.I’ve always enjoyed the meta humor of The Brady Bunch movies. The first film has a silly musical moment of its own, but I’ll shout out A Very Brady Sequel’s “Good Time Music” as the funnier of the two. Both cases highlight the absurdity of this family in a public space.
    I’ll end with a very outside-the-box take: King Kong 2005’s Central Park scene is a praise-worthy musical moment in a non musical movie. As our beauty and our beast slide around on the ice, their emotions are fully heightened and it even feels like there could be singing here.

  • bobfunch1-on-kinja-av says:

    Sorry my reply is coming in wa-aay at the end of this thread. But “Moon River” had me thinking of another Blake Edwards classic. I actually thought of this one right away when the category rules and parameters were discussed. Not that I’m an old-oldster, but when I first saw this… I was young, I think it was on WGN, and I remember thinking, “Did this movie really just break-out in a random musical number (and break the fourth wall to boot)?” It was before I realized lots of 60’s movies did this. Especially every-other Blake Edwards movie.

  • ptgkc1-av says:

    Tom Hanks had a Big moment at FAO Schwarz.

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  • ospoesandbohs-av says:
  • oopec-av says:

    Needs more “All These Things That I’ve Done” from Southland Tales, the only watchable scene of a wonderful trainwreck of a movie.

  • cruisingchickswitharnimzola-av says:

    I’d like to nominate “Play La Marseillaise” from “Casablanca.”

  • callmecarlosthedwarf-av says:

    Big fan of everyone bursting into Rapper’s Delight in “Everybody Wants Some!!”

  • goodshotgreen-av says:

    Maybe a deep cut, maybe not (Living Out Loud is not a popular movie) but I’m bringing the Brownstone:

  • dwmguff-av says:

    Gonna add my favorite, which is the full cast singing Aimme Mann’s “Wise Up” in Magnolia. What a totally audacious moment in a movie full of them.

  • ptgkc1-av says:

    How about Better Off Dead. You know Everybody Wants Some.RIP Eddie.

  • pottedstu-av says:

    Simple Men is great but the dance scene is 100% lifted from Godard’s also brilliant Bande a part. 

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