A Complete Guide to Pop Music Needle Drops in Movies

[@LegalEagle]

Thoughts and prayers to Patrick's Adsense revenue.

[@RhizometricReality]

The algorithm, eyes glowing, piano music intensifying...

[@Osoweeb]

Lol

[@Osoweeb]

@Irish Jester true because what is left of a person is what they leave behind

[@jeremyphillips3087]

@@Osoweeb Yeah, their force ghost. Exactly.

[@vlogily8043]

@@Osoweeb yeah your hide becomes dust and your excrement becomes grass

[@randomchick901]

The best Shrek needle drop is OBVIOUSLY the godmothers rendition of “I Need a Hero”

[@mial804]

True tho

[@deanscordilis7280]

When I tell you 12 year old me was crying during that scene.

[@Radien]

The thing is, that particular track rides the line between three different categories: is it s needle drop? Is it a jukebox musical track, since the Fairy Godmother sings it (recorded just for the movie)? Or is it the score, since it seamlessly incorporates the musical themes from the movie's soundtrack into the song itself? I'm not criticizing your mention of it. I think I'm actually saying it *~transcends~* being the best needle drop, to be one of the most effective uses of music in movie history. 👍🏻

[@filmotel]

I prefer the use of "I Need a Hero" in Short Circuit 2

[@nolaffinmatter]

@@Radien Someone has watched Sideways. (If anyone want an entire 17min expanding on the use of I Need A Hero in Shrek, look up their channel)

[@timonsteup2877]

Patrick: "Stop using Sympathy for the Devil" Hollywood Studios: "Please allow me to introduce myself."

[@kamilziemian995]

Nice catch.

[@lukehayden5492]

It’s nice to meet you

[@StuartGarlick]

"A man. Of culture. I see."

[@johnnypopstar]

Timon Steup: "I hate making references to Austin Powers" Me: "Allow myself to introduce... myself"

[@hschenck3394]

In Focus!

[@fiction-]

An interesting study in needle drops can be done with Supernatural season 1. The Netflix version has replaced the original needle drops with random songs, while the original songs are often cited as being one of the reasons people fell in love with the show.

[@ErrisSq]

Very common problem. FDRF have mentioned that about streaming versions of Scrubs.

[@SupergeekMikeDowntime]

It’s a causality of a lot of pre-streaming shows - I think Supernatural suffers the worst of it due to how iconic the music is meant to be, but a lot of shows from that era and earlier have the issue because home video/streaming wasn’t included in the original rights.

[@kateprovance]

I haven't watched the show on Netflix, but this makes me sad. Some of the best scenes in the early seasons are amazing because of the music. But I get why they can't put it in there. SIGH. I think the show was always good at picking music.

[@NTWoo95]

They changed the songs? But it’s the greatest hits of mullet rock!

[@TrashHeapCustodian]

Same thing happened to the show Top Gear, when it was on the BBC they had the rights to the BBC music library, so a lot of songs got used that were super famous, but when it got ported over to streaming, they used royalty free tracks, and didn't change anything else, and it is just... Worse

[@aeschafer1]

"How Scorcese Does It" --> cutaway to Martin digging through a record shelf, calling out to his wife, "Honey, have you seen my copy of Let it Bleed"?

[@MichaelHeide]

"Famed Marvel Fanboy Martin Scorcese". I almost woke the rest of the house with my laugh.

[@mooselee3053]

I came here to say exactly this. LOL!

[@ilRosewood]

Same. Both of my kids asked me what was so damn funny.

[@krishacz]

famed marvel fanboy and shark tale star martin scorsese

[@hugocortizo6993]

I read this comment before arriving at the joke and I still nearly died laughing

[@AJLikesCats]

Big same over here!

[@AstOnokGaming]

This goddamn coconut went from a weird gag to an annoyance to a year-spanning plot that i am invested in

[@ABoyNamedArt]

I am here for CHARL VS ABBA That's who the mystery person was at the end right?

[@blokey8]

@@ABoyNamedArt My pulse genuinely spiked

[@gregstephens]

Charl is what we watch now.

[@SamPhoenixKnight]

Still at annoyance for me

[@into-the-mild]

@@SamPhoenixKnight same. It’s just lame. But hey at least they are putting up a “skip to this time code” now. So that’s great.

[@vincentbatten4686]

Sylvester Stalone yelling out yeah without the music fucking killed me. I need that clip for bad days.

[@ExperienceJacob]

It was perfect. Should have been in the movie.

[@Raphir]

Here's a suggestion for you: look up "dancing in the streets mick jagger no music"

[@goodial]

there's a channel doing this kind of stuff, it's called "Without Music"! I also remember College Humor doing Carly Rae Jepsen's I Really Like You in that way

[@AScreenwritersJourney]

8:49 Rocky - no music.

[@Jackster8484]

The reason all star is so good in Shrek is because of the viewer expectation at the time. In that most people associated animated movies with Disney. So Shrek builds up this tradisional Disney animated story. Only to then flush it down the toilet and use a needle drop to distance it as far away from Disney as it can. So the song is a good use because of. - Setting the tone of the movie forward. - Building Shrek as a uncut gem by the harshness of the song.

[@DKdrop]

The other great needle drop from the Shrek franchise is a lot more interesting to me. The use of “Holding out for a Hero” at the end of Shrek 2 is so on the nose that it should be laughable. But it’s made by the fact that it’s not only diegetic, it’s sung by the villain. The fairy godmother is attempting to manipulate the story, turning the villainous Prince Charming into the hero that the audience knows he isn’t. Intercutting this with Shrek storming the castle, though, takes this back: we know who the real hero is. As the soundtrack builds up behind her vocals, we realize that the fairy godmother is unintentionally singing an anthem for our actual hero. In the eyes of the audience, she’s rooting for her own demise. It’s full of so much juicy irony, I love it.

[@rhondawithabook8001]

NWA’s “F*** tha Police” in Us was a perfect diegetic needle drop

[@Orangeflava]

Also “I Got 5 on It” from the final fight was dope.

[@BenM.Davies]

Last time I was this early, I was thankful someone had finally made a video about MCU colour grading.

[@SIDEKICKDUSTY]

Visions of the Folding Ideas guy chugging cough syrup flooded my mind when Patrick brought up Suicide Squad's song choices

[@blokey8]

He also rinsed the song choices, I recall

[@BryWithAWhy]

Everytime I see the intro shot, I think about him pointing out the unreadable text on the screen

[@danielduff]

You had to be a kid born in the late 90s, having only really seen Disney movies on VHS, and that's your only real reference for what movies are, then you go to the theatre for the first time in your life and see Shrek wipe his ass with the story book opening of literally every movie you've watched up to that point, punctuated by that first "SomeBODY" to really appreciate the brilliance of the All Star needle drop.

[@maximeteppe7627]

Yeah, I was gonna say, it works because of the contrast of the disney renaissance movies that are its backdrop.

[@zacharyfaulkner3448]

Well said.

[@skywalkerchick]

God, I was 8 years old when that movie was released. I remember going to see that movie in the theater with my dad, and that needle drop FLOORED me. Every movie I’d seen in the theater up to that point had been either a Disney renaissance film or an early Pixar movie. The people born after the release of Shrek just don’t get how jarring that opening was, like even Dreamworks’ earlier films like The Prince of Egypt or The Road to El Dorado kinda had a bit of that Disney soundtrack formula to them

[@evanjones-hazledine2404]

“Goodbye Horses” in The Silence of the Lambs is one of my favorite needle drops of all time.

[@richardcorso7187]

"We'll Meet Again" at the end of Strangelove. 👌

[@Redmenace96]

I'm not sure he mentioned anything by Kubrick. Not "pop" from the title but, "Thus Spake Zarathustra" is the biggest needledrop of all time? Kubrick and music may be another 2 h video?

[@redtutel]

Never would’ve guessed Patrick would be a fellow “Ant-Man is underrated” guy. I agree. I feel like I just a semester of something. It’s very informative.

[@LucasDeziderio]

Ant-Man is better than Thor: Ragnarok and no one can change my mind.

[@zippogirl]

@@LucasDeziderio Agreed. Ant-Man is probably the MCU movie I've seen the most. I find it very rewatchable.

[@caitlinrobinson6812]

I love both ant man movies. They are just so much fun. And antman and the wasp has one of my favorite villains.

[@mikeciul8599]

This video is secretly an homage to Edgar Wright.

[@LucasDeziderio]

@@caitlinrobinson6812 I love the first one, but I think the second one was a letdown in comparison.

[@jasondavidcox]

Patrick I love how you always go so much harder than you have to. Your guys' production value is unmatched!

[@hazardeur]

the first sentence can be grabvely misunderstood ;))

[@jmscme]

He’s the only KZbinr that I like the videos and write a comment because his content is criminally under watched! I love everything about them.

[@rycolligan]

"Famed Marvel fanboy: Martin Scorsese." If I had been drinking I would have done an actual spit-take. Well struck.

[@Deoxys911]

Yeah, I literally laughed out loud at that; that was a good one.

[@samuellucci1511]

Yeah that one got a real deal lol out of me.

[@DoMMy627]

The needle drop in Another Round is so powerful and I wish this video came out a couple months later so that it could be included

[@klaatuNaatu]

Oh man, that's so true. It was just what the movie needed to do to bring me to tears at the end. Which is kind of odd because it's such a free spirited, "bouncy," happy song.

[@ajerqureshi6411]

Something else about James Gunn and his music selection (and I really only noticed this in The Suicide Squad) is that all of his Needle Drops are diagetic, being introduced or played through radios, speakers, or even a person singing the song. This helps a bit with the grounding of the obsurtity he does with his movies, giving the audience an anchor point to what's happening but tying it to a song they might know, usually an indie song. Similarily, Gunn is very careful on what songs he picks to make sure it serves the narrative purpose of the scene. Every song played in GOTG not only ties into what's happening to the story, they also tie directly to Merideth Quill...I think Gunn even said he had a whole collection of songs saved as a "Meridith Quill collection"

[@garrettmckellar]

Can we just have a full "Patrick's dad talks boomer rock" video?

[@brucebruceish]

This, please.

[@MetallicalCatastroph]

>video You mean channel.

[@ilRosewood]

What patreon level is this?

[@blokey8]

Nebula Exclusive?

[@CallMeCharley]

the amount of times I've heard that exact same The Last Waltz complaint from my mum has made me go crazy

[@JJJameson.]

I'm 31 minutes in and Patrick has said he'll "talk more about x "at least 4 times, I'm worried Edit: He actually did it, this man is unstoppable

[@shadyguy23]

I realized very quickly that I didn't know what the term Needle Drop meant - apparently my brain thought it was another term for a Record Scratch. And now I want an hour long video about the history of record scratches in movies.

[@samringwald]

You were not alone my friend.

[@jorzolek01]

Same!

[@burstvgc]

that does make me wonder where the record scratch freeze frame baba o'reilly was in this vid

[@djaevlenselv]

I thought it meant something like beat/bass drop

[@hoebare]

I too was hoping for a record scratch treatise, but this is also great. And maybe we'll still get that record scratch video some day?

[@oneopinion6806]

I don't care how mainstream, the callback needle drop of Immigrant Song in Thor: Ragnorok in the theater made me feel like I could have torn my seat off the floor.

[@myfisharmyisever-growing7393]

The "ironic use of pop music for dissonance" was used really well in one of my favorite sci-fi books, Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. There's a fictional lewd chart-topper circulating on the radio as the characters navigate the seedy underbelly of their space station. It'd be the equivalent of WAP playing as someone gets shoved out of an airlock.

[@guard13007]

I recently finished the Aurora Cycles series by the same authors, and this sounds wonderful. Thanks for making me look it up!

[@maxducoudray]

You're describing coincidence, not irony.

[@parasocialbondsmetaswvoits9078]

​there are no coincidences, only weak pattern recognition skills

[@vivianloney]

​@@maxducoudraythere aren't coincidences in fiction

[@maxducoudray]

@@vivianloney Fair enough, but the example in this post is literally the opposite of irony.

[@princessjello]

I really wasn't expecting that opening theme...

[@Alextafur1]

Ok but can we all agree that the "All Star" needle drop in Shrek is outdone by the "I Need A Hero" needle drop IN ITS OWN SEQUEL?

[@blokey8]

Yes. Absolutely. Not least for the irony of the villain providing the soundtrack to the hero.

[@jebus9001]

False but ok

[@whatiftherewasanun]

I don't know if it counts as a needledrop though, it's basically a musical number turned into a hero montage through the power of editing.

[@Alextafur1]

@@whatiftherewasanun Isn't that one of the exact classes Patrick mentions? Diegetic needle drops that then become the score?

[@whatiftherewasanun]

@@Alextafur1 it's being sung by a character within the film, so no.

[@JohnDRuddyMannyMan]

God, I was almost ready to put money on you closing with Sympathy for the Devil lol

[@goodial]

I was kind of waiting for a Sympathy for the Devil in movies Supercut XD

[@JDesch]

@@goodial Are there even that many? I can barely think of any

[@goodial]

@@JDesch I don't really know either :D

[@arcanz100]

that would have been a genius move

[@johnmillholland6550]

Was surprised to see Soderbergh make an appearance because he did use Sympathy for the Devil in Oceans 11

[@airoseilatan]

As an aspiring music supervisor and former screenwriter, this explores how I feel about using music in film better than I could ever articulate!

[@creativeliving4905]

Probably you will not see this comment, but when i think about someone who intentionally use music, apart of visual affects, to create certain emotions in us is Gaspar Noé. Also, as a movie addict which goes back to my childhood, what it truly made an impact on me being a young, blonde girl watching unappropriated movies for that age was musical scenes from: Leon:The Professional 1994,The Fifth Element 1997, Now and Then (1995) and of course, Requiem for a Dream 2000. Feel like these are must watch movies as a good examples of others already very, very known movies. Hope you will give them some credits in the next videos. Thanks!

[@Shinanite]

A Knight's Tale, an underrated piece of movie

[@goodial]

that we will rock you opening is a masterpiece!

[@daishoryujin95]

They never continued the Canterbury tales cinematic universe....

[@hugocortizo6993]

Patricktony (H) Willemstano, the internet's busiest movie nerd

[@alexlindbjerg]

Perfection :D

[@2dan4me97]

a collab between the two would be interesting, the shiniest heads in their respective fields

[@juhaniaho6698]

Needs more reverb. And flashing rainbow text.

[@charlescaguioa9483]

Patrick needle dropping 2NE1's "I am the Best" at the end was the pop quiz question I aced for the 1-hour class I took about Needle Drops.

[@the135joker3]

'he'll go Ballistic: Ecks Vs Sever' I rarely like videos but that line earned it

[@Turnoutburndown]

Haha thank you I forgot about that joke because the video was so long. I need to start saying that.

[@christophersmith3005]

My favorite type of needle drop occurs at the very end of a movie. It is typically layered over the end credits, adding a final punctuation to what you have just seen. In _The Big Short_ Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" is a perfect example.

[@hollismartin]

Patrick absolutely owns the realm of: Me opening KZbin: "I don't think that topic is interesting, I'll just watch a minute or two." Me, 5 minutes later: "Forget that double feature, I'm gonna watch every second of this video."

[@kamilziemian995]

I stay to 3rd at night, to watch this video to 45 minut or so.

[@kylefoutz4920]

So you're saying i SHOULD watch the O.C. video. Hm.

[@JDesch]

That's how I felt about the Greatest Showman and OC vids but this topic I knew I'd enjoy a full hour of as soon as I saw it

[@ice_cube8302]

He owns the smuggest of smug awards cause this guy is the smuggiest smug of all smugs in all of smugtube.

[@TheSrawsome]

Only five minutes in and omg THE OPENING AND THE STYLE BOYZ SWEATER I'M DYING! Art. This is pure art.

[@TheSrawsome]

This video was truly great.

[@marcd2726]

Style Boyz sweater ON POINT. I want one of those

[@michellesprague3163]

Way more people should be commenting on the Style Boyz sweatshirt. Inspired choice.

[@nate_d376]

Never did find out how many times "sympathy for the devil" has been used.......

[@jliller]

I, for one, want a comprehensive list. Or at least a KZbin video that's a clip show of said uses.

[@jskrabac]

666 times :P

[@imveryangryitsnotbutter]

@@jskrabac Actually that's a common misconception. It's really been used 616 times.

[@jskrabac]

@@imveryangryitsnotbutter Queue montage of bad ass scientist doing science stuff to find this discrepancy... all to needle drop of Sympathy for the Devil. 👹

[@MichaelSotoCE]

I feel cheated

[@JamoboBorg]

I've seen a few people mention I Need A Hero from Shrek 2, but it sadly doesn't count based on Patrick's disclaimer at 4:40. The song is performed by a character in the film, which stops it from being a proper needle drop and if that doesn't satisfy you, just know that Jennifer Saunder's, who voices Fairy Godmother, is the one singing in the actual sequence everyone is talking about. Which is the same as actors in biopics and Prince in Purple Rain. Also The Sound of Silence is definitely poorly used in Watchmen, but I think Ride of the Valkyries was done well. It's supposed to make you think of Apocalypse Now and of the horror of the Vietnam War, it then flips this by showing just how one-sided the war is when Dr. Manhattan is involved. It brings back those vivid memories using the same song, just to point out how radically different this world is when living nuclear weapons exist.

[@chokoanders6546]

My favorite needle drop is from the most underrated scene in parasite when the basement man comes up and they turn on the gramophone it fits so well in the themeing of the movie with how the upper class is presebted with classical music and how the music is deliberately different from anything else in the movie

[@jhclementine4138]

sometimes after a stressful day of zoom college, you get blessed with an hour-long patrick h willems video about pop music needle drops and it even has mamma mia in it, as a treat

[@MetallicalCatastroph]

"The actual essay starts at 4:00" But why would anyone want to skip the Charl segments?

[@rasmusn.e.m1064]

Hot take: it looks like an apology but is actually a humblebrag.

[@Mukumann]

Skiped that shit

[@lukegerdeman9935]

The whole "white guys listening to hip hop" cliche is perfectly played with the first time we see Kendall Roy in Succession.

[@PasCorrect]

Given that Patrick works with David Chen, who co-hosts a Succession podcast, I really hope we get a Succession video on this channel someday...

[@furdterguson3299]

I think that's a perfect illustration of Patrick's point about pretty much anything working when it's diagetic. Not that it's not a perfect song choice, but if it was just playing non-diagetically as soundtrack it'd feel stale. But the fact that a Beastie Boys song is what Kendall is choosing to listen to on headphones in order to pump himself up for going in to work at his dad's business empire and that he is rapping along and punching the back of the passenger seat (in spite of a probably very annoyed driver being right there) is such a perfect illustration of his character.

[@skajohncarter]

"Famed Marvel fanboy, Martin Scorsese" almost made me snort my old fashioned out my nose. It burns.

[@samuelshaw7730]

I think my favorite needle drop ever is "Ooh La La" by The Faces at the end of Rushmore. Gives me goosebumps every time

[@Zeroharpe]

Every time I hear "London Calling" in a movie, and it's NOT about the nuclear apocalypse... I just instantly assume it's a bad movie.

[@amazingdancingturnips9236]

Right?? Have film makers ever listened to more than one word of that song?

[@digitaljanus]

The Rutger Hauer film Split Second's portrayal of near-future London is so close to the lyrics of that song, I was appalled the song *wasn't* in the movie.

[@ImJustHereToWatch14]

Petition for movies to start using Werewolves of London when they want to introduce the audience to London

[@nvrndingsmmr]

@@ImJustHereToWatch14 Last Train to London is a good one too.

[@robtak]

Or “London” by The Smiths. It never mentions the city by name, only referring to it obliquely with a mention one of its railway stations. It would be an appropriate choice, given the way most filmmakers use The Clash song, because it’s actually about someone going to London.

[@quincyyoung8104]

It is impossible to overstate how helpful and educational this video is, and impossible to tally how much money this channel has saved me from spending on film school.

[@Bedinsis]

As a Swede I must admit I laughed out loud when I heard how you pronounced "Åmål". It sounded like you said "'em all", which combined with the rest of the movie title explained to me why they changed the title when going international.

[@Jutlander83]

I know a woman named Amal and I was also thrown off momentarily. Incidentially, I live a couple of hours from Åmål and now I kind of want to go there on a Scandinavian 90s Kid Pilgrimage.

[@JasperJanssen]

I remember seeing that movie in the Rotterdam film festival (quite possibly before wide release, though) but it was definitely called fucking åmål then.

[@Confuseddave]

@@JasperJanssen I also saw it in cinemas in the UK as Fucking Åmål, although that was universally the sub. I think the DVD version I have was "Show Me Love".

[@AdamYJ]

I’m so glad somebody else remembered that Mystery Men exists. I’ll always think of “All Star” as the Mystery Men song rather than as the Shrek song.

[@niktri8312]

"You Only Live Twice" at the end of the fifth season of Mad Men is the most perfect needle drop in history, and that's a fact.

[@jpittmon1363]

Tomorrow Never Knows gave me goosebumps.

[@oops6876]

Today Charl will be portrayed by Anthony Fantano.

[@alanfloresayoroa1204]

"Hi everyone! Charltony Charltano here, the internet's busiest coconut"

[@brucebruceish]

Wouldn't work, he's a melon. Charl is a coconut.

[@kevinwillems8720]

@@brucebruceish as we all know coconuts and melons have been enemies for centuries

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

All he needs is glasses and a flannel, really.

[@oops6876]

@@kevinwillems8720 Fantano is a real Scarlett Johansson of tropical fruit

[@brianmillerspeaks]

This is your best work. Years of watching this channel, and I'm just blown away with the quality and detail of this video essay. Congratulations, man.

[@DareToEntertain]

Don't think i have been this turned on by a run time ever

[@pharmtec24]

Lmao. I didn’t even notice the run time when I hit play. I saw this comment and hadn’t realized how long I had been laying in my bed watching a KZbin video!

[@DareToEntertain]

@@pharmtec24Just Love it when Pat goes full Pat and goes into full-length detail on literally anything and makes it look off the cuff but its all so well scripted. Less wine then i expected but think that will come soon.

[@alltheworldsastage]

One of my favorite diegetic drops that transform into a non-diegetic drop is actually from a TV show. S03E10 of Lost, titled "Trisha Tanaka is Dead". The Hurley centric episode makes great use of the song "Shambala" by Three Dog Night provides a cathartic high to Hurely's story in that episode. The thing that makes this example so special is that when the show uses the actual recorded version of the song by Three Dog Night, it is diegetic (Kicks on in the Dharma Van), but it when it switches to non-diegetic, the song switches from the original to an orchestral arrangment of the song, by series composer Michael Giacchino, that closes the episode out in a very beautiful way, through the show's score. Brilliant use of that song in the episode.

[@crystalfairy912]

I got excited when Kesha’s Woman began playing at the end of Birds of Prey. I was digging the soundtrack throughout already and it just felt like a cherry on top of a delightful movie. And of course it fits thematically with the story. Honorable mention to Zoolander. When David Bowie reveals himself, we get like three seconds of Let’s Dance play with his title card. Just look up the walk off scene. Writing this out doesn’t do Bowie’s entrance justice.

[@IanShirley]

I waited around patiently for 50 minutes to finally get to A Knight's Tale

[@daelen.cclark]

One of my favourite parts and favourite movies. I loved he mentioned that point.

[@robinhahnsopran]

I'm here for the vintage Charl newsreel. It's high art.

[@joshuaamy3010]

I heartily recommend the video Sideways made on the soundtrack of Shrek and how it merges the needle drops into the original score

[@BillytheEntertainer]

the Shrek needle drop is great because it's preceded by a scene of a cliché fairytale opening. The acknowledgement of the fairy tale origins immediately interrupted by a modern pop song about being a hoodlum is the same sarcastic tone that has made Shrek a continuing icon, going on 2 decades. (Though I do agree "I need a Hero" in Shrek 2 is a better needle drop)

[@Rich88James]

Ahh man, I was genuinely hoping you would talk about the Trainspotting opening. 'Lust for Life' is perfect for the opening of that movie. But what I find more interesting is how it's used in Trainspotting 2. It's only used non-diegetically in the first film, but in Trainspotting 2 it's a physical record that Renton owns, but is completely unable to listen to as it brings back too many memories of things he did in the first movie. It's only at the very end of the film that he's finally able to listen to the song and we literally see his past self falling away and his present self starts dancing to the music. It's beautiful and cathartic. And it's honestly my absolute favourite use of a song in any film.

[@Spacemonkey_Mafia]

The subtle zoom on Dirk’s face during “Jessie’s Girl” where you see the wheels turning in his head is one of my all time favorite needle drops

[@robotsex111]

"Don't be a Suicide Squad." Sage words, indeed.

[@johnblack3204]

I think it's officially safe to say that it's okay to be The Suicide Squad though

[@arn999]

That Star Trek Beastie Boys needle drop could have been such a disaster, but somehow, it works.

[@lllSASlll]

The "I like beats and shouting" line sold it for me. It's somehow a great moment

[@laboon344]

Have been

[@arn999]

@@laboon344 I realize that ;) fixed.

[@Radien]

I think part of the reason it works is because of the idea that somebody in the future dug a deep cut into musical history to pull it out and play it in such a disparate setting. Young Kirk doesn't seem aware of anyone ever making fun of the song. He's playing it unironically in a setting where no one would make fun of him for it.

[@arn999]

@@Radien Aaah, I mean, I don't know what's your relationship with the Beastie Boys or with this song in particular, but it just seems a bit strange to think people would make fun of the song somehow? And why would it be played ironically? The Beastie Boys are one of the building blocks of hip hop in the late 80s. They make jokes and are humorous, but they're not a joke. I'm not offended or anything! lol. It just seems strange to me.

[@mdmonsoon]

Cruella 2021 was interesting - I went in expecting it's jukebox usage to feel like a cheap suicide squad knock off, but it actually became much more interesting because the setting for the film was actually the 70's rock and roll revloution in England which had such clear connection with the emerging fashion trends of 70's England - the heart of the movie. I found myself more impressed until the very end when they literally bury the characters old name, Cruella is offically born with her new name, and..... Sympathy for the Devil starts playing. It was just too much.

[@bbloomfield6497]

I've been a Video DJ performance artist for quite some time. Years ago I played a live +4 hour set of iconic needle drops accompanied by the same scenes or edits of the films projected in a Hunter S. Thompson inspired dive bar. To string different tracks together there'd be Inception on the screen with a remix of "Non Je Ne Regrette Rien", or Prince - "Kiss" set to first kisses from the last 60 years of film, or Lonely Island - "I'm on a Boat", set to Titanic and Bowie - Space Oddity with 2001: A Space Odyssey etc. I also served popcorn. This essay reminded me a lot of the research I was doing into soundtracks, the feelings that music paired with film can evoke, why I spent 6 months working on that set and why I wanted to get into editing in the first place.

[@tedorbach3430]

Underrated needle drop: Heroes and Villains in Fantastic Mr. Fox

[@wulfbuoygarwalfey3582]

an all timer

[@abelsanchez2070]

Hell ya

[@goodial]

best "needle drop" in that movie is Petey's song though XD "YOU WROTE A BAD SONG PETEY!"

[@ENigma-um8zw]

“🎼I’ve been in this town so long that back in the city I’ve been taken for lost and gone and alone for a long long time, 🎶fell in love years ago with an innocent girl from the Spanish and Indian home of the Heroes and Villains..!”

[@collinsmith7078]

Just popping in to say that I was SO excited to see "A Real Hero" get a shoutout. And an A+ joke along with it.

[@JaredPoirier]

Holy cow that James Bond style intro was INCREDIBLE

[@samuelbarber6177]

I love Needle Drops in Opening and Ending Credit sequences. Just putting aside Bond and using songs not intended for the movie, it’s been done incredibly well across the board it seems. From ‘Somebody to Love’ in Bohemian Rhapsody, ‘Green Leaves of Summer’ in Inglorious Basterds, ‘Treat Her Right’ in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, they can and have been done great. For ending credits, you have ‘Sweet Virginia’ in Knives Out, ‘We’ll Meet Again’ in Dr Strangelove etc. One of my favourite examples happens to be the use of ‘In The Still Of The Night’ by The Five Satins in famed Marvel fanboy and Shark Tale star Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman/I Heard You Paint Houses at both the beginning and ending of the film. Beyond just being a nice song from the 1950s which contrasts with the all violence and murder in Frank Sheehan’s life, the lyrics about a past event and holding tightly on to something which you can no longer hold onto anymore, especially when you notice the opening of the film takes place in the day, possibly in the morning, and the ending in the evening, not to mention its use in the beginning and ending seemingly implying a closed book, like the use of Irving Berlin’s ‘God Bless America’ in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In America (also starring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci) and also just that we are now leaving the film the same way we started it.

[@sacrefrenchie2132]

this was great! But none of us forgot that "I Want It That Way" is an absolute banger

[@patricktilden7720]

Loved the video, only needle drop that I kept waiting for you to bring up that you never did was the sexual assault scene from A Clockwork Orange. More uncomfortable than the Reservoir Dogs torture scene even, but also perfectly unnerving in that same way.

[@saharshahin1203]

Maybe because he sang it instead of playing it? (Can’t hear that song the same since the movie 😂)

[@emmagrace289]

Thank you for pointing all this out about captain marvel! It feels so frustrating that I as a woman was supposed to feel empowered, when all their “look girl power” moments just served to draw attention to the fact that for 10 years they hadn’t had a solo female hero movie.

[@Ethan_Brant]

Damn that color correction in the 1:52 scene is genuinely better than a lot of professional movies and TV shows. Shit looks beautiful.

[@debrachambers1304]

The best TV show I've ever seen for needledrops is Mr. Robot. The songs all fit perfectly, are pretty diverse and often are not overly obvious choices. It's Scorsese level.

[@theholk]

re: Flight of the valkyrie : Yes, that allusion to that scene in Apocalypse Now is the point there. It does visually too. The needledrop specifically is not communicating the intent of the music, but trying to hitch-hike Apocalypse Now into the viewers head. "prior exposure and connections" isn't just a danger. It's part of the toolset of needledrops. The danger is missjudging what the vast majority of the audience vividly connects to the song. But they regularly aren't just a way to smuggle in the prior existing art of the musician. They smuggle in al sorts of existing prior art by proxy and as shortcuts to the audience memory. "Do you really want them reminded of that scene in that other movie?" YES. You might want to. To either subtly or nonsubtly force either a shorthand, or contrapoint to what you are showing. Envoking Apocalypse now is a shorthand to what perspective you are putting on that assault by Dr.Manhatten. Namely "no, he isn't ACTUALLY cool and fighting for the good guys, this is the apocalypse now way of looking at that conflict, cool superbeing that he supposedly is aside".

[@A_Oda27]

complaining about patrick not including my favorite needle drop in order to boost it in the algorithm all hail the algorithm! curse you for not including ferris lip syncing to the beatles!

[@henmister39]

One of my favorites is the Good Vibrations/ Fuck the Police scene in “Us.” So fuckin good

[@ghamstudios4530]

The line about “content” could not have been more well timed with that Scorsese article coming out today

[@milenacosta8299]

What Scorsese article?

[@thomasmerzlak6001]

He wrote an article in Harper’s about Fellini and the commodification of art as “content”. It’s, needless to say, good.

[@beckobert]

But it makes it even more ironic, that Jake is now the vice chancellor of "content".

[@tristanstieber6499]

I misread "content" as "consent" and got really anxious

[@serkin2988]

Tristan Stieber same

[@davidjay7116]

I spent my entire life until now thinking that "needle drop" was the term for that thing when something surprising happens in a show or movie and they stop the music suddenly and there's that record scratch sound and everyone looks at the surprising thing. I was really confused how there could be an hour+ long video on those, but this makes way more sense.

[@cactoidpinata]

Nice essay! When you were comparing Tarantino and Scorsese using music so effectively, you touched on Shaun of the Dead. I would say that Edgar Wright stands up there with them. His films integrate music in creative, funny, and exciting ways. In that scene of Shaun of the Dead, did you notice that they're beating the zombie bartender to the beat of the song? I think that adds another layer, lol.

[@unit--ns8jh]

Sgt Rock is Gonna Save Me in Hot Fuzz is just perfect 🙂

[@maple_fields]

The needle drop that never fails to bring a smile to my face is the "You Make My Dreams Come True" scene in 500 Days of Summer.

[@David-io4sg]

I can’t imagine all of the claims you will have.

[@kakapofan6542]

You can't get claimed for a 5 second clip anymore. Still think it will happen though but it won't be any song that's on here.

[@CheeerriOH]

London Calling is also in Die Another Day I think. I was really hoping for a mention for Born Slippy at the end of Trainspotting. I get chills every time I hear it.

[@tubasaur]

It is, but they ingeniously change it up there by not having a montage of London stills synced to the drums.

[@brunilda12]

I fully support Hank’s Willems oppinion. Brave man. I also want to mention that we don’t talk enough about The Last Waltz.

[@MHWGamer]

one of the best uses of a needle drop is in the end of 'portrait of a lady on fire' and it shows how impactful and good it can be. The whole movie has just two songs "playing" - the rest is silence (The movie takes place in the 17th ot 18th century) One random chant around a campfire and the other one is vivaldi's summer in the last scene played by a huge orchester. If you know that music piece, you know it is absolut awesome but in the light of the movie it is really really impactful and basically makes the whole movie. These 3 minutes or so not only sum up and combine the whole plot and feelings in this movie but also uses several categories you listed here: it is out of the personal view of both main protagonists while being played 'outside' of their views. We basically look through the eyes of one to the other one and feel her feelings but simunateously feel the exact thoughts of the other one as well. With the rest of the movie in mind, it 'makes' the scene and I have never seen anything like that. Watching only the scene is still great (vivaldi is great) but watching it after you haven't heard anything in the background for 90 min. and then that scene with everything I descibed really rises it 1000%

[@deathclaw01]

"I should have killed that f--king coconut when I had the chance" I actually lol'd

[@FeatherFurr]

Losing my mind at 2NE1 being followed almost directly by ABBA at the end there

[@milenacosta8299]

One of the most impactful diagetic song uses I can think of is in a show called Please Like Me where they sing Someone Like You by Adele in a dinner table to grieve the death of a chicken and I legit cried.

[@frishf8888]

I think my favourite part about the Hurdy Gurdy Man scene in Zodiac, is that the song transitions from diegetic to non-diegetic at the exact moment the scene perspective transitions from the victims to that of the Zodiac Killer

[@ishaan863]

I'm six minutes in and "Wake Up" playing at the end of The Matrix better be mentioned :// Fifty four minutes in now. Pog.

[@VictorGarciaFilms]

Another phenomenal video essay. Gotta love the use of a Dutch angle at 16:41 upon the mention of Tarantino, so much thought, playfulness, and effort put into these awesome videos.

[@LucasDeziderio]

Hey, does Sideways know you're stepping into his turf?

[@danielhadida3915]

When he mentioned someone was going to explain music in films, I was actually expecting Sideways.

[@lllSASlll]

@@danielhadida3915 Same

[@golgarisoul]

To quote a wise man on the topic of Martin Scorsese: "HE MAKES THE BEST FILMS"

[@katherinealvarez9216]

Not a fan of Gangs of New York. But I quote Wolf of Wall Street. Every award Scorsese has, he earned and more.

[@robertwild9447]

Not sure if it counts, but "Raindrops keep falling on my head" in Spider-man 2 would be a personal favorite of mine.

[@adamtherock2008]

And it was originally there as a placeholder but Raimi really liked it and thought it fit so kept it!

[@xray235]

Raindrops was already famously used previously in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

[@SupergeekMikeDowntime]

Totally counts!

[@theoptimisticmetalhead7787]

This is the best video you've ever made for the Hot Rod reference ALONE.

[@Kcomid]

Take a shot every time Patrick says, "We're going to talk about (blank) soon."

[@VanessaMartinez-vc7du]

“If it’s diegetic, you can kind of get away with any needle drop.” Even “Sympathy for the Devil” in “Interview with a Vampire”. It started as diegetic when Lestat turned on the radio, then played us out as part of the score. It fit the scene and didn’t just let us know the “bad guy” had arrived, but also informed us of Lestat having the power in this scene, as well as his love of Rock music. I was waiting for you to make this exception, but it never came.

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

Because that IS the one exception. I’m so glad somebody else commented this.

[@ChiefBrodyRules]

0:00 Previously on Patrick Willems 0:25 The Opening Narrative Scene 3:08 "Our New theme Song" 4:00 The Start 16:20 How Scorsese Does It 23:35 The Middle Narrative Scene 25:08 The Guide Continues 32:29 SKILL SHARE 33:28 The Guide Continues 41:54 How Tarantino Does It 54:31 The Meat and Potatoes of the video 56:40 Patrick does not believe you 57:16 The Narrative Ending Scene 58:35 LOCKE DOWN Patrick saw it, now it's your turn 59:37 Patreon List

[@WanderKrew]

Freebird in Kingsman always gives me goosebumps as it slowly creeps in before the drums kick in for the all out carnage

[@zoeysheldon5634]

I think Bad Reputation in Shrek is significantly better than the intro scene. It feels better to me because it has this super fun action that is complimented by a rock song about not caring what people think about you. It just feels right.

[@daelen.cclark]

Livin’ La vida loca works pretty well, too, I think.