Movies thrive on love affair between music, Hollywood

Blame it on The Big Chill.

From the day the 1983 Baby Boomer melodrama opened ears with its hit-heavy soundtrack, filmmakers have been scouring their record collections for the just-right collection of songs to accompany on-screen action. Each time a metal guitar shrieks over an action scene, Chill is there. Each time a power ballad lends the right resonance to a tearful farewell, Chill is there. Each time Walking on Sunshine is played over a wacky montage (believe me, it happens a lot), Chill is there.

This love affair between Hollywood and popular music, which began long before The Big Chill, has its merits. After all, nothing can set scene, mood and memory in motion quite as well as the perfectly placed tune. Here are a few examples of movies that have utilized music particularly well:

RUSHMORE (1998): An expert at using music to convey mood, director Wes Anderson plundered four decades of rock history for songs that are familiar without being overplayed and scene-perfect without being obvious. Particularly inspired - his use of The Kinks' Nothin' In This World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl.

PRETTY IN PINK (1986): A not-so-rare instance of a soundtrack far outshining the film, Pretty in Pink featured a laundry list of up-and-coming acts - mostly English - providing musical commentary on the high school-confidential action on screen. The film's finest musical moment, an impromptu lovesick lip-sync to Otis Redding's Try A Little Tenderness.

FULL METAL JACKET (1987): Although director Stanley Kubrick had used popular music in many of his films - Wonderful World in Dr. Strangelove, Blue Danube in 2001: A Space Odyssey and William Tell Overture in Clockwork Orange - his bold and sometimes unpredictable Jacket choices made music a more integral part of the process. Particularly memorable are his use of Surfin' Bird in a siege sequence and These Boots Were Made for Walkin' during a prostitution negotiation.

PULP FICTION (1994): Eclectic and endlessly catchy, Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction soundtrack features a little of everything - surf guitar and country, killer funk and old-school rock 'n' roll. Remarkably, it works, bringing Mr. Tarantino's disjointed stories together as a cohesive whole.

ALMOST FAMOUS (2000) It seems appropriate that a film that is essentially a love letter to the rock sounds of 1973 would have a killer soundtrack. Among the artists included - Paul Simon, The Who, Cat Stevens and a standout sequence featuring Elton John's Tiny Dancer. The result is a stirring celebration of music, musicians and the faithful fans who love both.

Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.