Welcome to the first of our Summer Triple Feature series here at the Friday Hideaway Film Fest. The movies showcased today feature retro '80s soundtracks and they will be screened in chronological order based on their release dates. Please silence your cell phones before continuing.
Released in 1997, Romy & Michele's High School Reunion was based on two characters originally featured in the play, Ladies Room. The same two characters were featured in a failed television series pilot Just Temporary that aired in 1999. In 2002, another series pilot was planned then expanded into a stand-alone prequel called Romy & Michele: In The Beginning, which sat on the shelf until 2005, when the star, Catherine Hiegel, rose to stardom in a breakout role on Grey's Anatomy. HERC can say without any doubt that every female he has ever known loves both Romy & Michele's High School Reunion and Grey's Anatomy while he is not a fan of either project although he endured a viewing of the prequel with MRS. HERC and his girl child to hear what songs were included on the soundtrack. Both movies feature a strong Tucson, Arizona presence though neither was actually filmed here - HERC has called Tucson his home for the last 32 years.
Since the events in the film take place between 1987 and 1997, the soundtrack contains songs from throughout that decade with an emphasis on the late '80s. Nora Felder & Marie Snyder are listed as music consultants while Kathy Nelson gets the executive in charge of music credit. Two soundtrack albums were released: the first one had 11 tracks from the movie while the second had 12 tracks. Neither album featured the film's musical centerpiece, Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time". The Spotify playlist above features 29 tracks featured in the original film including "Time After Time" as well as 11 additional tracks heard in the prequel.
The Wedding Singer premiered in theaters during Valentines Day weekend 1998. It would have been #1 at the box office had it not been for a little film called Titanic - a film HERC has taken a solemn vow to NEVER watch. HERC is on record as a big fan of The Wedding Singer, citing the chemistry between Sandler and Barrymore as well as the flashback soundtrack. The film would later be adapted into a Broadway musical which ran for a respectable eight months before the curtain fell. Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore would reteam as a couple in 50 First Dates, another favorite of HERC's.
While the two soundtrack albums released from The Wedding Singer feature several of the songs from the film as performed by the cast, HERC has opted to leave those versions out of the playlist above. Michael Dilbeck is credited as the movie's music supervisor and several of his choices have been embellished by HERC - the two original soundtrack albums combined only had 27 songs; the playlist above has 35.
Today (July 12th) marks anniversary of the home video release of Take Me Home Tonight in 2011. Originally filmed up the road in Phoenix in 2007, the film sat on the shelf for nearly four years before getting released. Based on a story by Topher Grace and his writing partner, the film's screenplay was written by Grace's former bosses on That '70s Show, Jackie & Jeff Filgo. Set in 1988, the movie features several likable performances but ultimately it's a dark, R rated comedy with not enough funny bits. And what is up with the soundtrack?
Original scripts were titled Young Americans and later Kids In America but ultimately neither of those songs made the soundtrack nor did Eddie Money's "Take Me Home Tonight" although it was featured in the trailer along with "Always Something There To Remind Me" by Naked Eyes and Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Relax". The soundtrack album featured 12 songs from the movie and 7 bits of dialogue. Ian Broucek is credited as the music coordinator of the movie, Trevor Horn is listed as providing the original score and the wonderfully named Season Kent and Happy Walters wear the executive in charge of music name tags. The playlist above features the songs from the trailer as well as most of the songs heard during the film and the original version of "Don't You Want Me". None of the film's dialogue is included among the 28 tracks.
No comments:
Post a Comment