For "cool: value, it's hard to beat the soundtracks for Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown.

For cheesy metal value, I'll take (please hold your laughter until the list is complete) the soundtracks to Navy Seals, Last Action Hero, both Bill & Ted movies, and (wait for it) Over the Top.

OK I'll start with the predictable but wonderful Garden State.

Also I love the soundtrack to Sliding Doors which fits the movie so well and has some just wonderful tunes.

I'll round out with the cheesy choice of Dirty Dancing. There's nothing like pretending to do the lift at the end of Time of My Life and hearing Patrick Swayze sing She's Like the Wind!

I can't hear "Joy To The World" anymore without thinking of the Kasdan kid in the tub at the beginning of "The Big Chill".

"Also Sprach Zarathustra" makes me wanna bash jawbones into powder, as soon as I can find a femur to do it with, and a nice shady monolith to relax by.

And I'm a big fan of the soundtrack to "All You Need Is Cash" by The Rutles and of Ennio Morricone's score for "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly".

there are so many as we are a movie soundtrack kind of family, the following come to mind immediately:
*Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid...Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, the whole bicycle scene thing w/Newman & Katharine Ross--is it to much to ask that I get to be a young Katharine Ross just ONCE before I die?
*Avalon...Randy Newman is genius with musical scores. There aren't any words but no words are needed. But if you want Randy Newman words & music Toy Story's 'you've got a friend in me,' is a winner.
*Almost Famous...So many songs on that soundtrack just take me back.
*Invincible...The movie was okay (about the walk on Philly Eagles player, I dont' even remember his name) but the soundtrack was terrific.
I know there are tons more but that's my start...

Pretty in Pink and Footloose.

And totally agree with number 2 -- The Sound of Music...

Interesting to see a lot of "classic" Disney ones -- those were the days! Wouldn't see that now.

"The Last Kiss," like "Garden State," highlights Zach Braff's excellent and quirky gift for musical selection.

And for all out chick music, "Boys on the Side" is a great one.

Also, I know we're talking movies, but "Music from the O.C." 1 and 2 were particularly good, despite the cheese factor of the show itself.

The soundtrack to "Singles" never fails to take me back to the early 90's.

I haven't listened to a whole lot of soundtracks. Guess they never really grabbed my attention, but the ones I have heard and liked...

The Crow -- excellent gothic rock songs, both in quality and tone. (Graeme Ravelle's score is also terrific.)

That Thing You Do -- amazing how all these sound like they were done in the 50s/60s, but weren't.

Footloose -- Cheesy 80s, but hard to dislike.

Dirty Dancing -- almost hate to admit that one, but the songs are good and catchy.

High Fidelity
Swingers

Top Gun. Every song on that track is instantly evocative of the vibe at that part of the movie. Every time I hear Danger Zone, it gets my adreneline up a little. Every time I hear Hot Summer Nights, I kinda want to toss back drinks with an overly-exaggerated flip of my hair, and sidle up to some flyboy... I'm kind of over Take My Breath away-- listened to it too much as a 14-year-old-- but back then... day-yum, that was one sexy song.

Grosse Pointe Blank. There isn't a song on there that isn't awesome.

Re: "That Thing You Do"...

Maybe I'm the last to know, but I recently learned that the title track was written by Fountains of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger.

Neato.

C'mon, Liz -

Didn't you once write that you used to be punk?? HOW can you omit the beautiful and haunting melodies of REPO MAN?

Who could forget such bone-breaking classics as "Institutionalized" and "Let's Have a War" (very apropos today, I think), but also such this-disk-only future hits as "Hombre Secreto" (Secret Agent Man sung in Spanish by the Plugz), Burning Sensations's hilariously low-key cover of Jonathan Richmond's "Pablo Piscasso" (...not like you...) and the Circle Jerks accoustic "(We All Gotta Duck) When the Sh*t Hits the Fan".

Ahhhh. Now THAT brings back memories.

the Clueless movie soundtrack - so much great 90s rock!

When Harry Met Sally
my introduction to Harry Connick Jr.

Breakfast Club!
Don't You (forget about me)

Of course Grease is a classic, as is Pretty in Pink.

Here's what I would add:

Top Gun - Tom Cruise at his best, before he went nuts. That love scene with Kelly McGillis to "Take My Breath Away," the flight scenes to "Danger Zone," the vollyball scene to "Playin with the Boys," yum.

Romeo + Juliet (DiCaprio/Danes version) - Just heard "#1 Crush" by Garbage on the radio this morning, great song. What ever happened to them?

Go - Forgetable movie (with pre-Tom Katie Holmes), great soundtrack.

What Women Want - Great for old school classics, with a little Merrideth Brooks to mix it up.

whatever the songs are in Entourage - wish they'd release a CD of them!!

how could EW include Tommy and not The Wall?

The Last Temptation of Christ, wuith Peter Gabriel's beautiful and haunting score that really works with Sone of Scorcese's best movies. Also, Gabriel's soundtrack for Birdy, which sadly isn't anywhere near as good of a movie.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, which has an almost perfect melding of hip hop to a movie. Beautiful work by the RZA.

1. Lady Sings the Blues
2. Love Jones
3. Mo' Betta Blues
4. Do Tha Right Thing
5. Mahogany
6. The Five Heartbeats
7. Brown Sugar
8. Dreamgirls

I love the soundtrack to "50 First Dates", and the rest of the music in the movie is great too!

Tommy is on the list. Didn't see "The Wall"

Reality Bites is my fav. Lisa Loeb and Julianna Hatfield, plus a little My Sharona never hurts

Oops! Forgot these two:

Amadeus

The Red Violin

Basquiat- It introduced me to Tom Waits and for that I will ever be grateful. Also is a great crossover with Shaun of the Dead which also uses Whitelines by Grandmaster Flash.
Pulp Fiction, The Crow, Singles.

For Musicals-
Jesus Christ Superstar.

Tanya B. reminded me of Spike Lee's 'Crooklyn'...the music is great..."People Make the World Go 'Round"...

MY GOD, I would pay amazing money for Sophia Coppola's iPod. Seriously. I have a SC playlist on my iPod for the soundtracks to Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette. Regardless of what you think of the films, she has AMAZING taste in music.

The first cassette I brought for my walkman was the soundtrack for Purple Rain. I listen to it all day until my middle sister told my mother about "Darling Nikki"; after that time I could play it was with adult supervisor.

My Best Friend's Wedding--love that soundtrack!

And I agree that the Top Gun & 50 First Dates soundtracks are great too!! I used to watch Top Gun all the time as a kid (still have most of the lines memorized) and have always loved "You've Lost that Loving Feeling", and "Danger Zone" and "Take My Breath Away"

I second the Grease soundtrack and have to add Reality Bites. Juliana Hatfield 3 plus one of my fave U2 songs!

Word to Reality Bites. Pulp Fiction is a great, Forrest Gump, and what is the movie with Marky Mark as the adult film star?

Oh-
I forgot Last of the Mohicans.

Just hearing that music makes me... um...ready.

Goodfellas has a great soundtrack from George Harrison to the Stones to Clapton. Unfortunately they are not on the released version. :(

1. Hedwig and the Angry Inch - best original soundtrack I've ever heard, in an entirely surreal way.
2. Purple Rain - the music is the only thing that makes this movie.
3. Trainspotting
4. Resevoir Dogs
5. Cafe Flesh - it's a porno movie, yeah but it's got an awesome soundtrack
6. Happiness of the Katakuris - an unbelievable musical by Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike

The "Trainspotting" soundtrack. While the movie creeped the heck out of 12-year-old me, I fell in absolute love with every single track on the CD (and also bought the spin-off soundtrack). New Order has been my Favorite Group of All Time ever since I heard their "Temptation" on this disc, and every other group and artist featured in this movie have made numerous appearances on my DJ playlists over the years! Danny Boyle is just prolific at selecting awesome soundtracks.

Great another list that makes me wish I had an IPod. Can we start a fund for the IPod deprived?

A Hard Days Night and Purple Rain are solid, but not the mix of artists intended in this topic.

In addition to some named above, "The Amateur" (Pavement, My Bloody Valentine) is a good mix and "The Harder they Come" is the mix with some of the most amazing original songs. "Saturday Night Fever" and "Rocky Horror" rank up there too.

The greatest, not-available-because-licensing-issues, is "Goodfellas." How can anyone not include Marty!?!?!?

Think about it:

"Atlantis" by Donavon, "Monkey Man" and "Memo from Turner" by the Stones, George Harrison's "What is Life", "Jump into the Fire" by Harry Nilsson, Derek and the Dominoes "Layla", and the absolutely perfect timing of Sid Vicious' version of Sinatra's "My Way." "Beyond the Sea", "Remember (Walking in the Sand)", Tony Bennett doing "Rags to Riches" and Aretha's "Baby I love You".

I have to go home and burn this mix right now.

Reality Bites... nothing is better than U2's "All I Want is You."

Also... Royal Tenenbaums, Good Will Hunting, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Beck's "Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes" great)...

Sometimes I make my own soundtracks to my favorite movies because I don't think the movies themselves chose the best music.

Oh, sorry, Mr. Ecks- did not steal your "Trainspotting" idea- just had to pause mid-post because of real work, hence the late post. =-( And you have great taste!

Sometimes you hear a couple of chords of a song and absolutely see a scene in your head...

Harold and Maude (if you want to sing out, sing out...)
The Graduate (where he's driving the car to the wedding)
Dirty Dancing (Now I've had the time of my life.....)
Saturday Night Fever (opening strutting scene)
Jaws (actually anything scored by John Williams)
Footloose (a bunch of songs there)
Carwash
The Ice Storm (they used Traffic - Low Spark + lots of other great 70's stuff)

The Departed has a great soundtrack (as playfully underlined in recent Sopranos episodes).

Some soundtrack favorites:

Garden State (my recent favorite)
I am Sam
Pump up the Volume
Baseketball
Singles
Empire Records
Clueless
The Lost Boys
50 First Dates
The Crow
The Crow: City of Angels
Prediction: This summer's Across the Universe will have a killer soundtrack

The soundtrack for "Rocky Horror Picture Show"!!! It rocks (in a crazy kind of way)! :)

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" - Love me some Yo Yo Ma

I can't think of any 80s Brat Pack movie soundtrack that I don't like.

And, "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" - disco! love it. [except for maybe the Vanessa Williams song.]

My favorite soundtrack is from Reality Bites. Great songs, many of them by artists with whom I was unfamiliar (for example, "Spin the Bottle" introduced me to Juliana Hatfield).

Other favorite movie soundtracks:
Footloose
Top Gun
Dirty Dancing
Animal House
St. Elmo's Fire

Good movie musical soundtracks:
Rent
Godspell
Grease
Chicago
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Music Man
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Chess
The Wall
West Side Story
1776
Jesus Christ Superstar

Kids movies soundtracks:
The Jungle Book
The Lion King
Toy Story

Instrumental (mostly) soundtracks:
Return of the King
Star Wars

Shrek had a pretty decent soundtrack, I think

The Harder They Come- excellent songs.

Love & Basketball- that's how I discovered "Fool of Me" and Meshell Ndegeocello.

Matrix- the songs pump me up.

Purple Rain- Prince, no other reason necessary.

Waiting to Exhale- excellent for continued rotation after a breakup.

Stomp the Yard- nice way to get the Friday happy hour and weekend activities started.

I second,
The Sound of Music- "So long fairwell, I hate to say goodnight" I can still listen to that over and over again.

Garden State- cool movie, cool soundtrack.

A few not mentioned yet:

The Matrix - I'm not generally a fan of Marilyn Manson or Rammstein, but this is a good mix of "nu metal"/techno/industrial

Pump Up the Volume - includes great Pixies remix, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth

Lost Highway - Rammstein again, by coincidence, plus Bowie and NIN

Triplets of Belleville
Moulin Rouge (sp?)
Crooklyn
Chicago (the movie)
Mo Better Blues
Muriel's Wedding (ABBA rocks!)
Adventures of Pricilla, Queen of the Desert

DISNEY'S "CARS!"

Until the End of the World
Dead Man Walking
A Mighty Wind
The Triplettes of Belleville

Very surprised to see Above the Rim and no Love Jones (1997). A wonderful soundtrack featuring Lauryn Hill and Cassaundra Wilson at their best.

Another fan of the Basquiat soundtrack out there! What were the odds of that?

The Blues Brothers, great songs in that movie!

Reality Bites pretty much encapsulates that period of my life - I remember listening to that CD over and over in the car.

Also, Love Actually is a fantastic soundtrack - it stands up pretty well by itself, but is also really good at evoking the feeling of the movie. I think I listened to The Calling's "Wherever You Will Go" and the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" every morning on my way to bar review in the summer of 2004.

Well, mine is AMERICAN GRAFFITI, not only because the songs were all great, but because of the way they were used in the movie. I loved the way the radio was playing in the background constantly.

40 songs on a double album... that album saved me about $30 on oldie 45s when I was in high school.

Also all those Beatles soundtracks: A HARD DAY'S NIGHT and YELLOW SUBMARINE. I almost feel like they're ringers, though.

My husband by the way said RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Geeko.

Some of these have been mentioned already but warrant multiple listings:

Sleepless in Seattle
Good Will Hunting
The Big Chill
When Harry Met Sally
Reality Bites
Singles
Love Actually (with a fantastic version of "White Christmas" by Otis Redding)

Speaking of "Fast Times...", it always bugged me that although Kashmir was playing, the character talks about Led Zeppelin IV (which of course isn't the album that Kashmir is on).

Oh, and I second "Lost in Translation".

oops I forgot.

Brown Sugar- a love letter to hip hop. All of the artists in the movie should have been included in the soundtrack. It would have been a double cd in that case.

I have to vote for "Singles," mostly because it was the first date with my wife (and we both survived the Seattle grunge scene).

Honorable mention is "The Commitments."

the Virgin Suicides: by Air and marvelous

I thought Mark Knopfler really added to the feel of "Local Hero" with his sound track. I felt the same way with the score of "Country" (and the contributions by many new grass players). I bought both albums. I really liked the "Big Lebowski" sound track with both Captain Beefheart and great Stones cover by Townes Van Zandt (the late great).

Showing my age, but here goes...

EASY RIDER - "Born To Be Wild," "The Weight" and all'a them hippie classix.

THE GRADUATE - with those snippets of Simon and Garfunkel tunes.

ROCK AND ROLL HIGH SCHOOL and HAROLD AND MAUDE, because they both had great songs that could only be heard in the film, NOT included on the soundtrack albums: "If You Wanna Sing Out, Sing Out" by Cat Stevens (H&M) and "Did We Meet Somewhere Before" by Paul McCartney (R&R HS).

M*A*S*H - Loved the Korean-language big band stuff.

I feel like I'm missing a biggie here...

5.'Round Midnight--Best Jazz Sountrack ever.
4. Chariots of Fire/BladeRunner--Vangelis is a madman
3. The Last Waltz
2. Saturday Night Fever--The Traveres rule!
1. The Rutles (Better made up band than Spinal Tap. Arguably as good as anything the Beatles ever did. I mean "do I have to spell it out. C.H.E.E.S.E A.N.D O.N.I.O.N.S oh no."

Honorary Mention--Honeysuckle Rose

Fight Club - especially the last scene where the Pixies "Where's My Mind" plays - perfectly encapsulates the whole movie.

Tank Girl
City of God
--both amazing from start to finish

Supercop. (Jackie Chan movie from the mid-90s.) I'm totally serious. Kung Fu Fighting by Tom Jones and a Devo cover of Head Like A Hole. Genius.

Ooh, good category!

- Kill Bill, both of them. Nice eclectic mix, with a bunch of bad-ass songs in there.
- About a Boy - I love the playfullness of Badly Drawn Boy
- O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Thank you for introducing me to bluegrass.
- The Graduate - Enough said.

Those are just the ones off the top of my head.

My favorite movie soundtrack is from 9-1/2 Weeks. Because I love all the songs and together they definitely create a sexy, languorous mood (at least to me). And who wouldn't love Joe Cocker's version of You Can Leave Your Hat On? I actually like the soundtrack better than the movie.

The soundtrack I am enjoying currently is from the movie Undercover Brother. Takes me back to my youth with lots of great seventies songs, most of them songs you want to get up and dance to!

Another fun classic I enjoy is from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I don't like ALL the songs, but they do remind me of how fun the movie is. And The Time Warp is one of my all time faves.

This is cheating because it is from TV, but I also love the soundtracks from the show Northern Exposure. I heard some really great music on that show for the first time, and was glad when they started issuing soundtracks so I could have a copy.

Streets of Fire: I can't tolerate the stuff Jim Steinman does with Meatloaf, but this soundtrack I just love.
Woodstock
Jesus Christ Superstar
Saturday Night Fever
Carwash
Superfly

BLUES BROTHERS - Great soul & blues soundtrack sung by John Belushi & Dan Akroyd (also the best movie ever made).

GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM - Classic tracks with some of Robin Williams' best lines from the movie played in between.

TOP GUN - Every song invokes the mood of the scene(s) it played in during the movie.

PUMP UP THE VOLUME - Been years since I listened to it, but a solid blend of alternative music...back when alternative wasn't pop.

I have to agree with:

Reality Bites
50 First Dates
Grosse Pointe Blank
Love Actually

And don't worry DJ, I'm right with you with Sophia Coppola. I ADORE the Marie Antoinette Soundtrack. It's like a New Wave Orgy!

I have to add:
The Wedding Singer...great for those 80's flashbacks and theme parties
So I Married an Axe Murderer
The Scrubs Soundtracks
Cars
Maverick (a bit random,I know)

I have to agree with:

Reality Bites
50 First Dates
Grosse Pointe Blank
Love Actually

And don't worry DJ, I'm right with you with Sophia Coppola. I ADORE the Marie Antoinette Soundtrack. It's like a New Wave Orgy!

I have to add:
The Wedding Singer...great for those 80's flashbacks and theme parties
So I Married an Axe Murderer
The Scrubs Soundtracks
Cars
Maverick (a bit random,I know)

City of Angels (Meg Ryan as a surgeon, Nick Cage as an Angel. You have to shut off your brain and just go with it...) Jimi Hendrix, great Alanis Morissette song (Univited), Paula Cole, U2, Peter Gabriel. Eclectic mix, all great. Stupid as this movie is, it's romantic and sappy and sad and I like that once in a while, dammit. It's also nice to see Meg Ryan with her pre-surgery face...

Any movie with Jon Cusack. Think "Grosse Pointe Blank" or "Say Anything." While the latter's "In Your Eyes" scene is the movie's iconic moment, I always loved it for ending the movie to the tune of an obscure early Replacements song.

I still want the soundtrack that never was:
"Ferris Beuller's Day Off". Stupid copyright.

I've never been much into soundtracks, but I did enjoy the one from the Commitments.

p.s. Spinal Tap has sold out -- lately I'm hearing "Gimme Some Money" in Amex commercials.

Porky's Revenge-produced by Dave Edmunds, with Claren Clemmons, ex-Led Zeps, Fabulous T-Birds
Princess Bride-Mark Knopfler
Streets of Fire-The Blasters
Woodstock-no comment needed
The Long Riders-produced & performed by Ry Cooder-his ist soundtrack I think

Best Soundtrack of all time:

"Cooley High"

As a kid listening to lilly-white rock radio in the 70's, this was my introduction to all those great Motown songs from the 60's.

I am from the south and EVERYONE I know bought the soundtrack to "O Brother, Where Art Thou" and listened to it nonstop..my college friends, my baby brother, my parents.

Another bluegrass fave..."Cold Mountain." Alison Krauss and the White Stripes. You can't get better than that!

Empire Records!

How could you not include any of the three Fs: Fame, Footloose, & Flashdance. Or Bodyguard.

Seduce me tonite.

Play those funky rag tunes white boy... "The Sting"

I love the instrumental scores from:
Last of the Mohicans
Glory
Gladiator
Just about anything from John Williams

I love the soundtracks from the following movies:
Grease
Xanadu (coming to broadway soon)
When Harry Met Sally (aka Meet Harry Connick Jr)
Reality Bites
Singles
Pretty Woman
Footloose
Top Gun
Swingers
Boogie Nights
Saturday Night Fever
Good Morning Vietnam

And, for some reason, Adam Sandler always picks some great tunes for his soundtracks - lots of Styx :): 50 First Dates, Wedding Singer, Big Daddy

These are probably on the more classical music side.
The English Patient....the music really reflects what the characters are going through.
A Month in the Country...this is simply the most gorgeous music I've ever heard. The movie stars a very young Colin Firth.

Can't Hardly Wait - Crappy movie, good soundtrack. Nice mix of hip-hop, rock, and alternative music: RunDMC, Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes, Blink182, Gn'R

so many of my faves already mentioned. just to add-- vanilla sky. the soundtrack doesn't truly capture all the movie's amazing music, but i think it's pretty alright!

In no particular order-
Garden State
Pride and Prejudice (2005)
Black Orpheus
Woman on Top
Amelie
American Graffiti
The Wedding Singer
Pretty in Pink
Freedom Writers
anything by Ennio Morricone or Hans Zimmer
Most musicals

saturday night fever, anyone?

Thanks Alexandria! I completely agree with you about "Temptation." Two others for my list:

7. Dazed and Confused - the music alone made me feel I was stoned out of my gourd, in an entirely pleasant way.

8. Do the Right Thing - if only for the opening song of Public Enemy's "Fight the Power"

9. Vampiros Lesbos - 1960's Italian Vampire movie. Priceless!

10. Morvern Callar - how could I forget this? The dead boyfriend's mix tape becomes the soundtrack.

Say Anything is the best ever!

I didn't know you could get a Triplettes of Bellville soundtrack! I'm all over it. I love the Shrek soundtracks.
Is it weird that I want to add the soundtrack to "The Aristocats"? No, that's not a mispelling -- it's a Disney movie.
I second the vote for the Peter Gabriel scores. Awesome possum!

Love:
Grease
Top Gun
Dirty Dancing
Chicago
both Kill Bill movies
anything by John Williams
Love Actually
"Once More with Feeling" episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - it was great!
Gladiator - music is very powerful
the Lord of the Rings Music - loved the recurring themes
The Bodyguard - sang it all the time in High School

HEAR HEAR on the NORTHERN EXPOSURE soundtracks CJB... I was going to mention that but didn't want to get busted by the gallery. I never bought any of the soundtrack CDs but always loved both the background music AND the tunes Chris In The Morning played on his show... and the cafe had the coolest jukebox selection anywhere... and then there were Maurice's show tunes... particularly his a'capella rendition of "Hello Young Lovers" at Shelly and Hollings' abortive "wedding."

And someone mentioned COOLEY HIGH "because of all those great Motown tracks from the 60s".... what about THE BIG CHILL? There were at least two volumes of those... great albums.

Pulp fiction
French Kiss - Louis Armstrong,Beautiful South, Edit Piaf - that soundtrack is so great!!

PARIS BLUES - Can't beat Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong!

Yes, Oceana, French Kiss! Probably my favorite.
Also:
Spawn
Romy & Michelle (can't stop dancing to this one!)
Lost Highway
O Brother (O yeah!)
Can't Hardly Wait (thanks for the reminder, Irish_Ed)

Quentin Tarentino is the king of soundtracks: From Dusk Til Dawn and Pulp Fiction are fabulous.

The published soundtrack of The Big Chill is not as good as listening to the snippets of music in the movie (I don't know why). I've never sought the soundtrack of Forrest Gump, but I hope it doesn't experience the same shortfall.

Grease, Jesus Christ Superstar and Fiddler on the Roof make good transitions from stage to movie, and the movie soundtrack is my only choice -- the Broadway soundtracks don't sound right after years of watching and listening to the movies.

I cannot watch the movie Xanadu anymore, but I still love the soundtrack.

For country/bluegrass, nothing compares to Songcatcher -- though O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a gem on its own.

Saturday Night Fever (my mom LOVED the Bee Gees and we listened to it all the time - I still love it)
Carousel (If I Loved You)
Grease (oh, the memories........)
Meet Me in St. Louis (Judy Garland sings Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas)
Lost Boys (I have no idea why)
9 1/2 Weeks (I'm glad I am not alone!)

And not a movie but I keep hoping cause the Broadway soundtrack still makes be cry: Les Miserables

"Valley Girl"
"Singles"

2 of my favorite soundtracks are from kind of random flicks:

Stealing Beauty and Dream with the Fishes. Stealing Beauty has old and new stuff and both are moving and passionate soundtracks - love them.

I totally second (or third) Garden State.

Thanks for the recs on Sophia Coppola - gotta check those out!

Mr. Ecks, I wholeheartedly agree about Dazed & Confused & can't believe it to over 90 responses before someone mentioned it!

I loved the movie so much that the very first time I saw it I rewound it (yes this was back in the good old VHS days) & watched it again right away.

There's 2 soundtracks to it BTW. Some great 70s stuff there too. Same for the Wedding Singer, they released 2 soundtracks.

Kevin Smith's flicks usually have good soundtracks too, Mallrats being a fave though sadly there's no Chasing Amy one.

This is random but the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack is really fun! Great stuff to drive to!

This is random but the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack is really fun! Great stuff to drive to!

Glengarry Glen Ross...full of great, low-key jazz horn arrangements and some sweet vocals. This is the soundtrack that introduced me to Shirley Horn. And on a completely different tip, the soundtracks to Boyz In The Hood and Juice are (to me) great samplers of hip hop in the early 1990s. I also love the soundtrack to Macross Plus; it's a genius compilation of cinematic orchestration, techno J-Pop, and some other random tidbits (there's a blues track in there that doesn't really make sense but it works anyway).

Anyone remember the movie "Cool World" -- a mixed animation/live action flick starring a newcomer named Brad Pitt? Terrible movie, but a FANTASTIC soundtrack.

My picks are:

Cool World
Pulp Fiction
Both Kill Bills
Last of the Mohicans
Fast Times at Ridgmont High (I think of this movie any time I hear "We Got the Beat")

The Big Lebowski has an amazing soundtrack, especially the Kenny Rogers accompaniment to the dream sequence, and the Gypsy Kings cover of Hotel California.

I'm astounded that nobody has mentioned Scotland, PA. The soundtrack completes the setting perfectly.

Grosse Pointe Blank

O Brother Where Art Thou has a great soundtrack, but Down From The Mountain is better (the movie of the concert of the movie)

The Blues Brothers soundtrack is also pretty amazing.

The Wedding Singer!

The soundtrack to the movie Times Square, which came out in the early 80s. I'm sure I'm the only person who ever saw that movie, but I still have that soundtrack on vinyl. It kicks ass.

I love the soundtrack for "Save the Last Dance"!!

Clint Eastwood's "Bird" and "Play Misty For Me"

Reading over the lists... someone mentioned "Porky's Revenge"... yeah, what an awesome disc. NO IDEA what the movie was like (I can guess) but the soundtrack was great... all sorts of odd stuff on there that never appeared elsewhere... Willie Nelson singing "Love Me Tender," Jeff Beck playing "Sleepwalk," George Harrison on an oddball Dylan cover ("I Don't Wanna Do It").

LA BAMBA, the Richie Valens movie with the soundtrack by Los Lobos, was pretty great.

And I LOVED the John Williams soundtracks for STAR WARS-SUPERMAN-RAIDERS. Especially because.... I was a band geek in high school, and every fall's new football halftime field show meant a new John Williams march!

A couple not mentioned yet -

Ghost World (jaan pehechaan ho!)
2001 - A Space Odyssey
Edward Scissorhands
Crumb

In no particular order:

Pump Up the Volume - Reminds me that alternative music was once... alternative

O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Any Coen Brothers movie makes great use of soundtracks, but this one is notable for how central the music is to the film, and how great that music is.

Purple Rain - nuff said.

Trainspotting - If only being strung-out were as cool as this soundtrack.

And my favorite soundtrack moment in a movie: In "Being There," when shut-in Peter Sellers leaves his home for the first time to the tune of Deodata's super-funky 2001 (Also Sprach Zarathustra). It's just effin' cool.

Here's a good one - The Last Unicorn. Almost no one's seen it, but the soundtrack was done by America in part and it's just beautiful music. It was my FAVORITE movie as a kid, and one of my favorites now. Really magical.

The Last Unicorn.

Almost no one's seen it, but the soundtrack was done by America in part and it's just beautiful music. It was my FAVORITE movie as a kid, and one of my favorites now. Really magical.

oops...but it bears repeating.

Margo:

Sorry, "Cooley High" predated "The Big Chill" by eight years. "The Big Chill" cribbed some of their songs off of the "Cooley High" soundtrack.

Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.

Mr. Ecks: Vampiros Lesbos is the best piece of music of all time. Used to have it at a place where I worked. Have been searching for a copy of it for the last seven years! Any idea how I can get a copy?

For Christopher Moltisanti, The Departed Soundtrack - RIP Christuhfuh

I love the soundtracks from-

-Clerks ("Chewbacca, what a wookie!" just kills me)
-High Fidelity (learned about great music I had never heard of before like "Smog" and "Stereolab")
-Already mentioned, but Goodfellas and Departed
-Napoleon Dynamite
-Dazed and Confused

It's frustrating when a soundtrack has most of the songs from the movie, but not all. For example, the soundtrack from "The Big Chill" does not have the Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want." I guess it's copyright issues but it's annoying. But iTunes is handy for solving this problem.

See, I don't even remember COOLEY HIGH, but I DO remember BIG CHILL. Or rather the soundtracks... I never saw the movie (looked boring).

I love the Shrek soundtracks. 10 Things I Hate About You is fun. Also like Mona Lisa Smile and the Importance of Being Earnest. One of my favorite Broadway soundtracks is Avenue Q. If you haven't heard it, check it out - you'll laugh your way through it.

Definitely "Footloose" - my very first tape cassette......

"It's frustrating when a soundtrack has most of the songs from the movie, but not all" reminds me of "American Graffiti." Here was a movie set in 1962; the aural backdrop of the movie was the nonstop rock and roll on the radio... the songs on the soundtrack were all original recordings, thoughtfully interspersed and interwoven with the action and dialogue so that it was actually almost a character in itself (George Lucas called it the movie's "Greek Chorus")... yet it still amazes me that of the 40 songs on the soundtrack, there's not ONE Elvis tune there. The reason: that shyster Colonel Tom wouldn't let Lucas use the recordings back then (when Elvis was still alive).

Ya can'ts have a movie about rock and roll in 1962 without THE KING in the soundtrack!

Another great soundtrack about that era: AMERICAN HOT WAX, the Alan Freed bio pic with Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry etc.

One From the Heart - movie didn't work, but whoever thought of putting Crystal Gayle and Tom Waits together deserves some sort of medal.

That Thing You Do

Buckaroo Banzail

5. Local Hero
4. Zorba the Greek
3. Flash Gordon
2. Pulp Fiction
1. Endless Summer

Princess Bride
A family favorite beach movie!
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Danny Elfman!

Brian: Regarding Vampyros Lesbos, check out Dusty Groove records www.dustygroove.com. They're a great record store out of Chicago and they do a fantastic mail order business. You might also check eBay. I think they have a couple of copies for sale. Good luck!

well, bogota won the thread very early with the Repoman rant... but there are a couple others.

The math behind Tarentino's choice of music is pretty established now - doesnt mean it's not a good idea, but it's mainly a dissonance factor (K-Billy's Sounds of the 70's "stuck in the middle with you" in the 'ear cutting scene' pretty much does it all first, and all the later music follows that model). It's gotten a little predictable - even if i still love it.

The O Brother soundtrack was so critical to the story in landing the odyssey in the south - and it holds up so well - it really does deserve a special place.

There were lots that took a genre of music and built a feeling... those seem to be the most popular here - the Crow or Hackers etc... i think that's pretty standard fare for hollywood though - that's what most of em are shooting for, something commercially viable rather than something that really does something different with the film (which is probably why Tarentino gets so many points for breaking the rules the way he does)

BUT - the one out of all the soundtracks posted so far that i have to just flat out agree with... Queen's Flash Gordon. Corny? Hell Yes... but Prince Vultan's 'Do you want to live forever, Hawkmen? DIVE!!!!' will only surrender it's place in my psyche when alzheimers sets in... These are the sorts of odd art-rock messes that, due to financial realities of filmmaking today, only bollywood can ever hope to emulate - and i just dont see us ever seeing anything quite so absurd ever again. In a Dadaist sense? Genius...

As for the analysis, I would agree with Flash Gordon as an immense effort that will probably never be repeated.

And with that said, I think there is a signficant distinction between the soundtracks that are compilations and those which are composed by one band or artist for the movie.

Compilations are like anthologies while the composed soundtrack is a stand alone work.

I won't make a value judgement because editing is in itself an art form. Tarantino says that he writes to the songs. I think Scorcese has said the same thing--(the difference being that Tarintino uses the music to comment on the story while Scorcese uses his to narrate). And both of these guys have created some great soundtracks--even if in some cases they aren't actually soundtracks cause you can't buy them--like Goodfellas.

And to this I would add one more category which is the soundtrack for the Concert Movie.

Stop Making Sense, The Last Waltz, Rattle and Hum, these movies where the soundtrack is the movie. What are some more good ones of those? Eddie Murphy Comedian? Is that a soundtrack? You can buy it. Three times to be exact.

And by the way, has anyone thrown out
The Harder They Come?

Punch Drunk Love - Jon Brion is excellent... "Here We Go" and Shelley Duvall singing "He Needs Me". Great Soundtrack.

I'm pretty sure I have really dorky taste in soundtracks, but here are my faves:

Flashdance
Born on the Fourth of July
The American President
The Secret of My Success
Legally Blonde 1 & 2
Sweet Home Alabama
Ice Princess

And my husband RAVES about the soundtrack from "The Mission".

Oh, and one more - I really enjoyed the music in Adam Sandler's latest "Reign Over Me". And say what you will about the movie itself but the cinematography showcasing Manhattan made this NY girl (recently transplanted AGAIN from MD to TN) cry. Beautiful. The city is the most powerful character in the movie.

Reality Bites and Singles definitely!

Two more that haven't been mentioned, both from mediocre movies:
The Beach - excellent summer music
Sliver - great early 90's electronica

Seeing several votes for both "Kill Bill" films, and I completely agree. Others that MUST NOT be ignored, whether or not the movies themselves are your bag:

Clueless
Romeo + Juliet ('90's version)
Lost in Translation

Kinda late with this - didn't go anywhere near the PC this weekend.

I agree with quite a few of these. I would like to add:

Heavy Metal - exactly what it sounds like
Vision Quest - Not so hot movie, but Red Rider (Lunatic Fringe) wakes you up.
The Exorcist - Tubular Bells rocks
The Matrix - really liked the Rage Against the Machine (Wake Up) during the credits

The one that always makes me dance (and takes me back to my late 80's glory days) is 'Some Kind of Wonderful'. I could listen to it all day long!

Speaking of a soundtrack featuring Mudhoney, check out tunes from the 90's cult classic "PCU." Opening with "Pump it Up" by 'Honey, it also features "Rilly Groovy," a mix by Beautiful People featuring Jimmy Hendrix, and an amazing George Clinton/P-Funk cover of the old Prince b-side "Erotic City." And some cool licks by Steve Vai. The movie itself is also underated -- sort of the middle movie in the college fraternity trilogy ("Animal House," "PCU," "Old School") and has a pre-Entourage Jeremy Piven at his finest.

Anyone remember "Married to the Mob" with Sinéad O'Connor, Chris Isaak, New Order, Debbie Harry, Tom Tom Club, etc.??

Second best is "Priscilla Queen of the Desert."

I'm surprised I haven't seen the Kids soundtrack mentioned yet. Dominated by Lou Barlow's Folk Implosion ("Nothin Gonna Stop", "Natural One") and supplemented by two Daniel Johnston tracks (both with Casper in the title) and culminating with Louisville's best Slint.

Next Stop Wonderland, with its smooth bossanova, also deserves a mention.

I have an obscure one ---
Living Out Loud (starring Holly Hunter, Danny Devito and Queen Latifah). The film isn't that great and not very common, but the soundtrack is great. It is a wonderful mix of jazz and standards. Queen Latifah really demonstrates that she has a true gift and it has nothing to do with rap or hip-hop. Her range and control on a couple of these difficult songs is incredible! Excellent "dinner party" music.

Late to this one, but I thought I would add a few that no one mentioned, after giving props to Grosse Pointe Blank, High Fidelity, Garden State and Good Will Hunting. OK, here goes:
Sid and Nancy-Songs fit well with the movie's timeline, captures punk feel as well as, if not better, than it would have sounded if the songs weren't done by the actors in the movie
Almost Famous-I can't believe no one else has mentioned it yet.
Prefontaine

BTW, to correct something as far as the "Fast Times" reference, it is not Mike Damone's car, it is Mark Ratner's sister's car. If you will remember, Ratner forgets his wallet, and Damone drives to the restaurant and takes the tape deck.

Harold and Maude fans -- you want the CD called "Footsteps in the Dark," which contains all of the songs from the movie.