What was the sound of 2024 to you? Maybe a duet between Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, or perhaps a heartbreaking recapitulation of an eighties synthpop classic?
The end of the year means one thing: it's Spotify Wrapped season. Here's a quick glimpse at Cineworld's.
Holding space for Defying Gravity since November... 💚 pic.twitter.com/GbtHsveNP3
— Cineworld (@cineworld) December 5, 2024
In line with all the fabulous movies this year, there have been some equally fabulous needle-drop song choices. Scroll down to discover our favourites and see if yours made the grade.
1. All Of Us Strangers ('You Were Always On My Mind')
The Pet Shop Boys' euphoric take on the Brenda Lee classic is recontexualised as a moving anthem of loneliness and melancholy in Andrew Haigh's devastating drama, starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal. We're still crying now, nearly a year after its release.
2. Mean Girls ('Meet the Plastics')
The world of high school may be bitchy but the tunes are so fetch. Tina Fey re-imagines her 2004 teen movie classic as an all-singing, all-dancing musical, and Regina's showstopping introduction to the cliquey Plastics is easily our favourite moment in the film.
3. The Color Purple ('Miss Celie's Blues')
Alice Walker's powerful exploration of 20th-century African-American identity was first realised by director Steven Spielberg and in 2024 the Broadway adaptation made its way to the screen. Taraji P. Henson's emphatic delivery of the blues standard 'Miss Celie's Blues' comes close to stealing the show.
4. Bob Marley: One Love ('One Love/People Get Ready')
Actor Kingsley Ben-Adir undergoes a remarkable transformation into the reggae icon Bob Marley. Ben-Adir's commitment was such that he performed his vocals live, which were later mixed into archival recordings of Marley's original voice. In the finished product, it's genuinely hard to spot the joins.
5. Perfect Days ('Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay')
Otis Redding's irresistible vocals embody the soul of Koji Yakusho's unassuming toilet cleaner in Wim Wenders' quietly emphatic drama. Yakusho's character cruises the city with a sublime array of mix tape classics, and Redding's early appearance sets the warm tone for what's to come.
6. Back to Black ('Love is a Losing Game')
The heartbreaking story of Amy Winehouse gains much strength from lead actor Marisa Abela who deploys her own vocals in the film. On the soundtrack, the archival recordings of Winehouse are preserved and this tender, underrated gem radiates wisdom beyond the singer's sadly truncated years.
7. The Fall Guy ('I Was Made for Loving You')
Who spotted this anthemic Kiss riff in the background of Dominic Lewis' score for The Fall Guy? It's in there throughout before it's eventually covered by YUNGBLUD, and anchors Ryan Gosling's adorably hapless stunt-guy-turned-action-hero in a seriocomic world of his own.
8. Longlegs ('Bang a Gong Get it On')
Nicolas Cage is a faded glam rocker gone to demonic seed in Osgood Perkins' insidiously menacing serial killer thriller. The movie also sports an appreciably dark sense of humour, as the unexpected end credits swerve into T-Rex-led glam rock demonstrates. No doubt Longlegs himself would have approved.
9. Deadpool & Wolverine ('Bye Bye Bye')
Deadpool makes his Disney debut and the MCU lunges into 15-rated depravity in the third Deadpool movie. The film nails its colours to the mast immediately with a darkly comic opening slaughter/credits sequence as Ryan Reynolds' mouthy merc dispatches a host of goons to the sound of N-SYNC.
10. Trap ('Don't Wanna Be Yours')
It's Psycho by way of a Taylor Swift concert in M. Night Shyamalan's latest high-concept venture, in which Josh Harnett's arena-attending psycho finds himself at the centre of a police sting operation. Playing the film's fictional, crowd-pleasing pop star Lady Raven: Shyamalan's musically-included daughter, Saleka.
11. Kneecap ('Guilty Conscience')
The provocative Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap plays themselves in this riotous music biopic, which melds a desire for Irish language preservation with all manner of pulse-pounding, rowdy humour. The lads are all terrific performers and their inherent proximity to the music ensures that the set pieces resonate with raw, authentic energy.
12. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ('MacArthur Park')
Donna Summer's smash-hit disco cover of the 1967 Richard Harris-led number elevates the standout scene from Tim Burton's Beetlejuice sequel. We were wondering how the Banana Boat song sequence from the original film would be topped. This year, we got the answer with some hilarious possessed choreography taking place inside a local church.
13. Joker: Folie a Deux ('If My Friends Could See Me Now')
Todd Phillips' controversial Joker sequel reimagines the DC villain's origin story as a disturbed, fragmentary musical that dips in and out of reality. Joaquin Phoenix's Arthur Fleck and Lady Gaga's Lee bond over their shared love of retro music standards, augmented by DP Laurence Sher's atmospheric lighting that pays deference to a bygone age.
14. The Wild Robot ('Kiss the Sky')
DreamWorks' uplifting animation was one of 2024's great surprises, an emotional and truthful account of sentience versus programming, and robotics versus love. Singer Maren Morris' vocals take centre stage (with help from composer Kris Bowers' orchestral arrangements) as Lupita Nyongo's robot Roz and Kit Connor's gosling Brightbill cement their bond.
15. Smile 2 ('Blood on White Satin')
We've just realised that 2024 was a very good year in terms of actors playing musicians. Naomi Scott steps up to the plate in Parker Finn's terrifying Smile sequel, playing Taylor Swift-esque pop star Skye Riley who finds herself accosted by the horrific smile curse. Scott's authenticity during the performance sequences invests us further in Skye's emotional battle.
16. Wicked ('Defying Gravity')
If there's one song that defined 2024 movie playlists, it's this one. Stephen Schwartz's uplifting anthem of empowerment and identity is given a resounding performance by Elphaba actress Cynthia Erivo. Singing live, she dispatches us from Wicked: Part One on a note of euphoria, excitement and also tension as to where her character is destined to go next.
17. Moana 2 ('Beyond')
How far will you go to listen to the Moana 2 soundtrack again? Songwriter and Hamilton legend Lin-Manuel Miranda gives way to Barlow and Bear for Disney's Moana sequel while composers Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa'i are retained.
There are so many more fantastic movies coming in 2025, so have you joined Unlimited yet? You can reap the benefits of unlimited movies, plus 10% off snacks and drinks and more. Sign up via the link below.
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