While the age of good opening credit montages in film is largely over some films still contain great openings with wonderful uses of rock songs. First off is Zach Snyder's Watchmen based on the graphic novel of the same name. The opening credits of the film appear over several slow motion events from the alternate history of the film. Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a Changin'" plays over this look at events both hopeful and dreadful. Each shot in this sequence is used to introduce a character or display a historical event that is slightly changed by the altered timeline of events in the film. The audience is quickly caught up on what this slightly different world is like in a three minute sequence with no dialogue. The songs lyrics compliment not just the changed timeline but also the progress this world has undergone from the beginning of the sequence (that starts in the early 1930's) to the "present day" (the mid 1980s). It is one of the most efficient and interesting credit sequences of the last decade.

David Fincher's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has a more abstract opening credit sequence while still portraying the story it is going to tell. The credits appear over some sort of black liquid coming down to form people and items pertaining to the film. Computer parts, characters, and birds are among the things that show up in the sequence. The music played over it is a remake of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Son" performed by Karen O and Trent Reznor. The hard rock nature of the song lends itself to the roughness and tough subjects of the film. A female vocalist gives the music a female presence to go with one of the film's protagonist, the incredibly popular Lisbeth Salander. Like any good credit sequence it sets a tone for the audience to know what to expect from the rest of the film.

Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, like his other films, contains wonderful use of music throughout. This is present in this film from the first scene with the credits played with the fitting song "Django" performed by Luis Bacalov and Rocky Roberts. The scene is set for the film with wide shots of Django and the other slaves being dragged to the location of their next sale through all kinds of terrain. When the title of the film appears it is shown directly in front of Django's scared and torn up back, already giving the audience an idea of the horrors he has endured. Close ups of his face break up the landscape shots showing the determination that already exists in him to escape and seek vengeance against all who wronged him. All of this playing over what is basically his own theme music. This strong use of music continues through the rest of the film, with rock, rap, and instrumental all being used together.

The Rolling Stones have been around for a long time, especially for a rock n' roll band. In Rolling Stones Illustrated History of Rock N' Roll they claim "rock n' roll meant the Rolling Stones". The group had the style, musical identity, and attitude at the right time to become icons that have lasted longer than any other group of that time. What really separates The Rolling Stones from the rest is Mick Jagger's lyrical style. There are few loves songs that have come out of the band's vast song collection. Songs like "Paint it Black" and "Gimme Shelter" were not the normal happy rock fair that was coming out at the time. Illustrated History talks about Jagger's favorite subjects to write about being "decay of the upper class", sex, and even "the most accurate LSD song ever". Compared to the Beetles albums such as  Sgt. Pepper  or Abbey Road this music seemed downright dark. While other bands were too mainstream, so much so that even parents would listen to them, the Rolling Stones gave a greater outlet for the more rebellious youth. Then there was the tragedy of Altamont, a giant concert just a few months  after Woodstock with much darker connotations. A much more violent and rowdy crowd was present for The Rolling Stones than the three day festival. Their music acknowledges the darkness and problems in the world and at this huge concert they were faced first hand with it.

With such a vast history comes a long history of music being used in film and television as well as being covered by a variety of artists. War films love to make use of their discography. Apocalypse Now uses the upbeat music with downbeat lyrics of "Satisfaction". Full Metal Jacket makes good use of the mellow "Paint It Black". The comedic Tropic Thunder plays "Sympathy For the Devil" with some irony over actors pretending to be soldiers. The Rolling Stones rock sounds with their lyrics that sometimes lean to the dark and depressing side lend themselves to the mood of most war films. Over the years several covers of their work have worked their way into film and television. "Sympathy For the Devil" is especially popular to redo. The linked version is Guns N' Roses cover from 1994 that accompanied the film Interview With the Vampire. The band Styrofoam Bible also did a version for a film about vampires in the rock n' roll world called Suck. Since the lyrics are so focused on a seemingly immortal being witnessing terrible events the vampire connotation makes sense. The television show Sons of Anarchy loves the Rolling Stones, using both original versions and covers. Their best cover is one of "Gimme Shelter" sung by the show's band. The style of rock n' roll the Stone perform lends itself to the dark worlds often portrayed in the world of film and television.

The contrast between the love and hope in Monterey Pop and Woodstock and the terrible reality in Easy Rider portrays the world climate as the 60s melted into the 70s. War was ever present and impossible to escape from. Hopes and dreams of earlier years seemed to be disappearing. Before the love and peace were gone, the two above concerts films came to spread some form of cheer. Monterey Pop begins with a young girl talking about the excitement that awaits them. The whole scene exists to make people feel happy and safe. From such feelings come performances that are impossible to recreate, as Janis Joplin found out when the filmmakers didn't turn on the cameras for what was supposedly "the best performance of her career". Jimi Hendrix's iconic performance, however, was captured and exists for all of us who never had the privilege to see him live. The festival was still couple years from the true collapse of the good feelings of the 60s. Two years later and one month after the premiere of the moral smashing Easy Rider, Woodstock took the music world by storm. This festival is remembered much more by people today than Monterey Pop, and is what people refer to when they talk of the drugs and love of the 60s. What is strange about that is it really was the end of the 60s, one last hurray before it all came crashing down. Easy Rider already paved the way for what was to come and Woodstock was people's way to forget about it for a weekend. Unity, love, and psychedelic drugs ruled for one more event before  the terrible events at Altamont  would show it was all over. To this day we still celebrate Woodstock, and to a lesser extent Monterey Pop, through film, television, and song. One such instance is the 2009 film Taking Woodstock that celebrating the feelings and unity of the festival.

The extent to which Beetle mania took the nation is insane. The reading refers to it as a "pop explosion", affecting everyone in the country. No artist since has had that kind of influence on the culture, and with so much available through the Internet it is unlikely to happen again. The Beetles affected the clothing, the music, and the attitude of their audience. They weren't just a group but a phenomenon. Still today it is hard to go a week without hearing a song by them at the mall, in a film, or on a commercial. At the time the world was running on their schedule, the Sgt. Pepper release shows that. No one could play the music ahead of anyone else, less they be basically blacklisted by the record company. The Beetles had so unified the youth of the generation that as they fragmented, so too did the youth culture. Though that would have happened anyway, the disbanding of the bad certainly sped up the process.

I was not raised on the Beetles. I was aware of them and knew some their songs but my family were never fans. For me that changed when I saw Across the Universe. The film was so surreal and insane that I instantly fell in love. My adolescent self couldn't "get" the Beetles before that, but the sequences of the movie opened me up to them. Within the movie is a wonderful examination of the youth of the time, how they struggled through the changes as the 60s gave way to the 70s. The sequence I have linked to is one of my favorites from the film. It best shows the historical and turbulent story that the movie was trying to tell. The musical number here gives a look at the draft with an infusion of drug culture and some of the sexual revolution the 60s are known for today. Julie Taymor's use of The Beetles' songs to create a coherent story was very impressive. The use of their music in the film gave it the feeling of the 60s. This movie, to me, proves that the Beetles defined the 60s in a way no other musical act can.

I've always been a fan of George Lucas, his 70's work of course. I had always meant to watch American Graffiti but had never gotten around to it. The timing of the movie in my life couldn't be better. The film stands as an excellent example of using rock music in a film in its own contemporary setting. For most of the film its kids having a good time, for some of them maybe the last good time they will have together. In the end, especially with the final title cards, it is clear the film is about the passage of time and not dwelling on what has already happened. The characters must look forward in their lives and grow up. The reading talks about Lucas adding the fates of the teenagers to "drive that point home" (Flowers in the Dustbin). I'm not a teenager and I graduated high school four years ago, but college graduation is almost a bigger and scarier version to me. I knew college was on the other side of high school and I knew most people I knew would in some way would in some way still be close to me. On the other side of this next step I don't know. Curt debating whether he should get on the plane the next morning for the whole movie is something I relate to. Which plane to I get on? Where do I go from here?

The reading says that the treatment stated American Graffiti as "a musical... but it is not a musical in the traditional sense because the characters neither sing nor dance" (Flowers in the Dustbin). This to me describes what modern audiences want instead of a regular musical. Every once and a while a musical film gains popularity but on the whole they never gain mainstream popularity. The mainstream musical isn't a musical at all. The best recent example is obviously the ridiculously popular Guardians of the Galaxy that featured the characters listening to popular rock songs of the 70's and 80's. There is some singing and dancing by characters but the music is used as background and not performed by the onscreen characters. Much like American Graffiti before it the soundtrack to Guardians sold exceptionally well, being charted on Itunes for several months after its release. In comparison, last year Disney also released an actual musical Into the Woods which was only a small success and who's soundtrack sold moderately well. It wasn't even marketed as a musical. Musicals don't sell well, but musically inclined films do.

What I find most fascinating about Buddy Holly is how different he was from all the music stars we are used to.  He appears much shyer then the average rocker, he didn’t appear as often or with as much excitement surrounding him as Elvis or the Beetles. The reading even states he was never filmed outside of a few TV performances. We usually think of famous musicians as flamboyant and not the least bit shy as they bear themselves to the world. The reading describes an artist who communicated to the public entirely through his music. To me, a quiet and shy aspiring artist, it is a nice image to have. That in this world of stars being as ridiculous as possible to get seen in the public eye that maybe someone shy like me can get noticed. Buddy lived in a time before the internet but maybe the internet makes us shy and awkward artists more present and allows us better outlets to get out there.

My first introduction to Buddy Holly was through Weezer’s 1994 song appropriately titled “Buddy Holly” back in elementary school. The song was cheerful and upbeat so 8 year old me loved it. This didn’t really give me any information on the subject but we all have to start learning about things somewhere. I actually learned about the tragedy after hearing the song “The Day the Music Died” a couple years later. My dad grew up in the 70’s and 80’s and that was one of his favorite songs. My sister, who was always more willing to ask what things were or meant, asked what the song was about on a particularly long car ride. The song “Buddy Holly” lost some of its joy for me after that. Some of the lyrics had a more ominous tone and never felt quite the same. Now my youngest sister loves the song and barely knows who Buddy Holly is and the cycle continues.

Elvis has one of the most obvious presences in film of any of his rocker peers. This all started with the long and slightly questionable movie star portion of his career. As a whole the films are a terrible and disappointing show, both for Elvis and film fans. Blue Hawaii, being one of the more popular Elvis films, especially sticks out as being painfully terrible. These films were music heavy and pumped out quick. They appeased Elvis fans, made a ton of quick bucks, and were easy to make. In class we of course watched Jailhouse Rock, one of the better fare. Of course this is because it displays what Elvis always wanted to do, play a part that James Dean, his acting hero would want to portray. The movie also succeeds where others don't because it accurately echoes events that occurred in Elvis' own life, as stated in the reading.

What I find more interesting about Elvis in films is his presence in them after his death. First off there are the biopics. Kurt Russell played him not long after his death in a TV film that went through a good portion of this life. More recently was Jonathan Rhys Meyers portrayal in a detailed mini-series focusing more on the beginning of his career. There are more homage portrayals in popular films as well which aren't necessarily about the man himself. In True Romance Val Kilmer plays a character known only as the Mentor who is an obvious reference to Elvis. Not only does the main character talk about his hero constantly but Kilmer also does an impression so over the top it could be no one but Elvis. The Disney animated film Lilo & Stitch also has a character obsessed with the musician. His records are played throughout, Stitch proceeds to dress and act like him on several occasions, and his picture appears in quite a few scenes. The film even takes place in Hawaii, a little connection between the film and Elvis' own work. To me the most bizarrely interesting however is Bubba Ho-Tep.

This film from 2002 has Bruce Campbell playing our friend Elvis, fighting the forces of evil with (supposedly) JFK played by Ossie Davis. Everything about the movie is absurd. The premise is that Elvis switched places with an impersonator before his supposed demise. Now he is in a nursing home with a man convinced he is JFK and a mummy is trying to kill everybody. It sounds ridiculous but everything that defines Elvis is present. There is music of course, as well as seeing him on stage. The legend of Elvis is the very foundation on which the film is based, including those rumors that he never died at all. It is also campy fun, a new cheesy Elvis movie for another generation. It may not be the greatest movie in any sense of the word, but it is an Elvis movie, existing to carry on the stories and legends of one of the greatest rockers of his time.