Sunday, January 3, 2010
And In The End: Movies vs. Albums
There is no question that the ending of a book or a movie can change how you view the overall piece of work. This is only fair. It’s the job of an ending to tie all the themes together and to create a lasting impression. Sometimes an ending can be so perfect that it elevates the entire movie to a higher level like my experience with Before Sunset (see my top 15 favorite movies of the decade). Other times, however, an ending that falls short of expectation or which does not match the tone created by the rest of the movie can devalue the whole experience. There’s a reason why English teachers hate the “It was all a dream” ending.
Not only is it a cliché, but it makes everything before it seem irrelevant. This ending works for The Wizard of Oz because we accept that the movie is a fantasy well before we get to the final scene. One example where an ending ruined a movie for me was Bad Santa. Until the final scene, Bad Santa was great because it positioned itself as the subversive Christmas movie. It was a movie about an alcoholic Santa Clause who cursed at children. It looked like the movie would end on this black comedy note when Billy Bob Thorton’s character is shot 8 times in front of his house. Hey, if you’re going to create the anti- Christmas movie then why not go all the way? Miraculously his character recovers, but I felt the writers of the movie made a compromise instead of following the dark tone that was already set.
This all brings me to my main question. Does the importance of the ending extend itself to music as well? Like other forms of media, great albums achieve their status because of the relationship between its parts, not just the sum of all the parts. For instance, the greatest album ever made would not just be a collection of the 14 greatest individual songs ever made because it would lack a cohesiveness that all classic albums share. Similarly, the greatest movie ever made would not be a collection of the greatest 20 scenes in cinema history. The problem is while I can’t think of many great movies that had a horrible ending, I can think of some great albums where the last track was a dud. Two examples that come immediately to mind are:
The Beatles: "Run For Your Life" (Rubber Soul): For an album that raised the bar musically and lyrically for the Beatles, it’s a shame that it ended on such a repetitive and misogynistic note. John Lennon would later apologize for writing a song in which he essentially threatens to kill his girlfriend if he finds her cheating on him. Not that I’m advocating this practice, but this theme is better served on an Eminem album because it fits in with the other songs. Appearing at the end of Rubber Soul, the song is jarring for the way it deviates from the rest of the album.
The Smiths: "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" (The Queen Is Dead): The song is so puzzling and out of nowhere that there is not even much to comment on it. The title of the song says it all. The Queen Is Dead shows Morrissey at his wittiest and most wonderfully morose. For the final song Morrissey ditches this trend by simply wondering why are some girls heavier than others and “some mothers are bigger than other girl’s mothers”. Hey, songs about girls and weight can be great ("Fat-Bottomed Girls", "Big Bottom", etc.). It’s just once again, the song is awkward and is a letdown from everything that has come before.
The point though is that despite these disappointing final tracks, Rubber Soul and The Queen Is Dead are two of the greatest albums ever. Does this mean the ending of an album means less than an ending for a movie? Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band wouldn’t be a great album if it wasn’t for "A Day In The Life" coming at the end. Put that song in the middle of the album and end it with "When I’m 64" or "Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite", and the album would suffer as a whole. It’s interesting how a great final track can elevate the entire album while sometimes a weak last song can have almost no effect on the piece as a whole.
What do you think? Are there some albums where the final song had a huge impact on whether you liked the entire album or not? Do you think albums and movies are similar when it comes to the importance of how they end?
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I think movie endings are much more important than album endings... especially nowadays since people buy singles more than they do albums. Can we count the endings of Stripes, Full Metal Jacket, Spies Like Us, etc. as bad endings if they were over 45 minutes too long?
ReplyDeleteI'd say there are two types of albums. Albums that are supposed to be viewed as one entity and albums that are just comprised of songs. With the decrease of cd sales and increase of Itunes you're right, the emphasis on singles has made the art of an album almost a thing of the past. Good point about Stripes. Or how about the end of Tropic Thunder? I loved the first 5 minutes(the fake trailers) but the last 2 hours were really bad.
ReplyDeleteLOL on Tropic Thunder. Maybe we can also discuss how good or bad beginnings can affect a movie? You've heard my rants about the beginning of Carlito's Way. I would also say that the beginning of Saving Private Ryan was so good it ruined the rest of the movie for some (I of course, was fine with the middle of it and loved the last 30 minutes as much as I liked the first 30 minutes).
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of talking about good/bad endings. I never saw Carlito's Way, but I know what you're referring to. There are movies that are still really good even if we know what's going to happen to the main character at the end. I know your objection to Carlito's Way, however,is that it was unnecessary and added nothing to the movie.
ReplyDeleteI'll think more about movies with particularly strong or bad beginnings and how they affect movies. What more can you think of?
OK, I have a lot of endings I loved, notalready mentioned...
ReplyDeleteA lot of sports movie endings have been great for me... Rocky (best ever ending of any genre for me), The Karate Kid, Rudy, The Natural, Field of Dreams (all previous on on the "chills" factor) and Little Big League for being unpredictable. For horror - Night of the Living Dead (the best for this genre), Halloween, Scream, Friday the 13th, The Blair Witch Project, and Carrie. Other endings I love (in no order)... Monsters Inc. (literally last 3 seconds), The Empire Strikes Back, The Sixth Sense (especially if you can count the car in traffic scene), Forrest Gump (counting graveyard scene as ending), Jaws, Planet of the Apes (original), and E.T.
Nice list. I have to a bit more thinking. Sports movies lends itself pretty well to great endings
ReplyDeleteWell done. Yes, an album's setlist is almost as crucial as the song's themselves (that's an exaggeration). But its comparable to a baseball lineup: the leadoff spot should be fast and exciting, like an album's first track, and the others should build on that. However, the last spot should make sense for an album that is trying to be "an album". Here are some favorite closings
ReplyDelete"Only in Dreams": Weezer, Blue Album
"We Won't Get Fooled Again": The Who, Who's Next
"Rock and Roll Suicide" Bowie, Ziggy Stardust
"All Apologies": Nirvana, In Utero
"Bold As Love": Hendrix, Axis
"Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World": Ramones, Ramones
"Caroline No": Beach Boys, Pet Sounds
"The End": The Doors, 1st Album (I couldn't leave this out)