For the past few days, my business class has been watching the movie/documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room. We all know about Enron to some degree, but this video really puts it into perspective. Not many people know this but if I didn't love music so much, there is not a doubt in my mind that I wouldn't pursue a career in stock markets or alternative energy resources, so when my professor said we were going to watch this movie, I was a tad bit excited. Here's the trailer:
Despite the movie being extremely informative (everyone should watch it and learn from it), the music in the movie was incredible! I hate cheesy placements of songs during typical movie scenes, for example during a love scene the music supervisor decides to play Barry White - come on, it's been done a million times. But John McCullough, the music supervisor for the Enron movie, places each song perfectly. One of my favorites is the the intro scene with a view of the Enron towers and the Tom Waits song "What's He Building In There" playing in the background. The lyrics "He's hiding something from the rest of us... " definitely set the tone of what exactly the world's view was about the CEOs of Enron. In this scene as well, at about 8:30, my next favorite scene is when they discuss Ken Lay and his Baptist minister father while "Son of A Preacher Man" by Dusty Springfield comes on:
The movie has all types of songs. Everything from Marilyn Manson's cover of "Sweet Dreams" to "Lovefool" by The Cardigans. Another favorite scene of mine is when they talk about the California energy crisis. Any guesses to what song they would use? Yes, it is none other than our buddies from Phantom Planet singing their ballad "California". Oh in the clip below, their phonetically spelling of "California" to "Kal-ee-'for-nyah" is to mock Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger (funny guys these directors). I recommend watching all of this clip. The tapes they found from the trading floor between Enron traders about the California energy crisis are disgusting - it's as if I'm listening to greed itself....especially around 6:15.
They also throw in at the end of the movie "Californication" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Overall this soundtrack is impeccable. Each song's original meaning was utilized correctly. Most music supervisors places songs in scenes because it "sounds" right. And though that may be the case, I really do enjoy when music supervisors places songs in scenes based up on the origination of the song - it helps the movie have comic relief (I chuckled when they played "California" by Phantom Planet) or add emphasis to a serious scene (the intro with "What's He Building" by Tom Waits). Here's a playlist of the songs I could remember in the film:
