Scenes & Songs is a feature focused on the intersection of music and film, or in this case, TV. Each installment intends to examine movies and shows that involve significant musical subject content, distinct soundtracks, or maybe even just an excellent song used for a specific scene. View all
Recently one of my high school students came into class in the exact dress as Alec Baldwin's character from Beetlejuice. It was awesome. Awesome save for the fact that he had no idea what he had done, and furthermore, no one (not a single solitary student!) had seen this classic. Obviously, I was appalled and felt that I had somehow let them down in my role as teacher.
As a means of consoling myself I went home that evening and revisited this old favorite. When I was a child I was obsessed by this film and watched the cassette tape (yes, cassette tape, that the thing we had before DVD's and Blue Ray if any of my students happen to find this post) to the point of damaging the video. In particular I loved the use of Harry Belafonte alongside the weird imagery of Tim Burton and felt the need to share these classic moments in cinema.
If you missed out on this movie thus far in your life, I hope that this teaser inspires you to fix that. First up is the scene featuring the Harry Belafonte song Day-O. Subsequently, the second scene features his work, Jump In the Line.
"Ah, well… I attended Juilliard, I'm a graduate of the Harvard business school, I travel quite extensively, I lived through the Black Plague and had a pretty good time during that, I've seen 'The Exorcist' about a HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SEVEN TIMES, and it keeps getting better EVERY SINGLE TIME I SEE IT!!!" -Beetlejuice
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