Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1126636
60 DGA QUARTERLY PHOTOS: (ABOVE) IFC FILMS; (LEFT) EVERETT a glimpse into a character's psychology or connect with a bygone time or place. They found a muse in Blossom Dearie, the witty jazz and cabaret singer of the era. "For some reason, Blossom Dearie almost never fi ghts the texture," says Dan Palladino. "It's the spare arrangements, the way she sings as if she's speaking." AmySherman-Palladino adds:"If (title character) Midge was a singer, I feel she would be a Blossom Dearie-like singer. There's that sort of a wink and a nod to her that just feels so perfect." David Chase set the gold standard for television in the early 21st century by using music to fit the taste of the characters on HBO's The Sopranos rather than the show's producers, mixing together the work of rappers, including Ja Rule with Dean Martin's crooning,Andrea Bocelli's rendition of"Con Te Partirò" and a healthy dose of classic rock. "Not everything should be a cool song," he once said. In films, though, the most pointed use of songs are the ones people remember: Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" blasting out of the boom box in Cameron Crowe'sSay Anything, Mike Myers and Dana Carvey rocking out to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody " in Penelope Spheeris' Wayne's World, the instrumental refrain of "Layla" over the summation of Scorsese's Goodfellas. Then there's the clever use of a not-so-cool- song—"Stuck in the Middle With You" in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, or Huey Lewis and the In American Psycho, Mary Harron's use of Huey Lewis and the News' "Hip to be Square" during a murder scene was inspired by Bret Easton Ellis' novel. "Because it is a Charles Manson story, you have to use music of the time, but it has to set a tone." —MARY HARRON On Charlie Says