It's time to talk the 2025 Oscars! Nicole and Ryan break down the 2025 Oscars Best Original Song category. There are some past winners (Elton John), a 16 time nominee (Diane Warren), 2 songs from Emilia Perez, and a nomination for Sing Sing. There's also a controversy regarding the category: none of the songs will be performed at the ceremony! Here our hot takes and see if you agree with our predictions!

DT, host of the Space Castle YouTube Channel, returns to Soundtrack Your Life to talk to Nicole and Ryan about Marc Webb's 2009 film, 500 Days of Summer. Lots of stories or heartbreak in our 20s follows since this film is a perfect backdrop for our Valentines Day episode. Tales of heartbreak, dumping someone over their bad music taste, making mixtapes, and more are shared as we dive into the time capsule that is 2009.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Welcoming Back DT and The Steve Holt Story
00:04:42 - Is 500 Days of Summer is a Revenge Film?
00:15:11 - 2009 Slang and Tropes
00:19:48 - Character Arcs or a Lack There of
00:25:29 - Mixtapes!
00:28:39 -  The Immediate Impact of the Film on Pop Culture
00:30:59 -  The Infamous Party Scene and Karaoke Choices
00:34:34-  She and Him and Hit Record
00:41:36  - The Fashion in 2009
00:44:52 - The Soundtrack and How Some of Its Bands Peaked in 2009
00:50:30 - Movies that Remind us of 500 Days of Summer
00:56:24 - Our 20s vs 30s in Retrospect
01:01:26 - Dating People with Bad Music Taste
01:07:09 - One Last Embarrassing Dating Story
01:12:09 - Thank You and Goodbye

Follow Space Castle on Blueksy!

We would love it if you would join our Patreon membership, where you will get quarterly bonus episodes, early access to our regular episodes and more!

Jen and Sarah from Movies and Us join Nicole Barlow and Ryan Pak to talk about Kogonada's 2017 directorial debut, Columbus. The film is intimate and captures smaller moments. Hammock's gorgeous ambient score is the perfect compliment to the visuals. Kogonada would follow up Columbus with 2021's After Yang and he would direct episodes of Disney Plus' Star Wars: Acoylte series.

Chapters:

• 00:00:00  Introducing Jen and Sarah and Columbus 
• 00:06:34  Initial Thoughts on the Soundtrack
• 00:12:41 Koganada’s Journey to Columbus
• 00:14:36 How Architecture and Space Play a role in the Film
• 00:22:17 Hammock’s Unorthodox Score
• 00:27:22 Thoughts on Columbus 0
• 00:37:31 The Career of John Cho and the American Pie Connection 
• 00:43:57 The Acting and the Legacy of the Film
• 01:02:22 Thank Yous and Goodbyes

Follow Movies and Us on Social Media:
Twitter
Instagram
Threads: @moviesanduspod
TikTok: @moviesanduspod

We would love it if you would join our Patreon membership, where you will get quarterly bonus episodes, early access to our regular episodes and more!

A man of many talents, Keanan Duffty is our guest for this episode. His band, Slinky Vagabond, has a new album coming out on January 14th. You can pre-order that here. He is also a fashion designer, one who has collaborated with the iconic David Bowie on his 2008 fashion line for Target. Since Keanan is a Bowie fan and collaborator, Ryan and Nicole thought it would be only fitting to talk to him about Jim Henson's 1986 film, Labyrinth. Bowie not only starred in the film as The Goblin King, Jareth, but he also wrote songs for the film.

Chapters
00: Intro to Keanan Duffty - Fashion Designer / Author / Lecturer / Rock Star
9:30 Labyrinth
22:21 Casting Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie
27:58 Theories on Bowie Never Performing the Labyrinth Songs Love / Keanan's Bowie Collaboration
36:55 The Labyrinth Soundtrack
47:21 The Puppets of Labyrinth and Reception to the Movie in UK
58:13 Bowie's Acting in Labyrinth
1:01:58 SYL Episodes with Bowie Music and References / Bowie's Film and TV Cameos
1:14:00 Closing

For More about Keanan Duffty:
Website: https://keananduffty.com
https://www.slinkyvagabond.net
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keananduffty/

We would love it if you would join our Patreon membership, where you will get quarterly bonus episodes, early access to our regular episodes and more!

Happy Holidays!
Scott Interrante of This is the Greatest Song I've Ever Heard in My Entire Life and Tara Giancaspro of xoxo Gossip Giancaspro join Nicole and Ryan to talk about The Muppet Christmas Carol, which begs the question, "Do we even like the general story of A Christmas Carol?" Our answers to that question will shock you as well our answers to "who is in your muppet big 3?" We also discuss which human should accompany the Muppets if they ever take another shot at adapting this Dickensian classic.

Chapters:
0:00:00 - 0:08:45 Intros and Guests' Connections to The Muppet Christmas Carol
0:08:46 - 0:23:04 Paul Williams and the songs of A Muppet Christmas Carol
0:23:05 - 0:39:55 Discussing the Film
0:39:56 - 0:45:03 The score of the film and The Muppets straddling the line between adult and kid-friendly
0:45:04 - 0:53:59 Who would work as Scrooge in a reboot / More thoughts on the songs
0:54:00 - 1:00:27 Actors/Actresses we'd like to see work with The Muppets
1:00:31 - 1:13:53 Our Muppet Big 3s 
1:13:54 - 1:18:01 Bespoke Muppets at Coldplay 
1:18:02 - END     Saying Farewell to Our Guests

Thank you for listening! We would love it if you would join our Patreon membership, where you will get quarterly bonus episodes, early access to our regular episodes and more!

Jim from Film Rage joins Nicole and Ryan to talk about John Crowley's 2024 film, We Live in Time. The score is handled by Bryce Dessner (The National, Big Red Machine), and this is Dessner's 2nd score for 2024, the other being for Sing Sing, which was released earlier this year. Dessner's non-traditional score is very front and center in this non-linear romance film.

(Pre)Order the soundtrack here:

Chapters
0:00:000 - 04:22/259 Show / Guest Intro
04:22.260 - 12:34.674 Bryce Dessner Bio / Initial Soundtrack Thoughts
12:34.675 - 25:59.154 Thoughts on We Live in Time
25:59:155 - 38:13:526 Bryce's work with the National vs this score 
38:13:527 - 52:20:787 The Film Rage Review of We Live in Time and Critiques
52:20:788 - 58:09.034 Needle drops and the soundtrack supervisor
58:09.135 - 1:01:50.061 Odds and Ends
1:01:50.061 - End: Closing

For More info about Film Rage:
Website: https://www.filmrageyyc.com
Twitter: https://twittter.com/filmrageyyc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/filmrageyyc

Please support Soundtrack Your Life on Patreon! Receive quarterly bonus episodes and ad-free episode downloads!

Stephen Epley, host of Music Rewind, joins Nicole and Ryan to talk about Alan Parker's 1991 film, The Commitments. The film deserverdly racked up nominations at the BAFTAS, Golden Globes and the Oscars, but it's soundtrack is what really took off in the US and around the world. It went 2x Platinum in the US, 3x Platinum in the UK, and it was a huge hit in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. It was so successful that they released a 2nd soundtrack, The Commitments Vol. 2.

The film follows a band of Irish teens that are put together to sing covers of American soul songs, "songs of the working class" claims manager, Jimmy Rabbit. This soundtrack was Stephen's gateway to soul music since in 1991, discovering music was not as simple as it is in 2024. 

We Discuss:
Alan Parker's other rock and roll projects that made him the perfect director for this film
How this movie launched Glen Hansard's journey of writing music for films
How authentic the music feels in the movie and why that is
The film's legacy even though there weren't any "breakout" stars from the film

For more info about Music Rewind:
Website: https://musicrewind.podbean.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/musicrewind
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicrewind

For bonus episodes like our end of year music episode, join the Soundtrack Your Life Patreon.

Dan Shinder, founder of DrumTalkTV joins Nicole and Ryan to talk about the 1984 Rob Reiner Mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap, and how it might be more realistic than a lot of rock biopics out there. We break down the big hair, on-stage disasters, dressing room shenanigans, and of course, THE MUSIC. From "Hell Hole" to "Stonehenge" and everything in between, Dan connects the dots between the absurd events in the film and the real life events that might have inspired them. Also, there's a small wink to Dan in the movie?!For More Information about Dan Shinder / DrumTalkTV:The Membership Program: https://drumtalktvbrilliance.com/ (Enter DTTV3FREE for 3 free months!)Website: https://www.drumtalktv.com/IG: https://www.instagram.com/drumtalktvTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/drumtalktvIf you'd like to support Soundtrack Your Life, we have a Patreon, where you'll get bonus episodes and more!

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacy
Spotify Ad Analytics - https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/ad-analytics-privacy-policy/

Pete Abeyta from the Middle Class Film Class Podcast/YouTube Channel, joins Nicole and Ryan to talk about the soundtrack to Paul Thomas Anderson's 2002 film, Punch Drunk Love. This soundtrack consists of a wonderful score by producer/composer/mad scientist, Jon Brion, who also composed the scores to films that we've covered in previous episodes like, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Magnolia. Brion also reworks the iconic "He Needs Me" by Shelley Duvall from Robert Altman's 1980 film, Popeye.We Discuss:

• How Jon Brion and Paul Thomas Anderson closely worked together on the "sound" of the film
• Why Brion's score evokes memories of old MGM musicals and why that's intentional
• Robert Altman's reaction to "He Needs Me" being used in the film
• The connection of the Punch Drunk Love score to Guillermo Del Toro's Shape of Water.

For More Information about Middle Class Film Class:Website: https://www.mcfcpodcast.com/IG: https://www.instagram.com/middleclassfilmclass/Twitter: https://x.com/podcastmcfcIf you'd like to support Soundtrack Your Life, we have a Patreon, where you'll get quarterly bonus episodes and more! Memberships start at $3 a month.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacy
Spotify Ad Analytics - https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/ad-analytics-privacy-policy/

DT, host of Space Castle on YouTube (formerly the podcast), joins Nicole and Ryan to talk about the soundtrack to the 2010 Edgar Wright film, Scott Pilgrim vs the World. That means discussing Sex B-Bomb, Crash and the Boys, Clash at Demonhead, and the real life musicians behind them like Beck, Broken Social Scene, Metric, and more!We talk about this stacked soundtrack plus:

• Edgar Wright's real life interaction that he used in the film between Lucas Lee and Wallace Wells
• The many versions of "Ramona" that Beck wrote for the film
• The 8-Bit score by superproducer Nigel Godrich
• The producer behind the Dance Ninja video game music
• The impressive list of people in this movie

For More Information about Space Castle:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL9LooNWHVGILb5fB4JJvXQIG: https://www.instagram.com/spacecastleshowTwitter: https://x.com/spacecastleshowIf you'd like to support Soundtrack Your Life, we have a Patreon, where you'll get bonus episodes and more!

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacy
Spotify Ad Analytics - https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/ad-analytics-privacy-policy/