Top 25 Musical Sequences

This is a small little list I concocted earlier today. This isn't the countdown list I talked about earlier. It's my 25 favourite musical sequences. Now I obviously haven't seen every musical ever, but whatever. I was bored this afternoon.

I excluded performance scenes. In that it’s just a character on a stage singing a song (like you would find in a lot of non-musical genre movies) – I did include Cabaret though because these scenes are treated as big musical sequences. So this unfortunately meant stuff like “Llorando” from Mulholland Drive was inneligable as was the Prince film “Purple Rain” (even though, again, it’s not actually a performance film it is essentially Prince doing a concert). I also excluded performance films, so that meant “Fosse”, David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” and the Elvis documentary “Elvis: That’s the Way it Is” were all inneligable. I also excluded movies I haven’t actually seen all of. So that means any number of fabo bits from the “That’s Entertainment!” films were inelligable.

Lastly, I decided to exclude dance sequences. In that, that’s all it is. Dancing. A scene had to have singing for it to count. Unfortunately that cancelled out most Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers numbers, the finale of “An American in Paris” and movies such as “Tango”, “Bring It On”, “Strictly Ballroom”, “Billy Elliot”, “The Tango Lesson”, “Pulp Fiction”, “Romy and Michelle” and “The Red Shoes”. Sequences from some of these movies would’ve made it, but I thought it was a bit unfair. But you can consider them honourable mentions.

Now I know I’m going to be missing a few from the films I have seen, and also from the films I have not – but what are you going to do? I’m all the way over here in Australia (the south, too!) and you’re over wherever you are! Try and catch me…

There were also some movies that had sequences that unfortunately didn’t make the top 25. They are “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”, “Bugsy Malone”, “Singin’ in the Rain”, “Romeo + Juliet”, “Evita”, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”, “Victor/Victoria”, “The Producers”, "Blues Brothers", “Dick Tracy”, “Everyone Says I Love You”, “Topsy Turvy” and “Stonewall”. Plus a few other song selections from movies that already appear in the top 25.

And now, to begin with the countdown…


25. From Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More With Feeling, "I've Got A Theory" - Performed by the Cast of Buffy the Vampire Slater


Uber-fun song and the scene is a killer to boot. But the cherry on the cake is Anya's "BUNNIES, BUNNIES, BUNNIES, IT MUST BE BUNNIES!!!" What do they need such good eye-sight for, anyway?

24. From Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" - Performed by Marilyn Monroe


Has become a musical classic even if the song isn't the greatest. The scene itself is just pure bliss. Marilyn in THAT pink dress surrounded my doting men. The song has a life of it's own, but Marilyn made it perfect. Honourary Mentions for the same song: Jane Russell's own version in the courtroom from the same film, and Nicole Kidman's high-wire version in Moulin Rouge was extraordinary, but I went with the original.

23. From Dancer in the Dark, "Cvalda" - Performed by Björk, Catherine Deneuve & Chorus


The most upbeat number of the movie is my second fave from the movie. The scene is wonderfully choreographed and performed from the opening boom-clatter-smack-bam all the way to the end that brings us back to (sad) reality.

22. From Chicago, "When You're Good To Mama" - Performed by Queen Latifah


The second Queen Latifah stormed into this movie a huge giant grin emerged on my face. What a wonderful sight she is. And with a set of lungs like that, she owned the role. And how about getting an Oscar nomination all because of this one song (you know that's why). Way to go.

That's all for now. I am going to see Inside Man. Yay.