A Hard Day's Blog

Oh, by all means, I'd be quite prepared for that eventuality.

Jeanette DeMain

Jeanette DeMain
Location
Nashville, Tennessee,
Birthday
January 01
Bio
My bio, like my life, needs a lot of work.

MY RECENT POSTS

MY RECENT COMMENTS

Jeanette DeMain's Links

Photo Essays
Posts About Films
Posts About Music
Editor’s Pick
MAY 6, 2009 9:36PM

Favorite Opening Credits (Part 1)

Rate: 6 Flag

Sometimes the best part of the movie is the opening credits!  I think there should be an Academy Award given every year for them.  (After all, they give out a Grammy for packaging and liner notes.)  Here are just a few of my favorite opening sequences.

In the comments section, share some of your favorites with me, and provide a link if you can!

 "A Hard Day's Night".  Not only one of my favorite opening credit sequences, but one of my top 3 movies of all time.  (I'm amazed that George doesn't get trampled after he takes a nasty fall about 7 seconds in.) 

 "Catch Me If You Can".  A decent enough little movie, but these opening credits are just so stylish! 

 

 

 

"Casino Royale".  OK, I'm putting this one in for my husband.  He's really a cool guy, but he likes James Bond movies.  About the only thing I can stand about them are the opening sequences.  He says he really likes "Thunderball" for nostalgic value (plus the silhouettes of swimming naked women), but this one is his favorite.
"The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly".  Leone and Morricone.  Enough said.
I'm going to cheat and put in one from a television show, "Six Feet Under".  

Show me some of your favorites! 

Author tags:

movies, opening credits

Your tags:

TIP:

Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
Recipient's email address:
Personal message (optional):

Your email address:
Cancel

Comments

Type your comment below:
Cancel
Jeanette, there is a lot that goes into many movies opening credits. I happened to buy "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" a couple of years ago and watched it for the first time. I was so impressed that I've watched it a few more times as well as the extra documentaries that came with the DVD set so I'm happy to see that you included it here!
designanator
May 06, 2009 10:03 PM
Sorry for not knowing how to embed, but i could not watch Napoleon Dynamite's cafeteria food without a grin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjAK-o9W73Q

:-)
eastinidaho
May 06, 2009 10:06 PM
All the "Pink Panther" movies and of course James Bond circa Sean Connery.
Trudge164
May 06, 2009 10:17 PM
designanator, while I'm not a huge fan of Leone's "spaghetti westerns", I just can't deny the artistry. Those films are completely unique, the images and music iconic.

eastinidaho, I'm at work now, and for some reason, I can't get any video to play on this computer. I love Napoleon Dynamite, and I have a skirt with a strange pocket that one of my co-workers said looks like a "tots pocket".

Trudge, I considered adding opening credits from The Pink Panther. Maybe in Part 2!
Jeanette DeMain
May 07, 2009 09:35 AM
I love the opening credits from "Chariots of Fire".
Minuet
May 07, 2009 10:23 AM
I also thought of the (original) Pink Panther. And the (original) Psycho. I think those 2 and "Good, Bad, Ugly" demonstrate that great music is a huge part of great credits (opening or closing). And along those lines, I offer...Goldfinger.
Nelle Engoron
May 07, 2009 02:28 PM
and of course, Hard Day's Night! Which I now want to see again, after that tantalizing taste.
Nelle Engoron
May 07, 2009 02:28 PM
And from TV: The Sopranos.
Nelle Engoron
May 07, 2009 02:29 PM
Wow, you picked some of my all-time favorites. And thanks for the blast from Hard Days Night!
D Art
May 08, 2009 03:31 PM
You can't talk about opening credits without mentioning "Se7en". Perfection.
Sheldon The Wonderhorse
August 25, 2009 01:20 PM
Not only the Opening credits from Six Feet Under, but the opening-episode deaths! When it aired its finale, they did an hour of just OED's - Awesome!
ConnieMack
August 25, 2009 03:28 PM
and I don't know if it's the Opening credits, per se, but it's pretty darn close - The movie "Patton", made when I was in grade school, had an enormous impact on me - particularly the beginning, where the general is addressing the troops in front of an enormous flag.
ConnieMack
August 25, 2009 03:34 PM
Jeanette: Excellent choices. I'd go so far as to say Hard Day's Night was the opening credits, the theme song, for the Baby Boom generation.

A lot of the success of Sergio Leone's films can be shared with his musical collaboratoir, Ennio Morricone, whose scores were crucial elements in the beginning, middle and end.

I'd also second any votes for many of the Bond films -- sometimes the credits are better than the ensuing films. But Goldfingah is still tops, thanks especially to Shirley Bassey's belting.

As for TV, the eerie visual pastiche that opened HBO's long-gone "Carnevale" was spooky and unforgettable.
Jeremiah Horrigan
August 25, 2009 03:55 PM
I've always said a movie that doesn't catch your attention in the first 10 minuets isn't worth watching.
ocularnervosa
August 25, 2009 06:48 PM
Also, a really good one..."Secretary" with Maggie Gylennhall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28W3d3brIf0
wsavio
August 25, 2009 08:05 PM
Wonderful! "Hard Days Night" oh yes. I saw it as a child and never forgot it. I think that's when I fell in love with the Beatles. "Six Feet Under" is one of my all time favorite pieces of film.....entrancing..... "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" what can you say? And I agree with "Se7en" as well--fantastic.

Let me also add in some personal favorites: "American Beauty", "Pulp Fiction"are perfection....... back to TV Land, I can watch "Dexter" opening, spellbound each week seeing things I hadn't seen before.... and "True Blood" totally rocks and caputures creepy, voodoo, mystical, bayou.......vampires, death, hypocracy..... everything. I love it. And finally, "Working Girl" for that magic scene of breathtaking New York City.
Renee Smith
August 25, 2009 09:51 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAUJgjxNGd8

The English Patient
MiddleAgedWomanBlogging
August 26, 2009 12:03 AM