The Opening Credits

First impressions are always the best, right?

Here's one you probably never thought about: the opening credits of a movie. An art form in itself. Many people tend to overlook the fantastic artwork and creativity of the opening credits because they are either too busy reading the names or too excited in anticipation for the movie to actually start. Think about it though: there are certain movies you know - you only have to see one frame of the opening credits and you know what movie it is. The opening credits may even contain emotions for you; the music and visuals bring back memories of your experiences with that movie and the feelings attached to it.

These cool people over at Submarinechannel.com have brought this art form to life in a new section of their site called "Forget the Films". Some of the most obscure movies I've seen, but also some familiar ones, and they're definitely all worth a look and contain some great creative inspiration. (But, doesn't the title for "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" look strangely reminiscent of the title for "Catch Me if You Can"?? )

Here are some of my most favorite movie opening sequences. What are yours?

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
WOW. This is like seriously my favorite movie EVER anyway, so I couldn't help but put this one here. All I have to hear is that first drum beat, and I know exactly which movie it is. I love these credits so much because they are simple, and they divert your attention from the meaningless lists of names with silly humor comments at the bottom of the screen (about Mooses, and then later about Llamas, LOL.) That, and this is the only existence of crediting in this movie - the end is just THE END and there are no further credits. I guess they did that for the suspense factor ;)



Napoleon Dynamite
Wow again. I could have made these credits in my kitchen (and these fools literally did!) This movie was so low-budget but it ended up being AWESOME! I have major respect for Jared & Jerusha Hess; if you watch the commentary on the DVD they talk about how they made the movie in this little town and basically bothered people to use their homes and vehicles and such to construct their "masterpiece". And it SO WAS. I know a lot of people who think this movie is ignorant, but I absolutely love it - I KNEW kids like that in school!! And that song, LOL. That is one of the best opening credits songs ever.

Much love to the people over at Submarinechannel for coming up with this great idea... Now I'll be watching all the credits as intently as I do the films!

Cr@ziness...