Leonard Cohen was one of the old-school individuals that knew a thing or two about the way things used to be and managed to put some of that into his work as he made his way into the industry. He had to learn just as much as the next person but what he took from his lessons and used in his career became something of legend as at least a couple of his songs have been used over and over throughout the years in movies and in TV in ways that have been easy to recognize and even be impressed by since the manner in which at least one song has been used is easy to spot in several movies that have come out in the last two decades or less. Even TV shows have managed to latch onto Hallelujah and use it to great effect since it is a very simple song and yet one that carries a great deal of power if sung by the right person.
Here are some of the best uses of Hallelujah in TV and in movies.
5. Scrubs
In those occasional moments when things got serious on this show you couldn’t help but stop and be impressed by the actors as they went about their daily rounds and looked absolutely sincere where only minutes before they’d been pulling a gag on one of their fellow doctors or interns. This show was popular for several reasons but one of the main ones was that the unique blend of drama and comedy that makes any show a hit is something that this program managed to put into effect on a regular basis and people responded to it beautifully. It was almost a shame to see it go off the air. Actually it kind of was.
4. Sing
Mina is that character that has something that a lot of other people see but she refuses to because she’s either shy, doesn’t have a lot of self-confidence, or has been told that she’s no good by someone close to her. While we know from the movie that the third option is not the case at all the first two are definitely right on the money since she had the voice of an angel but none of the confidence to go with it. It took a lot to even get her out on the stage in the final concert and even then she really had to work her way up to a level of comfort that allowed her to just go with the flow and make it her own.
3. Lord of War
When you find something you’re good at you tend to stick with it no matter what it is because you find that doing anything else simply doesn’t make sense any longer. Yuri knew the implications of his trade, he just didn’t care since it was making him money hand over fist. It’s hard to argue when you come from having next to nothing and suddenly can pay for anything you want. But the whole idea of clinging to only the morals you want and letting everything, and everyone else twist in the wind is that one day it catches up to you and reminds you that when the smoke clears you have nothing but the reputation you’ve earned, so long as you can live with it.
2. Saturday Night Live
Kate Mckinnon has made a great career out of parodying people that the public either doesn’t like, is split on, or is just a character that she can perform without any real difficulty. Her whole act since coming on stage in SNL has been to play someone that people will either love or hate and she’s done it so well that quite honestly it’s hard to see her doing anything else at this point since she’s seemed to find her niche. She is of course a hilarious comedian and not bound by anything but her impersonations are still one of the best parts of her act that she has and in many ways have helped her to gain the level of fame she currently enjoys.
1. Shrek
It does seem at least kind of fair to say that a lot of people didn’t know what to think about Shrek when it first came out, but once people watched it the instant hilarity was enough to get them on board and make it an instant classic. To think that Chris Farley was supposed to be the voice of the big green ogre at first is something that’s interesting to hear, but thinking on it now Mike Meyers was possibly the best choice even if Farley had still been around at that point. Something about the quality of his voice and the delivery he gave for every single movie was just great enough that it seems as though it was meant to be.
“But baby I’ve been here before
I’ve seen this room and I’ve walked this floor
You know, I used to live alone before I knew ya
And I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
And love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah”
With all respects to Mr. Leonard Cohen, rest in peace sir.
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