This week in history: 30th December – 5th January

A large blue magaicians hat at the entrance of Disney's Hollywood Studios.
A large blue magaicians hat at the entrance of Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Taking inspiration from Disney’s ‘Fantasia’ the hat represents the new age of Disney Hollywood Studios

On January 5th, Bradley Cooper and January Jones were born in 1975 and 1978 respectively. For those who are slow on the maths side of things that makes Cooper, star of Silver Linings Playbook and the highly anticipated American Hustle, 39 years old tomorrow. And January Jones, star of the hit show, Mad Men will turn 36.

In 2010, the box office flop Did You Here About The Morgans? starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant hit UK cinemas. Grossing only £50 million worldwide, this movie definitely didn’t kick 2010 cinema off to a good start.

American Psycho starring our beloved Batman, Christian Bale, premiered in 2000 at the annual Sundance Film Festival.

The eighth most-popular theme park in the world changed its name on January 5th 2008 to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. For almost 15 years, the theme park was known as Disney-MGM Studios. The theme park takes inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. The name change was done to reflect ‘how the park has gone from representing the golden age of movies to a celebration of the new entertainment that today’s Hollywood has to offer’.

Do you have any interesting facts or trivia that you want to share with us? If so, tweet us @Inside_Film!

The best uses of music in modern film

Christian Bale's character Patrick Bateman stood next to a tape player, wearing a rain coat.

Every now and then a piece of music fits with a film so perfectly that it’s hard to imagine the scene without it, and you can’t hear the song without thinking of that perfect moment.

In no order, here are our top 5 perfect music-film combos:

1. American Psycho – Hip to be Square (Huey Lewis and the News)

The combination of the fantastically upbeat song and the absolutely bag-of-cats mad scene equals a winning combination. Bonus points for the lyrics matching Patrick Bateman’s ideals perfectly – he conforms to the stereotype but hates it, hence the bloodthirst. A sick kind of comedy, but it works.

2. Shaun of the Dead – Don’t Stop Me Now (Queen)

This scene reflects the idea of the film perfectly – a zombie comedy. The hectic sound of the track gives the already crazy scene even more energy, and it just makes the scene so much funnier.

3. Trainspotting – Perfect Day (Lou Reed)

Like Tarantino, Danny Boyle does a fantastic job of matching music to the perfect moments in his films. There is no better example of this than the use of this tune as the soundtrack to Renton’s overdose. At the same time it’s calming and disturbing, familiar and terrifying.

4. Fight Club – Where is my Mind (Pixies)

You could say this was the obvious choice to end this bonkers film with, but there’s no denying it – it just works. Kudos to Mr Fincher for this fantastic choice.

5. Closer – The Blower’s Daughter (Damien Rice)

This really is the ultimate song for this emotional rollercoaster. A beautiful song for a beautiful film, this Damien Rice classic completely sums the film up. “And so it is, just like you said it would be”. At the beginning you think it’s setting you up for a lovey-dovey romance, but it’s so much more. Hold on while I have a little cry.

So what do you guys think? If you’ve got any more ideas for us, stick them in the comments below!