Kate is 18 years old yay!

So, uh, I don’t even really have anything to talk about, so I’m going to do a themed entry. This one is:

35 Favourite Title Sequences from TV and Film
In the order they come to me, naturally. I was going to include video games in this, by the way, but it’s arguable where title sequences actually start in video games (there’s Menus, but some games have cinematic titles. Even Metal Gear Solid 2, which has in-game titles, actually has a title sequence exempt from gameplay as well, making that even more confusing. MGS3, on the other hand, does have a title sequence. Either way though, it’s ultimately too confusing).

1. The Exorcist
Hmm, this one came to me first purely because of Liam’s 50 Favourite Film Scenes thread on Ugmo. So; this one is one of the minimalism crowd. It’s the titles, with some drum beats and wailing in the background. It’s bloody awesome, understated, and sets the tone of the film really, really well.

2. Trainspotting
And now Bown’s mentioned this one on MSN, so I’ve thought of this one. Well, this scene is practically famous now; beginning with Renton and friends sprinting down a street having nicked stuff for their addiction. It’s energetic, it’s full of life, and again, it sets the tone of a film; one that seems to glorify what we’re seeing, even though – as the film will go on to show – it’s in fact showing both sides of their drugged-up life.

3. Rugrats
Hmm, again referenced in an MSN convo, so here it is. The first probably unconventional choice on this list. If I’m honest, I’m still not sure why no-one really seems to talk about Rugrats in glowing terms. It’s easily the most innovative and genuinely original of Nickelodeon’s output, ever – though less overtly so, like Ren and Stimpy, which is probably the reason. It’s not whacky at all, and if you could accuse Ren and Stimpy for being anything, it’s being whacky for whacky’s sake (though this is a bit unfair, seeing as it was the leading light of Nickelodeon). Rugrats isn’t whacky, it’s imaginative. To make this a bit clearer; a lot of adults I know have said that the thing that frightens them most is perversion of childhood, so for instance Prussian Blue are scarier than skinheads, and a possessed child is scarier in a horror film than a possessed adult (see The Exorcist). In a sense then, what makes this so fascinating for adults is being able to see through the child’s eyes, being able to remember what childhood was like. Rugrats achieves more than that; through guesswork and imagination, it somehow makes its audience remember what babyhood was like, even though basically no-one honestly remembers being a baby. This means it’s capable of being utterly cute and completely freaky at the same time (contrast the way the kids talk with, say, Chuckie’s milk bottle – actually, The Simpsons did a similar thing with baby Bart and the clown bed). So with that in mind, the fact that the title sequence veers around the house drunkenly and retardedly from a baby’s POV means that it’s one of the most genuinely original things you’d see on TV, and in a quiet way too. (It’s also the reason that the teenage version of Rugrats, whatever the hell it’s called, is flawed right from the off, but never mind that)

4. Perfect Blue
For a film that’s based on psychological horror and the concept of idolisation of celebrity, it could come as a surprise that the title sequence is a cheery pop song that’s delivered in the usual XD-Japanese style, replete with deliciously lame lyrics, and a tone that’s not at all dissimilar from the completely-crappy kids’ anime takeoff we see at the start. And yet that’s what’s so genuinely brilliant about it; it just revels in Japanese pop in the most cheery of ways, and when viewed later, is actually fairly creepy.

[Side-note: I was going to write “Jap-pop” then, ala Brit-pop, but realised that it could come across as racist. Which is, erm, a bit... terrible. Never mind, then]

5. 2001: A Space Odyssey
Well, okay, everyone knows this one, so it’s almost pointless me talking about. Suffice to say: fantastic, powerful music, astonishing opening visuals, utter tone-setter, iconic and impossible to beat in its own field.

6. Doctor Who [1963]
I’m limiting myself here to one of the numerous title sequences that have cropped up over the years; it’s fair to say that I like nearly all of them, and usually for different reasons. But the 1963 titles were iconic, weird, experimental, warbling, and ultimately fascinating. Even the fact that the music is slightly off-beat makes them more interesting rather than less. An innovation in sound and picture for television.

7. South Park [seasons 1-3]
Having mentioned XD before, I’m now going to talk about South Park. Um, yeah. Reasons why it’s a great title sequence: it invites you to play the “Oh look, it’s __!” game without being intrusive; it perfectly presents what the series does and how the town operates; it’s a wonderfully off-key bit of hillbilly guitar slamming, so it’s both eccentric and hillbilly all in one; its lyrics are ingenious. And it even has mumbled lyrics later on. I like the show from Season Four onwards, obviously, but the changes in the title sequence and music just didn’t really work for me.

8. Frenzy
I haven’t seen enough Hitchcock (as in, all of his films) to say this conclusively, but I think it’s fair to say that, by and large, there’s a split between the emphasis in his films, from his early to his later years, and the title sequences are a great indication as to why. I’ll explain the earlier version in the next one (Rear Window), but here’s an example of a later one, made in a post-2001 environment; the opening, continuous shot over the Thames is spectacular and showy. And yet – this is why it’s brutally awesome – it isn’t at all glorifying it. Indeed, as I watched it, I wondered if the point of the sequence – which incidentally plays a very pro-British song – was one of irony and dark humour, considering the filthiness of the Thames itself. Considering the follow-on scene, I think I was right (oh man, that sounds arrogant). Frenzy is Hitchcock taking his penchant for black comedy to a tee and throwing it gleefully in the viewers’ faces in a way he hadn’t before, and the title sequence reflects this.

9. Rear Window
So, the other side of the – ahem – window. Watch Psycho, The Birds, and Rear Window, and you’ll no doubt notice that the title sequences are very basic, very old and traditional, and – indeed – very boring. At least... they appear to be. Yet considering how stylised the rest of the segments of those films are, you’d think Hitchcock would’ve changed them. The fact that he didn’t means that there’s got to be something else going on here, and I think it’s this; before he was known primarily as the master of scares, Hitchcock didn’t overtly try and tell the audience that something bad was going to happen. You could watch the openings of the films and see them as... well, Psycho could well be a heist movie, and The Birds and Rear Window could easily be farcical, comedic romps. Which is why they’re so hilariously brilliant in retrospect. To the point; choosing just one of these, I’d go for Rear Window, because of its hilariously cheerful and silly title sequence. Master of scares? Master of laughs, more like.

10. Twin Peaks
Note: I haven’t even seen any of Twin Peaks yet, but from something that Liam said, and from the opening title sequence, I (hopefully) can accurately judge what it’s about (man, when I do watch it, let’s see if I come back and leave an edit here with utmost embarrassment). Considering this is David Lynch, the utmost calm represented in it, the town feel of it – it’s almost the opposite of what I said South Park was in its emphasis. Yet I’m guessing that that’s the point; it’s a reflection of the soapy elements of the show that the residents of Twin Peaks watch – Liam said they watch a soap which is a reflection of their lives, and considering the fascination Lynch displayed for stilted acting in Mulholland Drive, I’d say Twin Peaks is the same. And on those terms, it’s really bloody excellent and clever.

11. The Simpsons
Obviously this one’s been beaten to death by familiarity – like The Simpsons itself, actually – but removing that, and perhaps your feeling that I chose this and it was all too inevitable... it’s really quite a clever title sequence. Note: it’s so perfect for the way that it introduces the characters and the town that it hasn’t really been changed at all, in the show’s very long run. That’s not because it’s “iconic”; it’s because it’s the series in a nutshell. And apart from the very awesome theme song (yes, I know, it’s boring now, but forget that), it also introduces the average viewer to the concept of the title sequence being in itself something to watch and pay attention to; there’s the couch gag, and the – uh, I don’t think there’s an umbrella title for this – Bart-writing-on-a-chalkboard gag. Futurama did the same thing later, and notice how no-one really cares. They’re funny, but they’re really just Simpsons-y, aren’t they? (A pity, cos the rest of the show isn’t)

12. Blackadder
Here’s the opposite end of the comedy section; the theme song remains constant, though varied (and it even had lyrics in the first season!), but the emphasis changes every time. From the over-the-top organ-based choral nature of the first season, to the rocking version of the second season, to the calm and considered and “intellectual” version of the third season, to the military theme of the fourth; it’s the kind of quick-fire portrayal of history that the show wouldn’t get away with if it wasn’t a comedy. As it stands, it works wonderfully.

13. The Lion King
An opening song that actually explains the “concept” of the film better than a later scene between Mufasa and Simba! You cannot help but love this, a heart-warming and astonishingly look at the Africa-as-represented in the film. It’s really awesome.

14. Star Wars
And here’s an opening that explains the background and plot of the film. You don’t honestly need to read it to get what’s going on – which is always an advantage with the films (I certainly couldn’t be bothered when I was a kid, I just liked the image of scrolling text. Hmm, must be why I write so bloody much in this) – but I actually like the background stuff of Star Wars more than its main story (i.e. give me Jedi Knight over Luke being an arsehole any day, or indeed Han Solo being a misogynist prick), so if you did want to find out more about the universe-as-shown, it’s the perfect window into it. And for those who don’t, it’s a nice image complimented by some nice music. Covers all the grounds, then.

15. The League of Gentlemen
I’ve already picked a few title sequences – usually television – that give a great deal of info about the story, setting and tone right from the off (something film doesn’t really have to do, considering audiences can’t exactly just switch off in a cinema). The League of Gentlemen is probably the ultimate example of this, and with every series it grew steadily more important; at first just a collection of gags-to-music, it became, by Series Three, gags+character+story+music. Which is really bloody impressive if you think about it. If that weren’t enough, it changes every episode (and again, by Series Three, each episode had wildly different and specific intros), and in Series Two it’s very useful for showing just how badly up shit creek Royston Vasey is paddling. It’s oh so bloody clever. ‘Course, like everything else it tried to attempt, Little Britain also tried to mimic a bit of TLOG’s title sequence in its character-show-off way (er, sans jokes, for some reason – maybe cos the jokes were repeated far too often in the programme anyway?), with a dash of pro-British-irony ala Frenzy on the way, and ultimately is far more boring.

[Side-note: Yep, I’ll try not to bash Little Britain again]

16. Monty Python: The Life of Brian
Okay, okay, you can really vouch for any Monty Python title sequence, but I’m only choosing this one because – embarrassingly, perhaps – it’s the only one I can really remember with certainty. Lovely lyrics and a brilliantly bizarre set of animations courtesy of Terry Gilliam. What more could you want?

17. Shaun of the Dead
Man, I’m doing a lot of comedies here. Okay, this one makes the list only slightly (despite how much I love Shaun of the Dead); it’s because, ala the ...of the Dead series being an attack on consumerism, Shaun of the Dead’s title sequence shows up the banality and zombification (in the dead, blank sense of the word, rather than the possessed, voodoo sense of the word. Actually come to think of it, it isn’t even really a word at all, but never mind that) of the modern world in a way that the film does as a whole. Which works, considering that the film’s a comedy, and can get away with pointing it out so overtly purely because it’s bloody funny.

18. 28 Days Later
Another zombie film. Anyway, you could be forgiven for shouting, “But this doesn’t have a title sequence!” And of course, no, it doesn’t. It’s actually an exercise in minimalism (man, I hate using that word sometimes – it really does look a wee bit pretentious); all that you see is a black screen and the words “28 Days Later”. Yup, it’s also a plot point. It works really well. Probably the ultimate in minimalist title sequences.

19. Live and Let Die
So let’s go to the other side of the fence! Whacky, slammed with bizarre images (ironically African ones, so there’s a theme developing here that I hadn’t even realised until right now) such as a skull on fire, and, of course, complimented by a really good piece of music. Just really, really fun, to be honest.

[Side-note: It’s probably fair to assume that a lot of Bond films will make it into this list, but I’m going to try and limit them as best I can]

20. Vertigo
Swirly-swirly-swirly... it’s like Doctor Who in film and, um, before Doctor Who came around. It’s also a rare example of Hitchcock going for the flashy and iconic in his titles, and, obviously if it made this list, I think it works really well.

21. The Chaser’s War on Everything
CNNN technically didn’t have a title sequence, so I’ve opted for this instead. Lucky that it’s really good, then. It’s a simple idea – show the presenters, literally target what’s in the news this week – but the simplicity is what makes it work.

[Side-note: Notice how many comedies I’ve had in this list so far? Ironic, that]

22. Cracker
Like 28 Days Later, an exercise in the “black screen with text” format. In this case, the music being played (which is never constant; Cracker never actually had a theme tune) is what shows where the, um, show is at; in Season One it’s usually ‘Stormy Weather’, but as the series gets darker and sadder, it follows suit. “Soul”, I think you’d call it.

23. Wire in the Blood
Yeah, one led me onto the other. A very short title sequence – curious, considering the over-egged flashiness of CSI and its pointless insertion of ‘Who Are You?’ (mind you, Law and Order is minimalist like Cracker; yet somehow that seems unimaginative rather than tone setting) – but stylish in the extreme. Licking flames over the broken logo. Or whatever the hell it is that’s going on, I’m not even actually sure. Either way, it looks awesome. And the way it sort of burns away into the actual show; very cool.

24. Inspector Rex
I’m not sure whether I genuinely like this, or like it for ironic reasons. A cheery opening and a lovely little song, a dog tackling his owner with fun-filled glee. And for a show that’s about crimes such as paedophilia, too. As I said, it’s either a big elaborate blackly funny joke on the Germans’ part, or it’s a wildly inappropriate bit of silly comedy. Either way, fun.

25. Hamish Macbeth
Perhaps the ultimate in the “eccentric-Britain-town-based show” titles, which is appropriate considering the show itself is the best of the lot. It basically shows shots of Hamish and his dog (look, a cop-and-his-dog theme is cropping up! I’m going to continue that for the next one, too...), but as photographs, surrounded by items that sum up the town itself in a nice little scenic way. Clever in a very quiet manner.

26. Tintin [TV]
I love this; the theme is a favourite of mine anyway, but the title sequence as a whole is great. I’m shying away from montage-based title sequences in this list (hence why I won’t list Red Dwarf, even though I really, really, really want to), but this one works really well because, well, it ties the images perfectly into the music, in terms of tone and feel. For a series that’s about showing the world, it’s very appropriate to show images of it from the series. And it ends with that lovely shot of Tintin and Snowy running.

27. A View to a Kill
A good Duran Duran song?! Only a Bond film could achieve such a thing. In all seriousness, I love this; it’s thumping, it’s fun, and it’s 80s in a really good (and I’m not saying that sneeringly) way. The use of colour is lovely too. Ironic, cos the film is fairly dull, but I do love this.

28. Casino Royale
Easily the best title sequence of recent years (even though I actually like the others, mostly); it’s fairly simple in concept, if you think about it – cards, Bond-becoming-007 – but it does it so damn well. From little details like Vesper’s face being on the Queen, to the overall amazing images of single-coloured men fighting with card-symbols and bleeding all over the place (and extra kudos for not using CGI)... it’s hard to describe it as anything but cool.

29. Napoleon Dynamite
Oh looky, I’ve found another reason to say why I liked this. Again, a simple concept – exercise books, and they’re being written in! – but just done really well. I don’t have much to say about this, except for: “thumbs up”.

30. Run Lola Run
I’m not entirely sure if this qualifies as the title sequence, but that bit where Lola runs out and you see her running on the TV screen as a cartoon – that’d be it, right? If not, ah well; I still really like it. It’s thumpin’.

31. Round the Twist
No Australian films or TV shows have made their way onto this list yet... funny that. As it happens, I’ve even got reservations about this one, cos it’s a montage. But I’m going to include it not just out of a sense of duty, not just out of nostalgia, but out of the fact that it’s off-kilter and bizarre, the fact that the images shown are really fun, and the fact that the theme song is really pretty darn silly. And in its own way, cool.

32. Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat
I remember thinking this was the most insanely fucked-up thing I’d ever seen as a kid. It just mixes in 3D, weird interruptions and music, and bizarre images, just for the hell of it. I’ll readily admit that the show wasn’t as insane as I thought it was when I watched some of it again recently, but the title sequence is still really quite strange.

33. The Full Monty
Funnily enough, the title sequence for this isn’t a group of guys stripping with reckless abandon; it’s text over one of those 50s-like “This is a place with a great future!” type documentaries. It really sets up the tone of the film in a very funny way, and is a lot bloody cleverer than you’d expect of a film that... well... is about male strippers.

34. Berserk
For a show that’s rather bleak and yet beautiful, it’s funny how strange the title sequence is – mainly due to its theme song. Rocky yet not boringly so, and with some of the most hilarious lyrics I’ve ever heard, it really is awesome. Amazingly, it works with the show rather than working against it, which is about the highest compliment I can pay to something that’s almost rudely bizarre. I love it.

35. Wallace and Gromit
I’m using that as an umbrella title, because they all revolve around the same basic thing; snapshots of Wallace and Gromit having fun, fighting, all that sort of thing, to some lovely music. And then, with each film/mini-film/whatever they are, a variation that tells you where it’s going. In fact, from The Wrong Trousers onwards, it’s pretty much been a horror title, but hey, it works for me. Loads of fun, and very memorable.

...Well, that’s 35, basically off the top of my head. I’ve probably made the mistake of leaving some wonderful things off the list, but on the other hand, here’s others I considered:

Torchwood
Red Dwarf
The Micallef P(r)ogram(me)
Just about every Hitchcock and Kubrick film

And Now for Some Truly Shit Title Sequences:

Family Guy
God, even the fucking title sequence is a parody. Annoying and smug, it’s ironic and biting in a way that only really serves to piss me off. And at the end of the day – even including the really dull song – what does it actually do? Well... it shows, through irony, that Peter Griffin isn’t a perfect father for the household. Wow. Original. Dare I mention The Simpsons, but... oh to hell with it, this show is just a crap, utterly irritating, slightly ruder version of The Simpsons! Why the hell is it so popular?

Pokemon
Everyone fondly remembers this, but really, it’s actually shit. It’s posturing: Ash is shown in a light that makes him seem... I dunno, like a twerp from AC/DC. It’s sentimental: it tries to show Ash and Pikachu as great friends, and fails miserably because we don’t have any reason to care. It’s determined: “I’m gonna be the Pokemon Master”. Well, good luck with that, I don’t really care. Okay, it’s catchy, but that’s hardly an excuse. Really, it’s terrible. Later versions of the titles were the same only less memorable: “We all live in a Pokemon world, I’m gonna be the Pokemon Master”. Okay, thanks for that.

[Side-note: It even seems to be weirdly condoning slavery in its own way, but I’ll leave that be for now...]

Pokemon: The Movie
Yep, the movie gets a mention too! In this case, it isn’t when it says “Mewtwo Strikes Back” (which is, barring the name, pretty darn cool; I remember thinking the opening scenes were really cool, and this from a kid who always knew the show was terrible); it’s the bit afterwards, where Ash fights another trainer. People who know me well will probably have heard me laugh about this inanely before, but it’s worth repeating, I feel. I mean, it plays the theme tune, but remixed in a way that’s even more cloying and irritating and pretentiously male. What’s really stupid about the whole thing is how it shows the battle between the two trainers, which – *puts nerd hat on and turns sideways* – doesn’t even make sense. Squirtle manages to beat a Machamp with Bubble. Bulbasaur charges and uses a Solar Beam in the one turn. The trainer sends out three at a time. Pikachu manages to beat all three with a Thundershock, including a Golem who can’t even be affected by the fucking move. God, it’s stupid. God god god god god.

[Side-note: Yeah, alright, I know how sad that makes me look. Leave me alone, would you]

Friends
*vomits*

...No, okay, I’ll bother to talk about this one. It’s essentially set to a song that tells us that these people are friends – it’s not even worth being sarcastic at this point – and shows them mucking around and having a good time. Since we’re not their friends, I can’t work out why I’m supposed to care. Even more irritatingly, for all that they’re supposed to be “normal people” who are reflections of us... the title sequence ends with them dressed up at some sort of formal, posing, in front of fountains. Maybe that’s appealing to some people, but the idea of normalcy being represented by ridiculously attractive people who never really come into any harm that pose at a well-to-do formal is... well, it’s worrying. I’ll leave it at that.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Disregarding the actual show for a moment... I just really dislike these titles. Firefly’s titles basically tell you, with a country twang, about the loneliness of the main characters; Buffy’s titles basically tell you that they’re butt-kicking teenagers who are “cool”. Just listen to the theme song. Predictable, dull, and absolutely annoying. If anything can turn someone off the show, it’s the title sequence.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
The only Bond film that’ll make this list (yes, Die Another Day has Madonna, but on the other hand, the titles themselves are fantastic). Annoyingly, the theme tune for this is really catchy and wonderful. It’s just the titles themselves which are terrible; an hourglass shows clips from the previous movies. At the time, it was done – ala the “This never happened to the other guy” line – to reassure audiences that it was the same product. In retrospect, it just looks like a crap clip-fest that’s really rather irritating. So much for going out in a new direction, then. Lucky the film itself is a lot better.

Lust for a Vampire
Look, a carriage! Oh, um... why have we frozen on it? Oh god, pink text. In fact, “oh god” is probably my reaction in general. It’s hilariously crap.

Silence of the Lambs
Okay, this isn’t “truly shit”, but it annoys me. Maybe irrationally. As far as I can see, it’s ugly blocks of text wedged onto footage of Jodie Foster on an obstacle course. Which is basically completely irrelevant; it’s not even conceptually apt.

Aaaand, on that controversial note, I’ll end it there. I felt like slamming Days of Our Lives and such, but couldn’t really find the energy. It’s not like I even really need to slam them, is it?

[By the way, this is probably going to end up being developed as a weekly sort of thing; like, a Top 50 something-or-rather every day. So look forward to that, or punch the wall; whichever response is more apt for you personally]