Not being a sucker for love, but a sucker for romance films is a paradox in itself. Being one of two men in a room full of women, crying alongside them made it more memorable, specifically when you hear the beautiful rendition of “Casadh an Tsúgáin,” or “Frankie’s Song,” by Iarla Ó Lionáird during the food kitchen scene in the spectacular film Brooklyn. The song embodies the culture and sound of Ireland as it’s replicated in facial emotions from Eilis, the lead of the film. The traditional Irish ballad is a tearjerker with its somber strings. It’s hard not to exclaim how this song evokes everything the film centralizes on thematically, especially in the scene where it is performed. Author – Kev
Dope – “Can’t Bring Me Down” – Awreeoh
It’s already been established in the film up to this point just how obsessed the three main characters are with music, and this scene not only allows for the film to relieve itself of some of the tension it had been carrying, but also return back to the musical roots. The brief scene is over before you know it, but it encapsulates all of the good of Dope, including the often times manic energy, the vibrancy of the film and it’s sound, to the charm of the leading man. The movie’s pace and tone get scrambled through most of the playing time, but the music and how it charges up one scene to the next is always a highlight. Author – Allyson
Allyson is a New England based writer, who has been a film critic since 2012. She is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, and the Online Film Critics Society, along with being a Tomatometer approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes. Her writing can also be found at CambridgeDay.com, ThePlaylist.net, VagueVisages.com, RogerEbert.com, TheMarySue.com and elsewhere.
