Andy Serkis Went Through Extensive Makeup For Long Shot, Despite Nobody Asking Him To

Andy Serkis Went Through Extensive Makeup For Long Shot, Despite Nobody Asking Him To

Since his breakout role as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Andy Serkis has established himself as one of the most brilliantly transformative actors in modern Hollywood. Obviously a big part of it is his dedication to and expertise in the world of performance capture, but even when it comes to his “live-action” parts he rarely appears as he does in everyday life.

All that being said, you wouldn’t necessarily expect him to bring that same kind of energy to a role in a comedy like Jonathan Levine’s Long Shot, and yet he did… with absolutely nobody actually telling him to do it.

I learned the full story about Andy Serkis’ serious commitment when I attended the Los Angeles press day for Long Shot late month and had the pleasure of sitting down with the director and stars. Having gotten word about Serkis’ special initiative in the making of the movie, I first brought up the actor’s work during my interview with Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron, and both of them expressed their genuine surprise about their co-stars’ transformation into the role of Australian media mogul Parker Wembley:

Seth Rogen: We offered him the role, and then he was like, 'Okay.' And then he started sending ideas for what he would look like. And we were like, 'What do you mean? I thought he kind of looked a lot like Andy Serkis.' But he was like, 'No, I got this whole thing.' And we were like, 'Whatever, man!'

Charlize Theron: It was impressive!

The same sentiment was echoed later by Jonathan Levine, who confirmed that nobody actually asked Andy Serkis to sit in the make-up chair for many hours each day so that he could fully embody his vision of the character. At the same time, though, the director ultimately came to the realization of what the actor was doing, and got to understand the importance of physicality in the parts that Serkis takes on. Said Levine,

Andy Serkis made choices that nobody asked him to make, and that sounds like a negative thing, but as a director, actually, that's one of the most beautiful gifts you can give a director. Because he really dove into the character, and he really wanted to make it his own. The biggest thing was that he decided to be in prosthetic makeup for six hours a day. But you start to realize that this is how Andy Serkis accesses characters. If you think about Andy Serkis' career, it's facial expressions; it's very primal stuff. And so that really helped him figure out this guy.

In Long Shot, Andy Serkis’ Parker Wembley is basically halfway between Rupert Murdoch and Richard Branson, and is quickly introduced to the story as an antagonist. He winds up purchasing the independent newspaper for which Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) works as a reporter, and because Flarsky disagrees with Wembley’s politics he decides to quit. This quickly establishes legitimate conflict, but his role becomes more substantial because of his interest in gaining influence over Secretary of State Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron), who has ambitions to run for President of the United States.

Andy Serkis’ level of devotion to his craft should be obvious to this point, but what makes the whole thing even more jaw-dropping is the extra detail that Seth Rogen dropped during our conversation. After all, it’s one thing to be willing to sit in a make-up chair for six hours every day, but the choice becomes even more extreme when you learn that sometimes he would go through the entire process and then not shoot a single frame of footage:

Seth Rogen: It was ridiculous! And there were some days, because it was self-inflicted, there were some days - and this happens a lot of movies - where you think you're going to shoot a scene, and then you don't, and then you shoot it the next day or something like that. And he would go through like six hours of makeup or something like that, and then we would just be like, 'Oh, we're not to do it today.' And he's just like, 'All right!'

Charlize Theron: He was fine!

Seth Rogen: You're just like, 'Dude! Like, wow.' He's truly one of the nicest dudes in the world, which is weird cause he like exclusively plays evil people. [laughs]

This is pretty insane to think about, particularly when you consider that actors regularly complain about the process of going through extreme transformations – but perhaps it’s a bit like taking long car trips: if you go on them regularly enough, eventually you just kind of get numb to their monotony.

You'll obviously be able to see Andy Serkis' full performance in the film, but he can briefly be spotted a couple times in the trailers - the first being in the screenshot above, and a second time in the shot below:

Regardless of exactly how Andy Serkis was able to put himself through that painstaking process in the making of Long Shot, at the end of the day it was something for which Jonathan Levine expressed extreme admiration and appreciation. Said the director,

It was amazing for us, because for me it reminded me of Coming To America or Dick Tracy, you know - movies where you're like, 'Who is that guy?' and that part of it becomes part of the fun of the movie. So it was always came from a fun place, and it was always consistent with what we were going for tonally. What's great about Serkis is he's a director too, so he knew he wasn't like 'going rogue.' It was a collaborative decision, but it was one that I was just kind of like, 'Dude, you really want to be here six hours longer than you have to?' I love directing, but you know, as soon as that whistle blows, I'm out the door. [laughs]

You can watch Seth Rogen, Charlize Theron, and Jonathan Levine discuss their time working with Andy Serkis in the making of Long Shot by clicking play on the video below.

Also starring O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ravi Patel, June Diane Raphael, Alexander Skarsgard, and Bob Odenkirk, Long Shot is a romantic comedy that ultimately follows the relationship between the aforementioned Fred Flarsky and Charlotte Field, the latter having previously been the former’s babysitter. After losing his job, Flarsky winds up becoming a part of Field’s speechwriting team, and while he starts to learn how to not constantly get in his own way, she is also inspired to stand up for the ideals in which she believes. It’s one of the best comedies of the year so far, so be sure to look for it in a theater near you when it’s released this Friday.

Shazam!’s Director Got A Suit Made Of The Same Material As The Hero’s Costume

Shazam!’s Director Got A Suit Made Of The Same Material As The Hero’s Costume

If you’re going to be a superhero, you’ll need a cool costume, and Shazam, a.k.a. the crimefighter previously known as Captain Marvel, has one of the coolest costumes in the DC universe. Naturally a lot of time and energy was spent making the World’s Mightiest Mortal’s outfit look as impressive as possible for the Shazam! movie, and it turns out that the material used for that costume was also used to make a special Shazam suit for director David F. Sandberg. Check it out!

Normally when a superhero movie is done shooting, the costumes are put in storage, so it stood to reason that neither David F. Sandberg nor Zachary Levi would be able to take the Shazam outfit home with them. However, evidently that doesn’t prevent one from having an actual suit made from the costume’s same fabric from being commissioned, and Sandberg was given such threads by costume designer Leah Butler. She even went supplied Sandberg with a bow tie made from the same material as the cape. The ensemble might not be a great look when it comes to fighting bad guys, but the filmmaker definitely looks dapper in this Instagram picture.

Alas, David F. Sandberg won’t be wearing this special suit to the Shazam! premiere, and I don’t blame him. Although it looks good, I imagine it would be quite uncomfortable to wear for however many hours that event lasts. Still, it’ll probably hold a prestigious spot in Sandberg’s closet, and maybe he’ll put it on every now and then when recalling his time working on Shazam! Personally, I’d purchase a large glass display case and place the suit in there like it’s one of Batman’s costumes.

As for the main Shazam! costume, 10 of them were made and cost about $1 million each to make. David F. Sandberg explained a lot of work went into making the costume look just right, which required testing different shades, fabrics, lightning bolt shapes, etc, hence the hefty price tag. The end result is a Shazam costume that looks a lot like what the hero has worn in the comics and other media projects, although Zachary Levi confirmed that it’s not pleasant wearing the costume, mainly because it’s inconvenient when needing to use the bathroom.

Inspired by various eras of Shazam’s comic book history, the Shazam! movie chronicles Billy Batson’s origin story, as just like on the printed page, he meets the mysterious Wizard and is given the ability to transform into an adult superhero who has powers like super strength, electricity manipulation and hyper speed. However, Billy won’t have long to get the hang of these powers, as he’ll have to fight Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, who has obtained his own magical abilities.

Shazam! will work its magic in theaters on April 5, but be sure to read CinemaBlend’s review of the movie. Don’t forget to also look through our DC movies guide to learn what else the superhero franchise has coming up, as well as our 2019 release schedule to see what other movies are hitting the silver screen later this year.

Shazam! Box Office: The DC Hit Repeats And Bests All Newcomers

Shazam! Box Office: The DC Hit Repeats And Bests All Newcomers

This weekend saw a big number of wide releases hit theaters in a broad variety of genres... but none of them had the power to take down the latest entry from the DC Extended Universe. David F. Sandberg's Shazam! premiered last week with numbers that exceeded expectations, and this time around the film managed to stay at the number one spot courtesy of a modest drop and a general lack of interest in anything new. You can check out the full Top 10 below, and join me after for analysis!

Despite the fact that there were four new wide releases competing for attention, Warner Bros. felt enough confidence in Shazam! to add it to another 89 theaters nationwide this weekend, and things worked out well. It's now the fifth DC Extended Universe release to earn multiple box office crowns, and the second in a row to claim two straight top spots after Aquaman. The movie is now just a few days away from becoming the seventh nine-figure domestic release to come out so far in 2019, following in the footsteps of Captain Marvel, Us, How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Glass, and The Upside.

Shazam! is not exactly setting records, and it's on pace to become the lowest grossing film released from the franchise so far - but not every title needs to be a ridiculous home run, and with a more modest budget of $100 million it is definitely going to be ultimately considered a profitable success. Internationally, the blockbuster has made $221.2 million to date, and it's likely that it could maintain the number one spot until Avengers: Endgame hits at the end of the month. It's clear that audiences are enjoying it, and positive word of mouth could keep it afloat and slowly filling its coffers in the weeks to come.

While things are looking bright for the future of Shazam!, however, Hollywood on the whole cannot be happy with how things turned out for the rest of the slate. Whether it's because they're saving money for summer blockbuster season, or just didn't like what was offered this weekend, people just weren't big on buying tickets for showings on the big screen the last three days. Of the new releases, the biggest positive was Tina Gordon's Little, which started its run with $15.5 million and a "B+" from CinemaScore, but it fell way short of being able to compete with Zachary Levi's superhero. It's possible that it could continue to do modestly in the weeks ahead, eventually making its $20 million budget a bit smaller, but don't expect it to turn out as a sleeper hit.

It sadly only gets more depressing from here. Shazam! also saw some fellow comic book-inspired competition hit theaters this weekend, but Neil Marshall's Hellboy is shaping up to be a massive flop. Sure, nobody was ever expecting it to make Marvel or DC money, but Lionsgate must have been hoping for something a lot better than the results above. Making $12 million in the first frame for a $50 million movie is seriously bad news, and this isn't exactly a release that is going to get a boost from a positive wave of buzz. Not only have critics been absolutely brutal, but audiences don't seem to be digging it much either - with CinemaScore calculating a "C" grade for it. And in case you were wondering, the totals are far less than the numbers that Guillermo del Toro's two features put up in 2004 and 2008 respectively, when they made $23.2 and $35.5 million in their openings.

Moving down to eigth place, Jenny Gage's romantic drama After also didn't manage to sell many tickets despite the fact that it was released in more than 2,000 theaters nationwide. It's the second less-than-stellar opening we've seen for Aviron Pictures so far in 2019, as they also put out Steven Knight's Serenity this past January. The new release made about $2 million less than the Matthew McConaughey-Anne Hathaway thriller, but also didn't have anywhere close to the same kind of star power. This probably goes without saying, but you probably won't be hearing much about After in future installments of this box office column.

Finally we have the biggest bummer of them all: Chris Butler's Missing Link. Despite positive reviews, the latest release from Laika Studios completely failed to find an audience this past weekend, and as a result it was left barely clinging to a presence in the Top 10 this weekend. It's super sad given that Laika has been producing some of the most jaw-dropping animated features around for years now, but they just can't seem to get any attention from mainstream audiences. The numbers make it the weakest release we've seen so far from the studio, and as a result we could see some seriously sad developments unfold.

Coming up next week we have two new wide releases in store for Wednesady - specifically Roxann Dawson's Breakthrough and the Disneynature documentary Penguins - and Michael Chaves' The Curse Of La Llorona coming on Friday, so be sure to come back next Sunday to see how they shake up the Top 10.

Avengers: Endgame Made Chris Evans Choke Up Three Times

Avengers: Endgame Made Chris Evans Choke Up Three Times

In less than one month, Avengers: Endgame will be in theaters. Marvel is hyping this one up like crazy and fans have been readying themselves for a real emotional journey. It's highly likely that we will be saying goodbye to some favorite characters either because they walk off into the sunset or they die. Blood will be spilled and tears will be shed. Take it from Chris Evans, who has supposedly only seen the first hour of the Endgame, but also supposedly knows the entire script's story, and he "choked up" three times.

Avengers: Endgame is the culmination of the MCU's "Infinity Saga," a 22 film long journey that began a little over a decade. So little is known about this movie that fan theories have been popping up left and right to fill the information gap. Even the directors of Endgame, the Russo Bros., say that there are more spoilers in this film than last summer's Avengers: Infinity War, a movie which ended with half of the characters dying in a fit of cosmic genocide.

Speaking of that spoiler-heavy ending, I can distinctly remember the sniffles and soft sobs of my theater as the Avengers were snapped out of existence by Thanos. It was an extremely emotional experience and a real gut punch of ending. We've known that Endgame would likely have its fair share of heartbreak before the credits roll and Chris Evans may have confirmed that.

In an in-depth interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Chris Evans said that he had only seen the first hour of Endgame. However, whether addressing that footage or the entire three-hour script's story, he said Endgame left him on the verge of tears three separate times.

Chris Evans: [I]t's a good one. It's a real good one. I saw, like, the first hour of it.

So you watched it up to the point where Cap dies?

Chris Evans [joking]: Right, exactly. After I die by Tony's hand, I just said, You know what? I can't watch this.

And later, in the same interview...

Chris Evans: Man. This one's really good. I choked up like three times.

Because Cap dies?

Chris Evans: Right. It's hard. Seeing my own death. [He laughs] It's going to be a long movie, that's for sure. The first edit clocked in over three hours. My funeral's like an hour.

Of course, Chris Evans is just joking about having a funeral, but it's long been expected that Captain America will die in Endgame. It's been on of the most consistent theories that this will be his last rodeo, something that Evans has not really confirmed or denied.

As far as the crying goes, fans may want to bring some tissues with them. The film is reportedly over three hours long, which leaves plenty of room to tug at the heart strings multiple times. Only time will tell how it stacks up with the ending of Infinity War, but Endgame is sure to be a wild ride.

Avengers: Endgame is all set to be released on April 26. The film is tracking for an absolutely massive opening, so be sure to reserve your tickets (whenever it is that they go on sale). To learn more about the movie, here's what we know so far.

Ron Howard Calls Out 'Trolling' As One Reason For Solo's Disappointing Box Office

Ron Howard Calls Out 'Trolling' As One Reason For Solo's Disappointing Box Office

Now that a full year has passed since Solo: A Star Wars Story hit theaters, fill-in director Ron Howard is sharing his nuanced take of what went right and what went wrong.

He jumped into the mix late in the game, after the departure of directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The box office for the May 2018 movie was huge for Ron Howard, but disappointing by Star Wars' standards, and he knows that. However, he came in eager to help the team, and had a blast in his short experience in the galaxy. A year later, there's even a big push for Solo to get a sequel.

Here's part of Ron Howard answer on whether a Christmas release for Solo would've given it $100 million more than its spring release.

I feel very good about the way it turned out. I love the way it played to audiences, which I witnessed and was a part of. So all of that I'm able to feel good about. Sure, I wish it would've done [better] and lived up to the box office and so forth, so that's disappointing. Why? Maybe it's the release. Maybe it's the idea that it's sort of too nostalgic, going back and revisiting an origin story for a beloved character may not be what the fans were looking for. It kind of seemed to me, looking at it, the opening -- which was big, not as big as the others, it was probably my biggest opening, personally, it was still disappointing to them -- I think those are the hardcore fans. It sort of tells you how many people are tagalongs who need to wait to see what people think and whether it's essential, if it's a zeitgeist movie or not, and whether it's just 'I love Star Wars and I want to see what's next.'

Ron Howard had more to say on that topic on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, but I like his take on core Star Wars fans vs. "tagalongs" -- or casuals -- who wait to see if a movie becomes a major watercooler topic before jumping in with their own time or money. Casual fans sometimes wait for strong reviews from critics (Solo's reviews were middle-of-the-road) but even more often they wait to see fan reactions. They want to hear the buzz, see the audience ratings, scores, and word-of-mouth. (Think Venom.)

When the audience scores for Solo looked lower than usual, and words like "underperformed" and "disappointing" started coming out about the ticket sales, casual/tagalong fans might've come away thinking it was a movie they could safely skip. (The problems behind-the-scenes probably left more than a few fans expecting disaster, making them more wary to spend time and money on the movie.)

Here's more from Ron Howard on that angle, and how "trolling" from fans who hadn't even seen Solo yet may have led the tagalong types to pass on seeing Solo in the theater. Howard knows the pushback against Solo came from several different directions, but also included some Star Wars fans who were upset with Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

So whatever millions [Solo] made worldwide, those were the core fans, but it didn't hit that zeitgeist point, for whatever reason. Timing, young Han Solo, pushback from the previous movie, which I kept hearing was maybe something. And some trolling, definitely some trolling. Some actual aggressive... It was pretty interesting. Not so much, a little bit the Twitter feed, yes, but it was especially noticeable prior to the release of the movie. Several of the algorithms, whether it was Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes, there was an inordinate push down on the 'want to see' and on the fan voting. And when you look at it, it's like 3, 4, 5 -- or whatever the rating is, I forget what the rating is on Rotten Tomatoes, whether it's a scale of 1-5 or 1-10 -- but pretty high, and then a series of 0s or .5s or 1s.

Yeah, Rotten Tomatoes has actually changed the audience score function now, wanting more proof that fans have actually seen the movies before they rate them. Non-fans could rate a movie "0" before it even came out, but that is changing now.

Ron Howard isn't too familiar with that online world, but he said some friends from Silicon Valley explained the algorithms to him and basically let him know Solo was being trolled by fans who were boycotting its existence, in addition to those who did actually watch the movie and just didn't like it. Howard praised young Han Solo star Alden Ehrenreich, who was put in the center of the fray, and noticed the backlash has turned more in favor of the movie a year later:

Under that circumstance, I didn't take it personally at all, but I felt badly. And I thought Alden didn't a really great job, an incredibly talented guy, and dedicated guy, and I had a blast with everybody. And look, a year later, it's kind of interesting, you wouldn't think you'd participate in a Star Wars project and have it be a cult movie, but I can already tell those who have affection for it are pretty adamant in their feelings, and that's nice.

Ron Howard already responded, briefly, to the Solo sequel campaign on Twitter. Is it likely to happen? Maybe. Probably not. The point seems more to show support for the movie, which was clobbered from all sides last year for disappointing the franchise. Now the quieter core fans are speaking up to say they liked Solo, thank you very much, and they would be happy to see the story continue.

Now Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is in the hot seat, as the final movie in the Skywalker Saga, but also the next trilogy movie after Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which divided a fandom that has been debating the merits of every new Star Wars addition since the arrival of Ewoks. The Rise of Skywalker opens in theaters December 20.

Mark Hamill Is Voicing Chucky In Child's Play, And His Announcement Was Perfect

Mark Hamill Is Voicing Chucky In Child's Play, And His Announcement Was Perfect

While original horror films like Us are absolutely killing it right now, those who like the classics will also be treated later this summer. A Child's Play remake starring Aubrey Plaza is on the way and there will be an all-new Chucky terrorizing some poor innocent family. While Brad Dourif provided the voice of Chucky in the original franchise, someone else will be handling the remake and his voice certainly carries a lot of force. Mark Hamill will voice Chucky, and he announced it in an awesome way on social media.

You may know Mark Hamill best from his role as Luke Skywalker in some space movie called Star Wars, but he's also a prominent voice actor. Many fans consider him to be the best version of the Joker, having voiced the character in Batman: The Animated Series and several other Batman projects. He's also voiced a number of other cartoons, which include Regular Show, Adventure Time, and Metalocalypse.

Given his versatile voice work, it's not that much of a surprise to find him turning his sights to horror. After all, if you had a doll with Luke Skywalker's voice say he wanted to be your best friend, you'd trust that doll no matter how sketchy he was.

In a special announcement for WonderCon 2019, Mark Hamill announced on Twitter that he would be the new voice of Chucky for the Child's Play remake. Hamill teased that "wicked fun" was about to begin and accompanied the post with a video that had a pitch perfect ending of Hamill giving a creepy smile. It was a great way to announce his casting and I'm sure that it went down really well at WonderCon.

Written by Tyler Burton Smith and directed by Lars Klevberg, the Child's Play remake stars Aubrey Plaza as a single mother who gives her son a Buddi doll, unaware of its evil nature. Lots of stabbing and creepy doll shenanigans are sure to follow.

It's unclear if there will be any sort of live-action work for Mark Hamill, seeing as how in the original films Chucky was a serial killer who moved his soul into a doll through voodoo. However, the remake has hinted that Chucky might just be a wayward A.I., which is a little less fun, but that doesn't mean that the film won't still be good and scary.

If you do want to see Mark Hamill in live-action then you can check him out in History’s Knightfall, the Knights Templar series now in its second season. You can also see him play a different sort of knight in Star Wars: Episode IX, in which he will reprise his role as Luke Skywalker. That film arrives in theaters later this year on December 20.

Child's Play arrives in theaters on June 21.

Every Song From The Baby Driver Soundtrack, Ranked

Every Song From The Baby Driver Soundtrack, Ranked

Every once in a while, a movie comes along with such an awesome soundtrack that it can even overshadow the rest of the film. Sometimes the songs can be huge hits all on their own. Baby Driver is a perfect example, because let’s be honest, the music is central to the movie’s plot about a getaway driver for a bank robbery crew with tinnitus. The driver, named Baby, constantly listens to music to drown out the ringing in his hears, so music is key.

The music is not only central to the plot, but because the song choices are so cool, it adds almost all the style to the movie. Every scene and every car chase are elevated by the fantastic song choices made by director Edgar Wright and Steven Price, Baby Driver’s music composer. Music, driving, and stealing sunglasses are what makes Baby tick.

There are 30 tracks on the soundtrack, ranging from solid gold oldies to very modern choices and everything in between, so we’ve ranked from worst to best – but make no mistake, there really aren’t any bad songs in the lot.

30. “Was He Slow (Credit Roll Version)” – Kid Koala Featuring Kevin Spacey And Jon Bernthal

One of two original songs on the soundtrack and as is clear from the title, it’s the song over the end credits. It’s just a mishmash of quotes from the movie and the weakest song on the Baby Driver soundtrack.

29. “Tequila” – The Button Down Brass Band

An off-brand cover of the The Champs song from 1958 by an off-brand British copy of Herb Albert & The Tijuana Brass. Easily ignored on Baby Driver’s great soundtrack.

28. “Unsquare Dance” – Dave Brubeck

This jazz number by the great Dave Brubeck is mostly clapping, drums, and bass. It works great to build tension; it’s not so great to listen to on its own.

27. “The Edge” – David McCallum

There is a lot of great jazz on the Baby Driver soundtrack, but this isn’t the best of the bunch. It is however, the sample for Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode,” which does make it pretty cool from that angle.

26. “Debora” – T. Rex

It’s difficult putting a band as awesome as T. Rex toward the bottom, at least for me, but this isn’t the band's best song by a mile.

25. “Easy” – Sky Ferreira

"Easy" is a decent enough cover of The Commodores classic (which also appears in the movie), but it’s not deserving of being higher on this list of great songs.

24. “Intermission” – Blur

Like T. Rex, it’s hard to rank an amazing band like Blur this low on a ranked list, but this song is really kind of a throwaway from the group's album Modern Life Is Rubbish and serves as an intermission on the album; in Baby Driver, the buildup of sound is used well, however.

23. “Kashmere” – Kashmere Stage Band

This funky number, played by a bunch of high school students no less, is a fantastic feel-good and move-your-feet kind of song. This stuff's starting to get good!

22. “Every Little Bit Hurts” – Brenda Holloway

Motown’s Brenda Holloway is one of the lesser-known artists on that label’s legendary roster, but this song goes to show how great Motown was at producing incredible songs.

21. “Know How” – Young MC

Any song that samples “The Theme From Shaft” by Isaac Hayes is cheating. But it’s the best kind of cheating and Young MC nailed it with this one.

20. “Bongolia” – Incredible Bongo Band

This may seem as if it is ranked a little high on the list; regardless, Incredible Bong Band’s music always sounds awesome on soundtracks.

19. "Smokey Joe’s La La" – Googie Rene

Such a fun little tune with easy lyrics and great beat to drive to. Play it now if you don't know it off the top of your head.

18. “B.A.B.Y.” - Carla Thomas

Carla Thomas is a soul singer who has sadly been overshadowed over the years, but her powerful voice is on full display in this 1966 hit.

17. “Brighton Rock” – Queen

This is circus music from Queen. It’s a weird little song that is often overlooked in the band's catalog, but it’s a great song with a great solo by Brian May – which is like half the track!

16. “Early in the Morning” – Alexis Korner

Alexis Korner is way more important to rock history than most people realize and this dripping, plotting, sweat-soaked track is weird and awesome and a great addition the Baby Driver soundtrack.

15. “Baby Driver” – Simon & Garfunkel

It’s pretty clear that this song inspired the whole movie. It’s not the most recognizable tune by this famous duo, but just check out the first couple lyrics to see how important this song is to the movie:

I was born one dark gray morn

With music coming in my ears

They call me Baby Driver

And once upon a pair of wheels

I hit the road and I'm gone

14. “Chase Me” – Danger Mouse Featuring Run The Jewels And Big Boi

"Chase Me" is the other of the two original songs on the Baby Driver soundtrack. This is by far the better one, with great performances by all three MCs and a great beat from Danger Mouse.

13. “Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms)” – The Detroit Emeralds

Another track on the Baby Driver soundtrack that is more famous for being the sample in a hip hop song. This is used by De La Soul in “Say No,” but the original is fantastic.

12. “Harlem Shuffle” – Bob & Earl

This song is mostly famous for the horn fanfare that opens it (and was very famously sampled by House Of Pain), but it should be known for much more. The horns are fantastic throughout the whole song.

11. “Neat Neat Neat” – The Damned

In a movie with so much chaos, Baby Driver needed at least one chaotic punk song and this is one by a band that isn’t as well known as The Sex Pistols, brings a bit of the drama and anger that Johnny Rotten brought with the Pistols, but with more musical talent.

10. “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby” – Sam & Dave

There is nothing quite like that old time soul like Sam & Dave were the masters of.

9. “Never, Never Gonna Give You Up” – Barry White

The great Barry White and his silky smooth bass/baritone voice is unmatched in 20th century music. Honestly, anytime it appears anywhere, it’s one of the best.

8. “Radar Love” by Golden Earring

Okay, this song might not deserve to be in the top ten usually, but “Radar Love” is one of -- if not the -- greatest driving song of all time and Baby Driver is a movie about driving, right? Seriously, put this one next time you hit the highway and hit the gas, that’s why it’s here.

7. “Egyptian Reggae” – Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers

This little weird ditty by the godfather of punk Jonathon Richman fits so perfectly in this movie it’s almost like it was written for it.

6. Bellbottoms – Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

While it’s not the best song in the movie (though it is awesome), it’s the most important song as it sets the tone right away for Baby Driver. Car chases and great music abound.

5. “Debra” – Beck

Beck loves to show off sides of him you’d never expect and “Debra” is Beck channeling his inner Prince, falsetto and all, to outstanding results. This really is close to perfect.

4. “Let’s Go Away For Awhile” – The Beach Boys

If you are going to be including The Beach Boys on a soundtrack, choosing something from Pet Sounds is never a bad idea. Brian Wilson’s musical genius is on full display with this American classic.

3. “Nowhere To Run” – Martha And The Vandellas

"Nowhere to Run" is of the greatest Motown songs from the sixties,period. It’s so catchy and wonderful, it’s like you know the lyrics before you’ve ever heard it. It’s a song that's impossible to ever get sick of and it were used in every movie ever, that’d be just fine. It’s a fantastic addition to the Baby Driver soundtrack.

2. “Hocus Pocus” – Focus

This is one of those songs that always makes everything awesome, whether it’s the scene in Baby Driver or a Nike Commercial, “Hocus Pocus” by Focus (yes, you have to say the full title and band name every time, because it’s awesome), makes the world a cooler place.

1. “Easy” – The Commodores

The easy pick? Probably. Not much needs to be said about this absolute classic of a song. Is there a person on earth that doesn’t like it? It’s just easy like Sunday morning and that's alright with us.

Every good car chase needs great music and in Baby Driver, a movie with lots of car chases, the music is crucial to making them as wonderful as they are. Next time you steal a car or rob a bank, pop in your earbuds blast this soundtrack. Let's hope when they make another one, the soundtrack will be just as good.