Recently?

Catch Me If You Can is an obvious winner. Terrific music and animated credits.

Watchmen has one of the most compelling opening sequences I've ever seen. The opening credits easily are among the GOAT.

Superbad-- fun, set the tone, pretty much perfect.

All time?

Do the Right Thing is an obvious pick.

The Third Man is an obvious pick.

Goldfinger is an obvious pick.

The Pink Panther is an obvious pick.

The Naked Gun is an obvious pick.

I've always been partial to the opening credits of It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Also, the opening credits to Monty Python and the Holy Grail are appropriately insane.

North by Northwest has great animation and one of my favorite scores of all time.

The Austin Powers films are very good picks as well.

Other choiceS?

nm

And I was going to tell you to pick your favorite HBO one. I'm really partial to True Blood right now. That's a great piece of editing and film work.

The Wire was always great and I liked that they switched up the sequences and the artists each season.

I didn't love The Sopranos opening as much as others did.

Deadwood is stupid as shit until that gorgeous side boob

Carnivale, the HBO show from about 10 years back.

I showed the opening credits of that to my class when discussing the use of sound in film. I should've included it in the original post, lol.

don't kill me for my childhood nostalgia...

and yes austin and pink panther

i'll be back
i have to review/remind myself
~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

http://vimeo.com/9630866

cept i dont agree with the credits-only goat listing.
that flick's in my top 10 of all times.

V.

The opening credits to Mystery!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAmGsM4Dids

They got me a few times. Thats wrong to do that to kids.

~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

<------- TheLoneliest Monk

XMen 2. Hands down my fave.

Also like multiple Bonds (FRWM, GF, TB, GE, TLD, CR).

C

"This brother is free; I'll be what I want to be."

.

and I also liked the opening credits of Crimson Rivers, even though the film itself was crap LOL

~ ~ ~
All meetings end in separation
All acquisition ends in dispersion
All life ends in death
- The Buddha

|\_/|
='_'=

He that runs against Time has an antagonist not subject to casualties

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXdvq1JZfWA

>All time?

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also on Facebook

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEZK7mJoPLY

>All time?

the NiN tune, the 'clues', the tones used... it sets the tone so, so well for the film. Doesn't look tacked on, doesn't jar with the flow of it... just works so damn well.

kinda feels like they might've influenced the dexter intro...dont you think?

and i forgot it was the remix of that song.

.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG1fmfZGuWw

Gave me the feeling that I was about to watch a great flick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBpJ4ZuFP8E

>Recently?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz9vgtXq_Hs#t=0m48s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-VI6kxyV3w

Ill score then straight to some action...

and raiders of the lost ark
and out of sight
and warriors
and kiss kiss bang bang
and westside story
and sherlock holmes
and coraline
and a kiss from tokyo(does this count? it's an online thing but it has classic movie elements which i love)
and puras joyitas
and dean spanley
and bombay talkie
and strange than fiction

i'm partial to most opening credits for bond movies

ok i'll stop now
yes i'm a title sequence fan
~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

No lie.

black dynamite is a great recent one

>black dynamite is a great recent one

credits, where the camera just pushes in on a series of antennas, and the credits are spoken instead of seen

Some can argue that that's Truffaut "being lazy" or something, but I'm not hearing that.

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http://thepunannydiaries.com

also on Facebook

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV8nDBQUyV0

_________________________________________________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/user/punannydiaries

http://thepunannydiaries.com

also on Facebook

©

When the Chief is in the house...ohmigod

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7X_x8XYWAw

"Your current frequencies of understanding outweigh that which has been given for you to understand." Saul Williams

agreed
~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

catch me if you can.
good the bad and the ugly
live and let die
watchmen.

saul bass = goat

Terrance Howard and Taryn Manning riding in the Caddy, with Buddy Guy's "Baby Please Don't Leave Me" blasting out of the speakers. But as soon as they have him switch it to a country music station, it goes downhill. In fact, pretty much the whole movie goes downhill from there.

I forgot all about the post in the process:

Superman: The Movie of course:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yvd9ipv9o8

Foxy Brown (1974)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLfykjWNPQ0
These are so awesome, I have not yet finished the movie, from rewinding and RE-rewinding the opening credits. Obviously, this is where the idea for the "Superbad" credits come from.

An American Tail (1986)
(can't find the credits. This is the main title theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoxP--U0j7M)
The combination of James Horner's music and the various abstract and literal uses of snow (including having all of the credits blow away int snowflakes) sets up a movie that isn't your average cartoon feature. Most animated films have rather unmemorable credits sequences.

Way Out West (1937)
(Mistakenly believing this film is no longer under copyright, someone has uploaded the whole thing to YouTube. I'm not linking it; I'll use this link instead:
http://www.lordheath.com/modules/gallery/albums/Way_Out_West_credits/img/111226030032_way_out_west__credits_.jpg)
A number of other Laurel & Hardy films could go here instead (Babes in Toyland, for example), even some of their shorts. The Hal Roach films always had elaborate and interesting opening title cards until they standardized them in the late 1930s. The "Way Out West" opening credits aren't elaborate so much as uniquely pleasant. Since the film is a wild-west parody, the credits are drawn up with Old-West scripts and illustrations, accompanied by a great Marvin Hatley tune.


Dreamgirls (2006)
http://www.picturemill.com/Dreamgirls.html
(These are actually closing credits. The film has no opening credits.)
Almost overdone (some credits complained that the credits were damn near "For Your Consideration" adds embedded into the actual film), "curtain call" style credits don't get more elaborate than this. The ones from the 2007 remake of "Hairspray" are less showy, but similar.

Psycho (1960)
Vertigo (1958)
North by Northwest (1959)
http://vimeo.com/album/263376/video/21977929
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qtDCZP4WrQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIlqatMQSgI & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAmem5wVOUU

I can't say much more than has already been said about them in this post. While Vertigo's are probably the best, Sal Bass gets credit on the "North by Northwest" titles for his silver-on-green variant of the Leo the Lion MGM logo.

As for Bond films, I'll just link this:
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/11/14/top_10_james_bond_opening_sequences
Apparently this is a controversial choice, but these were my favorite Bond titles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JBzxKLs-dY ("Die Another Day")
Though these are great too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGPBFvDz_HM ("GoldenEye")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPiUMNrO2LI ("Goldenfinger")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Y_U4XZupY&feature=fvwrel ("From Russia with Love")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LOqHSXMHJo ("Dr. No")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfc9GLxlhEw&feature=related ("Casino Royale" - which I saw w/ another OKP when it was out, who leaned over in the cinema and asked - a smidge loudly - "so how long did that take to do in After Effects?")

Honorable mention:
Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-psRIkZvXw4

I know, I KNOW. But...
The opening credits to "Barbershop 2", though I despise the cheesy-looking CGI main title card, are fun and silly in a way most urban comedies are (oddly) not, showing black hairstyles (and how white folks appropriated many of them) through the years via Ken Burns effects. The Michael Jackson photo montage - from little black MJ to old white MJ - is hysterical.

link: http://youtu.be/A-tvBjh8z7k

On the dock of that bay serving a life sentence,even if I’m going to hell I’m gonna make an entrance

On the dock of that bay serving a life sentence,even if I’m going to hell I’m gonna make an entrance

Not the greatest but definitely creative.

I enjoyed the movie, but if someone made the statement that the rest of the movie didn't live up to the opening credits, I'd have a tough time arguing...

V.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l44EbAbLid0

that would require us to mutually all agree on criteria that defines a "GOTA" opening credit sequence, etc. its clear in this post we don't...

Movies:

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (US)
Se7en
Fight Club
In The Cut (2003)
Scream
Across 110th Street
Sin City
The Last Of The Mohicans
Basic Instinct
Prometheus
Dollhouse
Torchwood (BBC version)



just off the top of my head

TV:
The Wire
Rubicon (RIP)
Mad Men
ER
Fades (BBC)
Bedlam (BBC)
X-Files
Millennium
Miami Vice
LA Law

the drugged out topless chick jumps from the roof

<================================
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20787335@N08

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-QFj59PON4

cmon, words can't describe how awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGrH901xMFI

Reppin' the old guard.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/10-of-saul-basss-greatest-title-sequences-20120425

(See my other reply)

The Shining
Dr. Strangelove
Alien
Saturday Night Fever
Goldfinger

"Your current frequencies of understanding outweigh that which has been given for you to understand." Saul Williams