Movie Music: Duran Duran Edition

Today is "National Duran Duran Appreciation Day" (seriously), so in recognition of such an august occasion, we are taking a look at the original Fab Five's forays into film.

First off, as every connoisseur of the New Wave pop sensation knows, the band took their name from the Barbarella character Dr. Durand Durand. But the Duran Duran movie connections don't end there, the most significant being their title song to the 1985 James Bond flick A View to a Kill. In addition to being nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song, the tune remains to this day the only 007 anthem to hit #1 on the US Billboard charts. The requisite cheesy video recast band members Nick Rhodes, the three Taylors (Andy, John and Roger, no relation) and "Bon, Simon Le Bon" as spies stirring up trouble atop the Eiffel Tower, even "interacting" with the film's stars Roger Moore and Grace Jones.

Although that was the group's only major original movie song, their hits have become soundtrack staples, especially if the script calls for an 80's vibe, such as with "Girls on Film" in Wonderland (which, fittingly, dealt with the porn industry). And while "Ordinary World" lent a strong counterpoint to a violent confrontation scene in Layer Cake, Duran Duran's songs have often been used for ironic (the "Notorious" Sparkle Motion in Donnie Darko) or comedic effect, as with Andy Dick's fillatio demonstration to the tune of "Hungry Like the Wolf" in Old School.

But even gayer then that was Seann William Scott busting a move to "The Reflex" in a gay bar "dance off" in American Wedding. Not only did the scene win a MTV Movie Award for Best Dance Sequence, it has inspired a surprisingly large amount of straight boys to dance together on YouTube. Now that's what I call "dancing on the valentine".

(Okay, I don't know exactly what "dancing on the valentine" means, but none of Duran Duran's lyrics ever made any sense ... and we love them anyway.)

Note: some videos NSFW.