Frank Ocean lists his favorite movies, songs in ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ magazine
Movie list, Boys Don’t Cry, pp. 102–103.
Frank Ocean published a list of his favorite movies and songs in Boys Don’t Cry magazine, released alongside his studio album Blonde on August 20, 2016.
The first list includes 100 films from various genres, totaling 207.23 hours, which is over 8 and a half days worth of media. It appears below a gallery of movie posters, on the left side of a two-page spread, next to a large photo of Ocean’s living room at the Park House Apartments on 47 North Row in London’s Mayfair neighborhood. He used the flat as his primary residence during the production of Boys Don’t Cry and Blonde.
One notable flick on the watchlist is ATL. Previously, in the 2012 track “End,” Ocean closed out his album Channel Orange by reenacting a scene from the 2006 film, in which the main characters exchange conversation and kiss in a car, late at night.
Turning the page, the song list contains 50 tracks, spanning pop, R&B, rock, electronic music, and more. It totals to 276 minutes, or 4.6 hours. The songs likely served as inspiration to Ocean while composing his 2016 albums, Endless and Blonde. The music catalog is split across two pages, below two rows of album covers and a large, interior photo of Shangri-La—the home of record executive Rick Rubin in Malibu, California.
Interestingly, Ocean’s list features a live version of Kim Burrell’s 1997 song “Home,” which he first reviewed in a 2010 Tumblr post. He also ends his list with the magazine’s eponymous 1979 song, “Boys Don’t Cry,” by The Cure.
Fans have created playlists mirroring the Boys Don’t Cry article on Spotify and other streaming platforms.
A transcript of the movie and music listings, as well as scans of the magazine pages, are available below.
Fan-made Spotify playlist, mirroring Frank Ocean’s list in Boys Don’t Cry.
The magazine’s eponymous 1979 song, “Boys Don’t Cry,” by The Cure.
Transcript:
Movie List
ATL (ATL is not the best movie lol but ok)
Un Chien Andalou
Blue Velvet
Barry Lyndon
Battleship Potemkin
Eraserhead
Chungking Express
Raging Bull
The Conformist
Bicycle Thieves
Taxi Driver
A Clockwork Orange
Mean Streets
Gods of the Plague
Persona
Mulholland Dr.
Happy Together (Wong Kar Wai, 1997)
Fallen Angels
Apocalypse Now
The Last Laugh
Pi
Full Metal Jacket
No Country for Old Men
Wild at Heart
Memento
Metropolis
Rushmore
The Royal Tenenbaums
Miller’s Crossing
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Buñuel, 1972)
Blood Simple
Rashomon
Orpheus
L.A. Confidential
Reservoir Dogs
Eastern Promises
2001: A Space Odyssey
Battle Royale
The Passion of Anna
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Oldboy (Park Chan-Wook, 2003)
Django Unchained
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Godfather
M (Fritz Lang, 1931)
Scarface (Howard Hawks, 1932)
Scarface (Brian De Palma, 1983)
Blade Runner
Citizen Kane
On the Waterfront
Annie Hall
Psycho
Dr. Strangelove
The French Connection
The Deer Hunter
Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
Fargo
The Sacrifice (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1986)
El Topo
Holy Mountain
The Shining
Pulp Fiction
Fitzcarraldo
American Beauty
Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)
True Romance
Elephant Man
Seven Samurai
Woyzeck
Jackie Brown
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Paris, Texas
Devil in a Blue Dress
Inglorious Basterds
Serpico
Alien
Ed Wood
Hard Eight
The Seventh Seal
Sonatine
Paths of Glory
There Will Be Blood
Spartacus
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Fight Club
Brazil
Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa, 1957)
The Master
Dog Day Afternoon
Rosemary’s Baby
Phantom of the Paradise
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
Malcolm X
Scorpio Rising
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
Puce Moment
Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922)
Basquiat
The King of Comedy
Running time: 207.23 hours
Song List
“Crosstown Traffic,” Jimi Hendrix
“How Insensitive,” Frank Sinatra
“Scarborough Fair,” Simon & Garfunkel
“Alina,” Arvo Pärt
“I Feel Love,” Donna Summer
“To the Last Whale,” Crosby & Nash
“Prints Tie,” Bobby Hutcherson
“Jardim dos Deuses,” Joyce Moreno
“Fade Into You,” Mazzy Star
“No More Shall We Part,” Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
“I Never Learnt to Share,” James Blake
“One Mo’ Gin,” D’Angelo
“The Last One to Be Loved,” Gabor Szabo
“Shadows,” Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes
“Images (Live in New York, 1964),” Nina Simone
“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” Roberta Flack
“It’s Gonna Rain,” Steve Reich
“Stardust,” Willie Nelson
“Nós e o Mar,” Tamba Trio
“Get Money,” DRAM
“When I Die,” GoldLink
“The Man-Machine,” Kraftwerk
“Asiko,” Tony Allen
“Earth Bound Hearts,” John Surman
“Simply Beautiful,” Al Green
“Mr. Bojangles,” Nina Simone
“Flamingo,” Todd Rundgren
“The Medley of Praise,” Daryl Coley
“Claire de Lune,” Isao Tomita
“Calls,” Robert Glasper & Jill Scott
“Your Smile,” Chaka Khan & Rufus
“Bitch Please,” Death Grips
“Love Like Anthrax,” Gang of Four
“I Am the Walrus,” The Beatles
“Jesus Children of America,” Stevie Wonder
“Garden of Linmiri,” Caustic Window
“Vibrate,” OutKast
“Aisatsana (102),” Aphex Twin
“Mis,” Alex G
“Right Down the Line,” Gerry Rafferty
“Anytime,” Ray J
“Jesus,” Curtis Mayfield
“Something About Us,” Daft Punk
“Your Daddy Loves You,” Gil Scott-Heron
“Portrait of Tracy,” Jaco Pastorius
“Rusholme Ruffians,” The Smiths
“When U Were Mine,” Prince
“Road to Nowhere,” Talking Heads
“Boys Don’t Cry,” The Cure
Running time: 276 minutes
Scans:
Select a photo above or below to view it fullscreen.
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Frank Ocean shared a catalog of 100 films and 50 tracks in his zine, including some interesting selections across various genres.
In his new magazine, Boys Don’t Cry, Frank Ocean published a six-part screenplay titled Godspeed. The story follows Steely, a “charismatic and well-liked, but emotionally guarded” boy, alongside his friends. Oceans describes the play as a ‘reimagined part of his boyhood.’
It's possible this could indicate new music coming soon. It's equally possible this means nothing.