Come out, come out

I'm not sure exactly why I like Across the Universe as much as I do; certainly, it's clever in its adaptation of very well known songs to a story, but it's not something that hasn't been done before (in some cases, better than others. Perhaps people shouldn't try it with their own material).

Apart from putting the right song with the right moment in the story (or, I suppose, vice verse), the plot delivers some entertaining twists in how it does so, from time to time, as you could see with the previous example in the last post. But there is such a thing as being too clever in the delivery of your concept. For example, see this different take on the song, Dear Prudence:

Dear Prudence (cover) - Various (from Across The Universe)



Now, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, of course, but it is very hard to watch that part and not be immediately reminded of a masterful rendition of the same idea:

Trapped In The Closet (excerpt) - South Park
(Wait about 16 seconds)

Here

And from there it is one short thought to sheer genius:

Trapped In The Closet (Part I) - R Kelly