Great Film Soundtracks

When most people watch a film, a soundtrack seems to go unnoticed. I found that, looking back, I could only remember songs from a film if they stood out from the crowd (especially with a compiled score). Although they add to the narrative of the film, I find the best soundtracks are a great compilation of music on their own.  Here is a list of some of my personal favourite compiled scores.

1. Any Wes Anderson Movie
Wes is my favourite director, and watching The Darjeeling Limited a few days ago actually inspired me to write this post. One of the things that makes Wes great, in my opinion, is his use of music. He compiles a score that suits his films' moods perfectly, from the Spanish David Bowie covers behind The Life Aquatic, to the contemporary Indian sounds in Darjeeling. I could listen to his soundtracks for hours, and think the background music of my life might be of a similar style.

In fear of taking a song out of context and ruining it, I thought I'd post the first scene of Tennenbaums to get you in the mood. If you've seen the movie you'll probably know how great 'Hey Jude' sounds with this scene, and if you haven't seen it - hopefully this will make you want to.

2. High Fidelity

This movie is just plain cool. John Cusack, in a record store, grumpy and spouting lots of pop culture references. I can watch it thousands of times without getting bored, and I think the soundtrack is a huge part of that. It's obvious you're in for a lot of music with a film based in a record store, but this soundtrack perfected it. Here's a song plucked straight from it.

3. The Full Monty

Now, this may seem like an odd choice. However, I find that whenever I hear ANY songs from this movie, I'm instantly reminded of this comedy classic. It also works as a great compilation on its own, with a very playful compiled score. Here is my favourite track from it, always putting me in a good mood whenever I hear it.

4. Watchmen

OK, so one reason for choosing this may be because I am a comic book geek who LOVED this adaptation, with it keeping the music detailed in the graphic novel itself. But, at the same time, I find the soundtrack to this movie is perfectly compiled. Here is the absolutely brilliant title sequence to Bob Dylan's Times are A Changing.

5. Dead Man's Shoes

Brilliant film, brilliant soundtrack. The beautiful backdrop to this bittersweet tale gives me goosebumps every time. I won't say much about the film, except watch it. To get you in the mood, here is Adem: Statued.