Best Use of Music

Kill Bill Vol. 1

Music is an indelible and oftentimes intangible element of film. The majority of movie-goers are blissfully unaware of the intricacies and exquisite complication involved in selected just the perfect tune to accompany a scene -- whether it be a soundtrack selection or scored piece. For the third year in a row, our winner for Best Use of Music is a film that relies heavily on individual songs to set mood rather than using a traditional composer to score the accompaniment to the scenes.

Love him or hate him, Quentin Tarentino has an undeniable ability to choose just the right music to accompany his idiosyncratic visions. In Kill Bill Vol. 1, he carries out that tradition from the outset, as the soulful Nancy Sinatra tune "Bang Bang" opens the film by describing the jist of the story. "My baby shot me down," the singer warbles. From there, probably the most important individual song is Tomoyasu Hotei's "Battle Without Honor or Humanity," which is the "theme song" for the the O-Ren Ishii yakuza gang The Crazy 88s. The remainder of the eclectic soundtrack includes such wide-ranging stuff as Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute, the Green Hornet Theme, a quick cut from Hitchcock scorer Bernard Herrmann, a terrific remake of "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Santa Esmeralda, and even a song by heretofore fictional Japanese character Lily Chou-Chou. Adding to the fun is a rousing "live" performance by the 5.6.7.8's. It all blends perfectly to highlight a darkly humorous and twisted tale of revenge.

A film where one of the most memorable scenes involves karaoke, Lost in Translation makes use of a very effective soundtrack to emphasize its themes of longing, loneliness, and displacement. From blithe tunes by Air to the Beta Band sound-alike Happy End to My Bloody Valentine and Jesus and Mary Chain, the "background music" suits the film perfectly. It only gets better when stars Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray hit the aforementioned karaoke night, with Johansson doing a saucy "Brass in Pocket" and Murray's renditions of Nick Lowe's "What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding" and Roxy Music's "More Than This." It's also impossible to forget Anna Faris' dippy/goofy performance of "Nobody Does It Better," especially as it sends the main characters into peals of laughter. And the comically named "house band" Sausalito provides lounge-y mood music with performances of "Scarborough Fair" and "Midnight at the Oasis." The end result is a wonderful musical mix for a highly original film.

Our first traditionally scored film is, unsurprisingly, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. There's no doubt that the orchestral accompaniment to this final film of the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy is evocative, noble and majestic, but perhaps the coup de grace of the movie's music is the haunting song The Steward of Gondor, which was sung by Billy Boyd as the hobbit Pippin. What many people don't realize is that the Scottish actor wrote this tune himself at the behest of director Peter Jackson. Considering the emotion stirred during this very impacting scene, it's an impressive effort indeed.

There's nothing quite so good as Waiting for Guffman's "A Penny for Your Thoughts" on A Mighty Wind's track listing, but the movie was an entertaining send-up of the folk music scene nonetheless. The not-so-friendly competition between the Folksmen and the New Main Street Singers leads to moments of real comedy; however, the most memorable tune in the film itself is "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow," by Mitch and Mickey (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara). It's simultaneously touching and funny, a trademark of the Christopher Guest clan.

The intense, ominous music of 28 Days Later made a strong impact on our voters, setting the atmosphere of terror and suspense. It varies from moody and depressing to post-rock to operatic and even "chill-out," sometimes driving the pace of the film so deliberately that it feels as though it might detonate. For one of the better horror flicks in recent years, it's a soundtrack that stands out as particularly unforgettable.

Heading up the bottom half of the top ten is The Triplets of Belleville, a film with nearly nonexistent dialogue that relies almost entirely on its music to push the plot forward. Composer Benoît Charest cleverly utilizes a variety of instruments to help create an entirely unique sound for a film that is itself eclectic and quirky.

Thomas Newman had one of the finest scores of the year in 2002 with Road to Perdition, finishing as runner-up to Elliot Goldenthal's Frida at the Academy Awards. Newman returns this year as composer in an arena generally reserved for cousin Randy, a Pixar flick. Thomas Newman's music for this wonderful animated film was surprisingly "grown-up" in comparison to earlier Pixar projects, highly listenable as stand-alone pieces and more than appropriate with the action in the film.

As a "Christmas" film, Love Actually makes fine work of using holiday music to accentuate its intersecting stories about the many facets of love. From the remake of "Love Is All Around" (performed by Bill Nighy as "Christmas Is All Around") to "All I Want for Christmas Is You" and even Hugh Grant's silly rendition of "Good King Wenceslas," the film is a joyous celebration of adoration and affection during the merriest time of the year. Adding to the mix is the canny usage of tunes such as "All You Need Is Love" (performed by British pop star Lynden David Hall), Joni Mitchell's "River," "Jump" by the Pointer Sisters and the Calling's "Wherever You Will Go." In his first directing effort, Richard Curtis has done a terrific job of utilizing music to touch on his variegated themes.

Wrapping up our top ten best uses of music are School of Rock, which combined original songs with rock classics for one of the best family films of the year (the end credits performance of "It's a Long Way to the Top" is a thing of pure joy). Our final entrant is the Hans Zimmer over-scored Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Considering that the original music was deemed "not quite worthy" and sent back for reworking by several different composers, the end result is truly impressive and can already be heard as background music on various sports programs. (Kim Hollis/BOP)

Top Ten
Position	Film	Total Points
1	Kill Bill Vol. 1	117
2	Lost in Translation	80
3	The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King	57
4 (tie)	A Mighty Wind	54
4 (tie)	28 Days Later	54
6	Triplets of Belleville	45
7	Finding Nemo	42
8	Love Actually	38
9	School of Rock	37
10	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl	33