Mona Lisa Smile

For Mike Newell's female-driven take on DEAD POETS SOCIETY, album producer Trevor Horn enlisted contemporary artists to take a stroll through the standards songbooks of Rodgers & Hart, Irving Berlin, and Duke Ellington. Longtime Horn collaborator Seal applies his rich, honeyed vocals to Nat "King" Cole's signature "Mona Lisa;" Macy Gray's tailors her quirky vocal style to fit hand-in-glove with "Santa Baby;" and Chris Isaak croons a note-perfect "Besame Mucho." Other artists turning in fine performances include Barbra Streisand basking in a lush reading of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile," while Alison Krauss channels Judy Garland on Berlin's "What'll I Do" and Elton John serves up "The Heart of Every Girl," a bouncy original number complete with sprightly piano runs. The producer himself picks up the baton to lead his orchestra through a bossa nova-flavored rendition of "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and a spry reading of "Sh Boom (Life Could Be a Dream)." The MONA LISA SMILE soundtrack serves as a great bridge for those who might remember the original songs and a younger crowd open to rediscovering some classic pop compositions.