music movies

from London Time Out

1 Superstar: the Karen Carpenter Story (Todd Haynes, 1987)
2 Don't Look Back (DA Pennebaker, 1967)
3 Gimme Shelter (David Maysles/Albert Maysles/Charlotte Zwerin, 1970)
4 24 Hour Party People (Michael Winterbottom, 2002)
5 Topsy-Turvy (Mike Leigh, 1999)
6 Monterey Pop (DA Pennebaker, 1968)
7 Be Here to Love Me (Margaret Brown, 2004)
8 Thirty Two Short Films about Glenn Gould (Francois Girard, 1993)
9 Cocksucker Blues (Robert Frank, 1972)
10 Bird (Clint Eastwood, 1988)
11 The Last Waltz (Martin Scorsese, 1978)
12 Rude Boy (Jack Hazan, David Mingay, 1980)
13 Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (Stephen Kijak, 2006)
14 Bound for Glory (Hal Ashby, 1976)
15 The Decline of Western Civilization Parts I & II (Penelope Spheeris, 1981, 1988)
16 The Devil and Daniel Johnston (Jeff Feuerzeig, 2005)
17 Sweet Dreams (Karel Reisz, 1982)
18 Notes from a Jazz Survivor (Don McGlynn, 1982)
19 Elgar (Ken Russell, 1962)
20 Rust Never Sleeps (Neil Young, 1979)
21 The Future is Unwritten (Julien Temple, 2006)
22 'DiG!' (Ondi Timoner, 2004)
23 Some Kind Of Monster (Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky, 2004)
24 A Hard Day's Night (Richard Lester, 1964)
25 Jimi Hendrix (Joe Boyd, 1973)
26 Sid and Nancy (Alex Cox, 1986)
27 Elvis (John Carpenter, 1979)
28 The Last of the Blue Devils (Bruce Ricker, 1980)
29 Rough Cut & Ready Dubbed (Hasan Shah & Dom Shaw, 1981)
30 Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1984)
31 Stop Making Sense (Jonathan Demme, 1984)
32 Charlie is My Darling (Peter Whitehead, 1966)
33 Magic Fire (William Dieterle, 1955)
34 A Joyful Noise (Robert Mugge, 1980)
35 Coal Miner's Daughter (Michael Apted, 1980)
36 Last Days (Gus Van Sant, 2006)
37 Wonderful Life (Sidney J Furie, 1964)
38 'Round Midnight (Bertrand Tavernier, 1986)
39 Watch the K Foundation Burn a Million Quid (Gimpo, 1995)
40 The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (Danièle Huillet & Jean-Marie Straub, 1968)
41 Buena Vista Social Club (Wim Wenders, 1999)
42 Soul to Soul (Dennis Sanders, 1971)
43 Hilary and Jackie (Anand Tucker, 1998)
44 Made in Sheffield (Eve Wood, 2001)
45 Jazz on a Summer's Day (Bert Stern, 1959)
46 So You Wanna Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star? (Mark Kidel, 1976)
47 Leningrad Cowboys Go America (Aki Kaurismäki, 1989)
48 MC5: A True Testimonial (David C Thomas, 2002)
49 Sign O' The Times (Prince, 1988)
50 Catch Us If You Can (John Boorman, 1965)

Putting that Haynes movie with the Barbie dolls first is the kind of willful obscurantist, hipster-dom that undermines credibility. Though I probably will see his Dylan film.

True, but as strange as it sounds, it's
worth watching.

I like those two words together as mini haiku.

Obscurantist Hipsterdom

(bit unwieldy for a band name, though)



Post Edited (10-13-07 21:27)

An interesting gem, but to put it 8 slots above the Glenn Gould film and 29 above Amadeus is kind of silly.

Had no idea it was available online in its entirety. Thanks for the link! I saw it in college and hadn't seen it since.

"Theremin: A Electronic Odyssey" is a classic music doc. Even if you have no interest in theremins it's an amazing story. Th reunion of Leon Theremin and Clara Rockmore towards the end? Not a dry eye in the house.

And you get to see a (sorry to say) hilariously unhinged Brian Wilson interview.

No Spinal Tap? I suppose it is not in the same artistic ballpark as the Mike Leigh and Glenn Gould films, but it is certainly the funniest music movie of all time!

p.s. Oops.. I think I might have misinterpreted this list....



Post Edited (10-13-07 22:33)

nosepail wrote:

> No Spinal Tap? I suppose it is not in the same artistic
> ballpark as the Mike Leigh and Glenn Gould films, but it is
> certainly the funniest music movie of all time!
>
> p.s. Oops.. I think I might have misinterpreted this list....
>


if leningrad cowboys go america makes the list, this is spinal tap should, too.

granted, the leningrad cowboys were a band beforehand, but the movie is still every bit the mockumentary tap was.

Best thing I've seen all month:
Electrifying Conclusion

Worst:
Heart of Gold (watch Year of the Horse instead).

If the Hageman nailed it, then This is Spinal Tap is missing for the same reason.

Some on that list are quite boring. Funny how Hard Days Night always appears on these things for historical reasons. Help! is the better film.

Watch the K Foundation Burn a Million Quid is two artists (as in gallery artists, not as in musicians, though they sort of once were) literally standing in front of a fireplace peeling off 20,000 50-pound notes one by one and tossing them in the fire. It takes over an hour. It has less to do with music than the average movie and was supposedly done to stimulate observation followed by discussion (it's worth none). Not sensible on this list.

Watched Rude Boy and somehow made it all the way through. The new DVD comes with a feature that lets you skip the (non) plot and just watch the Clash footie. Interview extras explain why the movie flubbed (ad-lib, on-the-spot plot invention, the band's last minute willingness to perfunctorily participate, addition of unrelated stock footage and extra padding, etc.). The better pick is Westway to the World.



Post Edited (10-15-07 02:27)

At the risk of not being obscure enough - "The Filth & the Fury" is a brilliant film and better than almost any of the films on the TimeOut list. Julian Temple's decision not to show the faces of the band as older was inspired I thought and so was the equating of Lydon with Richard III.

If you didn't know the story of the Pistols - you might think it's the stuff of great fiction - it has a real mythic quality to it.

Stop Making Sense underneath either Bird or Bound For Glory nullifies the list. As does not having New York Doll on there. I would vote for the Vh1 Behind The Music: Styx, just because it's funnier than Spinal Tap or The Great Rock and Roll Swindle, which should be on the list, as well.

purple rain
high fidelity
back beat
still crazy ( watched last week, great original music)
i am trying to break your heart
rockers
harder they come
ladies and gentlemen.....the fabulous stains
ladies and gentlemen the rolling stones
the commitments
breaking glass
mad dogs and englishmen
nashville
saturday night fever


even .... almost famous

and for the record who the hell has seen "Cocksucker Blues"? (the entire thing , not the 20 to 25 3 minute excerts on you tube)



Post Edited (10-15-07 12:42)

I agree with Paganizer in that I prefer Help! over Hard Day's Night. I know that the plot was weak, but the songs are great & they were filmed beautifully. It's finally going to be re-released on DVD at the end of the month.

Also, some other movies that should be on the list:

1. New York Doll
2. Teenage Kicks: The Story of the Undertones
3. End of the Century
4. The Kids Are Alright
5. Rock and Roll High School

This points to another weakness in the original list: It should have eliminated documentaries all together and just focused on fiction (narrative, biopics, mockumentaries, etc)--OR included a lot more documentaries. I love that Undertones doc.

there's a great small film from the 70's about a bunch of 2nd tiered jazz dudes doing the catskills


understated and great--wish i knew the name


if nashville gets then fred astaire gets in


i'll take the godardian groundbreaking hard day over vapid help anytime


harder theyt come and head are REALLY bad omits

ken Russell never made good movie


i like these movies


1 Superstar: the Karen Carpenter Story (Todd Haynes, 1987)
2 Don't Look Back (DA Pennebaker, 1967)
3 Gimme Shelter (David Maysles/Albert Maysles/Charlotte Zwerin, 1970)
5 Topsy-Turvy (Mike Leigh, 1999)
6 Monterey Pop (DA Pennebaker, 1968)
8 Thirty Two Short Films about Glenn Gould (Francois Girard, 1993)
9 Cocksucker Blues (Robert Frank, 1972)
11 The Last Waltz (Martin Scorsese, 1978)
12 Rude Boy (Jack Hazan, David Mingay, 1980)
13 Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (Stephen Kijak, 2006)

and it's more than an inch bark bark


NP

manfred mann chapter II

I'm glad Rough Cut and Ready Dubbed made it.
What about Bruce McDonald's efforts?

What, no Brothers of the Head?

or "Head"?

Where's Hedwig & the Angry Inch?

> Where's Hedwig & the Angry Inch?


in baker's shorts?



but if high fidelity is a music movie, so is the freaking breakfast club...

Not many musicians are that funny when they're well-hinged.

Once upon a time in 1979
me and my buddy Alan were watching WOR channel 9
in New York
waiting to see a British film called Privilege
which blew our minds!

Alan already had the soundtrack (he had every record ever recorded)
and had read every review about this film ever reported
but seeing is a different thing than reading
about a much written about thing

and this movie ROCKED!

Seeing it was a Privilege.



[buddylove.us]

Dancing about architecture, films about music...?

I've tried to resist this, but there are 2 points I have to share:

1. "Rude Boy" (#12) is not good movie. Having watched it 20-30 times, it is not a good movie.

2. "Dig!" (#30) is very strange and compelling, and this is coming from the perspective of one with no interest (at best) in the parties involved.

One more wrench in the proverbial works: each and every film Cameron Crowe has been involved in has been a love letter to his musical inspirations.

Sometimes I rhyme slow, sometimes I rhyme quick...

Holy Shit, DAVCO RECORDS is in the house!

I bet I'm not the only one whose scrambling around looking for those Man-Kazam/Alan Milman records right now.

Good god, those fellas got roots back to the Styrenes!
Hot damn, I jest found an old seven incher here titled Klaus Cornfield -n- Buddy Love...
Holiday Music er somethin...w/a Jonathan Richman cover on the B side.

Ah, I love TP.

Corny but friendly, like a Flinstones cartoon, what's that movie with Kate Hudson, girlfriend of the 70's band leader STILLWATER?
On tour, and you the lucky one are backstage getting a firsthand glimpse of it all.
You, a young writer who also happens to like music.
Good enough



Post Edited (10-27-07 04:40)

STEVE wrote:

> Holy Shit, DAVCO RECORDS is in the house!
>
> I bet I'm not the only one whose scrambling around looking for
> those Man-Kazam/Alan Milman records right now.
>
> Good god, those fellas got roots back to the Styrenes!
> Hot damn, I jest found an old seven incher here titled Klaus
> Cornfield -n- Buddy Love...
> Holiday Music er somethin...w/a Jonathan Richman cover on the B
> side.
>
> Ah, I love TP.

I have a few of those Man-Kazam/Alan Milman records somewhere but I would NEVER part with them, being an integral part of my childhood.

As for Klaus Cornfield -n- Buddy Love?, it wasn't me!



[buddylove.us]

Right you are Doug. Thanks for joining the party.
Thanks for that almost elusive title JOE



Post Edited (10-27-07 12:37)

Steve, that movie you were thinking about was Almost Famous, which I also admit to liking.

Given the original list, seems like Jubilee would be on it.
The film included:
Wayne/Jayne County, Adam & the Ants, The Slits, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Toyah, and was scored by Eno.