Posted on: July 15th, 2010 The 5 Best Music Movies You’ve Never Seen
5. It Might Get Loud (2008)
Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White sit in a warehouse and trade secrets, tips and tricks all backed with archival footage of the trio as they rose to the heights of guitar God-dom! An amazing behind-the-men look at these three musical geniuses. Filled with some awe-inspiring moments of the boys sitting and strumming together and a lot of laughs. If you play, write or just love music, this is a beautiful treat for the eyes, ears and soul!
4. Hedwig & The Angry Inch (2001)
John Cameron Mitchell wrote and directed this award winning adaptation of his stage play, based on the fictional character Hedwig. Our Hero(ine) is a transsexual punk rocker from Berlin, who travels the USA with her band, and narrates the story of how her ex-bandmate/boyfriend stole her songs. Mitchell stars as Hedwig and is acted (and sung) superbly. It helps that this movie has one of the best film soundtracks of all time, penned by Steven Trask (part of the rock band Cheater). The songs convey every sense of emotion we, as an audience, can handle. From mind-blowing punk opuses to heart aching ballads, every human ideal is challenged, torn down and built back up Hedwig’s way.
The epic “Midnight Radio” scene!
3. Rock & Rule (1983)
A Canadian Animated entry on the list, this could be the greatest animated film of all time. In a Bakshi animation style vein, with amazing voice performances and MIND BLOWING music, this film tells the tale of aging rocker Mok (no relation lol), and his bid to rule the world with a demon he raises from Hell. The catch: he needs the one perfect voice to summon the demon. Not only is the voice cast superb, just look at who helms the chore of the ‘singing’ voices of the lead cast, Debbie Harry, Iggy pop, Lou Reed and Robin Zander. If that doesn’t fill yer boots, then look for music from Cheap Trick, Lou Reed, Debbie Harry and the epic finale song Send Love Through (written by D. Harry and Chris Stein) which to this day remains one of my all time favourite soundtrack songs! The story is run of the mill, but with the Canadian connection, a strong voice cast and absolutely incredible score, this is a MUST own for any DVD collection. Luckily a two-disc deluxe edition was released a few years back, so it’s easier than ever to get your hands on this classic film.
Here’s the Finale song “Send Love Through” SPOILER ALERT: this is the best version which is the end of the film, so if you don’t want the ending ruined don’t watch the video below!
2. Bad News Tour (1983)/More Bad News (1988)
Before Spinal Tap there was Bad News, one of the best mockumentaries EVER made, and an absolutely genius set of films by an absolutely genius group of comics. Technically made for BBC television by the “The Comedy Strip Presents…” group, an SCTV type troupe, Bad News became a cult phenomena giving birth to actual tours, an album (produced by Queens Brain May) and some of the best quotes of all time. Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planner, Rik Mayall and Peter Richardson (who also wrote and starred in the hit BBC series The Young Ones) balance script and improv SO effectively, you have a hard time believing that none of this is real. Playing a group of burned out hard rockers called Bad News, a local television crew has been hired to follow the group and document their ‘tour’. The actors write their own songs and play the instruments for real, and what comes of it is some of the most inspired moments of hilarity ever committed to film. I can’t state emphatically enough the genius of these four lads. Never have I watched (or heard) comedic timing and interaction so expertly performed. These boys put Spinal Tap to shame. If you can get your hands on these films (they do come as a set, but are very hard to come by) you’ will be showing EVERYONE you know, and will be quoting the entire script for the rest of your lives. You can also find the self-titled CD “Bad News”, which combines the bands songs with the interactions between takes in the studio which range from the arguments about money, instruments, playing the right notes and the greatest cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody” you will ever hear. I can not say enough about the quality of these productions, and if you love comedy and music you NEED to find these gems! Lucky I love my squidlets enough to provide you this clip! Behold the power of Bad News!
1. Once (2006)
Not only the number one movie on my list, but quite possibly the best movie ever made, according to me. The simplest story of Boy and Girl and music, turns into one of the most powerful stories of love, loss, acceptance and rejection that I’ve watched.
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova play Boy and Girl respectively. Boy works and lives with his aging father and is getting over a very bad break-up. He uses his words and music to cope and deal with the loss, and this is where we meet Girl who listens to Boy busking on the street. She loves his music but loves even more that he repairs ‘hoovers’ as hers is broken. She returns to the busking Boy the next day trailing her vacuum behind her and so begins their journey together.
Film viewers may recognize Hansard from an earlier role in the critically acclaimed “The Commitments” where he played Outspan Foster, the bands guitar player. Hansard went on from that role to form the incredibly popular (and talented) band The Frames. He has also recorded albums with Irglova under the moniker “The Swell Season”. Bringing these two talents together to play the roles in this film is a stroke of genius from film director and writer John Carney. Both having little acting experience allows them to bring more of themselves into their roles, the vulnerability, apprehension and longing are worn on their faces like badges of past loses.
Filmed in Ireland, over 17 days, it is known that the director didn’t have permits to film in many of the outdoor locations that he used, so they would set-up and film scenes guerrilla style and then move on. This is such an effective way to film the movie, as it only further enhances the feeling that we’re peeking in on the lives of these two characters.
But it’s the music in this film that shines. The soundtrack is written by Hansard and Irglova, and serves as a narrator through the entire film. This isn’t a musical, it’s a film about music. How music can heal, hurt and save. In one effective scene we see Boy sitting at his laptop with a guitar writing a song, pausing every so often to hit keys on the computer. As the camera pans around we see him watching home videos of his past love and writing the lyrics as he watches the scene play out on front of him. The song blends into the film and we’re hit with scenes of laughter and happiness as the song describes the ending of love. The entire movie is filled with this type of poignancy.
The song “Falling Slowly” won the Academy Award that year for Best Song in a film. I’ve included a great video of the song accompanied by clips from the film below. This is a film that deserves to be in everyone’s collection. Its pure and magic.
5 Responses to “The 5 Best Music Movies You’ve Never Seen”
-
Dalyn Says:
July 16th, 2010 at 9:05 amThe fact that Rhinestone is not on this list (at #1, at that) means you either don’t consider it a music film, haven’t seen it, or are out of your goddamn mind!
-
Moks Says:
July 16th, 2010 at 9:10 amHa Dalyn! The article is the 5 Best Youve NEVER Seen. I’m sure there isn’t a man, woman or child on the planet that hasn’t seen the epic Rhinestone! Slys best body of work behind Over The Top.
-
BBBoris Says:
July 16th, 2010 at 9:18 amLucky for you Bad News is on the list or I was going to disown you as my brother…. I could play Stairway To heaven when I was 12…. Jimmy Page didn’t actually write it unti he was 22…. I think that says a lot….
-
Dalyn Says:
July 22nd, 2010 at 11:30 pmMoks is my man!
-
moks Says:
July 23rd, 2010 at 12:07 amI’m a man of the people Dalyn, but for the right price you can rent me, HEY-OH!