Music Movies 'n' Rockumentaries

Concert Films, Documentaries

An Evening With Nat King Cole (1961)
A Hard Day’s Night (1964) - Beatles run amok
Ladies And Gentlemen...Mr. Leonard Cohen (1965)
Don't Look Back (1967) - Bob Dylan
The Magical Mystery Tour (1967) - The Beatles
The Doors: Live In Europe (1968)
The Doors: The Doors Are Open (1968)
Elvis: '68 Comeback Special (1968)
Head (1968) - The Monkees
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (1968)
Yellow Submarine (1968) - The Beatles
The Doors Soundstage Performances (1967-69)
Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music (1969)
Monterey Pop (1969) - Hendrix, Who, etc.
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) - Titties, Roger Ebert and Strawberry Alarm Clock
Gimme Shelter (1970) - Rolling Stones
Let It Be (1970) - The Beatles
That's the Way It Is (1970) - Elvis
Woodstock (1970)
Jimi Hendrix: Rainbow Bridge (1971)
Best of Musikladen Live: Roxy Music / T Rex (1972)
Born to Boogie (1972) - Marc Bolan & T. Rex, dir. by Ringo!
Cocksucker Blues (1972) - Robert Frank's bootleg look at The Stones on tour
Space Is The Place (1972) - Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Solar Arkestra
Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars - D.A. Pennebaker does David Bowie
Jimi Hendrix (1973)
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Rolling Stones (1973)
Wattstax (1973) - The Black Woodstock, Isaac Hayes and The Bar-Kays
The Doors: No One Gets Out Alive (1974)
James Brown: Story 1956 - 1976 (1976)
Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains The Same (1976)
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Live at the Rainbow (1977)
Punk In London (1977) - by Wolfgang Büld
The Last Waltz (1978) - The Band
The Punk Rock Movie (1978) - Don Letts films Siouxsie, X-Ray Spex, Generation X
Renaldo and Clara (1978) - Bob Dylan
Rust Never Sleeps (1978) - Neil Young
The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978)
Devovision - The Men Who Make the Music (1979) - Devo
James Brown: Body Heat (1979)
The Kids Are Alright (1979) - Awesome Who documentary
Motorhead: The Best of Motorhead (1979)
Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii (1980)
The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (1980) - The Sex Pistols
Bob Marley and the Wailers: Live from Santa Barbara (1980)
Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise (1980)
Buzzcocks: Auf Wiedersehen (1981)
The Decline Of Western Civilization (1981) - LA Punk
Concert For Kampuchea (1981) - Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Pretenders
Fela In Concert (1981)
If It Ain't Stiff It Ain't Worth A. . . (1981) - Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Ian Dury
Urgh! A Music War (1981) - Punk
Fela Kuti: Music Is The Weapon (1982)
Wild Style (1982) - Hip Hop
Another State Of Mind (1982)- Youth Brigade, Social Distortion, Minor Threat
Saxon Live (1982)
The Complete Jam On Film 1977-1982
Minor Threat: Live (1983)
Lou Reed: A Night With Lou Reed (1983)
Beat Street (1984) - Hip Hop
Black Flag: Live (1984)
Fela: Live: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti And The Egyptian 80 Band (1984)
Sun Ra: Mystery, Mr. Ra (1984)
Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense (1984)
George Clinton with Parliament Funkadelic: The Mothership Connection (1985)
Krush Groove (1985) -- LL Cool J
Randy Newman: Live at the Odeon (1985)
Through The Years Of Hip Hop #1: Graffiti (1985)
The Unheard Music (1985) - X
Heavy Metal Parking Lot (1986)
Home Of The Brave (1986) - Laurie Anderson
True Stories (1986) - Talking Heads
William S. Burroughs: Commissioner of Sewers (1986)
Athens, GA: Inside/Out (1987)
Celebrating Bird: The Triumph Of Charlie Parker (1987)
Chuck Berry: Hail Hail Rock 'n' Roll (1987)
Elvis '56: In The Beginning (1987)
Sign 'O' The Times (1987) - Prince
Big Time (1988) - Tom Waits
The Damned: Final Damnation (1988)
Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988)
Tougher Than Leather (1988) - Run DMC
R.E.M.: Tourfilm (1989)
Devo: We're All Devo (1990)
Robyn Hitchcock: Gotta Let This Hen Out (1990)
The Road To God Knows Where (1990) - Nick Cave
Step Across The Border (1990) - Fred Frith
John Cage: Man & Myth (1991)
Gwar: Live From Antarctica (1991)
Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers: Dead or Alive (1991)
Thelonious Monk: An American Composer (1991)
Toots & the Maytals Live from New Orleans (1991)
Gwar: Phallus In Wonderland (1992)
Jimi Hendrix At The Isle Of Wight (1992)
1991: The Year Punk Broke (1992) - Sonic Youth
Twist (1992) - Chubby Checker, Hank Ballard
The Band That Would Be King (1993) - Half Japanese
Stepping Razor Red X: The Peter Tosh Story (1993)
Velvet Underground: Velvet Redux, Live MCMXCIII (1993)
Bjork: MTV Unplugged And Live (1994)
Bob Roberts (1994) - Tim Robbins as folksinging rightwing politician
Gwar: Skulhed Face (1994)
High Lonesome: The Story of Bluegrass Music (1994)
Nirvana Live! Tonight! Sold Out! (1994)
Jeff Buckley Live In Chicago (1995)
Out Of The Loop (1995) - Chicago music scene
September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill (1995) - Elvis Costello, PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Tom Waits
Sonic Outlaws (1995) - Negativland, The Tape-beatles, Emergency Broadcast Network
So Wrong They're Right (An 8-Track Journey) (1995)
Hype! (1996) - Grunge
Not Bad For A Girl (1996) - Babes In Toyland, L7, Lesley Rankine, Courtney Love, Lunachicks, Joan Jett
R.E.M.: Road Movie (1996)
Battle Sounds (1997) Hip Hop
Bjork: Live At Shepherd's Bush Empire (1997)
Charles Mingus: Triumph Of The Underdog (1997)
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland (1997)
Portishead: PNYC Roseland (1997)
Storefront Hitchcock (1997) - Jonathon Demme does Robyn Hitchcock
Theramin (1997)
Toots & the Maytals: Live at Santa Monica Pier (1997)
Year Of The Horse (1997) - Neil Young And Crazy Horse
Bjork: Live At Cambridge (1998)
Buena Vista Social Club (1998) - Wim Wenders & Ry Cooder in Cuba
Cowboy Junkies: Open Road (1998)
Kurt & Courtney (1998)
Decline Of Western Civilization Part III (1998)
Love Sorceress (1998) - Nina Simone
Modulations: Cinema For The Ear (1998) - History of Electronica and rave culture
Lou Reed: Rock And Roll Heart (1998)
Baaba Maal: Live at the Royal Festival Hall (1999)
Can: The Documentary (1999)
Genghis Blues (1999) - Tuvan throat singing
Instrument (1999) - Fugazi
Man In The Sand (1999) - Billy Bragg & Wilco
Meeting People Is Easy (1999) - Radiohead
The Shield Around The K (1999) - K Records
What’s Up, Fatlip? (1999) - Spike Jonze produced Pharcyde doc
The Clash: Westway To The World (2000)
The Filth & The Fury (2000) - Sex Pistols
The Life and Times of Steve Marriott (2000) - Small Faces, Humble Pie
Live At Venue B (2000) - Iggy Pop
Punk And Disorderly (2000)
Underworld: Live - Everything Everything (2000)
Down From The Mountain (2001) - Bluegrass & O Brother Where Art Thou
Keepintime: Talking Drums And Whispering Vinyl (2001) - DJ Shadow, B+ 13 min. short
Rage: 20 Years Of Punk Rock (2001)
Rebel Music: The Bob Marley Story (2001)
The Residents: Icky Flix (2001)
The Who Went Home And Cried (2001) - Guided By Voices
Scratch (2001) - Hip Hop )
Songs for Cassavetes (2001) - U.S. Indie
Between Two Worlds (2002) - Ravi Shankar
Chain Times Three (2002) - Jem Cohen, sndtrk Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Closer Than That (2002) - Low
The Freshest Kids: A History of the B-Boy (2002)
Frontier Life (2002) - Tijuana's Nortec Collective
Fubar: The Movie (2002) - Canadian metalhead mockumentary
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart (2002) - Wilco
I Put A Spell On Me (2002) - Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Let Me Be Your Band (2002) - One Man Bands
Lightning Bolt: The Power of Salads & Milkshakes (2002) - Lightning Bolt
Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002) - Motown's Funk Brothers, supreme awesomeness
Tricky: Rough Guide (2002)
You See Me Laughin': The Last of the Hill Country Bluesmen (2002) - Delta blues
Christmas On Mars (2003) - Flaming Lips
Festival Express (2003) - 1970 trainride across Canada with Grateful Dead, Janis, The Band, Buddy Guy
The Future Is Not What It Used To Be (2003) - Mika Taanila
Hey Is Dee Dee Home (2003) - Dee Dee Ramone
Just An American Boy (2003) - Steve Earle
King of Bluegrass: The Life And Times of Jimmy Martin (2003)
MC5: A True Testimonial (2003)
Music From the Edge Of Time (2003) - Los Zafiros, Cuban
Mutiny: Asians Storm British Music (2003)
Only The Strong Survive (2003) - D.A. Pennebaker documentary on soul singers
Studio One Story (2003)
Tabla Beat Science (2003)
Tom Dowd And The Language Of Music (2003)
Vinyl (2003) - Alan Zweig, obsessive record collectors
Dig! (2004) - Insufferable doc on Brian Jonestown Massacre and Dandy Warhols
Hank Williams: Honky Tonk Blues (2004) - Excellent doc on Hank.
Kill Your Idols (2004) - Muddled doc on post-punk
Some Kind of Monster (2004) - Metallica in therapy!
The Fearless Freaks (2005) - Flaming Lips
New York Doll (2005) - New York Dolls
No Direction Home (2005) - Scorsese's long-lost doc of Dylan's 1966 tour
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man (2005)
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey (2005)
Punk: Attitude (2005) - Another Don Letts rehash of archival footage
We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen (2005)
Afro-Punk (2006) - I got to see the premiere with director James Spooner on hand. More about current black musicians growing up in punk scenes rather than a history, it's interesting though a bit amateurish.
American Hardcore (2006)
Glastonbury (2006) - Julien Temple on one of the world's longest running festivals.
Heavy Metal in Baghdad (2007)
Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006) - Jonathan Demme concert film, who cares. Wish he'd done that CBGB's movie he planned since 1987, before it was too late.
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007) - RIP Joe. DVD comes out July 8, 2008.
Movies, Biopics 'n' Mockumentaries
Blackboard Jungle (1955)
Rock Around The Clock (1956) - Bill Haley & the Comets
Love Me Tender (1956) - Elvis
Loving You (1957) - Elvis
Jailhouse Rock (1957) - Elvis
High School Confidential! (1958)
King Creole (1958) - Elvis
Black Orpheus (1959) - Brazilian samba soundtrack
Performance (1970) - Mick Jagger
200 Motels (1971) - Frank Zappa
Lady Sings the Blues (1972) - Diana Ross as Billie Holiday
The Harder They Come (1972) - Jimmy Cliff
Towers Open Fire (1972) - William S. Burroughs
American Graffiti (1974) - George Lucas
Nashville (1975) - Robert Altman
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Sparkle (1976) - Curtis Mayfield Soundtrack
American Hot Wax (1978) - Alan Freed
The Buddy Holly Story (1978) - Gary Busey plays Buddy Holly
Rockers (1978) - Jamaican gangster
The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978) - Eric Idle
Blank Generation (1979) - Richard Hell
Elvis (1979) - Kurt Russell plays Elvis
Quadrophenia (1979) - The Who
Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979) - Ramones
The Idolmaker (1980) - Frankie Avalon biopic
Foxes (1980) - Jodie Foster & The Runaways' Cherie Curie as Valley Girls!
The Rose (1980) - Bette Midler as Janis Joplin, sorta
Rude Boy (1980) - The Clash
Downtown 81 (1981) - Jean Michel Basquiat, No Wave scene
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1982) - proto-feminist post-punk band
One From The Heart (1982) - Tom Waits soundtrack
Smithereens (1982) - Richard Hell
The Wall (1982) - Pink Floyd
Eddie and the Cruisers (1983) - Beaver Brown Band ha ha
Suburbia (1983) - Penelope Spheeris/Punk
Valley Girl (1983) - Nick Cage as punk romeo, Plimsouls
Purple Rain (1984) - Prince
This Is Spinal Tap (1984) - Mockumentary
Sweet Dreams (1985) - Jessica Lange as Patsy Cline
Absolute Beginners (1986) - Bowie in a sorta bad musical
Sid & Nancy (1986)
Something Wild (1986) - Feelies cameo
Border Radio (1987) - Kurt Voss & Allison Anders
Candy Mountain (1987) - Tom Waits
La Bamba (1987) - Lou Diamond Phillips plays Ricthie Valens
Tapeheads (1988) - John Cusack, Tim Robbins
Great Balls Of Fire (1989) - Dennis Quaid as Jerry Lee Lewis
Pump Up The Volume (1990)
Thursday Afternoon (1990) - Brian Eno
The Commitments (1991) - Fictional-turned real Irish soul band
Young Soul Rebels (1991)
The Return Of Spinal Tap (1992)
Singles (1992) - Cameron Crowe. Matt Dillon fronts Pearl Jam in Citizen Dick, ha ha
Wayne’s World (1992)
CB4 (1993) - Chris Rock in a Hip Hop Mockumentary
Dazed And Confused (1993) - Richard Linklater 1976 high school saga
What’s Love Got to Do With It? (1993) - Angela Bassett as Tina Turner
Half-Cocked (1995)
Bandwagon (1996) - North Carolina mockumentary
Grace of my Heart (1996) - Allison Anders meta-bio on Carole King and Brill pop
Hard Core Logo (1996) - Canadian punk mockumentary, not bad, but kind of a drag
The Source (1996) - The Beats
That Thing You Do! (1996) - Tom Hanks
Trainspotting (1996)
Velvet Goldmine (1998) - metafiction of glam scene, combining aspects of David Bowie, Lou Reed, Roxy Music and Iggy Pop into fictional characters
Genghis Blues (1999) - Blind blues singer from SF wins a Tuvan throat-singing competition
Human Traffic (1999) - Rave culture
The Limey (1999) - “That first Christopher Cross album really changed my life” ha ha
SLC Punk (1999)
Sugar Town (1999) - Kurt Voss & Allison Anders' fictional L.A. post-glam scene
Almost Famous (2000) - Cameron Crowe, semi-autobiographical, teenage Crowe travels with famous rock band, loses virginity/innocence
Groove (2000) - Rave culture
High Fidelity (2000) - Music geek John Cusack stalks ex-girlfriends
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) - Coen Brothers, dustbowl era
Down And Out With The Dolls (2001) - Kurt Voss - fictional Portland girl punk band, with Lemmy!!
Hedwig and The Angry Inch (2001) - Transvestite glam rocker
Moulin Rouge (2001)
Rock Star (2001) - Doggedly earnest story of Judas Priest (but more like Poison) with Marky Mark, Jennifer Anniston still won't do nude scenes
Ghosts of the Civil Dead (2002) - Nick Cave
Laurel Canyon (2002) - Frances McDormand is a cool record producer who fools around with her whiny, uptight son's fiancee
Rock My World / Global Heresy (2002) - Peter O'Toole (!) bonds with a stunningly stupid rock band
24 Hour Party People (2002) - Factory records and Joy Division/New Order
Bubba Ho-Tep (2003) - Weird Elvis movie
End of the Century (2003) - Ramones R.I.P.
Laurel Canyon (2003) - Frances McDormand as Joni Mitchell-inspired mother of uptight son
School Of Rock (2003) - Richard Linklater, Jack Black
Ray (2004) - Jamie Foxx does right by Ray Charles
9 Songs (2004) - Grungy, hairy, skinny couple have softporn sex to music
Walk The Line (2005) - Johnny Cash, RIP
Stranger Than Fiction (2006) - Will Ferrel does Spoon!
Tenacious D: The Pick Of Destiny (2006) - Jack Black
Black Snake Moan (2007) - Samuel Jackson does some blues and keeps half nekkid Christina Ricci chained to radiator
Once (2007) - Glen Hansard of The Frames
I'm Not There (2007) - Extremely pretentious as-ever Todd Haynes has six actors portray Dylan or characters inspired by Dylan's lyrics
Across the Universe (2007) - Musical set to Beatles Tunes
Control (2007) - Joy Division
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) - John C. Reilly in mockumentary plays a mix of Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Ray Charles, and bad puns