Films Related to Rock Music & Rock Style
Included in this list are movies that reflect the true spirit of rock and roll, within whichever particular flavor of rock genre, or subgenre, it happens to be found.
Full Disclosure: I believe that the 80s were the absolute best years for all kinds of new and exciting rock music. If, as I did, you lived through that period during your youth, then you know just how bloated and over-produced much of the rock music was in the mid to late 70s, before genres such as punk, new wave, new romantics, hardcore, post-punk, and goth came along.
Enjoy, and please feel free to suggest titles that I may have missed and which you feel should be on here.
Full Disclosure: I believe that the 80s were the absolute best years for all kinds of new and exciting rock music. If, as I did, you lived through that period during your youth, then you know just how bloated and over-produced much of the rock music was in the mid to late 70s, before genres such as punk, new wave, new romantics, hardcore, post-punk, and goth came along.
Enjoy, and please feel free to suggest titles that I may have missed and which you feel should be on here.
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- DirectorJohn CarneyStarsFerdia Walsh-PeeloAidan GillenMaria Doyle KennedyA young lad notices a beautiful girl who begins to occupy his thoughts. While struggling with poverty, personal relationships and life's woes, he starts a band, hoping to catch her attention.
- DirectorShane MeadowsStarsThomas TurgooseStephen GrahamJo HartleyA young boy becomes friends with a gang of skinheads. Friends soon become like family, and relationships will be pushed to the very limit.
- StarsAndrew EllisAndrew ShimChanel CresswellShaun has just finished his final exams and he realizes he is no longer a kid. It's mid 80's England, and the gang are back, looking for a laugh, a job and something that resembles a future.
- StarsAndrew EllisAndrew ShimChanel CresswellChristmas 1988. Soulmates Woody and Lol find themselves in exile from each other and the gang. Trying to understand the definition 'growing up', Shaun begins a course at College, that quickly takes a wrong turn.
- StarsLyra Mae ThomasChanel CresswellVicky McClureThe year is 1990, the rave scene has just entered England. The sound of the Stone roses lurks toward Shaun and the gang. This means that Woody and Lol are living in a domestic bliss, they are happy again. But this year will see huge changes in everyone. This is the year 1990. This is England.
- DirectorStephen KijakStarsHelena HowardEllar ColtraneElena Kampouris1987. Denver, Co. One crazy night in the life of four friends reeling from the sudden demise of iconic British band The Smiths, while the local airwaves are hijacked at gunpoint by an impassioned Smiths fan.
- DirectorMark GillStarsJodie ComerJessica Brown FindlayJack LowdenA portrait of Morrissey and his early life in 1970s Manchester before he went on to become the lead singer of seminal alternative rock band The Smiths.
- DirectorJohn CarneyStarsGlen HansardMarkéta IrglováHugh WalshA modern-day musical about a busker and an immigrant and their eventful week in Dublin, as they write, rehearse and record songs that tell their love story.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsJohn CusackIben HjejleTodd LouisoRob, a record store owner and compulsive list maker, recounts his top five breakups, including the one in progress.
- DirectorJohn CarneyStarsKeira KnightleyMark RuffaloAdam LevineA chance encounter between a down-and-out music business executive, and a young singer songwriter new to Manhattan, turns into a promising collaboration between the two talents.
- DirectorAnton CorbijnStarsSam RileySamantha MortonCraig ParkinsonA profile of Ian Curtis, the enigmatic singer of Joy Division whose personal, professional, and romantic troubles led him to die by suicide at the age of 23.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsRobert ArkinsMichael AherneAngeline BallJimmy Rabbitte, an unemployed Dublin boy, decides to put together a soul band made up entirely of the Irish working class.
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsSteve CooganLennie JamesJohn ThomsonIn 1976, Tony Wilson sets up Factory Records and brings Manchester's music to the world.
- DirectorRubika ShahStarsRed SaundersRoger HuddleKate WebbRock Against Racism was formed in 1976, prompted by Eric Clapton. It blends fresh interviews with archive footage to recreate a hostile environment of anti-immigrant hysteria and National Front marches.
- DirectorLou AdlerStarsPeter DonatDiane LaneMarin KanterThe media and disaffected teens mistake the acerbic rants of an obnoxious teenage punk rocker as a rallying cry for the women of America, launching her and her talentless group to national stardom.
- DirectorAlex CoxStarsGary OldmanChloe WebbDavid HaymanThe relationship between Sid Vicious, bassist for British punk group Sex Pistols, and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen is portrayed.
- DirectorPenelope SpheerisStarsChris PedersenBill CoyneJennifer ClayWhen household tensions and a sense of worthlessness overcome Evan, he finds escape when he clings with the orphans of a throw-away society.
- DirectorTerry ZwigoffStarsSteve BuscemiThora BirchScarlett JohanssonTwo eccentric best friends graduate high school and respond to a man's romance-seeking newspaper ad as a gag, only to find their lives becoming increasingly complicated.
- DirectorRodger GrossmanStarsShane WestRick GonzalezBijou PhillipsThe true-life story of Darby Crash, who became an L.A. punk icon after getting kicked out of high school and forming The Germs with a collection of friends who have little experience with their instruments or playing music.
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsEwan McGregorJonathan Rhys MeyersChristian BaleIn 1984, British journalist Arthur Stuart investigates the career of 1970s glam superstar Brian Slade, who was heavily influenced in his early years by hard-living and rebellious American singer Curt Wild.
- DirectorChris GreenStarsJesse BirdsallMax BoastRick S. CarrThe story follows John Parker, a 19 year old from Manchester who embarks on a journey to Brighton, the spiritual home of the Mods, on an old Lambretta scooter left to him by his father. The film is a celebration of Mod culture and fashion and features music by Paul Weller and The Jam.
- DirectorFranc RoddamStarsPhil DanielsLeslie AshPhil DavisJimmy Cooper loathes his dead-end job and his working-class parents. He seeks solace with his mod clique, scooter riding, and drugs, only to be disappointed.
- DirectorTom HanksStarsTom HanksLiv TylerCharlize TheronA local Pennsylvania band scores a one-hit wonder in 1964 and rides the star-making machinery as long as they can, with lots of help from their manager.
- DirectorFloria SigismondiStarsKristen StewartDakota FanningMichael ShannonA coming-of-age biographical film about the 1970s teenage all-girl rock band The Runaways. The relationship between band members Cherie Currie and Joan Jett is also explored.
- DirectorMichael LehmannStarsBrendan FraserSteve BuscemiAdam SandlerThree band members hoping for a big break head to a radio station to play their demo tape and wind up holding everyone hostage with plastic guns when the head D.J. refuses to play them.