Music Movies

Last night (Saturday), exciting person that I am, made myself a big salad & turned on tv.  JACKPOT!!! Never Tear Us Apart, the INXS miniseries was on Showtime.   INXS was band I've always loved. If "Kick" came out today, it would not sound out of place.  Aside from the music, they had a really charismatic lead singer who had a whole load of lady drama.  While the miniseries didn't get into the whole J.D. Fortune/Terence Trent D'Arby era of the band, their early history is more than enough fodder for 3 hours of engrossing entertainment.

One thing that strikes me about music movies - most of the time, the actors don't actually look like the musicians. However, all you really need is some strategically worn accessories and everybody knows who you are.  In this case, the guy who played Michael Hutchence had long curly black hair & a lot of flowy shirts.  The guy who played Bono appeared to be short with a goatee, military style hat, & red sunglasses.  In The Runaways, Kristen Stewart wore a pink blazer when she was "solo" Joan Jett.   Problem solved!

Anyway, watching the miniseries made me want to compile of list of my favorite music movies.  Here goes:

Dramatizations
1. The Runaways - Based on Cherie Currie's book, "Neon Angel". Floria Sigismondi put a lot of thought into how she wanted the movie to look, i.e. very shiny for the Japan scenes, etc.. This is one of my favorite overall movies.

2. Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life - This could also be put on my favorite movies made from graphic novels list. While it's based on a comic book (Hello, Brigitte Bardot!), it's a live action, irreverent take on Serge's life.  It did leave out his infamous appearance on the talk show with Whitney Houston but it was outstanding.

3. La Vie en Rose - Edith Piaf's music was very reflective of her life - very sad, lots of highs & lows, with the backdrop of Parisian cabaret.

4. 24 Hour Party People - Rise & fall of the Manchester scene in the 80s.  This is a movie where most of the actors didn't look like the musicians but they all had defining haircuts & accessories.  They did an especially good job giving the Ryder brothers bowl cuts & boxy sweaters.

5. Hillary & Jackie - File under: Family secrets are stranger than any fiction

Documentaries
1. Talihina Sky: The Story of Kings of Leon - In the early 2000s, I had multiple tickets to see this band & they never showed for any of the concerts.  After watching this, honestly, I am surprised they were even functional enough to form a band.  It was an accomplishment to transcend their upbringing & get it together.

2. Anvil: The Story of Anvil - This is what happens when you never stop chasing your dreams.

3. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart - Behind the scenes look at Wilco's recording process and a peek into how bizarro being signed to a major label can be.

4. Lemmy - He seems like such a nice, regular guy!

5. Dig - Comparative documentary of the Dandy Warhols & Brian Jonestown Massacre.  How do the fates decide who gets the buzz & the attention in the moment?

Matt Phipps, our afternoon DJ, recommended the Big Star documentary to me.  I need to put in my Netflix queue. If you have any recommendations, please post them in the comments!