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Tune in to the Rock and Roll (Movie) Hall of Fame
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items After catching A Complete Unknown (2024) this holiday season, I'm back on a real rock ‘n’ roll kick in the New Year and revisiting all my favorite Rock Movies. These movies turn a spotlight on rock and roll music: some are concert films or rock 'n' r...
If you were a fan of Timothée Chalamet's turn as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown (2024), you owe it to yourself to watch this landmark “rockumentary” from D.A. Pennebaker, which captures Dylan's time spent in England in support of his iconic 1965 alb...
Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back (1967)
Jonathan Demme's concert film for the Talking Heads is so iconic that it received a 4k re-release from A24 in 2023 that outgrossed the cult film's entire original box office returns. Shot over the course of three shows at Hollywood's Pantages Theater...
Stop Making Sense (1984)
Directed by Steve Binder, who would go on to direct Elvis' legendary 1968 television comeback special, this iconic concert film documents a stacked showcase at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on October 28 and 29, 1964, played by some of the bigges...
T.A.M.I. Show (1964)
The best concert film of all time? This film from legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese documents the "farewell performance" of The Band, shot at their concert held on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Specia...
The Last Waltz (1978)
The Beatles' 1964 cinema verite-style musical comedy film (their first of 5 films) essentially created the modern pop music video, blending light story, song, and performances with the signature irreverence that would come to define the band and cons...
A Hard Day's Night (1964)
Prince made his acting debut with this iconic cult film, released near simultaneously with his soundtrack of the same name, which became one of Prince's greatest successes, sporting the title track of the same name that would become one of his signat...
Purple Rain (1984)
This zeitgeist concert film from legendary music documentarian D.A. Pennebaker follows the Monterey International Pop Festival of 1967 and is best remembered for capturing Jimi Hendrix's electrifying set, which ends with Hendrix memorably setting fir...
Monterey Pop (1968)
This film does a good job of capturing Elvis' once-in-a-generation appeal as a sex symbol, giving the aspiring actor plenty to pout and mumble about. For Elvis' third film, MGM scrapped his "nice-guy" onscreen persona for something more in line with ...
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Future creative power duo Thelma Schoonmaker and Martin Scorsese are two of the seven editors credited with working on this landmark documentary film, which captures the iconic 1969 free music festival of the same name, which to many epitomized (and ...
Woodstock (1970)
This film translation of The Who's rock opera of the same name is a staple of midnight movie circuits, thanks to its striking, unforgettable visuals and pop soundtrack. This is a film about idolatry, which goes hand in hand with popular music, and it...
Tommy (1975)
This funny, infectious Jayne Mansfield film changed popular music forever when it caught the attention of two teenagers in Liverpool: a little lad named John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Inspired by the rock performances in the film, the two kept plugg...
The Girl Can't Help It (1956)
This indescribable cult film from New Hollywood filmmaker Bob Rafelson (in his directorial debut), written by Jack Nicholson, is a fascinating blend of Looney Tunes humor, musical performance, and anti-war messaging. The film was intended as a coda t...
Head (1968)
Imagine the coolest thing you could ever conceive of, and find it realized with this concert film: Pink Floyd performing to the void at the site of a collapsed civilization. Conceived by director Adrian Maben as an answer to prior concert films like ...
Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii (1972)
D.A. Pennebaker once again captures rock history in this legendary concert film covering the last stop on David Bowie's 1973 Ziggy Stardust tour, where he performed under his persona of the same name alongside backing band, the Spiders From Mars. Inf...
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1979)
Future Wayne's World director Penelope Spheeris (insanely underrated), who was previously married the owner of punk magazine (and subsequent punk record label) Slash, helmed this groundbreaking documentary about L.A.'s punk rock scene that was so exp...
The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
There's a lot of fascinating footage in this 70s concert film, which splices together scenes from two 1973 concerts on the "Rock and Roll Revival" circuit (which was en vogue at the time): one at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island and one at Cobo Hall in...
Let the Good Times Roll (1973)
Todd Haynes' glittery, gay tribute to the sexual ambiguity and malleable gender expressions of the Glam Rock era — a mediation on, and celebration of, queer identity and recognition in art across time — is a true love letter to rock music, bisexualit...
Velvet Goldmine (1998)
Todd Haynes once again proves that he is the only contemporary filmmaker qualified to make musical biopics in this inventive take on the music — and many contradictory personas — of Bob Dylan, a performer pulling from so many musical styles and cultu...
I'm Not There (2007)
This cult classic gothic horror glam rock opera is a trippy rock opus without a single bop that's nevertheless compulsively watchable. It borrows from Oscar Wilde, Gaston LeRoux's The Phantom of the Opera, Faust, the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, glam roc...
Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
This fantastic concert documentary of Elvis' 1972 tour — his final film appearance — is considered to be the creme de la creme by Elvis fans, both for its capture of this period of Elvis' career (and how his act transformed in later years) and the ma...
Elvis on Tour (1972)
Iconic record label Stax Records organized this commemorative concert of a wide range of genres, which took place on August 20, 1972 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, to honor the the seventh anniversary of the 1965 Watts riots. Performers includ...
Wattstax (1973)