Rock and Roll and the lifestyle that goes with it are so infamous that many bands sing about touring and performing. However, Rock and Roll has also inspired many movies. Here are some of the most famous:
The Blues Brothers - This classic movie mixes comedy with passionate love for rhythm and blues. The Blues Brothers -- Jake and Elwood played by and John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, respectively, plan to get their R&B band back together after Jake is released from prison. During the process of convincing reluctant former band members to rejoin them so they can raise enough money to help save the orphanage where both boys spent their childhoods, the Blue Brothers must evade Illinois Nazis, a country-western band and the police -- all of which comes to a head in a high-speed car chase. The movie boasts an all-star cast including Arethra Franklin, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and even Carrie Fisher.
This Is Spinal Tap - This mockumentary about a British rock band who takes life to the extreme was one of the first fake documentaries, and it gained a cult following when it was released in 1984. Rob Reiner stars as the filmmaker and fan of the music, Marty DiBergi. Spinal Tap is "Britain's loudest band," and DiBergi follows the members and films pivotal performances of their hits as well as the band's antics, which involves to a replica of Stonehenge. The movie also coined the pop-phrase “Turn it up to 11!” a reference to the bands amplifiers maximum volume level.
Walk The Line - Johnny Cash was a little
bit rock and a little bit country, colloquially know as RockABilly. He got his start at
Sun Records in Memphis with two friends, The Tennessee Two, who would become household
names in a few short years. While the movie is about the tumultuous start to Johnny's
relationship with his future wife, June Carter, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis also
make an appearance in the movie. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon received praise for
their roles as Johnny and June, respectively, and the movie has a strong soundtrack thanks
to Cash's hit songs and supplementary music from other artists featured in the movie.
La Bamba - This is another movie that pays homage to a classic rocker. In La Bamba, Lou Diamond Phillips plays Richie Valens, the Hispanic heartthrob who perished with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper in a plane crash in 1959. Valens was just eighteen years old when the plane crashed, but he was already popular for songs such as "La Bamba" and "Donna." His sensational career lasted only eight months before it ended in flames, literally, and the movie outlines his short-lived success. Almost Famous Sometimes movies about rock and roll aren't about stars themselves, but the entourage that follows them around. In this flick, a budding teenage journalist is following his favorite band on tour, Stillwater, hoping to sell their story to Rolling Stone magazine and get his first big break. He learns firsthand the hard partying life style of a rock band, and how the drugs, sex, and drama can take its toll on your life. The movie is a semi-autobiographical account of the screenplays author, Cameron Crowe, in his early days as a struggling writer. It received positive feedback from critics as well as fans, and also won an Oscar for best original screenplay among other award nominations.
Almost Famous - Sometimes movies about rock and roll aren't about stars themselves, but the entourage that follows them around. In this flick, a budding teenage journalists is following his favorite band on tour, Stillwater, hoping to sell his story to Rolling Stone magazine and get his first big break. He learns firsthand the partying life style of a rock band, and how the drugs, sex, and drama can take its toll on your life. The movie is a semi-autobiographical of the screenplays author, Cameron Crowe, in his early days as a struggling writer. It received positive feedback from critics as well as fans, and also won an Oscar for best original screenplay among other award nominations.