Whether you get the title to this post or not, This is Spinal Tap seems like a logical place to start for a list of must-watch films for us music lovers! This is Spinal Tapis a ‘rockumentary’ documenting the lives, gigs and tribulations of parody metal group ‘Spinal Tap’. Full of music, hilarity, stereotypes and bad hairdos, This is Spinal Tap is one of the best films of all time, let alone musical time. Ston’enge!
24 Hour Party People
To see Steve Coogan play anyone but Alan Partridge is always gonna be tricky to get your head around, but his persuasiveness in playing Tony Wilson of the legendary Haçienda almost rids him of his Partridge-ity. 24 Hour Party People is a stark, humorous and insightful look into the Madchester music scene of the 1990s, led by Tony Wilson. Focussing mainly on groups such as Joy Division and The Happy Mondays, this film allows us to experience two bluntly different yet interconnected sides of Factory Records. This film is a must purely for Mark E. Smith’s cameo. Rest in peace, sir.
Control
Whilst we’re on Joy Division, Control tells the story of Ian Curtis without the backdrop of Sean Ryder as in the previous film mentioned. Sam Riley’s performance as Curtis is beautifully sad, and Control is a perfect musical film telling a specific story of an artist took too young from the world. Whether this be the first time you’ve heard of Joy Division, or if you’ve got ‘Transmission’ tattooed on your back, this film will pull you in from start to finish.
Wild Rose
Released in 2019, Wild Rose may not be the first film people think of when asked to imagine a ‘film about music’, which is odd, because this is just that. Set in Glasgow (big ups), Jessie Buckley plays wannabe country singer and former offender, Rose-Lynn Harlan as she juggles life as single mother and her big break in the country music world. This film will make you laugh, weep, scream, and at the end you will inevitably fall in love with country music.
What Happened, Miss Simone?
A classic music documentary, What Happened, Miss Simone attempts to answer the big questions around Nina Simone’s life and musical career. Following Simone’s life as legendary singer to her work as a Civil Rights activist, the director Liz Garbus shines light on Simone’s life that one had not yet revealed. Interesting, empowering and a requirement for everyone, music-preferences aside.
Bohemian Rhapsody
Although I am somewhat late to this party as I only watched Bohemian Rhapsody at the end of last year, there is no doubt in my mind that this film had to be included in this post. At first I was dubious whether anyone could recreate Mercury’s legendarily chaotic personality, let alone his stand-out voice, however Rami Malek and the rest of the cast fast put my mind to rest. This film perfectly encapsulates the rollercoaster ride that Mercury had with Queen and as a solo-artist, and it preserves my small faith in films that exceed 120-minute run time…
Milly Cooke
@mllyck