BUT! My journalistic mulling aside, 10 rock n' roll adventures that are worth checking out.
10) Airheads (1994)
Far too many for my liking are woeful unaware of Airheads; the under the radar 90's comedy starring Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi, and Adam Sandler as musicians in a shitty rock band. When the trio's band, The Lone Rangers, fails to get any radio play, they settle on the relatively simply plan to cut out the middle man, (for rock n' roll!) break into a radio station, arm themselves with super-soakers filled with hot sauce, and force the station manger to play their EP over the airwaves. Needless to say this plan quickly derails right around the same time they realize 1) they are about as competent at hostage negotiations as they are at playing music (which is not very), and 2) radio stations do not at all work that way. (Speaking as a jaded radio DJ myself I can safely say the power of radio to promote artists has only waned since this movie came out). But that's all right! Because what they may lack in musical chops or sense, The Lone Rangers make up for with their unbridled enthusiasm for "rocking all night" , and "partying ever day"; a simple message that endears them to public. If you've ever had at least one friend who believed in air guitaring at every show you went to, no matter how silly he looked, you'll know exactly where these guys are coming from. It's funny, with cameos aplenty (Bevis and Buthead call in to harass a DJ, Lemmy Kilmster stands there and looks impossibly cool), and expounds the message that as cliche as as it might seem, it really is "all about the music man". Not being cool, or even being very talented. But knowing in your heart you're doing what you love. Even if it does make you look a little crazy to everyone else.
9) Purple Rain (1984)
Weirdly enough, more people are aware of this being the name of a Prince and the Revolution album rather then the title of a movie; concluding for themselves that the movie was made first as an afterthought, and the music that Prince cranked out for the soundtrack was just so damn good, it become a chart topping seller over night. Purple Rain is less screwball comedy like Airheads, and more of a surprisingly good drama piece that borrows heavily from Prince's actually life; even the part where Prince foreshadows never wanting to have a normal name ever again, by calling his charter "Kid". This in a movie that uses every single opportunity to use real people's names. (including Morris Day and The Time as the Cobra Kai to Prince's Daniel-san. Yeah that's right. THAT Morris Day) The story centers on our protagonist, Kid, growing up in an abusive household, taking out his frustrations on his band, becoming a bizarre closed off control freak, and nearly torpedoing every relationship he holds dear thanks to his obsession with success and not wanting to be like his father...
So maybe a lot less "borrowing from true events" from Prince and more "re-living every low point of my life in front of everyone I know". I'm starting to wonder if writing Purple Rain simply started out as a therapy project that got of hand. Suffice to say the music is incredible, and if you don't cry at the ending when "Purple Rain" plays, you are dead inside.
8) Rock n' Roll High School (1979)
I could almost swear Rock n' Roll High School was written by a think tank of actual high schoolers who happened to be Ramones fans; which in the year this movie came out, consisted of approximately all of them. The movie is cheesy wish-fulfillment fantasy at its best, and has a plot that feels like the exact kind of thing that would end up being mined by future generations for Saturday Morning cartoon lineups. But that sheer earnestness of it all makes it impossible not to love. Oh and the fact that The Ramones play themselves as high school dropouts doesn't hurt things. But the real draw is the heroine of our story, the awesomely named Riff Randle,who gets the whole school hooked on The Ramones (and subsequently expelled if the ending's anything to go by), through a combination of her optimism, blatant disregard for public education, and dancing like a manic at every given opportunity, when she's not describing her increasingly elaborate fantasies involving her and one Joey Ramone. Yeah, she's kinda awesome is what I'm trying to get at. And the "all Ramones all the time" isn't a bad addition either. CAUTION: Getting "Rock n' Roll High School" out of your head (even after reminding yourself it's basically just "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" in a slightly different key) will be harder then forgetting your now growing crush on scarily adorable, but hyper unstable 70's women.
7) Rock Of Ages (2012)
Yes, I said it. Damn it, I don't care what your citric said, I don't care that ever fiber in your being is reflexively screaming "IT'S A MUSICAL! DOESN'T COUNT!" Put aside the bias for a sec and believe me when I say that Rock Of Ages, is a surprisingly good movie. Is it silly? Yes. A bit camp? Oh sweet mother yes. But that fact that it's a jukebox musical of a ton of 80's glam rock hits that you must have heard at some point in your life (don't deny it), makes it the ULTIMATE karaoke movie. The plot's the simple, "guy meets girl, he wants to rock, she wants to be a song writer, they work at the same bar, and hilarity ensues!", kind of fodder that's sweet if you're into that sort of thing, but if you're not is barely there to distract you. Think of it like those glittering animated screens in DDR. And Tom Cruise as the fictional rock star Stacye Jaxx, is an hilariously dead on depiction of any number of rock stars from the Sunset Strip. Though my money's on equal parts Axel Rose and Jon Bon Jovi. As rock n' roll movies go, this one's gonna hinge more on how you feel about the kind of music. And if you hate hair metal bands, odds are nothing will get you to like this movie so it's a safe skip. But if you're indifferent to it or in fact love it, this movie's much better then most think.
6) SLC Punk (1998)
If you ever wanted to know just what all the thrashing was about amongst punk rockers, have wondered just what it was that those gangly young men did when not loitering around malls hissing "poser" under their breaths ever five minutes, or just needed a good jumping board to get into punk rock and hear what you missed, this relatively unknown classic fills all those needs. Boasting a killer soundtrack consisting of The Specials, The Exploited, The Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat, and more, SLC Punk follows two punk rock fans in Salt Lake City who struggle to keep true to their punk rock/weekend anarchist identity in the face of everyone the know growing up and moving on...okay so full disclosure; it's kinda a depressing movie. But still, I highly recommend it. Even if it does seem like a cruel bait and switch to make you fall in love with the punk rock scene before pulling away to show its characters growing increasingly jaded by it. The ending will have you debating your friends for months over what it really means, but there's some good news. A sequel has been green lit for 2014 entitled Punk Is Dead. It looks like you'll have at least a year to see if you were right all along.
5) Singles (1992)
What SLC Punk did for punk, Singles did for grunge. Both in boasting a "best of" soundtrack of sorts for the genera (Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Alice in Chains, and The Screaming Trees), while also airing out the dark realities of the Seattle scene (drug use, self-loathing, narcissistic musicians). The story centers on a group of 20 somethings living in an apartment block in Seattle. Think Friends only with a grunge soundtrack if you will. It gets the extra bonus points for 1) Cliff Poncier (played by Matt Dillion), the douchey musician who just steals the show every time he opens his mouth and 2) his band mates all being real-life members of Pearl Jam; including Eddie Vedder being his self-esteem whipping boy. Also Alice in Chains swing by as themselves playing a basement show. There's even a "blink and you'll miss it" cameo by Chris Cornell as "confused looking guy standing next to a car alarm". If you recognize half of those names, and own a stitch of flannel, this movie is worth a gander.
4) 24 Hour Party People (2002)
Continuing out trend here of music genera specific movies, we have 24 Hour Party People. This time, the genera of choice is that enticing brand of experimental punk rock of Manchester, from the earl 80's to the late 90's; centred on the exploits of one eccentric record label owner who was at the center of it all. Steve Coogan plays Tony Wilison, the head of the famous Factory Records; the very same label that signed groundbreaking post-punk acts like Joy Division, A Certain Ratio, and Happy Mondays. The great thing 24 Hour Party People does is have a great sense of humor about itself. If your a fan of this genera of music, you already know there's a level of pretension that's unfairly associated with its fan base. And to be fair, it was a reputation that was almost as equally encouraged by musicians as it was by the fans and journalists. What 24 Hour Party People does is take the real events, spice them up with a sprinkle of dramatization, and deconstructs the whole scene as having been spawned entirely off the suggestions of a couple of really drunk men. A lot of the humor form the movie really relies on you having done your homework to appreciate the more subtle jokes. But if you're all ready well versed in the history of Factory Records and the names being thrown around (and have an appreciation for dry British wit) you'll be delighted.
3) The Harder They Come (1972)
Ohhhh shit. Now were are getting into the really good stuff. I'm really, REALLY glad I get to tell you all about The Harder The Come (No it's not a skin flick, despite what the cover would have you believe). When it comes to understanding reggae, Bob Marley is used as the starting point. Not to take anything away from Bob Marley (though Exodus was and still is overrated as shit), but to start with him, criminally overlooks the early days of reggae; back when it had a much more stripped down, rock steady, dance hall ready beat; the days of musicians like Prince Buster and Aton Ellis who laid down the groundwork for what would would become ska and rocksteady. And from the scene, perhaps no artist was more influential then Jimmy Cliff, who blended those sounds with his own funky experiments, creating the earliest notes of reggae. But that's not what we're here to talk about. No, what's at issue here is the classic story of The Harder They Come, where Jimmy Cliff, playing an exaggerated version of himself, struggles to find work before becoming a star reggae singer. And that's where you'd expect the story to end. The artist struggles to break into the music industry, makes sacrifices, learns lessons along the way, and finally makes it. But in The Harder They Come, Jimmy Cliff reaches this zenith with still another 40+ minutes of movie to go. Thats' when you realize the rest of the movie is actually about how Cliff became a marijuana runner; fighting of hordes of rival gang members by day, while maintaining his music career and packing the dance halls by night. It answers the question "what if Walter White from Breaking Bad had a part time job as a lounge singer?" years before anyone thought to ask it. Throughout the movie Jimmy Cliff is basically a mis-mash of Han Solo, Shaft, and Jimmy Cliff (which is a full time job). The fact that this soundtrack may have single handily broke open the US markets to other young reggae artists (like Bob Marley for instance) is just the icing on the cake.
2) Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure/Bogus Journey (1989/1991)
I'll admit, I cheated a bit on this one. While there's no doubt in my mind that Bill & Ted is anything BUT underrated, I'd feel like it's an easy one to skip over in terms of a rock n' roll movie. Granted, the time traveling phone booth and the journeys through time and space and hell ARE kind of the center pieces of these movies. But the rock n' roll cream filling is ultimately what really ties these movies together. Bill and Ted you see, aren't just destined to be the best rock band in the world. They're destined to unite to world and bring about world peace by the sheer brilliance of their hard rocking (demonstrated throughout the course of two movies by them playing really shitty covers). I'm putting both movies in because while Excellent Adventure is the better movie, Bogus Journey, had the better soundtrack, featuring Steve Vai shredding all over the damn place.
1) Wild Zero (1999)
What happens if you took Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park, made it not suck, made the band anyone else but Kiss, had that new band give a damn, and then crossed their adventure over with a forgotten George Romero script? You'd have the single greatest rock n' roll movie of all time, Wild Zero. It stars the Japanese garage rock band Guitar Wolf. Its members are in order: Guitar Wolf (the dynamic leader), Bass Wolf (the charming, if occasionally violent stoner), and Drum Wolf (the endearing team heart). When aliens arrive to earth and raise the dead, aspiring musician Ace knows the only smart thing to do is to turn to his idols, Guitar Wolf , (self proclaimed the coolest band in the world), and hope that they happen to be as good at killing alien zombies as they are at being awesome. SPOILER ALERT! They are. Armed to the teeth with exploding motorcycles, laser guided musical instruments, and enough guns to put 50 Cent's crew to shame, Guitar Wolf spend the movie's entire 98 minute run being awesome. How rock n roll is this movie? The fact that the band take the time and energy to enthusiastically shout "Rock n' Roll!" in broken English throughout the course of this movie every time someone so much as sneezes, puts somewhere between "very" and "ridiculously so".
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