How about
"Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones ?
11 November 2011 - 11/11/11 - is Nigel Tufnel Day, a day to celebrate pushing the envelope as far as it can possibly be pushed - and then pushing it one step beyond that. As Spinal Tap's lead guitarist would say: "An 'undred years ago, a great war - the greatest since the Romans - came to an end. It was all quiet on the Y …
Anvil: The Story Of Anvil
You start off thinking it is all bit of a joke as the 50 something members of the legendary 80's heavy metal band are shown delivering meals to school kids and other dreary day jobs while keeping the dream alive on the weekends, still trying to get that "big break" and reclaim their former glory.
Think a rock and roll version of "The Wrestler", only with real blokes .
By the end of the movie you are rooting for them to make it!
A true masterpiece.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1157605/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0149151/
Timothy Spall, Billy Connolly, Nill Nighy, Jimmy Nail, Phil Daniels, Bruce Robinson, about an aging rock band, getting together for one more gig.
And whilst not exactly about a band, Wayne's World is a love letter to Rock and Roll, and Wayne's World 2 shamelessly taking Danny The Dealer from Bruce Robinson's Withnail and making him a roadie. Classic.
If one can count the country and blues stylings of Johnny Cash in a list of 'Rock' movies (excellent biopic btw), then the only reason I can see for missing off The Blues Brothers is because it would eclipse Spinal Tap itself. Hell, I'd rather watch Blues Brothers 2000 again than the first eight of that list. At least John Goodman could actually (surprisingly) sing. I mean, Jack Black, really?
... then being funny isn't a requirement. Since he appears twice, you could even argue that being unapologetically unfunny was an advantage.
I vote for Tommy. Killing Bono was also as good as some of the films already on the list. But I guess Hedwig and the Angry Inch is an acquired taste?
Walk The Line is an excellent choice, to be honest I believe Joaquin Phoenix was convinced he was Johnny Cash and Reece Witherspoon's brillaint performance as June Carter got her a well deserved Oscar.
Thanks for the great review El Reg, there are some I need to add to my "must watch" list.
I'll get my oar in and add two rock movies I thought worth mentioning are:
That Thing You Do (1996)
A Tom Hanks production and starring Mr. Gump himself, but it shows the typical 60's rock/pop era and follows a one hit wonder band on their short lived journey to stardom. Notable performances from Liv Tyler, Steve Zahn and Tom Everett Scott.
Rock Star (2001)
Starring Marky Mark Wahlberg as a tribute metal band front man singer who's dreams come true when he's invited to join "Steel Dragon" the band he's been idolising.
The wild parties, groupies and lifestyle doesn't quite cut it for the new front man and yes, he opts out, but in style..
To be exact, it's a highly fictionalised version of events surrounding Judas Priest.
I'm going to second the nomination for The Blues Brothers - particularly in its extended cut that contains the full rendition of "Boom Boom" by John Lee Hooker - and question the omission of Anvil! The Story of Anvil, the Lemmy movie, and anything Scorsese has directed about music.
You missed 'That'll Be the Day' (1973) and its sequel 'Stardust' (1974). Great Brit-flicks to counter all that merkin tosh. Keith Moon, Billy Fury, Adam Faith, Marty Wilde, Ringo as character actors and even David Essex is quite bearable in the lead role. Shame so few people know about these; I mean, 'School of Rock', really?....
Yes, it's baffling and, quite frankly, it makes absolutely no sense at all, but I quite enjoyed it (the existentialist dummy, putting a print of brickwork on a billboard - on a brick wall, and of course Joss "Bucky Goldstien" Ackland), shame it was never re-issued on DVD.