Genre Film Guide: Best Music Films
Music as a genre isn't exactly confined to the Musical. Although that would be ones first instinct, some films are able to develop a narrative as much through music as character development or setting; treating music as its own character, with its own voice.
This list will be compiled of my favourite films where I believe music to be very much its own character... I will forewarn, I am not a great fan of the Musical genre, so many of my picks may be outside the box of traditional Musical trope. However, music is definitely a major component of each of these films.
As always, this is an ongoing list and I am always up for recommendations; particularly with this list, as it is a genre that I consider myself something of a novice in.
This list will be compiled of my favourite films where I believe music to be very much its own character... I will forewarn, I am not a great fan of the Musical genre, so many of my picks may be outside the box of traditional Musical trope. However, music is definitely a major component of each of these films.
As always, this is an ongoing list and I am always up for recommendations; particularly with this list, as it is a genre that I consider myself something of a novice in.
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- DirectorZoe Lister-JonesStarsZoe Lister-JonesAdam PallyFred ArmisenA couple who can't stop fighting embark on a last-ditch effort to save their marriage: turning their fights into songs and starting a band.
- DirectorJake KasdanStarsJohn C. ReillyJenna FischerDavid KrumholtzSinger Dewey Cox overcomes adversity to become a musical legend.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsF. Murray AbrahamTom HulceElizabeth BerridgeThe life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
- DirectorEric IdleGary WeisStarsEric IdleJohn HalseyRicky FataarCharts the adventures of the prefab four, possibly the most famous band of all time.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsBill MurrayOwen WilsonAnjelica HustonWith a plan to exact revenge on a legendary shark that killed his partner, oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) rallies a crew that includes his estranged wife, a journalist, and a man who may or may not be his son.
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsOscar IsaacCarey MulliganJohn GoodmanA week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsJack BlackMike WhiteJoan CusackAfter being kicked out of his rock band, Dewey Finn becomes a substitute teacher of an uptight elementary private school, only to try and turn his class into a rock band.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsJohn CusackIben HjejleTodd LouisoRob, a record store owner and compulsive list maker, recounts his top five breakups, including the one in progress.
- DirectorLiam LynchStarsJack BlackKyle GassJR ReedTo become the greatest band of all time, two slacker, wannabe-rockers set out on a quest to steal a legendary guitar pick that gives its holders incredible guitar skills, from a maximum security Rock and Roll museum.
- DirectorJohn CarneyStarsKeira KnightleyMark RuffaloAdam LevineA chance encounter between a down-and-out music business executive, and a young singer songwriter new to Manhattan, turns into a promising collaboration between the two talents.
- DirectorJohn CarneyStarsFerdia Walsh-PeeloAidan GillenMaria Doyle KennedyA young lad notices a beautiful girl who begins to occupy his thoughts. While struggling with poverty, personal relationships and life's woes, he starts a band, hoping to catch her attention.
- DirectorTerry JonesStarsJohn CleeseTerry GilliamEric IdleThe comedy team takes a look at life in all of its stages in their own uniquely silly way.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsGeorge ClooneyJohn TurturroTim Blake NelsonIn the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them.
- DirectorJames GunnStarsChris PrattVin DieselBradley CooperA group of intergalactic criminals must pull together to stop a fanatical warrior with plans to purge the universe.
- DirectorBrad SilberlingStarsWill FerrellDanny McBrideAnna FrielA space-time vortex sucks scientist Rick Marshall, his assistant Holly and a survivalist Will into a world populated by dinosaurs and painfully slow creatures called Sleestaks.
- DirectorLenny AbrahamsonStarsMichael FassbenderDomhnall GleesonMaggie GyllenhaalJon, a young wanna-be musician, discovers he's bitten off more than he can chew when he joins an eccentric pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank.
- DirectorCurtis HansonStarsEminemBrittany MurphyKim BasingerFollows a young rapper in the Detroit area, struggling with every aspect of his life; he wants to make it big but his friends and foes make this odyssey of rap harder than it may seem.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsRob ReinerMichael McKeanChristopher GuestSpinal Tap, one of England's loudest bands, is chronicled by film director Marty DiBergi on what proves to be a fateful tour.
- DirectorBill PohladStarsJohn CusackPaul DanoElizabeth BanksIn the 60s, Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson struggles with emerging psychosis as he attempts to craft his avant-garde pop masterpiece. In the 80s, he's a broken, confused man under the 24-hour watch of shady therapist, Dr. Eugene Landy.
- DirectorJames MangoldStarsJoaquin PhoenixReese WitherspoonGinnifer GoodwinA chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.
- DirectorOlivier DahanStarsMarion CotillardSylvie TestudPascal GreggoryBiopic of the iconic French singer Édith Piaf. Raised by her grandmother in a brothel, she was discovered while singing on a street corner at the age of 19. Despite her success, Piaf's life was filled with tragedy.
- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsAnsel ElgortJon BernthalJon HammAfter being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsJohn BelushiDan AykroydCab CallowayJake Blues rejoins with his brother Elwood after being released from prison, but the duo has just days to reunite their old R&B band and save the Catholic home where the two were raised, outrunning the police as they tear through Chicago.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsAdrien BrodyThomas KretschmannFrank FinlayDuring WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.
- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsMichael CeraMary Elizabeth WinsteadKieran CulkinIn a magically realistic version of Toronto, a young man must defeat his new girlfriend's seven evil exes one by one in order to win her heart.
- DirectorFrank CoraciStarsAdam SandlerDrew BarrymoreChristine TaylorRobbie, a singer, and Julia, a waitress, are both engaged, but to the wrong people. Fortune intervenes to help them discover each other.
- DirectorPaul WeitzStarsHugh GrantDennis QuaidMandy MooreA popular television music talent competition hosted by a pompous egomaniac becomes the setting for an assassination attempt when the President of the United States becomes a celebrity judge in an attempt to rehabilitate his image.
- DirectorAkiva SchafferJorma TacconeStarsAndy SambergJorma TacconeAkiva SchafferWhen it becomes clear that his solo album is a failure, a former boy band member does everything in his power to maintain his celebrity status.
- DirectorMel BrooksStarsCary ElwesRichard LewisRoger ReesA spoof of Robin Hood in general, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) in particular.
- DirectorStanley DonenGene KellyStarsGene KellyDonald O'ConnorDebbie ReynoldsA silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his delusionally jealous screen partner are trying to make the difficult transition to talking pictures in 1920s Hollywood.