Favorite Best Picture Music Oscar Nominee?
by urbanemovies | created - 25 Nov 2018 | updated - 3 months ago | PublicWhich of these Best Picture Oscar-nominated music movies whose main character(s) are involved in the creation or performance of music* is your favorite? *composers, singers, musicians, conductors, managers, venue owners, etc.
For the purpose of this question, a music genre movie is defined as a movie whose plot is dominated by the performance or creation of music (vocal, instrumental, or mechanical sounds having rhythm, melody, or harmony). In contrast to a musical genre movie, which combines songs interwoven into the narrative, spoken dialogue, acting and sometimes dance. Those movies that have both elements would fit into the music and musical genres.
Discuss the topic here.
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1. Amadeus (1984)
R | 160 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The 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.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Roy Dotrice
Votes: 427,803 | Gross: $51.97M
2. Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
PG-13 | 134 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of the legendary British rock band Queen and lead singer Freddie Mercury, leading up to their famous performance at Live Aid (1985).
Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy
Votes: 592,476 | Gross: $216.43M
3. The Pianist (2002)
R | 150 min | Biography, Drama, Music
During 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.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Emilia Fox
Votes: 911,678 | Gross: $32.57M
4. Ray (I) (2004)
PG-13 | 152 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.
Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell
Votes: 157,365 | Gross: $75.33M
5. Whiplash (2014)
R | 106 min | Drama, Music
A promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.
Director: Damien Chazelle | Stars: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist, Paul Reiser
Votes: 988,491 | Gross: $13.09M
6. La La Land (2016)
PG-13 | 128 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
While navigating their careers in Los Angeles, a pianist and an actress fall in love while attempting to reconcile their aspirations for the future.
Director: Damien Chazelle | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Rosemarie DeWitt, J.K. Simmons
Votes: 670,880 | Gross: $151.10M
7. The Piano (1993)
R | 121 min | Drama, Music, Romance
In the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.
Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, Anna Paquin
Votes: 95,120 | Gross: $40.16M
8. Shine (1996)
PG-13 | 105 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Pianist David Helfgott, driven by his father and teachers, has a breakdown. Years later he returns to the piano, to popular if not critical acclaim.
Director: Scott Hicks | Stars: Geoffrey Rush, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd
Votes: 56,685 | Gross: $35.81M
9. All That Jazz (1979)
R | 123 min | Drama, Music, Musical
Director/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid career of Joe Gideon, a womanizing, drug-using dancer.
Director: Bob Fosse | Stars: Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Ann Reinking, Leland Palmer
Votes: 35,367 | Gross: $37.82M
10. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
PG-13 | 127 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A poor Bohemian poet in 1890s Paris falls for a beautiful courtesan and nightclub star coveted by a jealous duke.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent
Votes: 299,270 | Gross: $57.39M
11. Cabaret (1972)
PG | 124 min | Drama, Music, Musical
A female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.
Director: Bob Fosse | Stars: Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Helmut Griem, Joel Grey
Votes: 59,367 | Gross: $42.77M
12. A Star Is Born (2018)
R | 136 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A musician helps a young singer find fame as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.
Director: Bradley Cooper | Stars: Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott, Greg Grunberg
Votes: 419,194 | Gross: $215.29M
13. Nashville (1975)
R | 160 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Over the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Keith Carradine, Karen Black, Ronee Blakley, Shelley Duvall
Votes: 28,551 | Gross: $14.82M
14. Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The fictionalized life of singer Loretta Lynn, a girl who rose from humble beginnings to become a country music star in the 1960s/70s.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Levon Helm, Phyllis Boyens
Votes: 20,500 | Gross: $67.18M
15. An American in Paris (1951)
Passed | 114 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
Three friends struggle to find work in Paris. Things become more complicated when two of them fall in love with the same woman.
Director: Vincente Minnelli | Stars: Gene Kelly, Leslie Caron, Oscar Levant, Georges Guétary
Votes: 36,860 | Gross: $4.50M
16. The Music Man (1962)
G | 151 min | Comedy, Family, Musical
Traveling con artist Harold Hill targets the naïve residents of a small town in 1910s Iowa by posing as a boys' band leader to raise money before he can skip town.
Director: Morton DaCosta | Stars: Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold
Votes: 19,161 | Gross: $14.95M
17. Tender Mercies (1983)
PG | 92 min | Drama, Music
A broken-down, middle-aged country singer gets a new wife, reaches out to his long-lost daughter, and tries to put his troubled life back together.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Robert Duvall, Tess Harper, Betty Buckley, Wilford Brimley
Votes: 12,011 | Gross: $8.44M
18. Going My Way (1944)
Passed | 126 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
When young Father O'Malley arrives at St. Dominic's, old Father Fitzgibbon doesn't think much of the church's newest member.
Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Frank McHugh, James Brown
Votes: 13,444 | Gross: $16.30M
19. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Passed | 126 min | Biography, Drama, Family
The life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer, and singer George M. Cohan.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Richard Whorf
Votes: 16,857 | Gross: $11.80M
20. 42nd Street (1933)
Passed | 89 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
When the leading lady of a Broadway musical breaks her ankle, she is replaced by a young unknown actress, who becomes the star of the show.
Director: Lloyd Bacon | Stars: Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent, Ruby Keeler
Votes: 13,034 | Gross: $2.30M
21. Bound for Glory (1976)
PG | 147 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The early life of Woody Guthrie as a vagabond folk singer.
Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: David Carradine, Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillon, Gail Strickland
Votes: 5,586
22. Green Book (2018)
PG-13 | 130 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver for an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South.
Director: Peter Farrelly | Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini, Sebastian Maniscalco
Votes: 571,167 | Gross: $85.08M
23. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
Passed | 176 min | Drama, Musical
The ups and downs of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., famed producer of extravagant stage revues, are portrayed.
Director: Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer, Frank Morgan
Votes: 8,989
24. The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
Unrated | 126 min | Drama
At a big city Catholic school, Father O'Malley and Sister Benedict indulge in friendly rivalry, and succeed in extending the school through the gift of a building.
Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Travers, William Gargan
Votes: 9,365 | Gross: $21.30M
25. The Country Girl (1954)
Unrated | 104 min | Drama, Music
A director hires an alcoholic has-been and strikes up a stormy relationship with the actor's wife, who he believes is the cause of all the man's problems.
Director: George Seaton | Stars: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, William Holden, Anthony Ross
Votes: 6,665
26. Moulin Rouge (1952)
Not Rated | 119 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Fictional account of French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
Director: John Huston | Stars: José Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Suzanne Flon, Claude Nollier
Votes: 6,518 | Gross: $11.81M
27. Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
Approved | 106 min | Drama, Music, Musical
This send-up of ragtime song and dance begins in 1915 San Francisco when society boy Roger Grant decides to pursue popular rather than serious music.
Director: Henry King | Stars: Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Don Ameche, Ethel Merman
Votes: 2,320
28. Sound of Metal (2019)
R | 120 min | Drama, Music
A heavy metal drummer's life is turned upside down when he begins to lose his hearing and he must confront a future filled with silence.
Director: Darius Marder | Stars: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff
Votes: 150,218
added 05 April 2021
29. CODA (2021)
PG-13 | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family's fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her passion at Berklee College of Music and her fear of abandoning her parents.
Director: Sian Heder | Stars: Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Daniel Durant
Votes: 164,790
added 08 February 2022
30. Elvis (2022)
PG-13 | 159 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The life of American music icon Elvis Presley, from his childhood to becoming a rock and movie star in the 1950s while maintaining a complex relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Tom Hanks, Austin Butler, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson
Votes: 234,291 | Gross: $151.04M
added 25 January 2023
31. Tár (2022)
R | 158 min | Drama, Music
Set in the international world of Western classical music, the film centers on Lydia Tár, widely considered one of the greatest living composer-conductors and the very first female director of a major German orchestra.
Director: Todd Field | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Noémie Merlant, Nina Hoss, Sophie Kauer
Votes: 93,667
added 25 January 2024
32. Maestro (2023)
R | 129 min | Biography, Drama, History
This love story chronicles the lifelong relationship of conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein and actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein.
Director: Bradley Cooper | Stars: Carey Mulligan, Bradley Cooper, Matt Bomer, Vincenzo Amato
Votes: 60,554
added 25 January 2024
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