Browse Movies : Music : L

Little Richard: I Am Everything tells the story of the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll, exploding the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator – the originator – Richard Penniman. Through a wealth of archive and performance that brings us into Richard’s complicated inner world, the film unspools the icon’s life story with all its switchbacks and contradictions. In interviews with family, musicians, and cutting-edge Black and queer scholars, the film reveals how Richard created an art form for ultimate self-expression, yet what he gave to the world he was never able to give to himself. Throughout his life, Richard careened like a shiny cracked pinball between God, sex and rock n’ roll. The world tried to put him in a box, but Richard was an omni being who contained multitudes – he was unabashedly everything.

Brian Wilson, the leader of the Beach Boys, writes more than 15 Top 40 hit singles including the groundbreaking 1966 "Pet Sounds" album before suffering a nervous breakdown during the making of its follow-up album "Smile." He struggles with mental illness, but Brian manages to persevere as an artist with the love and support of his wife Melinda.

Smuggling LP’s by Lou Reed and David Bowie, the underground rock scene is boiling ahead of the Perestroika. Mike and his beautiful wife Natasha meet with young Viktor Tsoï. Together with friends, they will change the trajectory of rock n’roll music in the Soviet Union.

The first full-length documentary to explore Grateful Dead's fiercely independent vision, perpetual innovation, and uncompromising commitment to their audience that made the Bay Area band one of the most influential musical groups of their generation.

Suge Knight, the former CEO of legendary rap music label Death Row Records was recently sentenced to 28 years imprisonment. This film takes a look at Death Row and how L.A.’s street gang culture had come to dominate its business workings.

When fifteen-year-old Shay (Daniel Huttlestone) hears the music of The Clash for the first time, it’s a revelation, opening up a new world of social consciousness and anti-establishment defiance beyond anything he’s known in his dead-end London suburb. Drawn into the heart of the city’s burgeoning punk scene, he forges two relationships that will change his life, falling in love with rebellious cool girl Vivian (Nell Williams) and finding an unexpected connection with none other than The Clash’s electrifying frontman, Joe Strummer (Jonathan Rhys Meyers).

A definitive look at the master musician’s life and legacy as a founding father of jazz, the first pop star and a cultural ambassador of the United States. He was loved by millions worldwide but often mischaracterized for not doing enough to support the civil rights movement. In reality, his fight for social justice was fueled by his celebrity and his willingness to break his silence on issues of segregation and patriotism.

Using rare, never before seen photos and footage as well as unreleased recordings, Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese traces the lines of George Harrison's journey from Liverpool to become one of the most talented and celebrated guitarists and songwriters in the world. This film chronicles his life as a Beatle, his success as a solo artist and his lifelong quest to balance the material and the spiritual.

When struggling rapper Coco (Azealia Banks) enrolls in a poetry class, she thinks her rhymes will impress her teacher, Professor Dixon (Jill Scott). Instead, Dixon challenges Coco to seek real meaning in her lyrics, setting her on a journey of discovery that takes her through rap clubs and poetry slams, leading her to find her true voice — and true love.

Robert Johnson's singing, guitar playing and songwriting skills during the 1930s later influences a generation of musicians including Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Robert Plant. Playing mostly street corners and juke joints during his career, Johnson’s recordings are limited yielding 29 distinct songs recorded by famed Country Music Hall of Fame producer Don Law. These songs, recorded at a low fidelity, are released as 10-inch, 78 rpm singles from 1937–1938. He lives a short life until the age of 27.

Story follows the relationship between famed American Jazz pianist Joe Albany and his daughter in a music career marked with heroin addiction, unsuccessful marriages, and thwarted potential.

"Last Days" is filmmaker Gus Van Sant's meditation on the inner turmoil that engulfs a brilliant, but troubled, musician in the final hours of his life. Michael Pitt stars as Blake, an introspective artist who is buckling under the weight of fame, professional obligations, and a mounting feeling of isolation. "Last Days" follows Blake through a handful of hours he spends in and near his wooded home, a fugitive from his own life. It is a period of random moments and fractured consciousness, fused by spontaneous bursts of rock & roll. Expanding on the elliptical style forged in his two previous films, "Gerry" and the Palme d'Or-winning "Elephant", Van Sant layers images and sounds to articulate an emotional landscape, creating a dynamic work about a soul in transition.

On December 10, 2007, Led Zeppelin took the stage at London's O2 Arena to headline a tribute concert for dear friend and Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun. What followed was a two-hour-plus tour de force of the band's signature blues-infused rock 'n' roll that instantly became part of the legend of Led Zeppelin. Founding members John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were joined by Jason Bonham, the son of their late drummer John Bonham, to perform 16 songs from their celebrated catalog including landmark tracks "Whole Lotta Love," "Rock and Roll," "Kashmir," and "Stairway to Heaven."

"Life 'n' Lyrics" is a love story set against the backdrop of London's urban music scene. The film follows South London DJ Danny and his crew as they battle onstage against their North London rivals. Danny unwittingly falls for a singer from the rival crew, but soon realizes the danger of their taboo relationship.