Browse Movies : NR : Music (Page #2)

On April 2nd, 2011, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM played its final show at Madison Square Garden. LCD frontman James Murphy had made the conscious decision to disband one of the most celebrated and influential bands of its generation at the peak of its popularity, ensuring that the band would go out on top with the biggest and most ambitious concert of its career. Shut Up and Play the Hits is simultaneously a document of a once-in-a-lifetime performance and an intimate portrait of Murphy as he navigates both the personal and professional ramifications of his decision.

The film centers on the hard rock band Motley Crue's rise, complete with all the ups and downs in friendships, on tour and in the studio.

Focused on Billy Joel's final concert at Shea Stadium before it was demolished, with the ballpark and the New York Mets' history intertwined into the storyline.

The Lost Weekend: A Love Story explores the 18-month relationship (1973-1975) that John Lennon spent with May Pang, his Chinese American assistant turned lover (on Yoko Ono’s insistence). With May’s help, Lennon reunited with his son Julian and had his most artistically and commercially productive period post-Beatles – with the albums “Mind Games”, “Walls and Bridges” which included his only #1 Hit Single “Whatever Gets You Through the Night”, “Rock and Roll” and collaborated with Elton John, David Bowie, Harry Nilsson, Mick Jagger, and Ringo to name a few. Pang chronicles it all revisiting her younger self, a naïve 22-year old experiencing her first, unforgettable love.

Documents story of Miami musician Clarence Reid and his alter ego Blowfly, the original dirty rapper. A major force in the Miami soul scene of the 60s and 70s, Reid wrote Top-10 songs for some of the greatest R&B acts of the era, while at the same time, his X-rated recordings and stage antics as Blowfly made him a star of the "party record" scene.

A documentary chronicling the barrier-breaking Mexican ranchera singer Chavela Vargas whose international fame peaked after a triumphant return to the stage at the age of 71.

Dawn Raid is the story of two Manukau Polytechnic students, Andy Murnane and Tanielu Leaosavai'i (aka Brotha D) who turned a bootleg t-shirt business and Hip-Hop night at a local bar in Otara into the influential Dawn Raid Entertainment empire. From humble beginnings to fame and fortune, Andy, Brotha D and the Dawn Raid artists gave voice to a disenfranchised Pacific community, for which the violence of the dawn raids, twenty years previously, was still raw. But the bravado and contempt for the status quo that drove Andy and Brotha D to the top, was also the unravelling of their empire. Unpaid tax debts, rifts between artists, and a feeling of betrayal and failure underpinned the downfall of Dawn Raid Entertainment, though not before they had created an immeasurable musical legacy that would pave the way for future New Zealand artists to reach international audiences.

The story of a young mixed race musician forced to return to his rural hometown after an expensive college degree. A chance encounter with a childhood acquaintance gives the summer new direction. Together they build a rag-tag band of other struggling locals for one shot to play a music festival coming to their once prosperous steel town. Armed with only folk-rock, Killian and the band hope to unite the community - - if just for one night.

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.

Deep in the San Fernando Valley, amidst rows of dilapidated warehouses, was rock n' roll's best kept secret: Sound City. America's greatest unsung recording studio housed a one-of-a-kind console, and as its legend grew, seminal bands and artists such as Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Rick Springfield, Tom Petty, Metallica and Nirvana all came out to put magic to tape. Directed by Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) and featuring interviews and performances from the iconic musicians who recorded some of rock’s greatest albums at the studio, Sound City doesn’t just tell the story of this real-life rock ’n’ roll shrine, it celebrates the human element of music as Grohl gathers some of rock's biggest artists to collaborate on a new album.