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Favorite Music-based Films

Movie list created by kathy

Sort by: Showing 13 items

Decade: Rating: List Type:

7.2

7.4

Beyond Silence (1996)

Director: Caroline Link
Starring: Sylvie Testud, Tatjana Trieb, Howie Seago, Emmanuelle Laborit, Sibylle Canonica, Matthias Habich, Alexandra Bolz and Hansa Czypionka

Lara's parents are both deaf. Since she is the only member of her family who can hear and speak, she has served as a kind of foreign minister for her family from an early age, translating and negotiating for them in even the most absurd of situations.

When Lara's vivacious and temperamental aunt Clarissa gives her a clarinet as a present, the girl begins to discover the wonderful world of music. Her father observes this development with waxing unease, as he fears losing his daughter to a world he has no access to.

Torn between her love of music and her love of her parents, the growing Lara finally chooses a life of music. When she decides to go to Berlin and attend the music conservatory, the difficult and painful process of leaving home begins.

kathy's rating:

1827

7.3

7.7

Billy Elliot (2000)

Director: Stephen Daldry
Starring: Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Jean Heywood, Gary Lewis, Jamie Draven, Stuart Wells, Mike Elliot, Billy Fane and Nicola Blackwell

A talented young boy becomes torn between his unexpected love of dance and the disintegration of his family.

kathy's rating:

363

7.5

7.6

The Commitments (1991)

Director: Alan Parker
Based on the novel by Roddy Doyle
Starring: Robert Arkins, Colm Meaney, Maria Doyle, Angeline Ball, Bronagh Gallagher, Andrew Strong, Michael Aherne, Dave Finnegan, Johnny Murphy, Félim Gormley, Ken McCluskey, Glen Hansard, Dick Massey, Sean Hughes and Andrea Corr

North Dublin wheeler-dealer Jimmy Rabbitte, dreaming of music stardom, decides to form a soul band from the local community. But despite their talent, The Commitments' internal squabbling proves a major obstacle on the road to success.

kathy's rating:

6.7

The Competition (1980)

Director: Joel Oliansky
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Amy Irving, Lee Remick, Sam Wanamaker and Ty Henderson

The Competition centers on a piano competition whose winner is assured of success. It is Paul's last chance to compete but newcomer Heidi may be a better pianist. Can romance be far away? Will she take a dive despite the pressure to win from her teacher, Greta, or will she condemn Paul to obscurity?

kathy's rating:

368

6.7

6.6

Fame (1980)

Director: Alan Parker
Starring: Irene Cara, Barry Miller, Maureen Teefy, Paul McCrane, Lee Curreri, Gene Anthony Ray, Laura Dean, Albert Hague, Anne Meara, Debbie Allen, Richard Belzer, Isaac Mizrahi and Meg Tilly

Seven classes a day and a hot lunch. That's what New York City High School for the Performing Arts guarantees. Stardom? That's something the school's teenage musicians, actors, dancers and dreamers strive for.

kathy's rating:

836

6.2

Flashdance (1983)

Director: Adrian Lyne
Starring: Jennifer Beals, Michael Nouri, Lilia Scala, Sunny Johnson, Kyle T. Heffner and Lee Ving

Alex Owens is a fiercely determined 18-year old with one all-consuming dream: to study at the Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance. Working during the day as a welder and at night as an exotic dancer, Alex bravely pursues her dream, undertaking an unforgettable journey that reveals the power of her convictions and teaches her the meaning of love.

kathy's rating:

1157

6.4

6.6

Footloose (1984)

Director: Herbert Ross
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, Chris Penn, John Lithgow, Diane Wiest, Sarah Jessica Parker, John Laughlin and Frances Lee McCain

When teenager Ren and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small town in the West, he's in for a real case of culture shock. Though he tries hard to fit in, the streetwise Ren can't quite believe he's living in a place where rock music and dancing are illegal. There is one small pleasure, however: Ariel, a troubled but lovely blonde with a jealous boyfriend and a Bible-thumping minister father, who is responsible for keeping the town dance-free.

Ren and his classmates want to do away with this ordinance, especially since the senior prom is around the corner, but only Ren has the courage to initiate a battle to abolish the outmoded ban and revitalize the spirit of the repressed townspeople.

kathy's rating:

5.8

5.9

The Jazz Singer (1980)

Director: Richard Fleischer
Starring: Neil Diamond, Laurence Olivier, Lucie Arnaz, Catlin Adams, Frankie Ajaye, Paul Nicholas and James Booth

The son of a Jewish Cantor must defy his father in order to pursue his dream of being a pop singer.

kathy's rating:

224

6.7

6.9

Little Voice (1998)

Director: Mark Herman
Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Jane Horrocks, Michael Caine, Ewan McGregor, Philip Jackson, Annette Badland and Jim Broadbent

The pathetically shy LV lives the life of a recluse listening to her late father's old records in her room and in the process driving her abusive, loud-mouthed mother, Mari Hoff, to distraction.

At night, however, when her father's ghost visits, LV sings the songs of the great divas such as Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe and Shirley Bassey. One evening LV is overheard by one of her mother's loathsome boyfriends, the disastrous dead-end talent scout Ray Say, who recognizes her innate talent and realizes this is his last big chance for the glittering prizes.

Gambling everything, Ray Say forces LV to appear at a local run-down, seedy night club run by Mr. Boo. As preparations for the big event proceed apace LV meets the equally shy Billy, a pigeon-racing telephone engineer and they form a tentative, gentle friendship. The big night finally arrives and everything is in readiness: the band, the club and, even a big agent from London, but what about LV?

kathy's rating:

110

6.4

6.8

Quartet (2012)

Director: Dustin Hoffman
Based on the play by Ronald Harwood
Starring: Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly, Pauline Collins, Michael Gambon, Sheridan Smith, Andrew Sachs and Gwyneth Jones

At a home for retired musicians, the annual concert to celebrate Verdi's birthday is disrupted by the arrival of Jean, an eternal diva and the former wife of one of the residents.

kathy's rating:

1191

6.5

6.8

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Director: John Badham
Starring: John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney, Barry Miller, Joseph Cali, Paul Pape, Donna Pescow, Martin Shakar, Fran Drescher and Robert Constanzo

Tony Manero is an uneducated Brooklyn teenager. The highlight of his week is going to the local disco, where he is the king of the dancefloor. Tony meets Stephanie at the disco and they agree to dance together in a competition. Stephanie resists Tony's attempts to romance her, as she aspires to greater things; she is moving across the river to Manhattan. Gradually, Tony also becomes disillusioned with the life he is leading and he and Stephanie decide to help one another to start afresh.

kathy's rating:

6.9

Song for Marion (2012) (2013)

[also known as 'Unfinished Song']
Director: Paul Andrew Williams
Starring: Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave, Gemma Arterton and Anne Reid

Grumpy pensioner Arthur honors his recently deceased wife's passion for performing by joining the unconventional local choir to which she used to belong, a process that helps him build bridges with his estranged son, James.

kathy's rating:

210

4.6

4.7

Staying Alive (1983)

Director: Sylvester Stallone
Starring: John Travolta, Finola Hughes, Cynthia Rhodes, Steve Inwood and Frank Stallone

It's five years later and Tony Manero's Saturday Night Fever is still burning. Now he's strutting toward his biggest challenger yet - making it as a dancer on the Broadway stage.

kathy's rating: