"You can't really dust for vomit."

In a squeaker, one of my favorite comedies, a spot-on satire, comes out on top in this poll. If you haven’t seen it, by all means rent it. It’s very funny, and if you’re a musician or know musicians well, it’s even funnier. You can also download transcriptions of it from the net in pdf form. You’ll find stuff in it you missed. The last time I saw it, which must have been easily the 20^th time I’ve seen it, I was STILL hearing things I’d never heard before. It’s terrific, really.

I’ve also heard, although I don’t know if this is true, that many of the scenes in the film really happened to some bands – for example, I’d heard that the getting lost in the basement of the arena was a true anecdote that happened to Aerosmith. I’ve also heard, but can’t say whether it’s true, that the character Nigel Tufnel is based on Jeff Beck, including the fact that he’s somewhat, er, dim.

This was certainly not an exhaustive look at rock and roll films – Blackboard Jungle, the one that started it all, isn’t even on the list. It seems to me that there are four distinct types of movies represented here:

It strikes me that rock music has always represented a way out for people, and because of that, I think there are really a lot of great movies in this genre, especially in the ‘rock and roll as metaphor’ subdivision. We infuse the movies, like the music, with hope, hope that we can break out. In a lot of ways, that’s what they’re all about – breaking through, breaking out, breaking away. Not just for money, fame, good drugs, lots of sex – it’s almost like breaking beyond into a new state of being. Which, I can say from experience, is an illusion, unfortunately.

We also left off a couple of movies that I think should be mentioned. One is Great Balls of Fire!, the story of Jerry Lee Lewis. It’s a terrific movie, featuring a great performance by Dennis Quaid as the Killer, Alec Baldwin as his cousin Jimmy Swaggart, and great cameos by Mojo Nixon and Jimmie Vaughn as members of his band. Another movie of the same type (dramatic representation of a real band) is Backbeat, I thought a really enjoyable film about the Beatles in their pre-fame days in Hamburg, and about the relationship between John Lennon, Stu Sutcliffe and the friends they made in Germany who changed their image (and their career). I think both of these films are well worth your while to check out.

And I have to give a quick nod to an amazing performance by Val Kilmer in a so-so movie about the most over-rated rock band in music history – The Doors. I can’t say it’s worth watching, even though Kilmer is really astounding. Actually, I think what Oliver Stone was getting at was the same thing above – the whole idea that breaking through is an illusion – I just wish he’d picked a really good band with a story that proved the same point (i.e. Moby Grape or Badfinger) rather than the lame-o Doors.

Finally – if you enjoyed Spinal Tap, rent Waiting for Guffman, the Christopher Guest send-up of regional/local theater. It’s frigging hilarious, and, like Tap, largely improvised by an amazing cast, featuring Guest, Fred Willard, Eugene Levy, and Catherine O’Hara, among others.

I have actually not seen the majority of the movies on this list. I agree about Spinal Tap though. It is so damn funny and you know it's true. I don't know if Aerosmith and Jeff Beck were the inspiration, but you know someone was.

Even though I love his music, I know Purple Rain is not a great movie (by the way, thanks to the other 12 people who voted for it). It was basically an excuse to get Prince onscreen and expose him to a wide (white?) audience. He had broken through to the mainstream, but not enough. I actually have a buddy who saw him on Solid Gold in 1982 and thought "Prince" was a band, not a person. Purple Rain changed all of that. Prince was everywhere and everyone loved him. Then he proceeded to do a psychedelic tinged follow-up (Around the World in a Day) which completely killed him. His sales were never the same after that. He had a few hits after it, but nothing that compared to Purple Rain.

I actually read an interview with him in which he said "I know how easy it would have been to rewrite 'Let's Go Crazy' in a different key and change the words and the public would have loved it, but that's not me." How can you not love this guy as a musician? Personally, he suffers from a messiah complex and is pretty weird to boot, but in my mind, he is in the ranks of the musical geniuses of all time. I'm not talking about Rock n' Roll geniuses, I mean like Mozart and Beethoven. I can hear Scoop groaning now.

I know this has little to do with the movie commentary but I wanted to compliment him first so that I can now say to Prince Rogers Nelson, "I KNEW IT!!!! I KNEW IT!!!!!!" In 1993, when he changed his name to "Glyph" or "O-|->" or whatever, he said it was for spiritual reasons, that no child should be named, and various other rock-star bullshit. Now he is changing it back, because his record contract with Warner Brothers is over. I knew then that's why he changed it and he has confirmed it. I am not sure how I feel about it. I am glad he didn't really buy that bullshit he was spewing, but I think I may have preferred it to his commercial manipulation.

Back to the movies...I don't know why I have never watched The Blues Brothers. No particular reason really. I just have never been in the right situation I guess. Since it finished second, I will definitely watch it soon.

None of the movies on this list are great movies. A Hard Day's Night is close, but not quite. Rock n' Roll isn't about that though. Like Flatcat said, it's an escape and it translates well to the screen usually. The biographies are good usually because everyone wants to know the artist behind the music (apologies to the great VH1 show).

Speaking of movies, I saw Mission Impossible 2 last night. Good movie. I came home and read Harry Knowles' review because I just knew he would love it. And he hated it! He talked about the plot holes and the lack of character development, of all things. Who cares? I went to see that movie so that I could see Tom Cruise popping a reverse wheelie on a motorcycle while shooting bad guys. I wasn't expecting "Battleship Potemkin". For what it is, it's great. John Woo is unbelievable as an action director. The cinematography is outstanding and there is one shot in there, featuring Cruise, a dove, and fire, that actually gave me an adrenaline rush. I think I actually said "Holy shit!" out loud when I saw it. If you like action flicks, go see it. But don't expect to think. My wife said when we came out, "I think the first one was so incomprehensible that they made this plot suitable for anyone three and above." Another cool thing is trying to find the Tom Cruise movie tributes hidden in the film. My wife and I found four. If anyone can find more, I will give them an official Lawdog, Flatcat, and the Gist salute.

By the way, thanks for all the poll suggestions. Keep 'em coming. I am using the first one for the Tuesday poll. It came from Patrick. Which celebrity would you most like to see as a running mate for Little George or Big Al this November?

Poll Topic: Best Rock n' Roll Movie
This is Spinal Tap	18.7% - (130 Votes)
The Blues Brothers	18.4% - (128 Votes)
The Wall	11.8% - (82 Votes)
Grease	7.2% - (50 Votes)
The Commitments	6.5% - (45 Votes)
A Hard Day's Night	6% - (42 Votes)
Woodstock	4.7% - (33 Votes)
Eddie and the Cruisers	4.1% - (29 Votes)
Tommy	3.6% - (25 Votes)
La Bamba	2.6% - (18 Votes)
Dirty Dancing	1.8% - (13 Votes)
Purple Rain	1.8% - (13 Votes)
The Last Waltz	1.7% - (12 Votes)
The Buddy Holly Story	1.7% - (12 Votes)
That Thing You Do!	1.7% - (12 Votes)
Stop Making Sense	1.5% - (11 Votes)
Yellow Submarine	1% - (7 Votes)
Quadrophenia	1% - (7 Votes)
Help!	0.8% - (6 Votes)
Gimme Shelter	0.7% - (5 Votes)
American Hot Wax	0.7% - (5 Votes)
Don't Look Back	0.4% - (3 Votes)
Still Crazy	0.4% - (3 Votes)
Jailhouse Rock	0.1% - (1 Votes)
Total Votes: 692