spiderwort
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@spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on Nov 7, 2018 22:06:18 GMT
They can also be composers, but I'm really interested in films about those who primarily play music rather than sing (though that may be impossible to avoid) -- classical, jazz, rock, circus bands, whatever. Real people or fictional. Three out of many that I really love: The Pianist (2002), true story of Polish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman's struggle to survive the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto in WW2
Hilary and Jackie (1998), the true story of world renowned classic cellist Jacqueline du Pré, as told from the point of view of her sister, flautist Hilary du Pré-Finzi, starring Emily Watson (Oscar nom) and Rachel Griffiths.
Young Man with a Horn (1950), a fictional account of jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, well directed by Michael Curtiz with a terrific performance by Kirk Douglas.
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Post by sostie on Nov 7, 2018 22:12:16 GMT
Michael Fassbender as Frank. Based on the late great Frank Sidebottom.
Ladies & Gentlemen The Fabulous Stains. Their look influenced The White Stripes. The British band they tour with is made up of two Sex Pistols, a member of The Clash and Ray Winstone on vocals!!!!
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Nov 7, 2018 23:20:10 GMT
It might not be the obvious first choice when it comes to movies about musicians, but I always remember/have a special fondness for the film That Thing You Do! (1996), which is about a fictional 1960's one-hit wonder band who call themselves The Oneders (which, amusingly, often confuses people, who think it's pronounced 'Oh-nee-ders').   And now I'll probably have that^ song stuck in my head once again (though I guess it'll be a nice change of pace from having 'Gaston' from the 2017 version of Beauty and the Beast repeating in my head on a continuous loop like I have been since watching the movie the other day). |
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biker1
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@biker1
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Post by biker1 on Nov 7, 2018 23:31:37 GMT
5 picks..
bird (1988) - saxophone
brassed off (1996-uk) - horns
humoresque (1946) - violin
shine (1996-aust) - piano
whiplash (2014) - drum
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biker1
Junior Member
@biker1
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Post by biker1 on Nov 7, 2018 23:34:20 GMT
Good grief - that was quick. lol. I need to work out the picture posting. It really lifts the threads.
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Post by sostie on Nov 8, 2018 0:03:36 GMT
Ladies & Gentlemen The Fabulous Stains. Their look influenced The White Stripes. The British band they tour with is made up of two Sex Pistols, a member of The Clash and Ray Winstone on vocals!!!! Sostie, I'm totally unfamiliar with this, but what an amazing look for Diane Lane! Thanks. It's a real curiosity (well here in the UK it's little know) but an America friend recommended it to me years ago and I instantly fell in love with it |
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Post by sostie on Nov 8, 2018 0:10:26 GMT
24 Hour Party People - the story of Factory Records guru Tony Wilson. Amazing cast
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Post by sostie on Nov 8, 2018 0:13:38 GMT
Telstar. The tragic story of the "British Phil Spector", Joe Meek
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Post by sostie on Nov 8, 2018 0:25:03 GMT
For me Sex Pistols were one of the greatest bands ever, so...
The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle. Malcolm McLaren's part fictional, or the truth as he wants to tell it, account of the rise & fall of the band
The Filth & The Fury. Same director as above...this time a documentary with the full involvement of the band members (who are filmed in silhouette). Stand out moments include John Lydon audiably upset when talking about Sid Vicious death, and the little reported free children's Christmas party the band played for the children of striking firefighters.
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Post by london777 on Nov 8, 2018 0:49:45 GMT
A Late Quartet (2012) dir: Yaron Zilberman who also wrote the story and co-wrote the screen play is about a world-class string quartet in danger of dissolution when the cellist (Christopher Walken) reveals he has Parkinson's Disease. This shocking news releases other secrets and tensions. Two other members are played by Catherine Keener (who shows she can really act) and Philip Seymour Hoffman, but the fourth member stuck in my mind, a new name to me, Mark Ivanir. Brit actress Imogen Poots seems miscast. Great acting by Walken as a sensitive and intelligent man, rather than an evil freak, as more usual. 
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Post by BATouttaheck on Nov 8, 2018 1:01:57 GMT
5 picks.. bird (1988) - saxophone brassed off (1996-uk) - horns humoresque (1946) - violin shine (1996-aust) - piano whiplash (2014) - drum       you beat me to 3 of mine |
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Post by vegalyra on Nov 8, 2018 1:08:53 GMT
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Post by BATouttaheck on Nov 8, 2018 1:14:24 GMT
HUMORESQUE (1946)  Robert 'Bobby' Blake and Oscar Levant   A classical musician from the slums is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy, neurotic socialite. Screenplay by Clifford Odets ! "John Garfield's violin "performances" are actually played by two professional violinists standing on either side of him, one to bow and one to finger. The actual music was performed by Isaac Stern. In Stern's autobiography, "My First 79 Years" (New York: Knopf, 1999; page 51), when the movie shows closeups of the hands alone playing the violin (without Garfield in the frame), those are Stern's hands. Somewhere, there must be a bootleg medium shot of the 3 actors combining body parts to give the impression that Garfield is actually playing."
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Post by london777 on Nov 8, 2018 1:15:28 GMT
The Seventh Veil (1945) dir: Compton Bennett was a piece of pseudo-psychological hokum, written by Sydney and Muriel Box, about a concert pianist driven half-mad by sexual repression. The veils symbolized the successive layers of her repressive mind which had to be stripped away to reveal her deepest desire (apparently to enter into an S & M relationship with her guardian, James Mason). I make it sound a lot more gaudy than it really was. It only comes to life when Mason is on-screen, limping and sneering. Ann Todd is the pianist and she and Mason had an affair while making the film. Herbert Lom is the psychiatrist. It was a huge commercial success and opened doors for Mason in Hollywood. Half Noir and half Edwardian melodrama. I mentioned in another thread how disabilities were used to suggest inner psychosis. Here is a great example. She only loves him for his walking stick.  
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Post by BATouttaheck on Nov 8, 2018 1:27:44 GMT
GOLDEN BOY (1939)"Despite his musical talent, Joe Bonaparte wants to be a boxer." "To convincingly portray a boxer who was also a violinist, William Holden took boxing and violin lessons all day every day for a week before production began. He continued to prepare during the 11 weeks of filming by boxing two hours daily and practicing the violin for 1-1/2 hours each night so his fingering of the instrument would be convincing." Clifford Odets was inspired to write the play by a story told to him by Paul Muni about how Muni gave up boxing because it endangered his secondary career as a violinist.
Lee J. Cobb, playing 20-year-old William Holden's middle-aged father, was actually only 27.
Another Garfield / Odets connection When Clifford Odets wrote his stage play, he had John Garfield in mind for the Joe Bonaparte part.
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Post by london777 on Nov 8, 2018 1:28:20 GMT
Does he count? (mikef6 does not get a vote in this).  |
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Post by BATouttaheck on Nov 8, 2018 1:39:22 GMT
STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER (1952) "A film biography of the composer John Philip Sousa, from his early days in the Marine Corps Band through the Spanish-American War in 1898." Writers: John Philip Sousa (book)  "In supplemental material on the DVD they reveal that, while the story for the most part follows Sousa's autobiography, Willy Little and Lilly Becker never existed. They were added by the screen writers to add a little love interest. " 
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Post by Geddy on Nov 8, 2018 1:55:10 GMT
Immortal Beloved (1994).
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Post by BATouttaheck on Nov 8, 2018 1:57:39 GMT
The creator of Thinkology  |
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biker1
Junior Member
@biker1
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Post by biker1 on Nov 8, 2018 3:35:34 GMT
Frank Sinatra as cynical piano player in young at heart (1954), and aspiring drummer in the man with the golden arm (1955).
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