Best Music Movies
Concerts, biopics, and stories carried by song.
- 01.

The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall
2011·Dir. Laurence Connor·160 min·★ 8.8A disfigured musical genius, hidden away in the Paris Opera House, terrorises the opera company for the unwitting benefit of a young protégée whom he trains and loves. The 25th anniversary of the first public performance of Phantom of the Opera was celebrated with a grand performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
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Stop Making Sense
1984·Dir. Jonathan Demme·88 min·★ 8.7A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a career-spanning and cinematic performance that features creative choreography and visuals.
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Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii
1972·Dir. Adrian Maben·62 min·★ 8.6British progressive rock band Pink Floyd perform at the ancient Roman Amphitheater in the ruins of Pompeii, Italy in 1971. Although the band perform a typical live set from the era, there is no audience beyond the basic film crew.
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Toma
2021·Dir. Dragan Bjelogrlić·140 min·★ 8.6Biopic about Serbian folk singer Toma Zdravković, the man who is remembered not only for his songs and unique way he was singing them, but also as a bohemian, both in his behavior and his soul.
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Whiplash
2014·Dir. Damien Chazelle·107 min·★ 8.5Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.
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Coco
2017·Dir. Lee Unkrich·105 min·★ 8.4Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector, and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.
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Amadeus
1984·Dir. Miloš Forman·160 min·★ 8.4Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
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All Too Well: The Short Film
2021·Dir. Taylor Swift·15 min·★ 8.4Short film featuring the extended version of the song “All Too Well” by Taylor Swift. A troubled couple's romance blossoms before it eventually falls apart.
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No Direction Home: Bob Dylan
2005·Dir. Martin Scorsese·208 min·★ 8.4A chronicle of Bob Dylan's strange evolution between 1961 and 1966 from folk singer to protest singer to "voice of a generation" to rock star.
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Bo Burnham: Make Happy
2016·Dir. Bo Burnham·60 min·★ 8.3Combining his trademark wit and self-deprecating humor with original music, Bo Burnham offers up his unique twist on life in this stand-up special about life, death, sexuality, hypocrisy, mental illness and Pringles cans.
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Searching for Sugar Man
2012·Dir. Malik Bendjelloul·85 min·★ 8.2Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock 'n' roller, Rodriguez.
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Koyaanisqatsi
1983·Dir. Godfrey Reggio·86 min·★ 8.2Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.
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Bo Burnham: What.
2013·Dir. Christopher Storer·60 min·★ 8.2Left brain and right brain duke it out and then belt out a tune in comedian Bo Burnham's quick and clever one-man show. As intelligent as he is lanky, Burnham cynically pokes at pop entertainment while offering unadulterated showmanship of his own.
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Jigarthanda
2014·Dir. Karthik Subbaraj·170 min·★ 8.2A budding director endeavors to research a merciless gangster for making a film on gangsterism. But his secret attempts to conduct the research fail when he gets caught for snooping.
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The Last Waltz
1978·Dir. Martin Scorsese·117 min·★ 8.1Martin Scorsese's documentary intertwines footage from The Band's incredible farewell tour with probing backstage interviews and featured performances by Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, and other rock legends.
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Woodstock
1970·Dir. Michael Wadleigh·184 min·★ 8.1An intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in 1969, from preparation through cleanup, with historic access to insiders, blistering concert footage, and portraits of the concertgoers; negative and positive aspects are shown, from drug use by performers to naked fans sliding in the mud, from the collapse of the fences by the unexpected hordes to the surreal arrival of National Guard helicopters with food and medical assistance for the impromptu city of 500,000.
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TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR
2023·Dir. Sam Wrench·169 min·★ 8.0A concert film documenting Taylor Swift's record-breaking Eras Tour (2023-2024). Filmed during the Los Angeles shows, the film captures the tour's ten acts, each representing a different musical era from Swift's career. The film showcases over 40 songs, elaborate stage productions, and Swift's performance.
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The Legend of 1900
1998·Dir. Giuseppe Tornatore·170 min·★ 8.0Musician Max Tooney goes to sell his prized Conn trumpet to a music shop, where he plays the instrument one last time. The shopkeeper recognises the song as one on a record matrix he found and asks who the piece is by. Tooney tells the story of an infant found abandoned in the first class dining room of the four-stacker ocean-liner SS Virginian on 1 January 1900. Danny Boodman, a coal-man from the boiler room, names the boy Danny Boodman T. D. Lemon 1900, after himself, the fruit crate the boy was found in, and the year, and raises him as his own.
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Soul
2020·Dir. Pete Docter·101 min·★ 8.0Joe Gardner is a middle school teacher with a love for jazz music. After a successful audition at the Half Note Club, he suddenly gets into an accident that separates his soul from his body and is transported to the You Seminar, a center in which souls develop and gain passions before being transported to a newborn child. Joe must enlist help from the other souls-in-training, like 22, a soul who has spent eons in the You Seminar, in order to get back to Earth.
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Pink Floyd: The Wall
1982·Dir. Alan Parker·95 min·★ 8.0A troubled rock star descends into madness in the midst of his physical and social isolation from everyone.
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CODA
2021·Dir. Sian Heder·112 min·★ 8.0As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family's fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents.
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Metal: A Headbanger's Journey
2005·Dir. Sam Dunn·91 min·★ 8.0The film discusses the traits and originators of some of metal's many subgenres, including the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, power metal, Nu metal, glam metal, thrash metal, black metal, and death metal. Dunn uses a family-tree-type flowchart to document some of the most popular metal subgenres. The film also explores various aspects of heavy metal culture.
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Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
2021·Dir. Questlove·117 min·★ 8.0During the same summer as Woodstock, over 300,000 people attended the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity. The footage from the festival sat in a basement, unseen for over 50 years, keeping this incredible event in America's history lost — until now.
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Bohemian Rhapsody
2018·Dir. Bryan Singer·135 min·★ 7.9Singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bass guitarist John Deacon take the music world by storm when they form the rock 'n' roll band Queen in 1970. Hit songs become instant classics. When Mercury's increasingly wild lifestyle starts to spiral out of control, Queen soon faces its greatest challenge yet – finding a way to keep the band together amid the success and excess.
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Tupac: Resurrection
2003·Dir. Lauren Lazin·112 min·★ 7.9Home movies, photographs, and recited poetry illustrate the life of Tupac Shakur, one of the most beloved, revolutionary, and volatile hip-hop MCs of all time.
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Sing Street
2016·Dir. John Carney·105 min·★ 7.9A boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s escapes his strained family life by starting a band to impress the mysterious girl he likes.
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The Greatest Night in Pop
2024·Dir. Bao Nguyen·96 min·★ 7.9On a January night in 1985, music's biggest stars gathered to record "We Are the World." This documentary goes behind the scenes of the historic event.
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The Devil and Daniel Johnston
2006·Dir. Jeff Feuerzeig·110 min·★ 7.9This 2005 documentary film chronicles the life of Daniel Johnston, a manic-depressive genius singer/songwriter/artist, from childhood up to the present, with an emphasis on his mental illness and how it manifested itself in demonic self-obsession.
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The Chorus
2004·Dir. Christophe Barratier·97 min·★ 7.9In 1940s France, a new teacher at a school for disruptive boys gives hope and inspiration.
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The Blues Brothers
1980·Dir. John Landis·133 min·★ 7.9Jake Blues, just released from prison, puts his old band back together to save the Catholic home where he and his brother Elwood were raised.
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When We Were Kings
1996·Dir. Leon Gast·89 min·★ 7.9It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.
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Anvil! The Story of Anvil
2008·Dir. Sacha Gervasi·81 min·★ 7.9At 14, best friends Robb Reiner and Lips made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, hailed as the "demi-gods of Canadian metal" influenced a musical generation that includes Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax. Following a calamitous European tour, Lips and Robb, now in their fifties, set off to record their 13th album in one last attempt to fulfill their boyhood dreams.
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Almost Famous
2000·Dir. Cameron Crowe·124 min·★ 7.9In 1973, 15-year-old William Miller's unabashed love of music and aspiration to become a rock journalist lands him an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine to interview and tour with the up-and-coming band, Stillwater.
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Marley
2012·Dir. Kevin Macdonald·144 min·★ 7.9Bob Marley's universal appeal, impact on music history and role as a social and political prophet is both unique and unparalleled. Directed by Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland), MARLEY is the definitive life story of the musician, revolutionary, and legend, from his early days to his rise to international superstardom. Made with the support of the Marley family, the film features rare footage, incredible performances and revelatory interviews with the people that knew him best.
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This Is Spinal Tap
1984·Dir. Rob Reiner·82 min·★ 7.9"This Is Spinal Tap" shines a light on the self-contained universe of a metal band struggling to get back on the charts, including everything from its complicated history of ups and downs, gold albums, name changes and undersold concert dates, along with the full host of requisite groupies, promoters, hangers-on and historians, sessions, release events and those special behind-the-scenes moments that keep it all real.
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Gully Boy
2019·Dir. Zoya Akhtar·156 min·★ 7.9Murad, an underdog, struggles to convey his views on social issues and life in Dharavi through rapping. His life changes drastically when he meets a local rapper, Shrikant alias MC Sher.
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