The Girl Can't Help It (1956, Key)
Best remembered for the image
of Jayne Mansfield holding twin milk bottles in front of her chest,
this early rock fable is also one of the most thrilling
music-compilation films, with sizzling performances by Little
Richard, Gene Vincent, and Fats Domino.
A Hard Day's Night (1964, MPI)
The movie that shows why they
called it Beatle-mania. Rock superstardom has rarely seemed as
innocent — or as exhilarating — as in this day-in-the-life portrait of
the moptopped foursome, who are transformed into a surreal British
version of the Marx Brothers.
Don't Look Back (1967, Paramount)
Bob Dylan reigns over this
backstage documentary of his 1965 tour like a skinny sultan. The
movie is one of the only examples of cinema verite that has you
hanging on every ''caught'' moment.
Jimi Plays Monterey (1987, Virgin)
The complete version of
Hendrix's performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop festival. His
speedball wizardry is overpowering.
Woodstock (1970, Warner)
The epic poem of rock-docs may also be
the greatest movie about the '60s. Martin Scorsese served as
supervising editor, helping to orchestrate the astonishing
triple-screen imagery.
Saturday Night Fever (1977, Paramount)
Proof that disco didn't
suck. When John Travolta struts through Brooklyn to ''Stayin'
Alive,'' the music suddenly seems as vital as ''Blue Suede Shoes.'' The
movie sees the passion beneath the polyester.
Stop Making Sense (1984, RCA/Columbia)
After two decades of
concert films in which no one seemed to know where to put the camera,
director Jonathan Demme collaborated with Talking Heads on this
elegant and intimate concert-film masterpiece.
This Is Spinal Tap (1984, Nelson)
An ingenious parody of rock
documentaries and brain-dead heavy-metal stars that is also an homage
to the very notion of rock tradition.
Sid and Nancy (1986, Nelson)
Alex Cox's great tragicomedy is both
a chronicle of the Sex Pistols' career and the most emotionally
wrenching rock & roll film ever made. Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb are
brilliant as Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen, who stayed true to each
other even as they entered the outer limits of punk decadence.
The Decline of Western Civilization Part II (1988, RCA/Columbia)
This documentary about the Los Angeles heavy-metal scene is an
audacious, funny portrait of middle-class rebellion in the age of
Reagan. As the movie tells it, today's metal has no real stars, just
fans who've made it to the top of the heap.
