Popular Music Movies on Kanopy

School of Rock

2003

School of Rock

2003
7.1
Fired from his band and hard up for cash, guitarist and vocalist Dewey Finn finagles his way into a job as a fifth-grade substitute teacher at a private school, where he secretly begins teaching his students the finer points of rock 'n' roll. The school's hard-nosed principal is rightly suspicious of Finn's activities. But Finn's roommate remains in the dark about what he's doing.
Till the Clouds Roll By

1946

Till the Clouds Roll By

1946
5.7
Light bio-pic of American Broadway pioneer Jerome Kern, featuring renditions of the famous songs from his musical plays by contemporary stage artists, including a condensed production of his most famous: 'Showboat'.
Low Down

2014

Low Down

2014
5.5
The daughter of jazz pianist Joe Albany witnesses her beloved father's struggle -- and failure -- to kick his heroin habit.
Saturday Night Fever

1977

Saturday Night Fever

1977
6.7
Tony spends his Saturdays at a disco where his stylish moves raise his popularity among the patrons. But his life outside the disco is not easy and things change when he gets attracted to Stephanie.
Staying Alive

1983

Staying Alive

1983
5.8
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.
South Pacific

1958

South Pacific

1958
6.1
Can a girl from Little Rock find happiness with a mature French planter she got to know one enchanted evening away from the military hospital where she is a nurse? Or should she just wash that man out of her hair? Bloody Mary is the philosopher of the island and it's hard to believe she could be the mother of Liat who has captured the heart of Lt. Joseph Cable USMC. While waiting for action in the war in the South Pacific, sailors and nurses put on a musical comedy show. The war gets closer and the saga of Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque becomes serious drama.
Wild Style

1982

Wild Style

1982
6
Legendary New York graffiti artist Lee Quinones plays the part of Zoro, the city's hottest and most elusive graffiti writer. The actual story of the movie concerns the tension between Zoro's passion for his art and his personal life, particularly his strained relationship with fellow artist Rose.
It's All Gone Pete Tong

2004

It's All Gone Pete Tong

2004
6.5
A comedy following the tragic life of the legendary Frankie Wilde. The story takes us through Frankie's life from being one of the best DJs alive, through a subsequent battle with a hearing disorder, culminating in his mysterious disappearance from the scene.
Liz and the Blue Bird

2018

Liz and the Blue Bird

2018
7.5
In their last year of high school, two girls in the brass band club perform a song inspired by a fairy tale that parallels their friendship.
The Harder They Come

1972

The Harder They Come

1972
6.5
Ivanhoe Martin arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, looking for work and, after some initial struggles, lands a recording contract as a reggae singer. He records his first song, "The Harder They Come," but after a bitter dispute with a manipulative producer named Hilton, soon finds himself resorting to petty crime in order to pay the bills. He deals marijuana, kills some abusive cops and earns local folk hero status. Meanwhile, his record is topping the charts.
Expresso Bongo

1959

Expresso Bongo

1959
5.1
A seedy London promoter turns a naive, working-class teenager into a pop singing sensation.
Dreamin' Wild

2023

Dreamin' Wild

2023
6.2
The true story of the Emerson family and the tumult that followed the success of their self-recorded pop-funk album of the same name, which went largely unnoticed until critics rediscovered and reappraised it decades later. Now, as an adult, Donnie is forced to confront the ghosts from the past and grapple with the emotional toll his dreams have taken on the family who supported him.
Moby Doc

2021

Moby Doc

2021
6.1
A surrealist biographical documentary about trailblazing electronic musician and animal rights activist Moby.
Romance & Cigarettes

2005

Romance & Cigarettes

2005
5.9
Ironworker Nick lives with his wife, Kitty, and three daughters. When he meets a significantly younger woman, Tula, he starts an affair with her, much to the chagrin of his wife, and his life is thrown into upheaval. Kitty kicks Nick out of the house, and he is forced to make some difficult decisions.
Color Me Obsessed: A Film About The Replacements

2011

Color Me Obsessed: A Film About The Replacements

2011
7
For some aging music fans and kids with a passion for musical history, The Replacements are rock and roll defined. Gorman Bechard's remarkable history of the 'Mats takes us from their first show as the Impediments to their 1991 onstage breakup in Chicago, and everywhere in between. Bechard bravely eschews including the band's music, photos, and live footage, instead relying solely on the fans: their well-kept memories, hilarious anecdotes, and differing points of views about the foursome's wildly varied discography and infamous antics.
You, the Living

2007

You, the Living

2007
7.1
In the Swedish city of Lethe, people from different walks of life take part in a series of short, deadpan vignettes that rush past. Some are just seconds long, none longer than a couple of minutes. A young woman remembers a fantasy honeymoon with a rock guitarist. A man awakes from a dream about bomber planes. A businessman boasts about success while being robbed by a pickpocket, and so on. The absurdist collection is accompanied by Dixieland jazz and similar music.
Rock Dog

2016

Rock Dog

2016
6.2
When a radio falls from the sky into the hands of a wide-eyed Tibetan Mastiff, he leaves home to fulfill his dream of becoming a musician, setting into motion a series of completely unexpected events.
Fisherman's Friends: One and All

2022

Fisherman's Friends: One and All

2022
6.5
Following the unexpected success of the band’s debut album “No Hopers, Jokers and Rogues”, we re-join them almost a year later, struggling with the pressures, pitfalls and temptations of their newfound fame, second album syndrome, and performing on the pyramid stage at Glastonbury.
The Jazz Singer

1927

The Jazz Singer

1927
6.1
A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer. This is the first full length feature film to use synchronized sound, and is the original film musical.
La Boheme

1988

La Boheme

1988
8
Giacomo Puccini's bittersweet opera of high-spirited bohemians and the doomed love between Rodolfo, the idealistic poet and Mimi, the consumptive flower-maker, is a beautifully balanced series of tableaux depicting the infectious joie de vivre of youth and the tragic waste of disease and separation. The legendary and incomparable partnership of Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti as the two lovers has been captured in this special live recording from stage of the San Francisco Opera. Brian Large has adapted Francesca Zambello's production for video, further illuminating the fascinating interaction of Puccini's characters. Gino Quilico sings Marcello, the colorful and moody painter, whose tempestuous relationship with the flirtatious Musetta (sung by Sandra Pacetti), comically mirrors the more profound love of Rodolfo and Mimi. Nicolai Ghiaurov sings Colline.

Popular Music Movies on Kanopy

2003

2003

1946

1946

2014

2014

1977

1977

1983

1983

1958

1958

1982

1982

2004

2004

2018

2018

1972

1972

1959

1959

2023

2023

2021

2021

2005

2005

2011

2011

2007

2007

2016

2016

2022

2022

1927

1927

1988

1988