Top Rated Music Movies on Kanopy - Page 10

Fados

2007

Fados

2007
7
A series of musical performances showcasing the diverse facets of fado, a musical genre from Lisbon.
This World Won't Break

2020

This World Won't Break

2020
6.2
A broke-down middle aged Texas troubadour yearns to be remembered like the southern bluesmen before him, but his failings and self-doubt forestall his musical dreams and blind him to the open road.
Shut Up and Play the Piano

2018

Shut Up and Play the Piano

2018
7.2
The documentary follows Chilly Gonzales from his native Canada to late '90s underground Berlin, and via Paris to the world's great philharmonic halls. Diving deep into the dichotomy of Gonzales' stage persona, where self-doubt and megalomania are just two sides of the same coin.
Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché

2021

Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché

2021
6.7
The death of punk icon and X-Ray Spex front-woman Poly Styrene sends her daughter on a journey through her mother's archives in this intimate documentary.
May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers

2017

May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers

2017
7.7
An intimate portrait of the acclaimed North Carolina band The Avett Brothers, charting their decade-and-a- half rise, while chronicling their present-day collaboration with famed producer Rick Rubin on the multi-Grammy-nominated album “True Sadness.”
Folk Hero & Funny Guy

2016

Folk Hero & Funny Guy

2016
5.4
Two artistically inclined childhood friends, a comedian and a folk-rocker respectively, set out on a tour together in hopes of regaining their "mojo" and finding love in the process.
Theory of Obscurity: A Film About the Residents

2015

Theory of Obscurity: A Film About the Residents

2015
6.7
Theory of Obscurity tells the story of the renegade sound and video collective known as The Residents…a story that spans 40 years and is clouded in mystery. Many details surrounding the group are secret, including the identities of its members. They always perform wearing masks and costumes, which is part of their magic. At its heart, this story is about perseverance and chasing your dream. The Residents never caved to convention. They never compromised. They’ve followed their muse for decades and thousands of fans have hung on for the ride. Along the way they’ve also inspired many people to be weird, take chances and find their own voice.
Mavis!

2015

Mavis!

2015
6.9
A look at the life and music of legendary singer and civil rights activist, Mavis Staples.
Expresso Bongo

1959

Expresso Bongo

1959
5.4
A seedy London promoter turns a naive, working-class teenager into a pop singing sensation.
Blackfly

1991

Blackfly

1991
6.1
A young surveyer, new to Ontario, encounters the blackflies. Over and over again, he encounters those blackflies.
Stunt Rock

1978

Stunt Rock

1978
5.3
Australian stuntman Grant Page goes to Los Angeles to work on a television series. He uses his spare time to lend his expertise to rock band Sorcery. Page helps the band develop pyrotechnic magic tricks for their shows, and also recounts to his own exploits as a stuntman and daredevil as well as various stunts by other greats.
Schemers

2020

Schemers

2020
5.7
Set in late-1970s Dundee, Schemers is based on writer-producer David McLean’s early years in the music business. After a run in with a local gangster, a fledgling promoter and his two friends raise their ambitions to booking major bands in order to escape their debt.
Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind

2019

Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind

2019
6.6
From the song he refuses to perform to his admiration for Drake, a songwriting legend reflects on his lyrics and longevity with candour and humour. At 80 years young (and currently recording another album), Gordon Lightfoot continues to entertain and enlighten. Personal archive materials and studio sessions paint an intimate picture of an artist in his element, candidly revisiting his idealistic years in Yorkville's coffeehouses, up through stadium tours and the hedonistic '70s.
Country Christmas Album

2018

Country Christmas Album

2018
5.5
After country music starlet Tess Stapleton’s album sales keep dropping, her label forces her to record a Christmas album with ex-teen heartthrob and pop-star, Derek Copeland, in an attempt to resurrect each’s career. Reluctantly, Tess agrees. At first, they appear to be polar opposites; clashing over song styles and irritated that they were forced together. However, to their combined surprise, as the album shapes up, they find themselves growing closer over their shared love of music. As they finish the album sparks begin to fly and love blooms just in time for Christmas.
Sex and Broadcasting

2014

Sex and Broadcasting

2014
6.4
SEX AND BROADCASTING is a feature length documentary about New Jersey's WFMU, the world's strangest and most unique radio station, and one man's attempt to keep it alive in the face of recession, the persistent threat of commercial media, and the challenges that come with keeping a rebellious group of outsiders together.
Europe in 8 Bits

2013

Europe in 8 Bits

2013
6.1
The stars of Europe's ascendant chip music movement demonstrate the repurposing of old videogame and home computer hardware like Nintendo's GameBoy and NES, Atari's ST, and Commodore's Amiga and C64 into tools by which they have created a new sound, a modern tempo and an innovative musical style.
Electric Jesus

2020

Electric Jesus

2020
5.5
Alabama preacher’s daughter runs off with a touring Xian hair metal band during the summer of 1986.
Last Shop Standing

2012

Last Shop Standing

2012
6.1
Last Shop Standing, inspired by the book of the same name by Graham Jones, takes you behind the counter to discover why nearly 2000 record shops have already disappeared across the UK. The film charts the rapid rise of record shops in the 1960's, 70's and 80's, the influence of the chart, the underhand deals, the demise of vinyl and rise of the CD as well as new technologies. Where did it all go wrong? Why were 3 shops a week closing? Will we be left with no record shops with the continuing rise of downloading? Hear from over 20 record shop owners and music industry leaders as well as musicians including Paul Weller, Johnny Marr, Norman Cook, Billy Bragg, Nerina Pallot, Richard Hawley and Clint Boon as they all tell us how the shops became and still are a part of their own musical education, a place to cherish and discover new bands and new music.
I Need That Record!

2008

I Need That Record!

2008
6.5
Guerilla filmmaker Brendan Toller unleashes I NEED THAT RECORD! THE DEATH (OR POSSIBLE SURVIVAL) OF THE INDEPENDENT RECORD STORE, "an elegy for a vanishing subculture...a lively, bittersweet film that examines - with caustic humor, brutal candor, and, ultimately, great affection - why roughly 3,000 indie record stores have closed across the nation over the past decade," (Johnathan Perry, Boston Globe). A tour-de-force tale of greed, media consolidation, homogenized radio, big box stores, downloading, and technological shifts in the music industry told through candid interviews, crestfallen record store owners, startling statistics, and eye-popping animation. Fat cats or our favorite record stores? You decide. Featuring- IAN MACKAYE, NOAM CHOMSKY, MIKE WATT, THURSTON MOORE, LENNY KAYE (Patti Smith), CHRIS FRANTZ (Talking Heads), GLENN BRANCA, PATTERSON HOOD (Drive By Truckers), PAT CARNEY (Black Keys) , LEGS MCNEIL, BOB GRUEN, BP HELIUM, and many indie record stores across the U.S.
Great World of Sound

2007

Great World of Sound

2007
5.8
When a man answers an ad to train as a record producer, he's excited by the prospect of signing undiscovered artists only to discover his new job isn't all it's cracked up to be.