Dave's Top Ten Music Movies of All Time!

Hello, Friends.

It has been awhile since we've run down a top ten list together. This morning I was having a discussion with a friend about That Thing You Do! the 1996 classic starring Tom Hanks, Liv Tyler, and Tom Everett Scott. But that got me to thinking, where does That Thing You Do! rank amongst other music movies? Consequently, I formulated the following top ten list.

As usual, before we get to the list, let's run through the basic definitions and rules:

For the purposes of this post, I am going to assume a differentiation between music movies and musicals. That Thing You Do! is about an up and coming band from Erie, PA who makes it big with a signature hit and then implodes during the production of their second album. It is about music. Moulin Rouge! is about the love story between a courtesan and a struggling writer, which utilizes singing and dancing the way that an opera would utilize recitative and aria. 

I will be grading each movie on three criteria:

1. The Quality of the Music: Two weekends ago We Are Your Friends set a new record for box office futility. The music that Zac Efron's character, Cole Carter, creates is some of the dumbest EDM that you can imagine. On a very basic level the idea that people would voluntarily dance to this music is insulting to the very concept of kinetics. By contrast, Walk the Line features the music of Johnny Cash, ably performed by Joaquin Phoenix. On this scale We Are Your Friends would get a 2/10, and Walk the Line would get an 8.5/10.

2. Degree of Difficulty: While Walk the Line has great music, it is aided by the fact that a musical legend wrote and performed all of the music decades before the movie was even conceived. By contrast, Tom Hanks sat down and wrote all of the music for That Thing You Do!, which is, when you think about it a titanic accomplishment. Walk the Line therefore, would get a lower score, 6/10, than TTYD, 9.5/10.

3. Openness to Other Sounds: Crazyheart is a moving movie with fantastic music, all of it country-western. While impressive, it does not measure up to the scope of something like Pitch Perfect which, though acapella is the common thread, weaves together a variety of musical genres and sounds. Crazyheart would get a 4/10, while Pitch Perfect would get a 7/10. 

The result is that each movie will receive a score out of 30. So, without further ado, the list:

10. Crazyheart

The story of Bad Blake, a washed up country-western singer/songwriter, and his attempt to claw his way back up from the bottom by writing new music for a younger performer played (impeccably) by Colin Farrell. With music and songs by T. Bone Burnett, one of the most prolific composer of original music for television and films currently in the business, Crazyheart gave the world a number of original songs that would be perfectly at home on any classic country station, including: "The Weary Kind," "Fallin and Flyin," and "Gone, Gone, Gone," though only "The Weary Kind" approached becoming a hit single.

Quality of Music: 7/10

Degree of Difficulty: 7/10

Openness to Other Sounds: 4/10

Total Score: 18/30

9. 8 Mile

One of the first hip-hop blockbusters, 8 Mile  features a strong performance by Eminem in his first major motion picture role and gave the world "Lose Yourself" a track that was paradigmatic for a five year period in the genre of stunted white male rage. The film sets itself apart, however, with some of the best rap battle scenes ever put down on film.

Quality of Music: 7.5

Degree of Difficulty: 7.5

Openness to Other Sounds: 4/10

Total Score: 19/30

8. Shine

Based on the life of Australian pianist David Helfgott, this movie is functionally A Beautiful Mind but with Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto in place of the Nash Equilibrium. The music is lovely. The only real problem with this film is that David Helfgott was not, in real life, the generational piano talent that the film makes him out to be, nor did his recordings of the significant piano pieces reveal an interpreter of any particular depth. The film, therefore, builds its hagiography around the idea that his descent into and escape from madness makes Helfgott some sort of holy fool. Which is a shame.

Quality of Music: 8/10

Degree of Difficulty: 8/10

Openness to Other Sounds: 3.5/10

Total Score: 19.5/30 

7. Walk the Line

Joaquin Phoenix kills it as Cash in this movie. There isn't a ton else to say.

Quality of Music: 8/10

Degree of Difficulty: 6/10

Openness to Other Sounds: 7/10

Total Score: 21/30

6. Hustle and Flow

Hustle and Flow was the film that brought the world Three 6 Mafia's "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp." I'm not sure that I agree with VH1's claim that this is the 80th greatest hip hop song of all time, but it was a fixture of radio play that year.

Quality of Music: 8/10
Degree of Difficulty: 7/10
Openness to Other Sounds: 6.5/10

Total Score: 21.5/30

4b. Dreamgirls

A fictionalized account of the rise of Motown with Jamie Foxx in a role inspired by Berry Gordy, and Beyonce as a stand-in for Diana Ross. What else do I really need to say? Oh...right, also Jennifer Hudson.

Quality of Music: 8.5/10
Degree of Difficulty: 8.5/10
Openness to Other Sounds: 5/10

Total Score: 22/30

4a. Tender Mercies

This film is the Ur-text for Crazyheart, accomplishing all of the same things, but subbing Robert Duvall for Jeff Bridges.

Quality of Music: 9/10
Degree of Difficulty: 7/10
Openness to Other Sounds: 6/10

Total Score: 22/30

3. Whiplash

The best movie of 2014 is also one of the best movies ever made about music and greatness. Director Damien Chazelle lets J.K. Simmons off the chain, and the film's intense concentration on virtuosity means that the music tends to be impeccable.

Quality of Music: 9.5/10
Degree of Difficulty: 9.5
Openness to Other Sounds: 7

Total Score: 26/30


2. Inside Llewyn Davis

It is unquestionably the best film on this list for cinematic considerations. The Coen brothers produced, in Llewyn Davis another masterpiece in the general qualitative camp of Fargo and No Country for Old Men. Again, the music here is by T Bone Burnett, and is impeccable, though too folksy for the taste of some.

Quality of Music: 9.5/10
Degree of Difficulty: 9.5/10
Openness to Other Sounds: 7.5/10

Total Score: 36.5/30

1. That Thing You Do!

It is hard to say that any film is the best film of Tom Hanks' career. There have been too many different moments and flavors of greatness spread across more than 30 years to ever make that claim. But I do think it is fair to say that this is the most *fun* that Tom Hanks has ever had. Written a directed by Hanks, who reveals himself to be an almost absurdly competent filmmaker, Hanks also wrote most of the music. This film is a masterpiece.

Quality of Music: 10/10
Degree of Difficulty: 9/10
Openness to Other Sounds: 9/10

Total Score: 28/30