Best movies like Fourth of July

Legendary trumpeter Art Hazzard teaches young Rick Martin everything he knows about playing, so Rick becomes a star musician, but a troubled marriage and the desire to play pure jazz instead of commercial swing songs cause him problems.

In a vibrant city pulsating with rhythm and movement, an elderly man and his young-at-heart wife rekindle their youthful passion for life and each other on one magical night.

The Johnsons' scheme of keeping up appearances to fit in with NYC's high society hits a snag when they lie about going on an African safari. Various unwanted characters show up to use their 'empty' apartment forcing them to hide from them,

Muffin's wedding to Dino Corelli is to be a big affair. Except the ageing priest isn't too sure of the ceremony, only the families actually turn up as the Corelli Italian connection is suspect, security guards watch the gifts rather over-zealously, and Dino's grandma expires in bed just as the reception starts. Could be quite an occasion.

Dick Bannister is the new field boss of the Ford Logging Company, a Canadian logging-crew during a time when conflicts with the powerful Consolidated Lumber Company, a bitter rival company, have turned bloody, like a private war. His boss, Miss Edith Ford, comes to inspect the lumberjack camp, bringing her doctor fiancé with her. Dick is attacked by his rivals and left for dead. His loss of blood is so great that he needs a transfusion, but no human will volunteer, so the surgeon uses a wolf as a source of the blood. Afterwards, Dick begins having dreams where he runs with a pack of phantom wolves, and the rival loggers get killed by wolves. Soon, these facts have spread through the camp. (via YouTube)

In this short film, prominent jazz musicians of the 1940s gather for a rare filming of a jam session. This highly stylized chronicle features tenor sax legend Lester Young.

Jazz is my Native Language: A Portrait of Toshiko Akiyoshi is a 1983 documentary film by Renee Cho about the jazz pianist, composer, arranger and big band leader Toshiko Akiyoshi.

The gang is trying just about anything to pass the time during their summer vacation. As usual, Mickey and Jack are trying to win the affections of Mary. In the interim, the village blacksmith, "Dad" Anderson, receives a lucrative contract to produce a creation of his: a sail-propelled scooter. The gang is lucky enough to get a hold of a few of these scooters, and happily sail down the city streets.

An original documentary which follows three families in a small seaside town in Massachusetts as they prepare for their annual home made haunted houses. This story highlights their long journey from planning to opening day and cleanup until next year and the obstacles which face them during the process.

Joe 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.

The lives of two struggling musicians, who happen to be brothers, inevitably change when they team up with a beautiful, up-and-coming singer.

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

An examination, shown through both interviews and performances, of the avant-garde free jazz movement which reigned during the 1960s.

Three families compete for a camping spot during a busy Fourth of July holiday weekend.

The son of a wealthy Maine family shocks his relatives by announcing he wants to pursue a career in music.

A jazz cartoon involving a "Fats Waller"-like cat who leaves the "Uncle Tomcat Mission" for the local jazz club.

A jazz pianist is haunted by his dead ex-lover's crawling hand and floating head.

The film chronicles Nina Simone's journey from child piano prodigy to iconic musician and passionate activist, told in her own words.

A documentary film about the life of pianist and jazz great Thelonious Monk. Features live performances by Monk and his band, and interviews with friends and family about the offbeat genius.

Old Mr. Cohen (Paul Graetz) simply walks away from his London department store, leaving his sons to run it.

A quiet painter, separated from his wife for a year, receives a suitcase in the mail from his mother, whom he hasn't seen since infancy. He believes she abandoned him to his wealthy, paternal grandparents. The suitcase contains mementos and a diary, a long letter to him, written over the years, with details of her youth, her first job as a pianist at a cinema, the coming of talkies, her marriage, and how he came to live with his grandparents. As he reads through the materials and her story comes to life, his son Antoine, who's about 10 or 12, tries to break through his father's silence and sorrow by taking matters into his own hands.

A mother abandons her family only to become a crispy critter with her lover, the husband finds out about it AND that his son isn't really his, becomes an alcoholic, is being held prisoner in a speak-easy, is rescued by 'Beef', is sobered up, gets a good job, negotiates a great contract for lots 'o money, realizes he's in love, asks the girl to marry him, son returns from boarding school and freaks out when told this, runs off and joins the circus that now happens to catch fire.....

Tough torch singer Petey Brown, visiting her family, finds a nest of troubles: her sister, brother, and the neighbor's wife are involved in various ways with shady nightclub owner Nicky Toresca. Petey has what it takes to handle Nicky, but then she meets San Thomas, formerly great jazz pianist now on the skids, and falls for him hard.

A chronological look at the life and career of jazz musician, composer, and performer Dave Brubeck (1920-2012 ), presented through contemporary interviews, archival footage of interviews and performances, and commentary by family, fellow musicians, and aficionados. Emphases include his mother's influence, his wife's invention of college tours, his skill as an accompanist, the great quartet (with Desmond, Morello, and Wright), his ability to find musical ideas everywhere, his orchestral compositions, his religious conversion, and his unflagging sweet nature.

A gambling hall owner relocates from New Orleans to Chicago and entertains his patrons with hot jazz by Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Woody Herman, and others.

The life story of Scott Joplin and how he became the greatest ragtime composer of all time.

When a large Iranian-American family gathers in NYC for the patriarch’s heart transplant, a family secret is uncovered and catapults the estranged mother and daughter into an exploration of the past

New York yuppies Amy & Max arrive in the wealthy resort town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming for a summer vacation. When Max is called away on business, Amy finds a friend in Loren, a local wilderness guide. They spend the week together exploring the Tetons. Both lonely and lost in their own lives, Amy & Loren share an instant connection. As her bond with Loren grows into something more than friendship, Amy questions whether she’ll return to NYC with Max after all.

The Robinsons are two respectable middle class parents living with their children in a suburban house in Acacia Avenue. Preferring to holiday every year in Bognor, they are pressed into booking a cruise for their annual vacation and thereby leaving their teenage children free run of their house. As the youngsters enjoy their newfound freedom and discover the angst of teenage life, Mr. and Mrs. Robinson begin to have second thoughts about their cruise and decide to return home early.

A documentary portrait of one of the world's superstars of Jazz, pianist Keith Jarrett, exploring his life and work.

Josh, a classical piano student focused on winning the biggest competition of his life, encounters Charlotte, a free-spirited jazz pianist who distracts him to better her chances of winning. She lures him away from the practice room for a magical night and ends up teaching Josh that life, like his music, is about taking risks.

Two rival musicians, Lindsay and Wes who perform in a dueling piano show, suddenly find themselves without a gig on Christmas Eve and decide to road trip to their neighboring hometowns together.

When Olivia, a young assistant pastor, gets assigned to be a lead pastor at a new church a month before Christmas, she's fearful she can't manage the transition, including getting the choir ready to open the town's annual Winter Jamboree. Banding together with her new congregation, Olivia discovers a new home for herself, and even finds a little Christmas romance along the way!

A once-famous concert pianist has had her career ruined by her alcoholism. Her husband and a member of Alcoholics Anonymous try to help her recover.

Tommy Mills and Marie Thurber, sweethearts, plan to marry when Tommy sells some land he has inherited. Marie's parents favor the match, as they prefer Tommy over Bernard Norton, another suitor. Her father, Warren Thurber, however, is in financial straits and plans to sell land to a civic improvement association headed by David Tuttle. When he discovers that Tommy has agreed to sell his land to Mrs. Oberlander, he berates him; but Tommy agrees to boost the price so that Thurber will win out. Tuttle, who favors Bernard as Marie's husband, persuades Tommy that he must endure the displeasure of the Thurbers, and as a result a misunderstanding arises over the sale of the land. But Tuttle's scheme backfires, and Tommy wins the girl after all.