Top 250 Movies Like The Ascendants

A documentary about the band X. Includes live and studio performances and interviews with the band members.

The Upsetter tells the fascinating story of Lee Scratch Perry a visionary musician and artist from poor rural Jamaica who journeyed to the big city of Kingston in the late 1950’s with dreams of making it in the burgeoning record industry. He burst upon the scene with a brand new sound, inventing a genre of music that would come to be called Reggae, discovering a young Bob Marley and gaining international recognition as a record producer and solo artist. Soon he was being called upon by artists as diverse as The Clash and Paul McCartney to provide his unique sound.

A fashionable contemporary art gallerist in Chelsea, New York falls for a brooding new music composer in this comic satire of the state of contemporary art.

Exploring every facet of ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic’s life, from his meteoric rise to fame with early hits like ‘Eat It’ and ‘Like a Surgeon’ to his torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle, this biopic takes audiences on a truly unbelievable journey through Yankovic’s life and career, from gifted child prodigy to the greatest musical legend of all time.

Singer Tina Turner rises to stardom while mustering the courage to break free from her abusive husband Ike.

Mr. Pest tries several theatre seats before winding up in front in a fight with the conductor. He is thrown out. In the lobby he pushes a fat lady into a fountain and returns to sit down by Edna. Mr. Rowdy, in the gallery, pours beer down on Mr. Pest and Edna. He attacks patrons, a harem dancer, the singers Dot and Dash, and a fire-eater.

The story of the late jazz musician and classical pianist Nina Simone including her rise to fame and relationship with her manager Clifton Henderson.

An aging rock star trying to put together a new album in the face of an indifferent record label and a talentless producer. At the same time, he's struggling to save his failing marriage.

Extraordinary behind-the-scenes access reveals a drug company's fevered race to develop the first FDA-approved Viagra for women - and offers a humorous but sobering look inside the cash-fueled pharmaceutical industry.

A washed-up music producer finds one last shot at redemption with a golden-voiced young girl in Afghanistan. However, when jealousy gets the better of a disgruntled ex-boyfriend, he decides to oppose the young star with talent of his own.

A guitar playing car thief meets an autistic savant piano player, and together they transform a group of reluctant halfway house convicts into The Killer Diller Blues Band.

Russell Walker is a young, successful manager of rap performers, handling acts for the Krush Groove label, including Run-DMC and The Fat Boys. When Run-D.M.C. has a hit record and Russell needs more money to press more copies, he borrows it from a street hustler and soon regrets his decision.

All Eyez on Me chronicles the life and legacy of Tupac Shakur, including his rise to superstardom as a hip-hop artist, actor, poet and activist, as well as his imprisonment and prolific, controversial time at Death Row Records. Against insurmountable odds, Tupac rose to become a cultural icon whose career and persona both continue to grow long after his passing.

Inspired by Steven Blush's book "American Hardcore: A tribal history" Paul Rachman's feature documentary debut is a chronicle of the underground hardcore punk years from 1979 to 1986. Interviews and rare live footage from artists such as Black Flag, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, SS Decontrol and the Dead Kennedys.

With archive film clips and interviews, this brief look at a frequently overlooked historical period of filmmaking acts as an introduction rather than a complete record. It features interviews with some of the genre's biggest stars, like Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, and Richard Roundtree. Director Melvin Van Peebles discusses the historical importance of his landmark film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. For a contemporary perspective, the excitable Quentin Tarantino offers his spirited commentary and author/critic bell hooks provides some scholarly social analysis.

Disenchanted with the movie industry, Chili Palmer tries the music industry, meeting and romancing a widow of a music executive along the way.

An agoraphobic hip-hop prodigy and a disgraced former music manager cross paths in Chicago’s South Side and help each other face demons of their pasts.

Billy Collier is a photographer working on a series of pictures featuring recreations of movie kisses, with drag queens playing the female roles. For his male model, he hires Gabriel, a young waiter on whom he has developed a serious crush. While Billy is openly gay, Gabriel says that he is straight and even claims to have a girlfriend. However, as they spend more time together and grow closer, Billy becomes increasingly unsure that this is true.

A God-fearing bluesman takes to a wild young woman who, as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, is looking everywhere for love, but never quite finding it.

A former Secret Service agent grudgingly takes an assignment to protect a pop idol who's threatened by a crazed fan. At first, the safety-obsessed bodyguard and the self-indulgent diva totally clash. But before long, all that tension sparks fireworks of another sort, and the love-averse tough guy is torn between duty and romance.

Two musicians and a roadie take money that is owed to them from a job. One flees to Mexico, and everyone has questions.

Jazz legend Chet Baker finds love and redemption when he stars in a movie about his own troubled life to mount a comeback.

Friends since childhood, a magazine editor and a hip-hop record executive stumble into romantic territory.

A chronicle of the rise and brief career of rock 'n' roll star Buddy Holly, who aspires to play music the way he wants it to sound. Holly and his band, the Crickets, are first invited to record in Nashville, where they encounter creative differences with the producing staff. Later they play a major booking at the Apollo Theater, scheduled there under the mistaken assumption that they're a black band. Holly's career eventually goes solo -- until the tragic day the music dies.

When a change of circumstances leaves Miriam unable to pay her college tuition, she makes a surprising decision: to start performing in adult films, using the pseudonym Belle Knox. Miriam lies to her family and her friends at school, keeping her double life a secret. But soon rumours spread and Miriam becomes the subject of vicious online attacks and unwanted attention. Miriam fights back: she talks to the media, saying her new line of work empowers her as a feminist. But her confident stand has unintended consequences. Miriam is shunned by her conservative family and her colleagues in the adult film world. One impulsive decision has quickly spiralled out of control - and Miriam's problems are just beginning.

A man and a woman meet in the ruins of post-war Poland. With vastly different backgrounds and temperaments, they are fatally mismatched and yet drawn to each other.

Tensions rise when the trailblazing Mother of the Blues and her band gather at a Chicago recording studio in 1927. Adapted from August Wilson's play.

Angie Rossini, an innocent New York City sales clerk from a repressive Italian-American family, engages in a short-lived affair with a handsome jazz musician named Rocky Papasano. When Angie becomes pregnant, she tracks down Rocky hoping he'll pay for her abortion.

This 2005 documentary film chronicles the life of Daniel Johnston, a manic-depressive genius singer/songwriter/artist, from childhood up to the present, with an emphasis on his mental illness and how it manifested itself in demonic self-obsession.

The story of Rudy Ray Moore, who created the iconic big screen pimp character Dolemite in the 1970s.

Chronicling the controversial career of bad boys N.W.H. (Niggaz With Hats), this uproarious 'mockumentary' lampoons all of hardcore rap's hot-button issues. This underground laugh riot recounts the rise, fall and resurrection of a clueless bunch of would-be rappers, Ice Cold, Tone-Def & Tasty Taste performing as N.W.H.

In the early 1960s, a quintet of hopeful, young African-American men form an amateur vocal group called The Five Heartbeats. After an initially rocky start, the group improves, turns pro, and rises to become a top flight music sensation. Along the way, however, the guys learn many hard lessons about the reality of the music industry.

Davis meets Zina in a car wreck. Their immediate attraction for one another is put into jeopardy when they learn each is competing for the same writing job.

A chronicle of James Brown's rise from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential musicians in history.

The untold story of Charles Manson's obsession to become a rock star, his rise in the LA music scene, the celebrities who championed his music, his tragic friendship with The Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson and his descent into violence and chaos once his dreams fell apart.

A rapper finds himself possessed by the soul of a dead fashion designer; frequently switching personalities.

Talented but self-centered trumpeter Bleek Gilliam is obsessed with his music and indecisiveness about his girlfriends Indigo and Clarke. But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.

A young man returns to his home city of Pittsburgh and moves in with an older woman who he begins to rely on for emotional and financial support.

A disfigured musical genius, hidden away in the Paris Opera House, terrorises the opera company for the unwitting benefit of a young protégée whom he trains and loves. The 25th anniversary of the first public performance of Phantom of the Opera was celebrated with a grand performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Straight out of Jersey comes Patricia Dombrowski, a.k.a. Killa P, a.k.a. Patti Cake$, an aspiring rapper fighting through a world of strip malls and strip clubs on an unlikely quest for glory.

Jody Balaban, an aspiring filmmaker, is fresh to L.A. with New York film school accolades and the dream of making her movie. Unable to get a job where she can use the skills she so finely honed, Jody must edit adult entertainment to make ends meet. The uncompromising desire to make her movie, leads Jody to secretly film in the porn studio facilities at night - until she is caught in the act.

A young and devoted morning television producer is hired as an executive producer on a long-running morning show at a once-prominent but currently failing station in New York City. Eager to keep the show on air, she recruits a former news journalist and anchor who disapproves of co-hosting a show that does not deal with real news stories.

Forced to work under slave-like conditions in a "prison for profit" program, the inmates of a mostly-African-American female prison, Whitehead Correctional, try to take over the institution. At the core of the story is Frances, who finds herself in prison after being falsely convicted of murder, and who is told that her baby has been murdered, sparking her to lead her fellow inmates in the protest

Lee Plenty is an almost broke would-be novelist and Havilland Savage is a rich and very beautiful woman and his friend. When she invites him to her home for New Year's Eve, they start to build up a romance.

Delving into a century of genre films that by turns utilized, caricatured, exploited, sidelined, and finally embraced them, this is the untold history of black Americans in Hollywood through their connection to the horror genre.

Los Angeles teenager Ritchie Valens becomes an overnight rock 'n' roll success in 1958, thanks to a love ballad called "Donna" that he wrote for his girlfriend. But as his star rises, Valens has conflicts with his jealous brother, Bob, and becomes haunted by a recurring nightmare of a plane crash just as he begins his first national tour alongside Buddy Holly.

Director Christopher Guest reunites the team from "Best In Show" and "Waiting for Guffman" to tell the story of '60s-era folk musicians, who, inspired by the death of their former manager, get back on the stage for one concert in New York City's Town Hall.

A girl trying to make it in the 1980's New Wave rock and roll scene in L.A.

Part true story, part fiction, King of the Underground is a dark comedy about a frustrated rap artist who goes on an all out murderous killing spree after years of being rejected by the music industry.

Erik is a hip-hop-lovin' teen living in Philadelphia who'd rather spend time listening to his idol, the rapper Prolifik. One day, Erik finds himself more entangled in Prolifik's life than he ever imagined possible: Prolifik's been kidnapped, his master tapes are gone, and, through a series of twisted events, the same people who are after the musician go after Erik, too.

Three sisters start out singing in their church choir in Harlem in the late 1950s and become a successful girl group in the 1960s.

Bernie Casey portrays Tyrone and Pamela Grier plays a sultry skin-flick star in this first Americanized remake of the iconic Michael Caine action film Get Carter. From Watts to the West Side, from porno parlors to a high-rise, from motel dives to a crime kingpin’s sprawling pleasure dome, from corner hangouts to a wildlife preserve, Tyrone covers a lot of real estate, busts a lot of heads.

The rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom.

Shelby Coles (Halle Berry) is engaged to marry talented white jazz musician Meade Howell, but the pair face opposition from both Meade's family, who object to an inter-racial marriage, and Shelby's parents, who want her to marry a professional. As Shelby is afflicted by pre-marital doubts, handsome Lute McNeil arrives on the scene, determined to make Shelby his at any cost.

During the 1960s, two American jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two American tourist girls and must decide between music and love.

Two former backup soul singers, Louis and Floyd, have not spoken to each other in 20 years, and reluctantly agree to travel across the country together to a reunion concert to honor their recently-deceased lead singer. Cleo, a beautiful young woman who is believed to be Floyd's daughter, accompanies them as a new singer.

Jim MacLaine is now enjoying the nomadic 'gigs and groupies' life on tour with his band. When he achieves all his wildest dreams of international stardom, the sweet taste of success begins to turn sour.

Ghost is an ideological musician and leader of a jazz band who would rather play his blues in the park to the birds than compromise himself. His peripatetic performances lead him to cross paths with a singer, while his masculinity is thrown into question following a violent brawl.

Del is a song writer for the obnoxious Mr. Mega, and in love with Didi, Mega's secretary. His quest to write a hit tune brings him to the wacky world of Flooby Nooby, where he just might learn to write songs from the heart.

A socially inept man's amateur porn film wins him a contract with a small-time pornography distribution company, where he faces a series of moral crises and is forced to face his own porn addiction.

28th century, 200 years after the Great Earth Exodus. Naia, a feisty, young singer/songwriter, falls in love with the beautiful saxophonist Parker in Ganymede, one of Jupiter's moons. The two form a band - and now they have to not only make it as musicians but also to fight for their freedom. Dramatically rendered in rich, hand drawn animation, Strange Frame brings us into a world of space pirates, indentured slaves and genetic mutations - infused with music throughout, to create a dreamlike tale unlike anything you've ever seen

During Paris Fashion Week, models, designers and industry hot shots gather to work, mingle, argue and try to seduce one another.

Ten fishermen from Cornwall are signed by Universal Records and achieve a top ten hit with their debut album of Sea Shanties. Based on the true-life story of Cornish folk band, Fisherman's Friends.

A ghost story set in the city of dreams (IMDb.com).

Based on the true events surrounding Frank Sinatra's tour of Australia. When Sinatra calls a local reporter a "two-bit hooker", every union in the country black-bans the star until he issues an apology.

A biopic of 1970s record producer Neil Bogart, co-founder of Casablanca Records.

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.

The story of an aspiring musician from Kaufman, Texas who travels to Nashville with the lifelong dream of trying his hand at country music. By embodying the title character under prosthetic make up, actor Stephen Dorff successfully infiltrates Music City and takes his character on an authentic singer / songwriter journey. With the help of key allies on the ground, "Wheeler" converses with real people in real locations, with every musical number performed live. The line between reality and fiction blurs as Wheeler chases his dream in this touching tribute to old school country legends.

Light the Rock 'n Roll spark with a Flame in the guise of Dave, Noddy, Jim and Don and their showcase of the rise and demise of rock band Flame. Set in the hardships of North England's seventies working class society and music scene. This build-up from rags to riches is a parody of realism and grit, with double-dealings and harsh unforgiving dog eat dog mentalities, and the golden rule; if you play with matches then you're going to get burnt, in the flames of the music industry.

After her brother is attacked in jail and stays in a coma, Julia has to face her nephew's kidnappers, while trying to figure out what her brother meant with his last letter.

An emerging rock band, managed by industry vet Jimmy Kleen, strike a deal with record executive Rick Roland. Things take a sinister turn when the band's lead singer, Rachel, and her mother Barb are struck by lightning and killed. Rachel is brought back to life, but she is different than before. Lightning courses through her veins and she uses her new strange electrical powers to drain the life from men, turning it into electrifying stage performances, but just how far are the band willing to go to make it.

A documentary film by Peter I. Chang which traces the life of the Japanese musician Hisao Shinagawa through his early years as a folk singer in Tokyo to his current occupation as a street performer in Los Angeles.

You're not hallucinating (but they are)... It's the legendary toker jokers Cheech & Chong as you've never seen them before -- in their very first Animated Movie. Catch the buzz as their most outrageous routines and laugh-out-loud lines from their Grammy Award-winning albums come to life, including "Dave's not here," "Let's make a dope deal" and more. With help from a bud-lovin' body crab named Buster, Cheech & Chong "the masters of smokin' word" deliver the ultimate comedy high and give you the munchies for more.

The story of the 60s pop group The Monkees, as they rise above their status as a band created for a TV show, to establishing their legacy in their own right. The band faces many obstacles, among them the right to play their own instruments on record.

Sleepy-eyed filmmaker Darrel wakes to find himself in bed with his crew member Sydney. As they begin to discuss the previous evening and tepid reviews of his new film, emotions give rise to a passionate and thoughtful relationship that once could have been if either had taken the chance.

Desperate for a breakthrough as she nears the big 4-0, struggling New York City playwright Radha finds inspiration by reinventing herself as a rapper.

Meg, a music manager, travels from New York to London to manage a boy band, Five Together, and find them a Christmas number one to bolster their flagging career. She finds a song on the internet posted by an ailing thirteen-year-old girl, Nina, and tries to obtain permission to have the song re-recorded by Five Together, but she discovers she has competition from the songwriter, Nina’s uncle Blake. What follows is a romantic comedy about two worlds colliding – with a young woman at the centre who desperately wants her uncle to find love and for his song to hit the number one spot by Christmas Day.

A group of aspiring entertainers try to establish careers for themselves in the city of Los Angeles.

Gina Jackson's life is shattered when her brother and lead vocalist of the band Army of Love, Vaughn, is killed in a tragic accident. Ten years later, young guitar prodigy Oak Scoggins enters her orbit, and she becomes convinced that this young man is the reincarnation of Vaughn. But is he?

Holly, blessed with an amazing singing voice, is all set to audition for the newly vacated spot in a legendary local Christmas group which was founded by her late mother years ago. Shocked and upset when the slot goes to the barely talented best friend of the group's leader, Marci, Holly sets out to create her own musical group, The Mistle-Tones. After challenging their rivals to a sing-off on Christmas Eve, Holly finds herself on a journey to the real meaning of Christmas with some new friends and a new love thrown in for good measure.

A hybrid doc/narrative following Tony winning performer and comedian Sarah Jones. As a mixed-race Black woman in America, Sarah, alongside the multicultural characters she's known for, explores her own personal relationship to one of the most relevant issues in our current cultural climate: the sex industry, and the surprisingly diverse range of people whose lives it touches. Through interviews and monologues, this film poses the question: how can we as a society have a healthy relationship to sex, power, race and our economy, without exploitation or stigma? The goal is not to prescribe solutions, but to highlight the human faces and voices at the center of this subject.

Three women wrestle with life's difficulties while confronting their past relationships with the same man.

Pop star Leigh-Anne Pinnock confronts her experience as the only black member of Little Mix, and as a black woman in the music industry. She embarks on her own very personal journey to understand how she can use her platform and privilege to combat the profound racism she sees in society around her.

In this edition of Starz Inside, Starz explores the increasingly popular animation style, anime. The documentary looks at the history of the genre, the pioneers and its influence in current film and television. A number of people in the entertainment industry, ranging from animators like David Silverman (The Simpsons) to actors (Michael Madsen, Michelle Rodriguez) and even musicians (Rob Zombie), participate in the episode by talking about how anime has affected their work and the way they view animation.

Part of BBC Four's Black Music Legends of the 1980s, this documentary explores how Prince - showman, artist, enigma - revolutionized the perception of black music in the 1980s with worldwide hits such as "1999," "Kiss," "Raspberry Beret" and "Alphabet Street." He became a global sensation with the release of the Oscar-winning, semi-autobiographical movie "Purple Rain" in 1984, embarking on an incredible journey of musical self-discovery that continues to this day.

Documentary about U2's album Pop and following tour.

Pop stars, musicians and music industry experts reminisce about their love affair with the now once-defunct 7" single.

A young singer on the brink of a promising career finds herself torn between a domineering family, industry pressures and her love for her girlfriend.

With guidance from their mother, five siblings overcome humble beginnings to form the renowned gospel group the Clark Sisters.

This is the story loosely based on Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed, who introduced rock'n'roll to teenage American radio audiences in the 1950s. Freed was a source of great controversy: criticized by conservatives for corrupting youth with the "devil's music"; hated by racists for promoting African American music for white consumption; persecuted by law enforcement officials and finally brought down by the "payola" scandals.

Sent to the Berkshires to focus on his next album, disillusioned rap star Money Merc abruptly announces his retirement on Twitter. After Merc's announcement, his manager rushes to the countryside to lure him back into the music industry.

A privileged, black college student with a fiance falls in love with a white musician she meets on her 21st birthday.

When her steamy Ph.D. thesis becomes a best-selling movie property, Julie Todd discovers that Hollywood wants more than just her book. She herself is a “hot property,” sought by both the director of the film and the arrogant young rock musician who’s playing the lead role. But while Julie speeds through life in the fast lane, her marriage may be running into a dead end.

Sam is an aspiring musician that just lost her older sister Amber. During the difficult grieving process, Sam finds comfort in singing and song writing - fulfilling the dreams that Amber would now never be able to pursue. Along with Amber's band, Sam moves to Nashville to pursue Amber's dream of making a career in the music industry. Upon arrival, they sign with a music manager who immediately provides them with success, but at a price. As the taste of fame draws near, tensions begin to rise within the band. Will the industry tear them apart and change forever who they are?

A once-in-a-lifetime experience featuring first-ever performances of tracks from All Over the Place, a retelling of the story of KSI, past, present and future with special guests and key characters throughout his journey and more. Let KSI take you on an adventure through his world. Get ready for thrills, laughs and lots of surprises alongside huge production value, highly stylised artistic direction, flawless tunes, costume changes, a boxing match and choreography by industry leaders Black Skull Creative.

A songwriter is sued for libel, and when he gets to court he discovers that his girlfriend is the plaintiff's attorney.

In this musical, a talented aspiring costume designer leaves her small town to seek her fortune in the Big Apple. The girl, who is also a singer, soon begins establishing herself in the fashion industry, but when a rival accuses her of stealing a pattern, her career is nearly destroyed. Fortunately, a handsome, romantic hero is around to help her clear her name. Songs include: "Come Along My Heart", "That does It", "Swing Low Sweet Lariat" and "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby?".

A group of models is killed off, one by one, and everyone is a suspect.

A middle aged music composer finds himself trapped in the seductive web of a young, sexy vocalist who is looking for her own fifteen seconds of fame...

Legendary musician Swamp Dogg, alongside housemates Moogstar and Guitar Shorty, has transformed his home into an artistic playground. Together they navigate the tumultuous music industry, and forge a unique and inspiring path across time and space.