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7. Two-Lane Blacktop

There are traditional 'rock' movies and there are rock 'lifestyle' pictures - films which embody the template set by The Wild One and Rebel Without A Cause. This well-crafted, existentialist road film from 1972, directed by Monte Hellman, stars James Taylor as 'The Driver' and Beach Boy Dennis Wilson as 'The Mechanic.' It also features one of the finest actors of his era, Warren Oates, on loan from his usual gig - fillin' folks full o' lead in Sam Peckinpah grinders. As the characters race from New Mexico to the East Coast, the pace doesn't quicken, however, it slows, grows amorphous and unsettling, hallucinatory. And no, we saw this totally straight! Taylor and Wilson perform no music, but it doesn't matter - their acting kicks a donkey's ass. Why they didn't go on to major film careers is a mystery.

8. Gas-s-s-s

If ever a movie was made for a drive-in, it's 1971's Gas-s-s-s, one truly weird (and weirdly entertaining) picture. Produced by B-movie king Roger Corman, the gas in Gas-s-s-s sets off a rapidly aging process in anyone over 25, while those under 25 remain unscathed. Equal parts road movie and apocalyptic fantasy, Gas-s-s-s features Country Joe McDonald without his Fish as a self-proclaimed 'godhead' called AM Radio. But then Country Joe manages to hook up with his Fish for a wild jam at a drive-in. How appropriate - and convenient!

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