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12 awful rock movies you must see

Why sucky music flicks rule

Joe Bosso, Fri 3 Jul 2009, 5:46 pm UTC

9. Wahlberg needs an entourage in this mess

Rock Star (2001)

Why it blows: Dirk Diggler pops no wood in this rampant cliche-a-thon. Here, Mark Wahlberg plays Chris, a cover band singer who gets his shot at the big time when his hair metal heroes, Steel Dragon, pick him to front their group after they experience 'creative differences' with their original goofball frontman. The film's main problem is that it doesn't know what it wants to be, straight drama or parody, so the sound and fury ultimately signifiy nothing.

Why you must see it: For the cliches: the big hair, the spandex, the cucumber-stuffed pants , the grade-C groupies - they become almost charming. Watching this movie is like thumbing through pages of a yearbook and going, "My God, did we look like idiots, or what?" Flat-out best scene is where Chris goes up against the singer (played by Stephen Jenkins from Third Eye Blind) of a rival Steel Dragon cover band for all-out 'who-can-suck-most?' supremecy.

Next page: The Rolling Stones finally gather moss

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User comments (8)

  • lopopolop

    Avatar for lopopolop

    19 weeks ago.

    I'd also have included at least one of Zappa's film-making attempts. Probably '200 Motels', which is sheer lunacy - not in a particularly good way, as the film makes no real sense. It's still a must-see, just because Ringo Starr does such an excellent job of playing Frank.
    'Easy Rider' a rock movie? Why? Because of the soundtrack?

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  • FMo

    Avatar for FMo

    19 weeks ago.

    Thank you SMPse. I think you're right.

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  • SMPse

    Avatar for SMPse

    19 weeks ago.

    @FMo
    I think this is the movie,
    Six-String Samurai (1998)
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118736/

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  • FMo

    Avatar for FMo

    19 weeks ago.

    Hmmm... I really enjoyed "Easy Rider", even without any drugs, maybe your just to young to get it?
    But I was actually reading the list, in hope of finding the name of a weird music movie I watched the ending of one day, and new found the title. It's about the world after a nuclear war, where Elvis is king of the only remaining city (I think it's Las Vegas), and then the king dies, and there has to be found a new king. So we follow this Buddy Holly look alike, with a sword and a guitar, who is trying to make it to Las Vegas, while he is being challenged by everybody he meets, and chased by a Slash-look alike with a white Fender and an entourage.
    Does this ring a bell? And can anybody tell me the title, so I can watch the start?

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  • threv

    Avatar for threv

    19 weeks ago.

    OK you missed "REPO: A Genetic Opera" (With Sarah Brightman and Ogre among others), and Phantom ofthe Paradise (though it was covered in Cult Films)
    and While it isn't bad (and should be in Cult films), Ralph Bakshi's "American Pop" was widely panned on release.

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  • Misanthropy

    Avatar for Misanthropy

    19 weeks ago.

    Zakk Wylde was also in rock star

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  • Elvis2

    Avatar for Elvis2

    20 weeks ago.

    Even though i quite like the Who i thought Tommy was an awful movie, i guess one has to use drugs to enjoy Easy Rider, i dont and didnt.

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  • BlindLemonAde

    Avatar for BlindLemonAde

    20 weeks ago.

    "Easy Rider" and "Tommy" ?
    MusicRadar: *Fail*

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