Countdown Friday! Favorite Music Movies:

Friday means countdown. In honor of both Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal being nominated for Oscars I thought I should countdown the best music related movies. I have not actually seen Crazy Heart yet, but I’ll get to it, so it will be omitted from the list. Also these are not musicals, which is why there’s no Grease, The Wiz, Tommy or Dreamgirls.

1. Almost Famous – It combines some of my favorite things, Rolling Stone, inspiring storylines, and Jason Lee. Also it’s nice to remember a time when Kate Hudson wasn't running amok like a character dreamed up by Lauren Weisenberger.

2. Hard Day’s Night – Nutty British humor, a weird old man playing Paul’s grandfather, and it’s the Beatles. I love Help too.

3. 8 Mile – Who knew Eminem could act? Who new reenacting one’s rise to fame was acting? No, seriously, it’s a great movie and my second favorite role of Mekhi Phifer after Clockers. Oh, and Lose Yourself could be the best song ever to do sit ups to.

4. Empire Records – The third time I’ve mentioned this movie in the blog. Quotations will suffice. “What’s with today today?” “My name isn’t fucking Warren!” “I went to rock n’ roll heaven and I wasn’t on the guest list.” “Not on Rex Manning Day!” “Who knows where thoughts come from? The just appear.” “If you guys ever wonder if it was nice to know you, I tell you now that it was.”

5. Hustle and Flow – I hope when I have a midlife crisis I can become a rapper and come up with something as Oscar worthy as “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp”. Also, let’s not omit the unforgettable, “Whoop That Trick”.

6. High Fidelity – It’s about a record store owner who likes to rank things and obsesses over music. For some reason I identify.

7. Ray - I have a weakness for biographies and bio-pics to begin with. Then on top of that, that dude from In Living Color won an Oscar.

8. This is Spinal Tap: I am not explaining this.

9. Sid and Nancy – Ah, the Kurt and Courtney of punk. Sid the junkie bassist of the Sex Pistols. Nancy the groupie of the junkie bassist of the Sex Pistols. Their love came to an end when Sid may or may not have stabbed Nancy to death in a drug infused blackout. Despite this, the movie makes the lovers seem as tragic and romantic as Romeo and Juliet

10. The Doors – Ah, the Sid and Nancy of rock. And Oliver Stone’s not too shabby either.