But Truth or Dare sucked!
I was checking out the Rhino Records site for Christmas presents and found the Rhino/Blender list of The 100 Greatest Rock n’ Roll Movies of All Time. My first thought upon seeing the link was “this is some transparent attempt to sell schlock surplus DVDs.” But I was wrong: it’s actually much worse.
Brace yourself.
Saturday Night Fever comes in at #2, which would be fine if the list was called The Top 100 Greatest DISCO Movies of All Time, but it ain’t, while Grease, which has the same male lead, the same plot and some actual rock music, inexplicably comes in 17 places down the list, at #19. Number 14 - hold on - is Madonna’s docu-atrocity Truth or Dare. High Fidelity, an excellent flick, doesn’t show up until #22. Rock n’ Roll High School, which introduced the extraordinarily untelegenic punk rock Ramones to a national audience, is along with The Buddy Holly Story and The Doors so far down the list that I can’t even bring myself to type the numbers. All three are great films that tell the history of rock.
Perhaps worst of all, Eddie and the Cruisers, which should be in the top ten, is ranked #92 and Light of Day isn’t even on the list. Eddie and the Cruisers is worth watching just to see what Joe Pantoliano looked like before his nose job, and the soundtrack is amazing - probably the best original rock soundtrack ever. Light of Day isn’t a great film on its own merits, but it is a great rock n’ roll film. The title song was written and composed by Bruce Springsteen, and it’s damned good. Also, Trent Reznor has a cameo, and that oughtta be worth something.
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