Hitsville: The Making of Motown (2019)

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

Guerilla filmmaker Brendan Toller unleashes I NEED THAT RECORD! THE DEATH (OR POSSIBLE SURVIVAL) OF THE INDEPENDENT RECORD STORE, "an elegy for a vanishing subculture...a lively, bittersweet film that examines - with caustic humor, brutal candor, and, ultimately, great affection - why roughly 3,000 indie record stores have closed across the nation over the past decade," (Johnathan Perry, Boston Globe). A tour-de-force tale of greed, media consolidation, homogenized radio, big box stores, downloading, and technological shifts in the music industry told through candid interviews, crestfallen record store owners, startling statistics, and eye-popping animation. Fat cats or our favorite record stores? You decide. Featuring- IAN MACKAYE, NOAM CHOMSKY, MIKE WATT, THURSTON MOORE, LENNY KAYE (Patti Smith), CHRIS FRANTZ (Talking Heads), GLENN BRANCA, PATTERSON HOOD (Drive By Truckers), PAT CARNEY (Black Keys) , LEGS MCNEIL, BOB GRUEN, BP HELIUM, and many indie record stores across the U.S.

The record label Death Row Records has, since its creation in 1993, been synonymous with the American hip-hop climate. Formed by ex-bodyguard Suge Knight, the label has released seminal rap albums from luminaries including Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and the famous hip-hop martyr Tupac Shakur. WELCOME TO DEATH ROW is a fascinating, well-researched documentary which explores the history of this intriguing and incredibly significant company.

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.

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.

In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. gathered the best musicians from Detroit's thriving jazz and blues scene to begin cutting songs for his new record company. Over a fourteen year period they were the heartbeat on every hit from Motown's Detroit era. By the end of their phenomenal run, this unheralded group of musicians had played on more number ones hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined - which makes them the greatest hit machine in the history of popular music. They called themselves the Funk Brothers. Forty-one years after they played their first note on a Motown record and three decades since they were all together, the Funk Brothers reunited back in Detroit to play their music and tell their unforgettable story, with the help of archival footage, still photos, narration, interviews, re-creation scenes, 20 Motown master tracks, and twelve new live performances of Motown classics with the Brothers backing up contemporary performers.

The history of American popular music runs parallel with the history of a Russian Jewish immigrant family, with each male descendant possessing different musical abilities.

A trio of female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.

Country singer Maury Dann lives life in the fast lane, counting on his rakish charm and raw talent to excuse his reckless behavior. Touring on the road in the rural south with his dedicated manager, his loyal driver and his long-suffering girlfriend, Maury seduces groupies, brawls and breaks the law, brashly relying on his team to cover for him. Heedlessly alienating all those who care for him, Maury blindly keeps the pedal to the metal.

Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock 'n' roller, Rodriguez. The film won Best Documentary at the 85th Academy Awards.

Teenage musicians travel to England's Spike Island in the hope of attending an outdoor performance by their favorite band, the Stone Roses.

Though several actors portray Elvis Presley at different stages of his life, this documentary is comprised mostly of actual performance footage and interviews with Elvis, his fans and those close to him. This biographical docu-drama features rare footage of Elvis and dramatically recreated scenes from Elvis' life.

Shot around the breathtaking coastline of B.C.'s Howe Sound, Whale Music is the triumphant adaptation of Paul Quarringaton's Governor General's Award-winning novel about the redemption of a faded rock star through love and music. Richard J. Lewis' exploration of the reclusive musician's efforts to create a piece of music that will summon the whales is a sensory and emotional tour de force. Written by Vancouver Film Festival, Handbook

An aspiring musician is released from prison to find that a song he had written while locked up has been stolen and made into a hit record by a country music superstar. When his confrontation with the star takes a violent turn the ex-con has to go back on the run, but he finds an unexpected ally in a shrewd background singer with a plan to turn the tables in his favor.

A clean-cut synth artist in Germany hopes to turn his career around with the help of a washed-up, erratic, publicity-crazed American manager.

Marvin Gaye: Live in Montreux 1980 is a taped performance of singer Marvin Gaye's performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, recorded on July 17, 1980. Gaye included this performance as part of a European tour. Gaye performs a majority of his hits from his recent disco-funk hits "Got to Give It Up" and "A Funky Space Reincarnation", to his duet hits with Tammi Terrell including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", in which Gaye re-interpolated the songs as a somber tribute to Terrell, who died over a decade before, to sixties Motown classics such as "I'll Be Doggone", "Ain't That Peculiar", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" and "I Heard It through the Grapevine", to seventies standards such as "What's Going On", "Trouble Man" and "Let's Get It On". The Montreux set was later released as a CD/DVD in 2003.

An improvised comedy, shot over five days by Shane Meadows, devised with and starring Paddy Considine. Rock roadie and failed musician, Le Donk has lived, loved and learned. Along the way he's lost a girlfriend but he has found a new sidekick in up-and-coming rap prodigy Scor-zay-zee. With Meadows' fly-on-the-wall crew in tow, Donk sets out to make Scor-zay-zee a star...

Documentary looking at how Detroit became home to a musical revolution that captured the sound of a nation in upheaval. In the early 60s, Motown transcended Detroit's inner city to take black music to a white audience, whilst in the late 60s suburban kids like the MC5 and the Stooges descended into the black inner city to create revolutionary rock expressing the rage of young white America. With contributions from Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, George Clinton, Martha Reeves, John Sinclair and the MC5.

Frankie is an emotional train wreck, careening around the East Los Angeles music scene drinking and meeting strangers. Lev is a taciturn and tormented soul. He drives a limo and wants to work in the music business. They begin a relationship after they connect with each other one night at a party.

Thirty years after recording "Rapper's Delight," Master Gee & Wonder Mike come back to reclaim their identities and rightful place in Hip Hop history.