"One great rock show can change the world" says Jack Black's character Dewey Finn in the 2003 Richard Linklater comedy The School of Rock. This exhaustive, highly-detailed, yet reader-friendly A-to-Z encyclopedia takes that lesson to heart by gazing at half-a-century of rock 'n' roll films, big screen epics both celebrated and obscure. From the 1950s and the age of "juvenile delinquents" in films such as Blackboard Jungle to more intimate, twenty-first century rock band portraits such as Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, this book by noted film authority John Kenneth Muir also features entries on rock documentaries such as Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz, movies starring rock stars including the Sting vehicle The Bride, and even films boasting extensive rock soundtracks, for example George Lucas's paean to the age of cruising, American Graffiti. The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia includes: * 230 film entries from 1956 through 2005, including cast list, creative personnel, M.P.A.A. rating, running time, and DVD availability. * Entries on the familiar conventions of this unique cinematic form, such as the Vietnam War, the ubiquitous press conference (in which band members wax philosophical), the rampant destruction of property (hotel rooms, specifically) and even the Yoko factor (meddling girlfriends). Biographical entries on players who made significant impact on the silver screen, from Elvis Presley and The Beatles to Alice Cooper and Prince. Interviews with rock movie directors Allan Arkush (Rock 'n' Roll High School), Martin Davidson (Eddie and the Cruisers) and Albert Magnoli (Purple Rain). Peter Smokler, the cinematographer who shot the Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter, the Jimi Hendrix film Jimi at Berkeley, and This Is Spinal Tap is also interviewed. * In addition to pure rock 'n' roll, the films included cover all genres of popular music, ranging from Johnny Cash to Madonna, rock-influenced musical theatre (Jesus Christ Superstar), tejano (Selena), disco (Can't Stop the Music, Xanadu), and reggae. Whether your "one great rock show" is a beach movie starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, a misbegotten horror/rock fusion like The Horror of Party Beach, or a rib-tickling, heavy metal mockumentary like This Is Spinal Tap, you'll find all your favorites remembered in the pages of The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia.
John Kenneth Muir is the award-winning author of over 20 books in the fields of film & television, with an accent on horror & sci-fi. John has been described as one of the horror genre's "most widely read critics" by Rue Morgue Magazine, and as an "accomplished film journalist" by Comic Buyer's Guide. His director books include profiles of John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Christopher Guest, Tobe Hooper, Mira Nair, Sam Raimi, and Kevin Smith. John has twice won a Booklist Editor's Choice citation (for Horror Films of the 1970s and Terror Television). John is also the creator of the award-nominated web series, The House Between, and in 2009 John's blog, Reflections on Film/TV was named one of the "top 1000" film study blogs on the Net. In 2010, John appears in the documentary Nightmares in Red, White and Blue.
