Movies That Rock

Movies and music go together like popcorn and butter. When the curtains part, it's the thundering soundtrack that kick starts the drama — where would Easy Rider be without Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild"? Unleashing the hardcore battle cry "Lose Yourself," Eminem's sweaty-palmed antihero smacks the hip-hop world upside the head with a breathless fusillade of rhymes in 8 Mile. Ritchie Valens fused a red-hot rock 'n' roll riff to a popular Mexican wedding folk song to create "La Bamba" — and became the first Chicano guitar god in the process. Thanks to the Valens biopic of the same name, Los Lobos got a crack at putting their foot-stomping, mariachi-flavoured sabor all over the tune. All of which says nothing about "When Doves Cry," whose eerily looped vocals and choppy synthesizer stabs ignited the classic Prince flick Purple Rain. In Next Steps, the drama builds as Act Two unfolds.

Long before Whitney Houston made "I Will Always Love You" one of the biggest hits of anyone's career, Dolly Parton delivered it with a Tennessee twang and heart-wrenching pathos to a sad-eyed Burt Reynolds in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, turning it into, arguably, the best breakup song of all time. No stranger to heartache herself, France's little sparrow Edith Piaf belted out "La vie en rose" with so much heart, it cemented her legend and inspired a biopic of the same name. And then there's Elvis Presley, who pounded out cinematic classics with regularity. In Viva Las Vegas, he turns the title track into a hip-swiveling, bongo-banging thrill-ride through the desert. Stay tuned for Deep Cuts to find out what happens next.

Blaxploitation classic Superfly simply wouldn't be complete without Curtis Mayfield's seductive falsetto beckoning from a drug dealer's underworld in "Pusherman." Punk pioneers the Ramones made Riff Randell, the ponytailed star of Rock 'N' Roll High School, swoon with drums faster than a gerbil's heart rate and a wall of distorted guitar chords denser than their trademark bangs. While the Ramones took over a school, Madonna set her sights higher — a South American nation, to be specific, in Evita's climactic "Don't Cry for Me Argentina." As she pleads from the Presidential balcony, "I've kept my promise/don't keep your distance," the violins swell, the crowds cheer, and Madonna's voice emerges as an unwavering clarion call.

Simply put, movies that rock are some of our favourite movies of all time. The songs they spawn are all about high drama, with themes of love and ambition powering them through. We've collected a trove of those songs right here: a showcase of immense talent, featuring superstars from every corner of the musical world — legendary artists, like Neil Diamond and U2; singing actors, like Joaquin Phoenix and Kevin Spacey. We've got a dose of comedy ("The Metal" by Tenacious D) and tragedy ("Sweet Dreams" by Patsy Cline). You might even get a hero and a leading lady. There's something undeniably electrifying about the connection between sound and vision. When the curtains descend on the silver screen, the melody remains ringing in our heads . . . as you're about to rediscover.