The best John Cooper Clarke’s movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best John Cooper Clarke’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about John Cooper Clarke.
Ill Manors
7.1/10
Ensemble film revolving around characters living in Forest Gate, London. Over the course of a few days, six inter-linking stories explore issues of drug use, prostitution and urban poverty.
Control
7.6/10
The story of Joy Division’s lead singer Ian Curtis, from his schoolboy days in 1973 to his suicide on the eve of the band's first American tour in 1980.
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten
7.5/10
As the front man of the Clash from 1977 onwards, Joe Strummer changed people's lives forever. Four years after his death, his influence reaches out around the world, more strongly now than ever before. In "The Future Is Unwritten", from British film director Julien Temple, Joe Strummer is revealed not just as a legend or musician, but as a true communicator of our times. Drawing on both a shared punk history and the close personal friendship which developed over the last years of Joe's life, Julien Temple's film is a celebration of Joe Strummer - before, during and after the Clash.
Urgh! A Music War
7.9/10
Urgh! A Music War is a British film released in 1982 featuring performances by punk rock, new wave, and post-punk acts, filmed in 1980. Among the artists featured in the movie are Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), Magazine, The Go-Go's, Toyah Willcox, The Fleshtones, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, X, XTC, Devo, The Cramps, Oingo Boingo, Dead Kennedys, Gary Numan, Klaus Nomi, Wall of Voodoo, Pere Ubu, Steel Pulse, Surf Punks, 999, UB40, Echo & the Bunnymen and The Police. These were many of the most popular groups on the New Wave scene; in keeping with the spirit of the scene, the film also features several less famous acts, and one completely obscure group, Invisible Sex, in what appears to be their only public performance.
Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché
7.1/10
The death of punk icon and X-Ray Spex front-woman Poly Styrene sends her daughter on a journey through her mother's archives in this intimate documentary.
Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story
7.6/10
The hilarious and bizarre story of Frank Sidebottom, the cult British comedian in a papier mâché head, and the secretive life of Chris Sievey, the artist trapped inside.
Evidently... John Cooper Clarke
7.7/10
A look at the life of John Cooper Clarke. From his rise as a 'punk poet', through his heroin addiction, and finally to his comeback.
Too Good To Go Down
Too Good To Go Down explores the story of how relegation to the second tier of English football was the catalyst for a new Manchester United to develop in the years after Sir Matt Busby's retirement.
Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt
A portrait of Salford-born poet, storyteller and comic, John Cooper-Clarke. His poems, a satirical blend of humour and social comment, are delivered at a fast pace, often with musical backing. His style, and that of his contemporary Linton Kwesi Johnson, have influenced a generation of younger poets involved in a revival of popular poetry in Britain.
It's Not Repetition, It's Discipline
6.8/10
Dandelion Records and DVD's present Probably the nearest you will ever get to an official documentary on Mark E Smith and The Fall. Put together over a period of 13 years by three Danish Fall fans and with full involvement from Mark E Smith this film gives a real insight into the mechanisms of The Fall. Features many live clips and rehearsals of both The Fall and Smith and Ed Blaney. The cast list includes Mark E Smith, John Peel (a real in depth contribution from Peelie), Henry Rollins, Thurston Moore, David Gedge, Stephen Malkmus, Dee Dee Ramone, Peter Hook, Grant Showbiz, John Cooper Clarke, Damo Suzuki, Gary Lucas, Ed Blaney, Jim Watts, Spencer Birtwistle, Ben Pritchard, Zlatko Buric, Alan Wise, The Other Dave and Fall Fan Dave. Bonus material includes a great interview with Mark E Smith in what was his favourite pub near Heaton Park in Manchester (sadly the pub is now closed)
