The best Tony Wilson’s movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Tony Wilson’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 Tony Wilson.
24 Hour Party People
7.3/10
Manchester, 1976. Tony Wilson is an ambitious but frustrated local TV news reporter looking for a way to make his mark. After witnessing a life-changing concert by a band known as the Sex Pistols, he persuades his station to televise one of their performances, and soon Manchester's punk groups are clamoring for him to manage them. Riding the wave of a musical revolution, Wilson and his friends create the legendary Factory Records label and The Hacienda club.
A Cock and Bull Story
6.7/10
Steve Coogan, an arrogant actor with low self-esteem and a complicated love life, is playing the eponymous role in an adaptation of "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman" being filmed at a stately home. He constantly spars with actor Rob Brydon, who is playing Uncle Toby and believes his role to be of equal importance to Coogan's.
Joy Division
7.7/10
A chronological account of the influential late 1970s English rock band.
The 90s: Ten Years That Changed the World
8.6/10
Documentary that outlines the 1990s and the decade the changed the world.
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.
Funny Up North
Documentary featuring a cavalcade of Northern comedy stars including the great Frank Randle, George Formby, Arthur Askey, Norman Evans and many more. The North of England has always enjoyed its own very particular brand of comedy, best seen today in Coronation Street. 80 years ago however Mancunian Studios produced feature films for the northern masses. Funny Up North tells the story of the Mancunian Studios, its eccentric owner John E Blakeley and its cavalcade of stars including such household names as Arthur Askey, Jimmy Jewell, George Formby and the legendary Frank Randle. Hosted by Professor Chris Lee, the authority on northern cinema, Funny Up North takes you on a journey from its humble beginnings to its sad demise in the 1960s.
The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of Mark E. Smith
7.2/10
A 1-hour Documentary looking at the Manchester post-punk group and its infamous leader Mark E Smith. The Film follows the current band recording their final Session for the John Peel Show (they were his favourite group and recorded more sessions than any other band) as well as chronicling the chaotic history of the band & its numerous line-up changes.
Music Maker: Rory Gallagher
Director Bill Keating built a programme around following Rory through a day of his short 1972 Irish tour. At the center of the programme is a recording of the concert Rory played in the Savoy Cinema in Limerick on May 11th 1972.
Factory: Play At Home
A short film made in 1984 by the band New Order which sees them interview the personnel behind their record label Factory, including Tony Wilson, Martin Hannett, Rob Gretton, Alan Erasmus, and Peter Saville amongst others. It also includes three live performances of New Order at the Haçienda.
Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays
8.2/10
Documentary celebrating the triumph, tragedy and human comedy that was Manchester record company, Factory. Started by the late Tony Wilson, Alan Erasmus, Peter Saville and Martin Hannett in the late 1970s, it became known as the home of Joy Divsion, New Order and Happy Mondays and for creating the Hacienda club. The label pioneered Britain's independent pop culture, creating a new Manchester and blowing a shed-load of money. Includes interviews with all the main players in the Factory story.
New Order: Decades
6.7/10
Part concert, part documentary, this film follows the band’s preparations in the re-staging of their acclaimed collaboration So It Goes.. with the artist Liam Gillick and the 12-piece synthesiser orchestra that spectacularly captured the headlines during Manchester International Festival 2017.
The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead - A Classic Album Under Review
8.2/10
Showing for the first time how it all came together and what made it so great, the film is all at once hugely enlightening, downright entertaining, and remains the only visual document of this momentous happening ever released. - Written by Clint Weiler
The Smiths: Under Review
This in-depth retrospective surveys the history and music of the Smiths via interviews with the band, expert commentary and insights from insiders, including producer Stephen Street. Performance footage and TV clips round out the program.
New Order - Pumped Full of Drugs
New Order filmed live in concert in Tokyo, May 2nd 1985
