John Lee Hooker Movies

The late John Lee Hooker was an icon of American blues music. Merging a spare, skeletal guitar style and unusual song structures with a propulsive sense of rhythm earned him a reputation as "the King of the Boogie." Hooker's music provided a stylistic bridge between the rural blues of the '30s and the raw, gutbucket electric sounds that emerged in the '50s and '60s. Produced with the participation of Hooker's estate, John Lee Hooker: Come and See About Me features interviews with Hooker, members of his family, and fellow musicians alongside filmed performances from 1960 to 1994. Including collaborations with Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison, Foghat, John Hammond, Ry Cooder, and the Rolling Stones, John Lee Hooker: Come and See About Me features the songs "Boogie Chillen'," "Boom Boom," "Bottle Up and Go," "Serves Me Right To Suffer," "I'm Bad Like Jesse James," and many more. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

John Lee Hooker was one of the last great stars of postwar electric blues. His style was both unique an influential: a hard-driving electrified boogie that was as powerful as it was primal, marrying the essence of country blues with the muscle of its big city counterpart. John Lee Hooker: That's My Story is a documentary about Hooker's life and work, featuring plenty of performance footage and interviews with Hooker, as well as tributes from fellow musicians (including Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, and Bonnie Raitt) and memories from friends and family. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This documentary collects television appearances of four legendary guitarists. John Lee Hooker, Bukka White, Johnny Shines, and Son House are all considered pioneers of the Delta Blues sound. Through these performances, one can see how these men and their music have affected the progression of blues music. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

The teen drama A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon is directed by William Richert, who adapted the screenplay from his own semi-autobiographical novel Aren't You Even Going to Kiss Me Goodbye? Set in a wealthy Chicago suburb during the 1960s, middle-class Jimmy Reardon (River Phoenix) hangs out with his upper-class best friend, Fred Roberts (Matthew Perry), and sleeps with Fred's snobby girlfriend, Denise Hunter (Ione Skye). He spends his time writing poetry and drinking coffee while he decides what to do after high school. His parents won't help him pay for tuition unless he attends the same business college as his father did, but Jimmy doesn't want to follow that path. Instead, he focuses on coming up with enough money for a plane ticket to go to Hawaii with his wealthy yet chaste girlfriend, Lisa Bentwright (Meredith Salenger). On the night of a big party, Jimmy is given the task of driving home his mother's divorced friend, Joyce Fickett (Ann Magnuson), who conveniently seduces him. Since he is late picking up Lisa, she goes to the dance with the rich Matthew Hollander (Jason Court) instead. Jimmy then crashes the family car and shares an intimate rapprochement with his father (Paul Koslo). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Directors Cork Marcheschi and Robert Schwartz filmed blues performers for three nights in a downtown St. Paul bistro in 1983 -- interviewing the performers, and adding offstage bantering and commentary spoken by Nick the Greek (Nick Gravenites) -- to create this interesting documentary on musicians who survive but have never made it big. Some of the best performances are by two singers, Lady Bianca and Valerie Wellington with the Mark Naftalin Band. Other performances stand up well. With a little careful editing, some of the excess verbiage could have been trimmed, allowing the blues musicians and singers to occupy a well-deserved spotlight. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Expanding on their Saturday Night Live characters, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd star as Jake and Elwood Blues, two white boys with black soul. Sporting cool shades and look-alike suits, Jake and Elwood are dispatched on a "mission from God" by their former teacher, Sister Mary Stigmata (Kathleen Freeman). Said mission is to raise $5000 to save an orphanage. In the course of their zany adventures, the Blues Brothers run afoul of neo-Nazi Henry Gibson, perform the theme from Rawhide before the most unruly bar crowd in written history, and lay waste to hundreds of cars on the streets and freeways of Chicago. In case you aren't swept up in the infectuous nuttiness of the brothers Blue, you might have fun spotting film's legion of guest stars, including James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, John Candy, Carrie Fisher, Steve Lawrence, Twiggy, Paul Reubens (aka Pee-Wee Herman), Frank Oz, and Steven Spielberg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a Louisiana black man has brought his family to Los Angeles to fulfill his dream of opening his own bakery. For him, it was a great gamble as he had no credit, and little money. Still, he manages to get the bakery going. Unfortunately, the business is not able to sustain itself and the fellow is forced to close it down and take a sanitation job. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide