20 best movies like Weekender (2011)

1994, a small town in central Scotland. Best mates Johnno and Spanner, despite being total opposites, have a deep bond. Now on the cusp of adulthood, life is destined to take them in different directions – Johnno’s family are moving him to a new town and a better life, leaving Spanner behind to face a precarious future. But this summer is going to be different for them, and for the country. The explosion of the free party scene and the largest counter-cultural youth movement in recent history is happening across the UK.

A chronicle of James Brown's rise from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential musicians in history.

Chronicles the early days of The Beatles in Hamburg, Germany. The film focuses primarily on the relationship between Stuart Sutcliffe, John Lennon, and Sutcliffe's girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr.

Eccentric 70-year-old widow purchases the Windmill Theatre in London as a post-widowhood hobby. After starting an innovative continuous variety review, which is copied by other theaters, they begin to lose money. Mrs Henderson suggests they add female nudity similar to the Moulin Rouge in Paris

The tragic story of world-renowned cellist Jacqueline du Pré, as told from the point of view of her sister, flautist Hilary du Pré-Finzi.

Author P.L. Travers travels from London to Hollywood as Walt Disney Pictures adapts her novel Mary Poppins for the big screen.

Teenage musicians travel to England's Spike Island in the hope of attending an outdoor performance by their favorite band, the Stone Roses.

Eve is a catastrophe—low on self-esteem but high on fantasy, especially when it comes to music. Over the course of one Glasgow summer, she meets two similarly rootless souls: posh Cass and fastidious James, and together they form a group.

Ten fisherman from Cornwall are signed by Universal Records and achieve a top ten hit with their debut album of Sea Shanties. Based on the true-life story of Cornish folk band, Fisherman's Friends.

It's 1968, and four young, talented Australian Aboriginal girls learn about love, friendship and war when they entertain the US troops in Vietnam as singing group The Sapphires.

In 1999, teenage sisters Celeste and Eleanor survive a seismic, violent tragedy. The sisters compose and perform a song about their experience, making something lovely and cathartic out of a catastrophe - while also catapulting Celeste to stardom. By 2017, Celeste is a mother to a teenage daughter of her own and is struggling to navigate a career fraught with scandals when another act of terrifying violence demands her attention.

Young Cuban Rafael just buried his mother, and comes to Houston to meet his father John for the first time. The difficult part is that John doesn't know he is Rafael's father. John runs a dance studio, and everyone prepares for the World Open Dance championship in Las Vegas. It soon becomes clear Rafael is a very good dancer, and Ruby is the biggest hope for the studio at the championship.

During the Great Depression, identical twins are separated at birth. One, Drexel Hemsley becomes a wildly successful '50s rock star, while the other, Ryan Wade, struggles to balance his passion for music and pleasing his parents, who want him to become a preacher. Finally, Ryan rebels against his parents' wishes and launches his own music career -- performing the hits of Drexel Hemsley. Ryan later learns the truth about Drexel when their fates tragically collide.

The Boat that Rocked is an ensemble comedy, where the romance is between the young people of the 60s, and pop music. It's about a band of DJs that captivate Britain, playing the music that defines a generation and standing up to a government that wanted control of popular culture via the British Broadcasting Corporation. Loosely based on the events in Britain in the 60's when the Labour government of Harold Wilson, wanted to bring the pirate stations under control, enough to see the passage of the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act on 15 August 1967

In the seventies Strange Fruit were it. They lived the rock lifestyle to the max, groupies, drugs, internal tension and an ex front man dead from an overdose. Even their demise was glamorous; when lightning struck the stage during an outdoor festival. 20 years on and these former rock gods they have now sunk deep into obscurity when the idea of a reunion tour is lodged in the head of Tony, former keyboard player of the Fruits. Tony sets out to find his former bandmates with the help of former manager Karen to see if they can recapture the magic and give themselves a second chance.

Jazz legend Chet Baker finds love and redemption when he stars in a movie about his own troubled life to mount a comeback.

An hour before the five best Dutch dance crews fly to a contest in New York, the subsidized trip is cancelled. Five dancers from totally different crews don't want to give up their free plane ticket and go anyway. In New York they realize what they've done. They have no money, no plan and no crew. But... They came to dance so there is only one thing to do. Together they form a new crew and do everything they can to enter the contest they came for. In the mean time... they have to survive two weeks in New York without any cash. Written by Tijs van Marle

Two feuding rock stars get handcuffed together for 24 hours at a music festival where they are both due to perform.

In 1980 young George O'Dowd baffles his parents with his love of frocks and make-up and moves into a squat with kindred spirit Peter, who dresses as Marilyn Monroe and calls himself Marilyn. They make a splash at Steve Strange's trendy Blitz Club where George gets a job in the cloakroom but George is unlucky in his relationships with men until he meets wannabe musician Kirk. Through Kirk George meets the handsome drummer Jon Moss, on whom he develops a crush, but sacked by the Blitz and spurned by Kirk, George turns to Sex Pistols' manager Malcolm McLaren to further his music career. George's spell with McLaren's group Bow Wow Wow is short but fan Mikey North is impressed and asks George to sing in a group he is forming, where George again meets Jon. They will have an affair and the group will become the very successful Culture Club. Four years later, however, hounded by the tabloid press amid stories of his drug addiction, an unhappy George turns to Jon for advice on his future.

This 2017 movie follows the original dance academy TV show and tracks where the characters are in their lives now.

A baseball legend almost finished with his distinguished career at the age of forty has one last chance to prove who he is, what he is capable of, and win the heart of the woman he has loved for the past four years.

Andrea, a gifted young Polish violinist from Krakow, is bound for America when he is swept overboard by a storm. When the Widdington sisters discover the handsome stranger on the beach below their house, they nurse him back to health. However, the presence of the musically talented young man disrupts the peaceful lives of Ursula and Janet and the community in which they live.

Fictional account of French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

On a trip to Paris Sally meets Pablo, a tango dancer. He starts teaching her to dance then she returns to London to work on some "projects". She visits Buenos Aires and learns more from Pablo's friends. Sally and Pablo meet again but this time their relationship changes, she realises they want different things from each other. On a trip to Buenos Aires they cement their friendship.

From Paris to Venice to Broadway to Hollywood, the lives of Cole Porter and his wife, Linda were never less than glamorous and wildly unconventional. And though Cole's thirst for life strained their marriage, Linda never stopped being his muse, inspiring some of the greatest sons of the twentieth century.

After a fictitious marriage with a Russian emigrant, Cellisten Louka, a Czech man, must suddenly take responsibility for her son. However, it’s not long before the communication barrier is broken between the two new family members.

The drama tells the story of Lennon's teenage years and the start of his journey to becoming a successful musician. The story also examines the impact on his early life and personality of the two dominant females in his childhood

In this biographical drama, Selena Quintanilla is born into a musical Mexican-American family in Texas. Her father, Abraham, realizes that his young daughter is talented and begins performing with her at small venues. She finds success and falls for her guitarist, Chris Perez, who draws the ire of her father. Seeking mainstream stardom, Selena begins recording an English-language album which, tragically, she would never complete.

During the '80s, a young man named Frankie dreams of escaping London's South East region, and his mother's thug of a boyfriend gives him just the opportunity. After beating up the abusive beau, Frankie runs off to Spain, where he lands a job delivering a package to the dapper Playboy Charlie, a gangster who takes him under his wing. Working as Charlie's driver, Frankie is immersed in a world of fast cars and pretty women -- but all the excess could be his undoing.

A young woman is catapulted into pop stardom, with her already-famous DJ boyfriend calling the shots.

Story of a schoolteacher's struggle to teach violin to inner-city Harlem kids.

Upon first sight of a beautiful instructor, a bored and overworked estate lawyer signs up for ballroom dancing lessons.

Lovely Linda Mason has crooner Jim Hardy head over heels, but suave stepper Ted Hanover wants her for his new dance partner after femme fatale Lila Dixon gives him the brush. Jim's supper club—Holiday Inn—is the setting for the chase by Hanover and manager Danny Reed. The music's the thing.

Three dance crews – one Latin American, one European and one Canadian – prepare to battle at the International Beat the World competition in Detroit. Along the way, they struggle with gambling debt, bad break-ups and their own egos. In the final showdown to become world champions they find that their lifelong hopes, dreams and even lives, are at stake.

A Pennsylvania band scores a hit in 1964 and rides the star-making machinery as long as it can, with lots of help from its manager.

Its All Gone Pete Tong is a comedy following the tragic life of legendary Frankie Wilde. The story takes us through Frankie's life from one of the best DJ's alive, through subsequent battle with a hearing disorder, culminating in his mysterious disappearance from the scene.

In a story fueled by rhythm and blues, a young boy's life is shaped by love and the stories of a cast of characters in the boarding house where he lives in 1960s Lackawanna, New York.

1974. Amidst power cuts, strikes and boot-boy aggro on the football terraces, Joe McCain is bored of a life that's going nowhere. Enter hair-dresser Jane: blonde, beautiful, and moving to the beat of a whole new world of sound, movement and all-nighter dancing at The Wigan Casino - the home of Northern Soul. Swept along on this tide of pulsating dance and lust, Joe becomes embroiled in the darker side of soul scene that will put his friendship to the test.

Young Cole Carter dreams of hitting the big time as a Hollywood disc jockey, spending his days and nights hanging with buddies and working on the one track that will set the world on fire. Opportunity comes knocking when he meets James Reed, a charismatic DJ who takes the 23-year-old under his wing. Soon, his seemingly clear path to success gets complicated when he starts falling for his mentor's girlfriend, jeopardizing his new friendship and the future he seems destined to fulfill.

Paul, a teenager in the underground scene of early-nineties Paris, forms a DJ collective with his friends and together they plunge into the nightlife of sex, drugs, and endless music.

Set in 1974, an authentic and uplifting tale of two friends whose horizons are opened up by the discovery of black American soul music.

Based on the life and career of legendary entertainer, Bobby Darin, the biopic moves back and forth between his childhood and adulthood, to tell the tale of his remarkable life. Kevin Spacey did his own singing for Beyond the Sea, recreating Bobby Darin's vocal style with uncanny accuracy.

A washed up Vegas lounge singer, Jack Satin (Hamilton von Watts), has no money, no job, and delusional aspirations of fame. When Jack is forced to leave Vegas, he packs up his old Cadillac and hits the road for Atlantic City. But his car dies in the desert and Jack is left stranded in the small town of Lost Springs. There, Jack meets jazz legend turned mechanic, Doc Bishop (Robert Guillaume), who helps him with his car trouble. Although Jack is far from the stage, he begins to find himself feeling at home in the small town. When he meets local bar owner, Lauren Wells (Melissa Joan Hart), Jack starts to see there is more to life than chasing fame and fortune. Doc encourages Jack to explore his true love of music, while Lauren provides the audience he has always wanted. But as Jack realizes this town has more to offer him than the bright lights of the big city, his Vegas past catches up with him -- what unfolds is comedy at the crossroads of life.

Annie is stuck in a long-term relationship with Duncan – an obsessive fan of obscure rocker Tucker Crowe. When the acoustic demo of Tucker's hit record from 25 years ago surfaces, its discovery leads to a life-changing encounter with the elusive rocker himself.

Having written the music and screenplay for this film, Paul McCartney also plays himself in the leading role. When the mastertape of McCartney's latest album is misplaced, he must discover its whereabouts in less than 24 hours or else risk losing his recording company to the lowlife Mr. Rath (John Bennett). McCartney performs three new songs, along with classic Beatles' tunes. Co-starring are former Beatles mate Ringo Starr as the drummer in Paul's band, Ringo's real-life wife Barbara Bach, McCartney's then wife Linda and Tracy Ullman.

Three fanatical bird-watchers spend an entire year competing to spot the highest number of species as El Nino sends an extraordinary variety of rare breeds flying up into the U.S., but they quickly discover that there are more important things than coming out on top of the competition

Graced with a velvet voice, 21-year-old Violet Sanford heads to New York to pursue her dream of becoming a songwriter only to find her aspirations sidelined by the accolades and notoriety she receives at her "day" job as a barmaid at Coyote Ugly. The "Coyotes" as they are affectionately called tantalize customers and the media alike with their outrageous antics, making Coyote Ugly the watering hole for guys on the prowl.

NOTORIOUS is the story of Christopher Wallace. Through raw talent and sheer determination, Wallace transforms himself from Brooklyn street hustler (once selling crack to pregnant women) to one of the greatest rappers of all time; THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. Follow his meteoric rise to fame and his refusal to succumb to expectations - redefining our notion of "The American Dream."

Inspirational true story of Iranian dancer Afshin Ghaffarian, who risked his life for his dream to become a dancer despite a nationwide dancing ban.

Orphaned and alone except for an uncle, Hugo Cabret lives in the walls of a train station in 1930s Paris. Hugo's job is to oil and maintain the station's clocks, but to him, his more important task is to protect a broken automaton and notebook left to him by his late father. Accompanied by the goddaughter of an embittered toy merchant, Hugo embarks on a quest to solve the mystery of the automaton and find a place he can call home.