Catch up TV

Series 3: 2. Pop Music Movies

Mark looks at a genre that combines his twin passions, music and movies. Pop movies encompass many forms, from drama and comedy to fantasy and documentary, producing some of the most potent and emotive moments in popular culture.\n\nThere’s the classic pop star vehicle, where the biggest acts play themselves, or a version of themselves, in exuberant films that promote their brand and help sell their music. Then there are pop biopics, dramatised accounts of the stars’ lives that dazzle us with musical set pieces while playing on our fascination with the darker side of fame. Even rock documentaries, or 'rockumentaries', feature recurring themes and situations, both on and off stage. Mark also sees what happens when actors play musicians, and when musicians take on acting roles, and he celebrates some of the true cinematic oddities that have come from pop stars putting their wildest ideas on screen.\n\nRebellion, romance, anarchy, excitement. Mark shows how the fusion of pop music and movies has been a double act like no other.

Source: BBC 4