Are you a drummer or an aspiring drummer? Perhaps, you just love the sound of music and the steady beat of a drum. If this is the case, I have some of the best movies for you to check out in 2023 that celebrate the musical geniuses in the percussion field. Check out this collection of the best drum movies 2023 to watch and learn about the instrument.
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Best Drum Movies 2023
Whiplash (2014)
Plot: Driven by his demanding music teacher, aspiring young drummer Andrew is determined to succeed as a jazz drummer — even if it destroys his personality. Under the shadow of his father’s failed artistic attempts, Andrew practices until his hands bleed. This film based on the story of Andrew Neiman was written and directed by Damien Chazelle and was nominated for an Academy Awards for Best Picture with J.K. Simmons winning Best Supporting Actor.
Star Cast: Miles Teller, Melissa Benoist, J. K. Simmons, Paul Reiser, Terence Fletcher
Step Brothers (2008)
Plot: Brennan Huff and Dale Doback have one thing in common: they are both middle-aged men, lazy, unemployed leeches who still live with their parents. When Brennan’s mother and Dale’s father marry and move in together, it turns the overgrown boys’ world upside down. Their insane rivalry and narcissism pull the new family apart, forcing them to work together to reunite their parents.
Star Cast: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Mary Steenburgen
Drumline (2002)
Plot: Set against the high-energy, high-stakes world of show-style marching bands, “Drumline” is a fish-out-of-water comedy about a talented street drummer from Harlem who enrolls in a Southern university, expecting to lead its marching band’s drumline to victory. He initially flounders in his new world before realizing that it takes a more than talent to reach the top. The film has some epic drum battle scenes.
Star Cast: Nick Cannon, Zoe Saldana, Orlando Jones
Beware of Mr. Baker (2012)
Plot: This documentary film has Ginger Baker looking back on his musical career with Cream and Blind Faith; his introduction to Fela Kuti; his self-destructive patterns and losses of fortune; and his current life inside a fortified South African compound.
Star Cast: Ginger Baker, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce
Wayne’s World (1992)
Plot: A big screen spin-off of the “Saturday Night Live” skit. Rob Lowe plays a producer that wants to take the public access “Wayne’s World” to the world of commercial television. Wayne and Garth Algar battle to save their show and Wayne’s girlfriend from Lowe.
Star Cast: Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Tia Carrere
Adventures of Power (2009)
Plot: In the fictional small town of Lode, New Mexico, just about all of the male townsfolk work for a copper mining plant, including Power. Power (whose name was given to him by his father so he could grow up strong) lives with his Aunt Joanie and is always shown air-drumming to music, even when at work.
Star Cast: Ari Gold, Michael McKean, Jane Lynch
The Gene Krupa Story (1959)
Plot: This jazz music biopic is based on the life of young man Gene Krupa, the famed jazz drummer. His Catholic parents want him to be a priest, but Krupa rebels and moves away after his father’s death to make it as a musician in New York City, along with his friend Eddie. He eventually falls for a girl, Ethel. But the seductions of other women, drugs and fame — plus a lack of a formal music education — put a strain on his personal and professional life, and Krupa must re-examine his goals.
Star Cast: Sal Mineo, James Darren, Susan Kohner
The Rocker (2008)
Plot: As a drummer with the ’80s hair band Vesuvius, Robert “Fish” Fishman lived his dream as a rock ‘n’ roll demigod until his band mates kicked him out. Twenty years later, Fish gets a second shot at sitting on the throne of music stardom when his teenage nephew’s band hires him as the new drummer.
Star Cast: Rainn Wilson, Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
Plot: When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer, small-time con man Schwiefka, and Frankie’s old drug dealer, Louis, re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits.
Star Cast: Frank Sinatra, Robert Strauss, Darren McGavin
Studio 666 (2022)
Plot: Legendary rock band Foo Fighters move into an Encino mansion steeped in grisly rock and roll history to record their much anticipated 10th album. Once in the house, Dave Grohl finds himself grappling with supernatural forces that threaten both the completion of the album and the lives of the band.
Star Cast: Whitney Cummings, Jenna Ortega, Taylor Hawkins
Vice Versa (1988)
Plot: After an airport mishap leaves businessman Marshall Seymour in possession of a mysterious skull following a trip to the South Pacific, he unwittingly falls victim to its magical powers when he and his son Charlie swap bodies. Unable to switch back, each must lead the other’s life while trying to figure out the cause of the sudden change — all the while avoiding a pair of smugglers intent on getting their hands on the apparently valuable skull.
Star Cast: Judge Reinhold, Fred Savage, Corinne Bohrer
Ain’t in it for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm (2010)
Plot: Having overcome drugs, bankruptcy, a bout with throat cancer and other hard knocks, Levon Helm, founding member of the Band, works on his first studio album in 25 years at his home studio in Woodstock, N.Y.
Star Cast: Levon Helm, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Helm
Sound of Metal (2019)
Plot: A heavy metal drummer’s life is turned upside down when he begins to lose his hearing and he must confront a future filled with silence and the end to his music career. The film was BAFTA Awards and Ahmed was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.
Star Cast: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci
That Thing You Do (1996)
Plot: Wily band manager Mr. White helps a small town band achieve big time success when they release a Beatles-style pop song in 1964. Pennsylvania rock band the “Oneders” become a sensation after their drummer breaks his arm, and is replaced by jazz enthusiast, Guy Patterson, who injects something a bit different into their music.
Star Cast: Tom Everett Scott, Tom Hanks, Live Tyler
A Drummer’s Dream (2010)
Plot: World’s greatest drummers Nasyr Abdul Al-Khabyyr, Dennis Chambers and others share their skills and passion for music with students at a weekend drumming workshop.
Star Cast: Mike Mangini, Dennis Chambers, John Walker
Dare to Drum (2015)
Plot: This film speaks to the uniquely inherent traits that drummers and percussionists possess as natural explorers of music and sound, and how this particular story explores the challenge of translating foreign voices of percussive expression into the dialect of a Western classical orchestra setting. Five accomplished percussionists, Drum, and a rock star composer, Stewart Copeland, come together with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra to create a groundbreaking work.
Let There Be Drums (2022)
Plot: The world’s greatest drummers reflect on the art of drumming and how it shaped their lives.
Star Cast: Taylor Hawkins, Ringo Starr, Bill Kreutzmann
A Damsel in Distress (1937)
Plot: The staff at Tottney Castle are taking bets on whom the young lady of the manor, Alyce Marshmorton, will wed. When she meets American song-and-dance man Jerry Halliday, footman Albert schemes to make the mismatched pair fall in love so he’ll win the bet. A romantic farce written by British humorist P.G. Wodehouse and based on his novel, the film features the last songs written for the screen by George Gershwin, who died during filming.
Star Cast: Joan Fontaine, Fred Astaire, Harry Watson
Airheads (1994)
Plot: An American comedy film of three aspiring rock musicians — Chazz, Pip and Rex — are determined to have their band’s demo tape played on the air. Out of desperation, they sneak into a Los Angeles radio station, but when the manager, Milo, meets them with hostility, they resort to threatening him with realistic-looking water pistols. Soon the situation escalates, and the none-too-bright rockers get in over their heads.
Star Cast: Brendan Fraser, Adam Sandler, Steve Buscemi, Michael McKean
The Mambo Kings (1982)
Plot: Two Cuban brothers bring a new music to the 1950s USA. They are as different as the problems that await them.
Star Cast: Antonio Banderas, Armand Assante, Scott Cohen
Sound of Noise (2010)
Plot: A tone-deaf, music-hating cop tries to track down a group of guerrilla percussionists who are inundating the city with their anarchic concerts.
Star Cast: Bengt Nilsson, Ola Simonsson, Sanna Persson