The greatest cult rock movie of all time is, without doubt, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Everyone knows the Time Warp, right? Everyone jumps to the left. It’s a dynamic mesh of transgressive sexuality and hedonistic philosophy in a pile of horror movie send-up and musical fun. But it’s not nearly as rock-n-roll as it thinks it is, Hot Patootie notwithstanding.

Then there’s The Commitments, often cited as the greatest rock musical, not without good reason. Few movies really get into the guts of the joys, pain, chaos, pathos, humor and sex of rock-n-soul like this one. Andrew Strong’s insane vocals prop the whole thing up, but the show is stolen by Johnny Murphy as Joey “The Lips” Fagan, who seduces every one of the band’s trio of backup singers.

Times Square is an obscure and obscurely wonderful little cult movie about a pair of mismatched teenage runaways who find a home in the sleazy underworld of 1970s-era Times Square in New York City. Tim Curry (of Rocky Horror fame) co-stars as a cult DJ who catapults the girls to fame. The soundtrack is an extraordinary collection of the era’s fun and gritty punk and hard rock, including Suzy Quatro’s Rock Hard, and music by David Johansen, Garland Jeffreys, The Cure, The Cars, The Ramones, and more. If you are looking for a gritty rock sensibility you should definitely check this one out.

The greatest comedy in this field is surely This is Spinal Tap, which is riotously funny and infinitely quotable. Everyone knows “it goes to eleven,” right? What makes Spinal Tap so great, though, is that, as much as The Commitments, it really captures what it feels like to be in a crazy situation with a bunch of crazy people. Showing up at venues that are nothing like they should be and cannot possibly work out.