Over the last week or so, I've watched two recent films inspired by or utilising music from an iconic pop / rock band - namely Julie Taymor's terrific 'Across the Universe', which features a whole range of Beatles songs, and borrows several character names and plot points from Beatles songs; and 'Mamma Mia!', which... doesn't.

'Mamma Mia!' probably isn't a great example of a pop-inspired film / musical, as it's an original story that has a number of Abba songs stuffed in at seemingly random intervals - though it's fun enough, and is more or less what you'd expect.

'Across the Universe' was rather more interesting, following Liverpudlian Jude and American Lucy in the mid-to-late 60s as they meet, fall in love, get caught up in Vietnam and associated anti-war protests, and so on. There are characters called Sadie, Prudence (who arrives through the bathroom window, which would have been a better gag if the point wasn't hammered home immediately afterwards), JoJo, Max (though I don't think we ever find out what he's majoring in, presumably medicine). It makes interesting use of the songs to tell the story, and I think deserves a wider audience.

All in all, it's a better stab at a Beatles-inspired film than the infamous 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', where Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees (amongst others) proved that just bunging a load of popular songs together wasn't enough on its own in order to make a successful film. It's not as bad as some would have you believe, but even when it's enjoyable, it's staggering to think that anyone thought it was a good idea in the first place. The trailer should explain things...

I wondered if anyone had any thoughts or recommendations for other interesting rock and pop-inspired films. Which ones are worth watching? And which should be avoided at all costs?