1. “Gimme Shelter” (1970) “Who’s fighting and for what?” Mick Jagger asks just before a fan is stabbed to death. In one of the saddest documentaries on any subject, it’s as if sensitive-eyed pioneers Albert and David Maysles anticipated what was going to happen. Their all-access pass to the poor planning and cavalier execution of the notorious Altamont concert documented another end of American innocence.

2. “This Is Spinal Tap” (1984) Largely improvised, this dead-on satire of rock-star pretensions is one of the funniest films ever.

3. “Stop Making Sense” (1984) Feature director Jonathan Demme wisely stays out of Talking Heads leader David Byrne’s way, keeping his cameras almost still for the concert of a decade.

4. “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964) The Beatles’ first movie is rock’s most influential film, anticipating music videos with slapstick antics as the Fab Four have fun with fame.

5. “Don’t Look Back” (1967) One of the best examples of cinema verite chronicles Bob Dylan’s bad-boy act, including his hilariously discomforting encounters with the confounded press.

6. “Woodstock” (1970) Can’t we all just get along?

7. “American Graffiti” (1973) George Lucas once had a clue, carefully diagrammin the intersection between cars, girls and music when rock was young.

8. “The Last Waltz” (1978) Martin Scorsese brings his bravura to The Band’s last concert, and everyone shows up: Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young.

9. “The Decline of Western Civilization” (1981) Los Angeles’ punk scene was the most brutal since the Sex Pistols, but it’s director Penelope Spheeris’ jokey breakfast with X that wins the day.

10. “Hedwig and the Angry Inch “(2001) Star and director James Cameron Mitchell beautifully balances humor and pathos to tell the story of a tortured artist.