Ry Cooder Filmography

From the Big Apple to the Big Easy: The Concert for New Orleans

Synopsis: The biggest names in modern music all come together on one stage for this landmark concert organized to raise funds for the relief and rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Katrina and featuring special appearances by a number of New Orleans legends. Featured performers include Aaron Neville Read More

John Lee Hooker: Come and See About Me

Actors: John Lee Hooker

Synopsis: The late John Lee Hooker was an icon of American blues music. Merging a spare, skeletal guitar style and unusual song structures with a propulsive sense of rhythm earned him a reputation as "the King of the Boogie." Hooker's music provided a stylistic bridge between the rural blues of the '30s and Read More

Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Buena Vista Social Club

Actors: Ry Cooder, Compay Segundo, Rubén González, Ibrahim Ferrer, Eliades Ochoa

Synopsis: Wim Wenders' documentary Buena Vista Social Club is about the adventures of Ry Cooder in Cuba. Cooder, best remembered by film fans for the wailing slide guitar theme of Wenders' Paris, Texas, went to Cuba in 1996 to meet with some legendary 'soneros' musicians of the '30s, '40s and '50s. The Read More

Primary Colors

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Adrian Lester

Synopsis: Mike Nichols directed this Elaine May screenplay adapted from the 1996 bestseller by "Anonymous" (Joe Klein), who fictionalized Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign. In the New Hampshire primary, Governor Jack Stanton (John Travolta) convinces Henry Burton (Adrian Lester), grandson of a Read More

The End of Violence

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Frederic Forrest, Udo Kier, Traci Lind, Samuel Fuller, Bill Pullman, Andie MacDowell, Gabriel Byrne

Synopsis: Wim Wenders directed this allegorical drama about the emotional impact of violence in our culture, set against the backdrop of California's entertainment business. Mike Max (Bill Pullman) is a Hollywood producer who has earned a great deal of money and power in the film industry through his Read More

Last Man Standing

Crew: Songwriter

Actors: Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, Bruce Dern, Michael Imperioli, Alexandra Powers, David Patrick Kelly

Synopsis: The traditions of the western and the gangster film meet head-on in this dark crime drama. Jericho is a small town in Texas that in the 1920s looks much like it did in the 1860s, except that two violent gangs of rival bootleggers have driven away nearly all of the citizens not involved in the Read More

Geronimo: An American Legend

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Jason Patric, Gene Hackman, Robert Duvall, Wes Studi, Matt Damon

Synopsis: Walter Hill directs John Milius's script (co-written by Larry Gross) depicting a revisionist perspective on the "Geronimo Campaign" and how Geronimo, with 34 men, managed to elude 5000 U.S. cavalry men between 1885 and 1886 before his surrender at the Canyon of the Skeletons in September 1886. The Read More

Trespass

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Bill Paxton, Ice-T, Bill Sadler, Ice Cube, Art Evans

Synopsis: Maverick director Walter Hill, who had a big hit with 48 Hrs., indulges his customary yen for violent and disturbing scenes in this overlooked action film, which was also released under the name Looters. Set in the economically-depressed town of East St. Louis, IL, the film's release was delayed Read More

John Lee Hooker & Friends, 1984-1992

Actors: John Lee Hooker

Synopsis: Legendary bluesman John Lee Hooker is joined by the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder, and Robert Cray in this compilation of live performances. John Lee Hooker & Friends, 1984-1992 features a total of ten songs, including "Baby Lee," "When My First Wife Left Me," "I'm Bad Like Jesse James," "I'm Read More

Cadillac Man

Crew: Songwriter

Actors: Robin Williams, Tim Robbins, Pamela Reed, Fran Drescher, Zack Norman

Synopsis: Robin Williams stars in this oddball comedy about a fast-talking car salesman who is down on his luck and in over his head until an extreme situation forces him to use his sales skills to save lives. Joey O'Brien (Williams) is the stereotypical car salesman: enterprising, aggressive, and desperate Read More

Johnny Handsome

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin, Elizabeth McGovern, Morgan Freeman, Forest Whitaker

Synopsis: Small-time crook Mickey Rourke is mockingly named Johnny Handsome because of his grotesquely deformed face. While in stir on a robbery rap, Rourke is knifed by convicts in the employ of his former partner--and now bitter enemy--Lance Henriksen. While in the prison hospital, Rourke is cared for by Read More

Tales From the Crypt [TV Series]

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Synopsis: It isn't often that a popular TV series is inspired by a literary property that all but destroyed a particular industry, but such was the case with the weekly, half-hour horror anthology Tales From the Crypt. Most of the episodes depicted herein were based on stories originally published in the EC Read More

Pecos Bill

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Synopsis: This hilarious short film will delight children and adults alike. Comedian Robin Williams reads the clever Brian Gleeson adaptation of the story and injects considerable zest into the legendary exploits of the greatest cowboy on Earth who rode a cougar, taught cowboys how to drive cattle, lassoed Read More

Blue City

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Songwriter

Actors: Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, David Caruso, Paul Winfield, Scott Wilson

Synopsis: When prodigal son Billy Turner (Judd Nelson) returns to his Florida home town, he's caught in a brawl and thrown in jail. He tells the guards to call his father, the mayor, who will have him released; however, he soon discovers his father has been killed. After Turner finally gets out of jail, he Read More

Crossroads

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Ralph Macchio, Joe Seneca, Jami Gertz, Joe Morton, Robert Judd

Synopsis: A passion for blues music is evident in this drama based on a contest-winning script by former blues musician John Fusco -- and featuring one of the decade's best-received motion picture soundtracks, written and performed by Ry Cooder. Eugene Martone Ralph Macchio is a classically trained Read More

Alamo Bay

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Amy Madigan, Ed Harris, Nguyen Ho, Donald Moffat, Truyen V. Tran

Synopsis: Director Louis Malle scrutinizes modern-day racism in Alamo Bay. The scene is the Texas coast, where local fishermen resent the "intrusion" of Vietnam refugees. Fair-minded shrimp supplier Wally (Donald Moffat) hires several Vietnamese workers, which serves to further infuriate the locals. The Read More

Randy Newman: Live at the Odeon

Synopsis: Award-winning singer/songwriter Randy Newman is joined by Ry Cooder and Linda Ronstadt in this 1983 concert presentation. Randy Newman: At the Odeon Rock features Newman on the songs "I Love L.A.," "Burn on, Big River," "Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear," "Marie," "Christmas in Capetown," Read More

Brewster's Millions

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Richard Pryor, John Candy, Lonette McKee, Stephen Collins, Jerry Orbach

Synopsis: The seventh cinema adaptation of the venerable stage farce Brewster's Millions stars Richard Pryor as Montgomery Brewster, a third-rate baseball player. Much to his amazement, Brewster discovers that he is related to deceased millionaire Rupert Horn (Hume Cronyn, who appears only in a videotaped Read More

Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales and Legends: Annie Oakley

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Synopsis: This episode of Shelley Duvall's American Tall Tales tells the rip-roaring story of Annie Oakley, one of the Old West's greatest sharpshooters and popular star of Buffalo Bill's traveling Wild West Show. The program includes some legendary episodes -- part fact, part fiction -- and shows some Read More

Streets of Fire

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Michael Paré, Diane Lane, Rick Moranis, Amy Madigan, Willem Dafoe

Synopsis: More like a series of MTV sequences than a long-term narration, this super-thin story line focuses on a kidnapped singer (Diane Lane) and her ex-boyfriend (Michael Pare) who goes forth to save her through rainy streets, the roar of elevated subways, several alleys, and the usual warehouses. Each Read More

Paris, Texas

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, Aurore Clément, Hunter Carson

Synopsis: Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) is wandering through the Texas desert, a bit shaky and in desperate need of water, when he stumbles into a bar and collapses. A German doctor of dubious credentials finds a phone number in Travis' wallet, which belongs to his brother, Walt (Dean Stockwell). Walt is Read More

The Border

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel, Valerie Perrine, Warren Oates, Elpidia Carrillo

Synopsis: Tom Jones director Tony Richardson might seem a curious choice to direct the contemporary western The Border, but he does his best to emulate Sam Peckinpah. Jack Nicholson stars as an El Paso border guard, saddled with avaricious wife Valerie Perrine. Hoping to stifle her nagging about money Read More

Southern Comfort

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Fred Ward, Franklyn Seales, T.K. Carter

Synopsis: A handful of part time soldiers unwittingly turn a field exercise into a miniature war in this offbeat action drama from writer and director Walter Hill. A group of National Guard reservists are sent to Louisiana on a chilly weekend for war games exercises. None of these weekend warriors seem Read More

The Long Riders

Crew: Composer (Music Score)

Actors: David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine, Stacy Keach, James Keach, Dennis Quaid

Synopsis: The hook in Walter Hill's mythic retelling of the James-Younger outlaw legend is in the casting; the James, Younger, Miller, and Ford Brothers are played by a string of acting brothers, the Keachs, the Carradines, the Quaids and the Guests. The film begins as outlaws are robbing a bank. After the Read More

Blue Collar

Crew: Composer (Music Score), Musical Arrangement

Actors: Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto, Ed Begley, Jr., Harry Bellaver

Synopsis: Paul Schrader's directorial debut examines the trials of Detroit autoworkers living at the mercy of a heartless corporation and a corrupt union. Surviving from paycheck to paycheck, Checker Cab assembly linemen Zeke (Richard Pryor), Jerry (Harvey Keitel), and Smokey (Yaphet Kotto) scrape by and Read More

Saturday Night Live: Dick Cavett [2]

Actors: Dick Cavett, Ry Cooder

Synopsis: This 1976 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Dick Cavett and features musical guest Ry Cooder. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide Read More

Stop

Crew: Musical Performer

Actors: Linda Marsh, Edward Bell, Marlene Clark, John Hoffmeister

Synopsis: Yuppie-type Michael Berger (Edward Bell) and his bitter wife Lee (Linda Marsh) can barely stand each other as it is. Things don't get much better when they move to Puerto Rico to a house he just inherited from his brother, and the circumstances aren't all that auspicious. It seems his brother Read More