Kot coaches

In the documentary “Don’t Go Gentle,” first-time director Mark Archer zeroes in on what makes the British band Idles tick: Its ability to make rage and vulnerability feel compatible, its insistence that blast-furnace rock ‘n’ roll can also be compassionate and consoling, and that earnestness and humor – the more self-deprecating the better – can co-exist. There is nothing abstract about the band’s music. It’s as direct as a fist -- or an embrace.

Back when homemade cassette tapes of new bands were traded like highly coveted contraband, a friend of a friend handed me a copy of a copy of “No Life ‘Til Leather” by a group calling itself Metallica. Despite the less-than-pristine sound quality, we heard something close to perfection: metal riffing, punk velocity, rage and ruin with guitars and drums. Little did we know that this was just a short, sharp glimpse of the future.

Paul Thomas Anderson credits Aimee Mann’s music with inspiring his acclaimed 1999 movie “Magnolia.” Little wonder that Mann’s music dominates the film’s soundtrack, so much so that she receives title billing on the album (it also features tracks by Gabrielle, Supertramp and Jon Brion, a longtime Mann collaborator). One of the tracks Mann wrote for the film, “Save Me,” was nominated for an Oscar.