Paramount Pictures have released a sing-along version of hit musical Grease which is even now playing in theatres across the States including Hollywood Bowl.

It marks something of a return to roots for the popular movie, which was based on an original stage musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The film version, notable for both John Travolta’s dimple-chin and Olivia Newton-John’s lycra catsuit, has long become a classic amongst moviegoers and fans of musicals alike.

The movie musical is a constantly popular vehicle for stars old and new. It’s both a way for fading forces to show a new, vibrant side of themselves and a method to introduce brand new talent to a different audience that they may not have otherwise reached.

Over the years, there have been some weird and wonderful constructions that are occasionally outrageous in concept but surely worth the time for various reasons. Here are some of our favourites either for their non-obvious subject matter, musical material or oddball brilliance.

Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire (1985)

The title itself reads like it was made up at the end of a particularly heavy night’s writing. The plot, such as it is, revolves around a young snooker player - Billy the Kid - whose manager has fallen into debt with a loan shark. In order to cancel the gambling debt, a match is arranged between the snooker world champion and Billy. The twist, unbeknownst to the players, is that the loser will never play snooker again. Nonetheless, they sing rather a lot in an admirably atmospheric and very, very strange and claustrophobic tale. This 1985 movie won no awards but starred Phil Daniels (Quadrophenia) as Billy. Snooker fans will recognise that Billy the Kid is based on then-precocious snooker genius Jimmy White, and the Green Baize Vampire on Ray Reardon - whose real-life nickname was ‘Dracula’.

The Harder They Come (1972)

Intelligent, sharp and ultimately distressing, The Harder They Come traces the difficulties that reggae singer Ivanhoe Martin faces in pulling himself out of the clutches of crime and drug-dealing. But when he kills a police officer, things get quickly out of control. Memorably played by Jimmy Cliff, Martin’s struggle was based on the real-life tale of Rhyging, a Jamaican bad boy who found both fame and notoriety in the 1940s. The movie was released in the United States in 1973 and is generally felt to be one of the key factors in reggae’s growing popularity in America. As the superb title track says, “I’d rather be a free man in my grave than living as a puppet or a slave.”

Team America: World Police (2004)

A movie-length stop-motion animation from the team behind South Park, Team America: World Police is ostensibly a James Bond/A-Team style romp through international terrorism. The anti-terrorist force, Team America, encounters a singing Kim Jong Il of North Korea in mind to destroy the world. The film’s plot, then, is no less ridiculous than most action movies. As with South Park, the surface silliness and scatological humour hides beautifully sharp satire and brilliantly-observed political commentary, pricking at egos and playing with the concepts of power, money and fame. It’s a massive irony that US soldiers have admitted to playing the main theme - not surprisingly, unprintable in a family publication - when going into battle.

The Producers (1968)

Mel Brooks’ debut directorial vehicle remains one of the most engaging music-based comedies of the sixties. Struggling Broadway producer Max Bialystock and his accountant Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder) cook up a sure-fire Hollywood flop, overselling shares by 25,000 per cent, in order to avoid prison and generate enough cash to disappear to Brazil. Unfortunately, the play they decide to put on, Springtime for Hitler: A Gay Romp with Adolf and Eva at Berchtesgaden, turns out to be a smash hit. Rather than running off with the cash as planned, now the pair cannot pay their investors and to make matters worse they are also chased by the murderous writer (and ex-Nazi), Franz Liebkind. Leo and Max are soon imprisoned but their new project. Prisoners Of Love, also written by Liebkind, is a hit behind bars. The Producers was revived as a successful Broadway musical and a subsequent 2005 movie that starred Uma Therman and Matthew Broderick.

Jubilee (1978)

Derek Jarman’s raw punk movie stars Adam Ant, Toyah Willcox and punk icon Jordan and out muscles its contemporary movies in suitably spiky style. In contrast to the Sex Pistols’ disappointingly self-satisfied The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle, Jubliee is a Warhol-esque collage where narrative is secondary to atmosphere. The unnerving, lawless feel of the movie and bleak imagery is considered by many to represent the decline of the UK in the late 70s. Then, unemployment was rife, money was short and there seemed no way out of a recession that was disuniting the country. In not just reflecting but amplifying the face of the No Future generation, this remarkable work therefore presents a true insight into some of the social factors that helped to create punk rock in the first place. There is a fabulous sound-track although music sidles into the movie rather than appearing as explicit set-pieces. Jubilee sets out to shake up the establishment with a malicious streak that retains most of its aggression 32 years later.