Customer Reviews

Bandslam

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Take a chance on this unexpected gem, do, and never mind that you may have gone "Uh oh!" when you first noticed Vanessa Hudgens's name on the billing (although, okay, I did sneakily like the first HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL). I walked into BANDSLAM unawares, didn't really know what it was about, and I ended up pleased and tremendously entertained. I guess that's when the taste is sweetest, when you're not expecting too much. BANDSLAM has more in common with NICK & NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST than it does with HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL.

Gaelan Connell, I haven't seen him before, but he seems a natural at playing the nervous, ill-fitting-in, fumbly role and, somewhere, a threatened Michael Cera has to be biting his fingernails. This kid is also glib enough that he even reminds me of vintage young John Cusack. Connell plays iPod-attached misfit Will Burton who is newly moved to Lodi, New Jersey, and he's actually glad to be in the Garden State, so you get an idea of how miserable his past existence must have been. He now attends Van Buren High School, where he learns that the biggest event is the Bandslam, this annual Tri-State Battle of the Bands (winner gets a record deal).

Will loves Indie rock; he regularly writes to David Bowie in this thoroughly one-way correspondence relationship. Will also happens to be a walking encyclopedia of rock & roll knowledge, and this may or may not have something to do with his being befriended by the very cool and popular ex-cheerleader Charlotte (Aly Michalka, of the pop duo Aly & AJ). Charlotte fronts a lowly garage band, and she dreams of competing on Bandslam, although her band would have to contend with her school's own juggernaut rock group, Ben Wheatly & the Glory Dogs (Ben Wheatly, by the way, is Charlotte's ex). Will, thru no fault of his own, becomes the manager of Charlotte's tiny band. Juuuust a bit out of his depth, he's got eight weeks to get good at this gig before the big Battle of the Bands swings around. For Will Burton, it's time to come out of his shell.

Will also meets Sa5m (Hudgens, branching out from sweetness and light). Sa5m - the "5" is silent - is quirky and brooding and talks a bit like MTV's Daria. Sa5m also has a secret. She and Will become partners in a classroom project, and one of my four best moments in the movie has to do with Will's part of the project. The other three moments? They're all musical numbers and performed by Will and Charlotte's band.

BANDSLAM is a coming-of-age movie and it isn't vanilla or moronic, and you could've knocked me over with a feather when I later realized this was a PG-rated film. But, yeah, looking back, I don't remember any profanity. Or gross-out content or mean-spiritedness for its own sake. Instead there's an emotional weight, a passion for music and an edginess and tons of smart screenplay. There's even possibly the most awkward first kiss in history. There isn't a bad performance, only varying shades of very good and terrific. It helps that there's a complexity to the characters. Gaelan Connell, endlessly relatable, easily carries the film. Aly Michalka comes in and blows me away, and I love that there are different sides to her unpredictable character, and a bite. And she has pipes, stronger than Vanessa Hudgens'. It's hard not to rock out to her rendition of Steve Wynn's "Amphetamine." Meanwhile, Vanessa Hudgens steps a bit out of her comfort zone, and I liked it. I didn't think Hudgens and emo would work, and yet it does.

And Lisa Kudrow is Lisa Kudrow, and that's always a good thing for the movie audience.

It wouldn't have worked so well if the music hadn't been so great. The actors sing the songs and play the instruments, and is it me or does that bass player remind you of a young Stephen King? I love that the little garage band develops its own sound, and "I Can't Go On, I'll Go On" is an absolutely inspired name for a rock band. Cameron Crowe will probably appreciate "I Can't Go On, I'll Go On." John Hughes probably would have liked this movie. I always like it when the nerd makes good.

DVD Special Features: the "Making Of" documentary (21 minutes long); commentary track with Director Todd Graff and actors Aly Michalka, Vanessa Hudgens and, showing up late (he was at the beach), Gaelan Connell; nine deleted scenes with optional director's intro (including Aly Michalka's brief acoustic version of "Amphetamine," the full rendition of Charlotte's ex-boyfriend serenading her with "Pretend," and the cute "Shredding" scene); Honor Society's music video "Where Are You Now"; and Vanessa Hudgens performing "Everything I Own" with the band.

We bought this for our 13 yr.old daughter. But, it is fun and interesting for the whole family- not your typical tween movie. Many references to late 70's & 80's music. Definitely worth the watch.

Absolutely one of the best teen movies written in a long time.What had to be a low budget film turned out to be a very well thought out , methodical movie .It was played very nicely with the very young cast who have shown that there is another side to them than being just another Disney brat.It was way to bad this movie never got the hype it deserved. People should buy the movie or rent , they will then know what they missed out on at the big screen.

My 18-year old daughter has cerebral palsy, but she loves to ROCK! Her usual faves are High School Musical and Camp Rock, which are ok, but get a little bit tiresome for this 54-year old Mom. I took a chance on Bandslam, and we both LOVE it! The music is a joy, and we both rock out, much to her delight. Aly's cover of 'Amphetamine' is especially surprising and intense, and Vanessa and the band's ska rendition of a David Gates tune (yes, you read that right) is not be missed. A must have for all ages!

There are not many "cool" movies for pre-teens or young teens. I rented it for our 12 year old daughter to watch with me. She reluctantly agreed and after viewing it wanted to own her own copy. She received a copy for Christmas. There were some good learning lessons for kids her age and it gave us something to discuss after the film.

We'd never heard of this movie then someone recommended it. We love it. Very funny, great for teens, my kids have their friends over on movie night to watch this. Oh and it's CLEAN! What a plus.

The decision to rent Bandslam this week for a family movie night was based purely on the strength of my awareness of very good reviews last year in the face of Summit Entertainment's marketing controversy. My wife and I have four kids ranging from 14 to 9 so we try to cover a lot of bases on our movie nights.

The real story here is not that the movie is good (it is), but that the marketing is now famously referred to as possibly the worst for any film in recent memory. To wit: here is a movie that would appeal to a typical John Hughes audience (e.g. Farris Bueller's Day Off, etc.), which fell victim to such poor promotion -- from the trailers to the poster and even the title (changed by the studio against the director's wishes) -- that no one ever got close to the theater door. Worse, when looking to rent it we found it located in the Blockbuster store in the "Just for Kids" section between a kiddie cartoon movie and the new Barbie cgi release.

Bandslam is funny, poignant and edgy enough to appeal to everyone in the family, yet, sadly, the marketing campaign spun this film toward a pre-teen High School Musical audience which by release date was as fashionable as highway roadkill. The film was pulled from theaters before the ink was dry on the posters.

The final verdict: our kids want to buy both the DVD as well as the very good soundtrack which features the likes of Wilco, Bowie, the Velvet Underground, and Nick Drake -- and my wife and I will happily oblige!

Im 45 and a bit ashamed to say I LOVED IT....GEEK! Got it for an exes kids.......who never like anything I get them.......last try. It was there Bday so I wanted to do a LIL something. The good thing is theyll never know where it came from...the Mom will take the hit.

The music and storyline is really good! The Finale is better than the original! Cant get it out of my head.I just hope the Muscleheads at the gym cannot hear it! LOL!

Previous positive reviewers have praised Bandslam as reminding them of an old school John Hughes flick and I can see some definite similarities between Bandslam and Hughes in some of the shot compositions and lighting, but Bandslam definitely came out in 2009. Really harmless way to kill two hours and unlike the promotion done by Summit Entertainment really may flop badly with the High School Musical crowd. Yeah it has the typical teenage sexual innuendo moments, but there's also this very intriguing plotline about being something different both in the characters of Will and Charlotte, and the consequences of such behavior. There's also this really sweet endearing message about the power of music to unite people of diverse backgrounds and bring about something truly beautiful. Even though I'm outside the target audience of the movie at 23, I enjoyed it and glad I bought it.

I was not expecting much from this movie and the marketing was just awful, the trailer did not come close to telling what a gem this movie is. I have been a big fan of Indy music for many years and the Soundtrack for this movie is amazing. I was very surprised that the two leading ladies can actually sing, and sing well. The acting was superb and it was a very family friendly movie. This movie definitely needs a blu-ray release as soon as possible.

This movie is a true gem and more people need to know this movie is really, really good. Buy it today and buy the soundtrack, you won't be disappointed.
Bandslam