The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
Features  |  Reviews
FIND MOVIES
Find a Movie
Movie List
Loading ...
or
Find Theaters and Movie Times
or
Search Movies
Nominate-best-2010

Review: Bandslam

Where the Disney Channel and MTV2 intersect
By SHAULA CLARK  |  August 12, 2009
1.5 1.5 Stars

 

This Todd Graff film suggests a year's worth of Degrassi plots squished into one overcomplicated bouillon cube. Here's the gist: music snob Will (Gaelan Connell) whips a rag-tag high-school rock group into shape for a cutthroat battle-of-the-bands competition while juggling the inexplicable advances of two hotties (Vanessa Hudgens and Alyson Michalka).

Filled with High School Musical–style tween appeal and High Fidelity–style name dropping, the movie is a creature that grew in the drip tray of the Disney Channel while mingling with syrupy splashover from MTV2. As such, it's an acutely culture-savvy beastie.

And yet it seems acutely unaware of how casually sick some of its themes are — like the scene where Will pimps out his mom (Lisa Kudrow) to a teenage pal, micro-managing her cleavage. Upshot: decent tunes, clever banter, grotesque morals.

Related: Boo-ya!, Jews just want to have fun, Rare treats, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , David Bowie, Vanessa Hudgens, Vanessa Hudgens,  More more >
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
HTML Prohibited
Add Comment

ARTICLES BY SHAULA CLARK
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: DEAR JOHN  |  February 05, 2010
    "We're sitting here . . . and we're talking, but nobody's actually saying anything."
  •   REVIEW: SUNDANCE SHORTS 2009  |  January 13, 2010
    Welcome to the world of "Sundance Shorts 2009," where the happy endings tend to look more like reprieves from misery.
  •   REVIEW: IN SEARCH OF BEETHOVEN  |  January 06, 2010
    Phil Grabsky's exhaustive documentary doesn't exactly dispel any stereotypes about Beethoven's being a shaggy genius prone to rages.
  •   52 WAYS TO LEAVE 2009  |  December 30, 2009
    Your usual lackadaisical approach to New Year's Eve — just see what happens and go with the flow — is not going to cut it this year. Sure, the end of this decade may not have the same kind of new-millennium pressure riding on it as the last one, but the plunge into 2010 is a milestone nonetheless.
  •   REVIEW: BROTHERS  |  December 09, 2009
    Operation Enduring Freedom seems to have replaced Vietnam as Hollywood's go-to military quagmire from which to dredge gut-wrenching meditations on the psychological carnage of war.

 See all articles by: SHAULA CLARK

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2010 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group