Bandslam (2009)

Look at my surprise as I went to see the awful looking Bandslam for a sneak peak of the highly anticipated New Moon. And I came out disappointed at the New Moon angle. Yeah the footage was great but hardly enough to merit buying a ticket to see it. So I got over my disappointment I mean what am I gonna do. And crossed my fingers hoping the 87 percent of positive reviews for this film wouldn't make me regret my ticket price. The film is written and directed by Todd Graff, so i wasn't expecting much because that film got great reviews to. Well I'm the first to admit I'm wrong. And I was wrong. Majorly wrong. Shocked? I am too. Bandslam is such a genuinely endearing, funny, clever great teen flick that has just been so wrongly advertised. The talented Gaelan Connell stars as Will Burton a young man whom moves from Cincinatti to New Jersey. His mom gets a new job and he's glad to leave his loner lifestyle behind because of a shady past and hopefully make a new start. Once there he meets a shy, emotionless girl named Sa5m the five is silent which is kinda dumb. And Charlotte Banks played by Aly Michalka whose looking for a band manager. the whole plot line is centered around this competition Bandslam. Kind of like a battle of the bands where the winner gets a record contract. This film is so unpredictable and feels so genuine. It has the feel of a film by the late great John Hughes. It's a very cool movie about very cool misunderstood kids. Ignore the Disney casting session the film has depth. The performances aren't all perfect but they feel real and the great bits outnumber the awkward ones by far. Connell is so endearing as Will Burton. He's a real dork at first. And just a movie dork. He's a little odd looking, a loner and not in a cool way and is way bad with being social. But by the end you will love him and think he's a very cool guy. His love of music alone is enough to set him apart. the film sports surprising knowledge of the Velvet Underground, the birth of punk at CBGBs, The Ramones and even an cameo by David Bowie himself. Lisa Kudrow is surprisingly great as Will's mother. She shows a great range of depth, emotion and comedic timing. Hudgens is less successful as Sa5m but has some truly endearing moments and has great chemistry with Connell and Michalka is even less successful as Charlotte but when her characters storyline takes a surprising turn so does her performance. The film is just really great much along the lines of last years surprise Nick and Norah's infinite playlist. the film is smart, funny and genuine. A new classic for this generation. Too bad not many will see it just as no one really showed up for Charlie Bartlett, Nick and Nora or the girl next door. The film is really solid the surprise of the summer you should definitely check it out.

Fmovies: Bandslam, in spite of the irritating Lisa Kudrow's character(who screams throughout with no reason), is a pure gem of the youth films. Great actors, great director and good story. Music-superb.Melodic rock is back, surviving (c)rap garbage taking the radio and mind-waves all over. Bandslam is simply an irresistible film which must be seen at any cost to be charges with the emotions and urban agenda gone long ago, so we all thought. DVD. Video.If you haven't seen it yet, rush to your closest DVD rental and you will experience two finest hours of high-end entertainment. Some tears too. David Bowie, eventually, does have an artistic touch himself, even when selecting of the feature films he will appear in. All compliments to the crew!!! Above and down the line! 'Dear David,...'

Maybe to a lot of people I'm overrating Bandslam, but I truly loved every moment of this movie, and I'll tell you why. The message in it is absolutely wonderful. It's about making friends, maintaining friendships, a single mother worrying about his son growing up, and going after the success you want. I liked how all of them were different types of people so to speak. My favorite had to be the chemistry between Gaelan Connell and Vanessa Hudgens. Sa5m was unique and very complex and I thought it was cool how they just worked so well together. It's throughly predictable, I won't lie but I sure had a way better time then I did watching overrated Oscar type crap like Up In The Air. Bandslam's main ingredient to success is the strength of its characters by far. They are all likable, they all have their little problems, but we can identify with them all, even Lisa Kudrow as the mother was likable!.

Performances.Gaelan Connell is an unknown for me, but I really liked what I saw. He made Will into a likable geek, and I look forward to seeing more of him. Alyson Michalka is really good-looking, but also a fine young actress. She has her selfish traits, but we can see what's behind it. Vanessa Hudgens is gorgeous, and I adored her character. I'm not like those annoying teeny Boppers who go crazy over her, but she did very well her. Her character was very complex and hard to relate too, but somehow she managed to make us care for her. Lisa Kudrow's charisma and trademark Goofyness works well here, but I also enjoyed her serious moments with Will.

Bottom line. Bandslam is now a favorite of mine, and one of the best movies that came out in 2009. It reminds me of why I love movies so much in the 1st place. Ignore the rather low 6.4 rating, and give it a whirl!.

9/10

Bandslam fmovies. This high school musical movie actually contains one of HSM's stars, Vanessa Hudgens, plus Lisa Kudrow as the single mother of the protag, Will Burton (Gaelen Connell), who is delighted when his mom finds a way to take them to live in a new place, Lodi, New Jersey. He was more then ready for a change. In one of the chatty emails to David Bowie that provide the narration, he calls his old high school "Guantanamo with lunch breaks." What happens at the new school? Will gets lucky. Real lucky. He gets paired off with Vanessa Hudgens in a class, and they become a couple. A former Alpha Female called Charlotte (junior prom queen, head cheerleader), played by Alyson Michalka, finds out Will has an encyclopedic musical knowledge and recruits him to meld her garage band into one that can beat the high school's reigning Glory Dogs and win the tri-state (NY, NY, CN) "bandslam." One obvious motive is that she wants to beat the Glory Dogs to trounce its lead singer, Ben Wheatly (Scott Porter), because he is her snotty former boyfriend. Aside from Ben, a generic model of testosterone overconfidence, Graff (mostly) steers clear of high school stereotypes.

This sets up a trajectory for the film that's like an older kids' version of Richard Linklater's 'School of Rock,' but Gaelen Connell is no Jack Black and the pathway to the big event isn't as cute -- or as climactic. That was one of Black's triumphs, but on the other hand Connell himself is way cuter than Jack Black, whose closest lookalike is the base guitarist, a Flea imitator who calls himself Bug (Charlie Saxton). Resembling young Tom Hanks or maybe John Cusack, with a weak chin, a sweet little smile, a mini Afro and a wrinkled brow, you can almost believe Connell's Will might actually be in the constant company of the school's hottest chicks. Not quite. He's not as articulate and soulful as Cusack, and not as edgey and dark as Christian Slater was in 'Heathers' or 'Pump Up the Volume.' But then Hudgens isn't the shiny, prefab girlfriend of Zac Efron this time. Au contraire. She gets to be the dark one. She calls herself Sa5m ("the 5 is silent"), wears dark clothes, and she reads all the time, even when Will's trying to kiss her.

When you think of Eighties youth classics like those two Slater was in, Bandslam looks generic. We'll just never relive that great Eighties youth movie moment or see the likes of the late, great John Hughes again. But when you compare Bandslam to 'High School Musical,' you realize this is not the kind of movie that you pan. It deserves encouragement. The screenplay by Graff and Josh A. Cagan is packed with inessential cuteness and never takes its dark moments seriously enough -- even though it pushes them too hard. The music Will leads the band into is bland -- and loud. There's none of the joy in rock frenzy that Jack Black comically evokes. Maybe Wil's expertise -- his celebratory (and still pretty touching) visit to the ruins of CGMG, where punk began -- may seem more a reflection of the 50ish director than a teenager. But none of that matters enough to maul this movie, unless you're desperate to show how musically hip you are. The cast is just too appealing and the action is just too much fun to write them off.

When Will reshapes the band by adding brass and an Asian girl classical keyboardist (Lisa Chung) and an elphin-spouting nerdy girl cellist (Elvy Yost) and a boy drummer called Basher (Ryan Donowho) whose m

I rate it an 8 only because for a PG movie kids younger than 12 might not get what the movie is about; though they might just think it's about singing. Which is not bad because the movie has excellent music selection, flows with scene transition very well. Teenagers will love this movie for sure; but parents will be pleasantly surprise. The dialogs are well written - witty and not contrive. Each characters and their dynamic are well developed and relatable. You laugh; you cry, but at the end you leave the theater with a smile on your face, forgetting that you have just spent almost 2 hrs in a theater. All actors were on point in playing their characters. Great casting. This is the sleeper movie of the summer.

The premise of this movie is not extraordinary. I say it's pretty common.

The ingredients are: (1) a boy (of the unpopular type) who has a charisma (understands music, although he doesn't seem to play an instrument) moves to a new town because his mom got a new job (2) a single mom (of the teenage boy) (3) a girl (of the cheerleader type) who likes boy 1 (4) another boy (of the popular type this time) who use to be the boyfriend of popular girl 3 and learns to hate boy 1 (5) A public contest of some sort...

...(wait this is exactly like the ingredients of ...The Karate Kid!)...except for Mr. Miyagi! ...

and (6) Vanessa Hudgens playing a good girl (!) of the lonely type who also happens to like boy 1.

Anyway. This doesn't look or feels nothing like The Karate Kid despite my comparison! It's basically a teen dramedy. Young hopes. Young love. Friendship.

It's enjoyable enough. It has music and some (not very good) teeny songs. It may attract the younger audience but this movie is far from deep or interesting. Pretty standard stuff really.

If it's on TV or something, check it out