Fun summer movie suggestion

Yes, I know I promised to be here every week, but I had some paying gigs, and well, ya know.

You might recall that when I started this blog, I planned to use it as a dead letter office of sorts. Some might say "junk file," but I'd rather be all "the glass is half full," and use this space to share those rarities out-takes and b-sides---like this little ditty. It's review for the very fine movie Bandslam which was submitted to Cincinnati CityBeat but never ran.

Bandslam (Summit) 2009- Like its characters, Bandslam itself is at an immediate disadvantage. Two of its three stars (Vanessa Hudgens and Aly Michalka) are former Disney Channel kids, something that might lead folks to mistakenly confuse this with a High School Musical or Camp Rock-type effort. In fact, the film is more a hybrid of School of Rock and any John Hughes film from the late 1980s. Steeped in pop music history, the film’s emotional pull remains grounded and is never overtaken by the solid soundtrack. Will Burton (Gaelan Connell) has an encyclopedia-like amount of music knowledge rolling around in his noggin. Totally alienated at his Cincinnati-area high school (whoops), he is able to start over when his mom (Lisa Kudrow) lands a job in New Jersey. There he meets introvert Hudgens, and ex-cheerleader turned rocker Michalka. The latter is forming a band to compete against her ex-boyfriend’s group in a competition called, you guessed it---"Bandslam." Connell perfectly spins Will as befuddled yet ever-more confident. Hudgens delivers a fine performance, but just may be too lovely to be completely convincing as a wallflower. Then again, like Hollywood, it’s easy to get typecast in high school. Michalka shines as the tumultuous Charlotte, and gets time to display her musical skills as well. Hip, humorous and at points a bit heartbreaking, Bandslam richly deserves this DVD encore. (Grade A)