| Bandslam [Blu-ray] |  | Actors: Vanessa Hudgens, Lisa Kudrow
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Category: DVD
This item is no longer available
Rating:  10 reviews
Language: English (Unknown)
Media: Blu-ray
Region: 1
Number Of Discs: 1
ASIN: B0021L8UTE
Theatrical Release Date: August 14, 2009
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Amazon.com
Not just another by-the-numbers teen-angst movie, Bandslam is a joyful expression of pop exuberance, with an unexpectedly thrilling (and retro) soundtrack and numerous moments of visual excitement. Actor-turned-director Todd Graff brings stylish imagination and heart to this story of a much-taunted and beleaguered kid named Will (Gaelan Connell), whose miserable life at a Cincinnati high school comes to an end when he and his single mom (Lisa Kudrow) move to New Jersey. At his new school, Will befriends two very different girls: the laconic Sa5m (High School Musical's Vanessa Hudgens; the "5" is silent), and the take-no-prisoners, former cheerleader Charlotte (Aly Michalka of the pop group Aly & AJ), who is trying to get her rock band off the ground. The latter sees in Will--a student of pop music history--a potential manager who can help her group take top prize at an inter-school competition called Bandslam. Graff treats Bandslam's story like a disposable toy, an excuse to squeeze every ounce of pure ecstasy from such ordinary events as first kisses or bursts of artistic inspiration. Around every corner in this movie comes a surprising and stirring moment: when Will and Sa5m break into the padlocked, no-longer-in-business music club CBGB in New York--a shrine of punk rock--the vignette is reverential, actually moving. As a rare specimen of cinematic joy for its own sake, Bandslam is well worth seeing. --Tom Keogh
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
 I'm going sane in a crazy world. March 20, 2010
Michael R. Smagur
I really must have misses something in torturing myself with this film. I just don't get why more and more movies are being produced with characters that deliver dialogue that makes absolutely no sense. This movie is just chock full of mental patients that really should be locked up for their own protection and the protection of others. And it frightens me to think of the viewers who enjoyed it.
Someone please get script writers into rehab, cause they surely need to get clean and sober.
I'M WITH THE BAND March 19, 2010
Mark Turner
There are great movies out there that become classics. There are movies out there that stink to high Heaven. There are art films that most people just don't get. And then there are movies that are nothing more than a load of fun. Such is the case with BANDSLAM.
BANDSLAM tells the tale of Will Burton (Gaelan Connell), a withdrawn teen in Cincinnati who can't stand his high school. Not part of any crowd he's pleased as can be when his mom (Lisa Kudrow) decides to quit her job and move the two of them to New Jersey where her sister has found her new work.
Will's love of music should make him a shoe in with the new kids but alas, such is not the case. Instead he discovers that the same cliques roam the halls of the new school just like the old. With one exception. Rather than high school sports being the main event, this school is pumped up for something called Bandslam.
At lunch one day a student takes the stage and introduces the local heroes, a band called Ben Wheatley and the Glory Dogs. As they begin to play, Will looks towards the stage and notices a girl sitting at his table named Sa5m (the 5 is silent) played by Vanessa Hudgens. When he asks her how big this Bandslam is here she tells him "as big as Texas football".
In class, Will and Sa5m are partnered up in an exercise the teacher has put together where two students get to know each other and then tell the rest of the class who that other person is. They can use everything from visual aids like slides or film to poetry. These two different individuals don't start well but eventually grow on one another.
At the same time Will catches the eye of Charlotte (Alyson Michalka). She snags Will into helping her sit the kids in a pre-schoolers class and then hooks his Ipod into the sound system. When Will tells her that his dad is a side musician who played with The Who, she invites him to hear her band at practice.
Will accepts, attracted to Charlotte who he obviously has no chance with. After hearing the band he tells them his opinions of how they sound and act. Hoping to improve themselves with Will's help in an attempt to take out the Glory Dogs (of which these were the original members till Ben kicked them all out), they follow his suggestions and add to the group. With a little work and perseverance, they begin to look like they have a chance to be the second band representing their high school at Bandslam.
Along the way Will and Charlotte become close friends. But Sa5m has warned Will from the start, girls like her are just trouble. While their friendship grows, Will and Sa5m become close as well, more along the couple type line.
A few mistakes in how to deal with friends, girlfriends, moms and more round out the story. Toss in Charlotte's being Ben's ex girlfriend that he wants to get back with and you have the makings for teen angst in a nutshell. Will Charlotte stay with the band? What is Charlotte's big secret? Will Will unite this rag tag group into a band? Will the band discover Will's misrepresentation of himself? And what about Will and Sa5m? All is answered before the final moments of the film.
What makes this movie fun is the joy of music that is observed by all. While these kids talk a good talk about loving independent music like the early Ramones, etc., their sound doesn't come close to resembling it. But it doesn't matter. They have a youthful enthusiasm and it shows. And actually a ska rendition of the classic Bread song "Everything I Own" turns out to be pretty good.
Most people will toss this movie into the category of the HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL films. But it seemed to me to be less Disney and more John Hughes, kind of a combination of the two. The film does call for a healthy dose of suspension of belief, but it doesn't matter. Why? Because it's fun!
I've always thought that movies should be entertaining before anything else. This film offers that. Will it be one that folks will reference when talking about cinema? No way. Will it be one that people will remember forever? Nope. Will it offer a nice easy evening of entertainment? Definitely.
A decent (though unbelievable) story, a good looking cast, pretty good acting and some fairly good music make this a movie you can enjoy and the kids can watch as well. Give yourself a break, bypass the blood and guts or high art for one night and have some fun with BANDSLAM.
 Pleasantly Surprised! March 6, 2010
Emanuel Lawton (LONG BEACH, CA United States)
I saw this film last Summer not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised-it was pretty good! Sure it is chocked full of teen movie cliches like Vanessa Hudgens' social outcast character, Sa5m; Gaelan Connell's dorky character Will; Alyson Michalka as the cliquey popular girl Charlotte and Scott Porter as the jockhead who hates geeks and dorks and anyone who tries to make a move on his girlfriend, Charlotte.Somehow director Todd Graff has managed to take all these been-there-done-that, seen it all before elements and turned it into a very entertaining musical film. The film moves along at a nice pace and the musical scenes are very well done especially when Will decides to add more instruments to the band that he's organized to try to win the local Battle of the Bands competition.I also
like their ska version of Bread's 1973 hit "Everyting I Own". Even the closing credits were entertaining as the band
led by Sa5m on electric guitar play throughout. A very polished production that was made for about $20 million and should have been a sleeper hit for Summit Entertainment last Summer but failed at the boxoffice due to poor marketing that relied too much on Hudgens' connection to the Disney High School Musical franchise and it looks like the Blu-ray in the U.S has been cancelled(but will be available in the U.K. I'm not sure if it will be region free or not.).Buy the DVD
if you live in the U.S. and hope and pray that a Blu-ray version will come out eventually.
Not your Disney pre-teen movie January 26, 2010
Roda Jeta (Seattle,Wa)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
great movie January 4, 2010
Veronica Vaughn (tennessee)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I went to see this movie in order to be able to see the new moon trailer that was being released with it. I was planning on seeing the trailer and then suffering through some terrible movie because I had already paid for a ticket. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was a wonderful movie. I am really glad the new moon trailer showed before it because had it not I wouldn't have given the movie a second thought and would have missed one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. I will be buying this when it comes out on dvd.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
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