I would have had much more interest in this film if the cinematographer would have just handed the camera over to Vanessa Hudgens and turned her loose alone in her hotel room.
10 Comments
08/14/09
Bandslam (2009)
80
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:87
Fresh:70
Rotten:17
Average Rating:6.4/10
Consensus: Bandslam is an intelligent teen film that avoids teen film cliches, in an entertaining package of music and coming-of-age drama.
Theatrical Release:Aug 14, 2009 Wide
Box Office: $5,205,343
Synopsis: Disney Channel superstars Vanessa Anne Hudgens (High School Musical 1 & 2, High School Musical 3) and Alyson Michalka (Phil of the Future, pop duo Aly and AJ) join Gaelan Connell (Chocolat), Scott... [More]
Starring: Gaelan Connell, Vanessa Hudgens, Alyson Michalka, Lisa Kudrow
Director: Todd Graff
Reviews for Bandslam
These are characters that make mistakes, they redeem themselves, and they grow throughout the course of the film.
08/17/09
There is really just a lot to like here.
08/17/09
Bandslam belongs to Connell. He has the unruly 'fro and endearing shamblingness of a young Daniel Stern, and he ably brings to life that rarest of cinematic qualities: decency.
08/13/09
Like a less oppressively hip Juno, Bandslam captures the way young people too smart and pop-culture-savvy for their own good let the music and movies they love define them during adolescence’s crucible of humiliation and self-doubt.
08/13/09
What appeared to be another High School Musical, Bandslam delivers a well written script and an in depth story with sprinkles of cliches throughout.
08/14/09
A little edgier than "High School Musical" and a little smarter than the usual tween fare, "Bandslam" is a refreshing late-summer treat for tweens, teens, and their families.
08/13/09
Within the context of modern family comedies and the vast enabling wasteland of tweener TV, these people feel almost three-dimensional.
08/13/09
It seems acutely unaware of how casually sick some of its themes are.
08/14/09
A charming eye-roller with a nice streak that goes deep.
08/10/09
It feels like three years to get to a point of resolution. Bandslam should take the lead of the rock gods: keep it moving, keep it simple, and know when to get off the stage.
08/13/09
Implausible, formulaic, too ponderous for young kids, not cool enough for teenagers and yet strangely hard to resist. File away under extremely guilty pleasure.
08/14/09
This isn’t a breakthrough movie, but for what it is, it’s charming, and not any more innocuous than it has to be.
08/13/09
Top CriticThe bonus in this modest charmer? Not a single major female character, including Will’s single mother played by Lisa Kudrow, is subjected to the usual Hollywood rom-com demonization.
08/14/09
Top CriticA spry teen melodrama whose refusal to pander to its audience is refreshing.
08/14/09
What keeps Bandslam afloat is the way its sweet moments find weird ways of stepping into convention.
11/04/09
Music-driven teen flick is feel-good fun for parents, too.
08/14/09
Surprisingly tolerable teen fare with hints of the wit and warmth that the late John Hughes once brought to the genre.
08/14/09
The movie is too sophisticated in its first hour for preteens, and much too tragically unhip in its second hour for the older teenage audience that might appreciate its pithier wisecracks.
08/14/09
Like a 12-year-old playing their first guitar, it lacks polish and goes on too long, but you can't knock the enthusiasm. Great musical finale, too.
08/14/09
Latest News for Bandslam
August 13, 2009:
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This week at the movies, we've got an alien nation (District 9, starring Jason Cope and Sharlto Copley); a high school musical (Bandslam, starring Gaelan Connell and Vanessa... More...
August 13, 2009:
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With summer almost out of gas, studios toss five more contenders into the ring in hopes of catching moviegoers that just haven't had their share of multiplex entertainment yet.... More...
August 10, 2009:
Updated: The New Moon Teaser Trailer Teaser; Is 14 Seconds Enough for Fans?
It's one thing to announce a trailer debut and have fans furiously mark their calendars, DVRs and web browsers at the ready. But when a studio can cause a frenzy by announcing a... More...
July 13, 2009:
Check out 8 Bandslam video clips and interviews with Alyson Michalka, Vanessa Hudgens, Gaelan Connell, and Lisa Kudrow 
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