Rock of Ages

Being born in the 90's, you would expect me to be to listening to current music. Not really though. 80's music and 90's music a little is where it's at for me even though this is not really common for people in my age group. It is music that brought me to where I am now as a teenager and in some ways how I found my friends. That being the case, I really should have liked the 80's - themed musical Rock Of Ages. It appealed to me because of the music but there were many problems that caused me not to like it.

Rock of Ages is set in Los Angles in the 1980's, Sherrie (Julianne Hough) ditches her Oklahoma hometown and family and sets off to LA for a new start. She meets the handsome Drew (Diego Boneta) and a relationship forms with both working at The Bourbon, a rocking bar where rock bands perform. Rocker, Stacee Jaxx ( Tom Cruise) is the main subject in the film and his interactions with Sherrie causes Drew to be distant with her.


Actually you are not going to find a finer collection of 80's music in one piece. You get Journey, The Scorpions, Guns N' Roses and other big names from the 80's but actually this is the main problem with this film. Who really wants to watch an actor who is lip-syncing one of your favorite songs when you know the band who really plays it and you would rather watch them? Also at times the song's rhythm and message don't really fit the story. On the other hand, the atmosphere depicted is pretty wild with good lighting on the stage which makes you want to be there. 


After struggling with the music, the plot is not all that strong either. The story is one of a middle-age person running away where that's not really common. The supporting cast includes Russell Brand who sports a terrible wig and also Paul Giamatti who seems lost here. The lead characters are thin and about as cheesy as they come. Tom Cruise is not very likable and it is hard to follow what he wants or where he's going. There is also a rap idea that added nothing for this film. Further, the main  band here is something called Wolfgang Von Colt and I can't come close to figuring what they are all about.


I am also not sure why this movie was sanitized to give it a PG-13 rating. Drugs and sex were a big part of the 80's music scene and the movie needed more of this to be realistic. The ending is also a little weird with amateurish bands who seems tame and that's dates back to the PG-13 idea.


In short, this movie does not really depict the 80's music scene very well. The setting of the movie is one cheap bar with nothing special to it. The filmmakers just did not show the 80's very well and many more ideas could been used to get the full 80's effect.


Rock Ages is a film that kind of makes me want to listen to 70's or alternative music and makes me forget how much I was into this type of music in the first place. It was that bad for me.

1.5/5

Sideways

As a person who was born in 1996, I grew up with actors, Thomas Haden Church and Paul Giamatti even though it was only two films. I liked Church in George of the Jungle which is now just a film to see how skinny Brendan Fraser was back in the day. I liked Giamatti in Big Fat Liar which now I can see as an awful film though as a kid I liked it. Seeing these two was the only reason why I sat down to watch this film. That said, it is a film that is high-minded and intelligent but again nothing I would have gone out of my way to see.

Sideways is part road movie, part drama and part relationship film about buddies Miles and Jack (Giamatti and Church) who go on a road trip for days up the California Valley tasting wine just before Jack's wedding.

As expected, Giamatti and Church are excellent but the supporting cast might be even better. The secondary cast includes Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh and it is the secondary cast that brings everything together pushing it in the right direction and fitting the film into a nice package. The characters show a variety of emotions. They can be mean, full of good sexual antics, and also show heart and warmth along the way. They might not be the most original but again, they make a good package.

The main reason why I was a little less than impressed with this movie was the rather dull plot. Maybe because I am still a teenager, I really don't see what is so interesting about wine. It is a different idea no doubt but it is still dull and the scenes are not really developed and don't go anywhere.

Sideways is a movie with an interesting idea but the movie was kind of beyond me and not a movie I would spend any time with again.

4/5