The perky, hollow “Bandslam” is the latest in a long line of movies that steal liberally from the John Hughes playbook of high-school comedies but lack the heart and insight Hughes invested in his ...

When I read the initial synopses for the movie “Bandslam,” I thought it was just going to be “School of Rock,” but with angsty teens. But I’m glad to say that I was way off and “Bandslam” is a fun ...

The perky, hollow “Bandslam” is the latest in a long line of movies that steal liberally from the John Hughes playbook of high-school comedies but lack the heart and insight Hughes invested in his ...

The perky, hollow “Bandslam” is the latest in a long line of movies that steal liberally from the John Hughes playbook of high-school comedies, but lack the heart and insight Hughes invested in his ...

At Will Burton's new school, the band geeks are not geeks at all. On his first day of classes after moving to New Jersey, he's shocked to see a school-sanctioned live rock band cranking it to 11 ...

Director Todd Graff makes movies with music, as opposed to movie musicals. Note the distinction -- rather than allowing his characters to spontaneously break into song, Graff tells stories in which ...

Bandslam, Summit Entertainment’s High School Musical/Camp Rock clone, is a movie about music and high school and guilt and fitting in. It’s surprisingly not awful for something this over-familiar.

Some things are just contradictions in terms, like "gourmet popcorn" or "political courage" or "good, wholesome rock movie." Sure, Disney has made millions with its "High School Musical" franchise.

Last fall, then-Friday Night Lights star Scott Porter did an absolutely terrific job guest-blogging for us from the Austin City Limits music festival. Now that he’s graduated to the big screen — ...

WASHINGTON — Mop-top actor Gaelan Connell has come a long way from his days playing with his band, Exist, in his parents’ Silver Spring, Md., basement. Suddenly, he is the star of the movie “Bandslam, ...

The first thing you notice about Will Burton, the ingratiating music-freak hero of Bandslam, is that he doesn't quite fit the teen-movie nerd archetype defined by Anthony Michael Hall and any number ...

"I really love supporting parts," says actress Lisa Kudrow. "You don't have the burden of doing all this exposition. And you don't have the burden of playing a character who -- especially in a big ...