Variety on "Rock of Ages" film- Page 2

[Skip2]

Posted: 6/13/12 at 1:17am

Well, Shankman drained all the fun out of HAIRSPRAY, so I'm sure he can do the same with ROA.

BTW, I liked ROA onstage - cheesiness glorified. Uh...that's the point.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 6/13/12 at 1:48am

"Rock of Ages is what happens when Glee travels back in time with Guitar Hero and does a serious Scarface sized bowl of cocaine and starts a hair band"

This great review from The Movie Show 2UE Australia

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 6/13/12 at 11:56am

"1. Modern jukebox movie musicals--MOULIN ROUGE, which was its own thing excepted--don't work."

The Mamma Mia movie was panned, and ended up grossing over 600 Million Dollars worldwide. I would say that it worked remarkably well for a huge audience. While monetary success is often deemed irrelevent in the rarified world of art, nobody suggested Mamma Mia was art in the first place.

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 6/13/12 at 12:02pm

"Well, Shankman drained all the fun out of HAIRSPRAY, so I'm sure he can do the same with ROA."

Hairspray is 98% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes Top Critics and made over $200 Million world-wide.

This would put your appraisal in the category of minority opinion.

[Born in a Ditch]

Posted: 6/13/12 at 1:04pm

I saw a press screening last night and overall I thought it was okay. The opening scene was truly laughable, and not in a good way. Some of the musical sequences were really well done and captured the energy of the show, but others were so "blah" you just didn't care. Unfortunately, the "blah" numbers outweighed the good ones. I understand it's a movie and things were going to change, but the changes they made almost seem pointless and lessened the motivations/reason for the characters being there. They should have made Catherine Zeta's role bigger because you never truly felt like she was going to win or cared about what she was doing. Overall, it was okay but I say see the Broadway production.

[JP2]

Posted: 6/13/12 at 1:31pm

I thought the opening scene was intentionally hilarious. But, if it was only accidentally then I had no idea.

I agree that some numbers fell flat, while others were better executed. EVERYTHING about 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' was amazing, and my audience even clapped afterwards. If all the numbers were as well crafted as that number, the movie would have been much better.

Updated On: 6/14/12 at 01:31 PM

[massofmen]

Posted: 6/13/12 at 1:53pm

exactly "gosmile.." this movie doesn't/wont ride on reviews. the people who will go see it probably won't read the reviews in Variety and think "oh i shouldn't see that" i feel as if reviews are not for fun stupid movies. I am sure i know what you did last summer got horrid reviews but it was a hit at the box office and beyond.

reviews are for "the kings speech" and "terms of endearment" movies not for bubble gum fun ones. The movie will do well.

[NOB88]

Posted: 6/13/12 at 6:54pm

Well if the bad reviews won't hurt the box office, it is a good thing for Shankman because they are piling up by the minute.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 6/14/12 at 2:33pm

Dave Poland:

"Sometimes you eat the movie… sometimes the movie eats you.

Adam Shankman, whose work I quite like, gets eaten alive by Rock of Ages."

http://moviecitynews.com/2012/06/review-rock-of-ages/

[Wynbish]

Posted: 6/14/12 at 2:51pm

JP2, what about the characters cut (like Regina, Franz) and created (like Mayor's wife, reporter, manager)? Was it odd missing Franz singing Hit Me With Your Best Shot and having the Mayor's wife sing it?

[JP2]

Posted: 6/14/12 at 3:46pm

Well, to be fair I have NOT enjoyed the Franz/Regina sublot since Wesley Taylor and Lauren Molina left the show. It went from my favorite aspect, to the part I cringe at when I see the show...

So, I frankly didn't miss them at all. Catherine Zeta-Jones' character is straight out of a John Waters movie, and 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' is by far the most well crafted number in the entire film. It was the only time my audience applauded.

But the mayors wife, Patricia, is the only "created" character in the movie. Constance Sack, the reporter, is in the show. She just has a SLIGHTLY bigger role in the film. And Paul Giamatti's character, Paul Gill, is just an expanded version of "Ja'Keith Gill" from the show (who was actually named Paul Gill off-Broadway).

Despite certain changes, the movie is actually pretty faithful to the show. I'd say just about as faithful as the Hairspray movie was. Updated On: 6/14/12 at 03:46 PM

[JP2]

Posted: 6/14/12 at 3:57pm

Also, while the reviews are still terrible, notice that when this thread was made the film was at a pathetic 27% on Rotten Tomatoes. Now it's up to a 46%, with a 50% split from the Top Critics. Comparable to the two other recent jukebox musicals, Mamma Mia at 54% and Across The Universe at 53%.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 6/14/12 at 3:59pm

Ebert: three stars

[Idiot]

Posted: 6/14/12 at 6:11pm

Perhaps if we Xerox material enough times it will eventually resemble something new.

The same things are being tried over and over and over.

I guess we'll find out.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 6/14/12 at 6:41pm

While I don't have a ton of interest in seeing this, and never saw the stage version, what's surprised me about the raction to the advertising is how many of my non-theatre friends have not seemed to realize that it's purposefully meant to be a corny sendup (at least, I always thought it would be). I've heard people say things like "I dunno, it looks like it doesn't realize how cheesy it's meant to be", and I've heard it enough times to think there probably is something wrong with the marketing in that case.

[JP2]

Posted: 6/14/12 at 6:47pm

Definitely. I've even heard people say "Is that Rock of Ages movie supposed to be a comedy, because I can't take it seriously".

[CukorLover]

Posted: 6/14/12 at 7:47pm

You gotta love Rex Reed's ( NY Observer) review of Shankman !!!
Rock 'n roll clusterfuck about as appealing as venues' piss-stained urinals

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 6/14/12 at 9:03pm

Reed hasn't given a relevant review in decades, but I admit, I laughed outloud at much of that.

JP--that's pretyt much exactly the comments I keep hearing. And I've heard them enough to think it's a promise with the marketing for people who don't know about the show, and not just a few people who fail to get it.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 6/15/12 at 9:45am

This is my favorite quote from the Entertainment Weekly Review:

"This is also the sort of movie in which people flash devil horns as if they were modeling for mall T-shirts, and in which the central boy-meets-girl romance is so toothless and bland it makes High School Musical look like Cabaret."

[Jersey Girl2]

Posted: 6/15/12 at 4:55pm

>>>> Chances are if you liked the show you'll like the film.

I think the opposite- If you haven't seen the show you will like the movie. If you enjoyed the 80s the music will be fun to listen to. It doesn't matter if the story is good or not.

[JP2]

Posted: 6/15/12 at 7:23pm

Pretty sure I've seen the show more than anyone in this thread. And I enjoyed the movie immensely. The movie captures the essence of the show, and really doesn't stray that far away from the storyline.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 6/15/12 at 7:43pm

Just got back from watching this with my partner and first of all only me and him and 2 other people were in the whole cinema (oh dear). The film has some fun moments in but it is also way to long, over crammed with music, has no story, huge plot holes and manages to suck the life out of many of the songs (though some were brilliantly done). Alec Baldwin was wasted in this role and had nothing to do other than his rather predictable moment with Brand. Mary J looked like she missed the memo on what kind of film she was in and also had nothing to do. Juliana was great at acting the role and her dance was strong, she has a sweet voice but there is nothing rock about it at all.

Zeta Jones was great in her 2 big numbers and i thought Cruise did well (best moment in the film was his and the Rolling Stone reporter's duet). Russell Brand is trying to do a Birmingham accent and as a Brit i could not stop laughing at how awful it is.

It was shot pretty well and did have some really good moments and a few funny moments, but all in all it was a huge let down. I see why this has divided critics and had more of them leaning towards negative.

[NOB88]

Posted: 6/16/12 at 10:33am

"Contrast that with today’s newcomers which each should have earned over $20M this weekend because of their star power. But New Line/Warner Bros’ Rock Of Ages (3,470 theaters) is falling to earth with a thud. Which Hollywood expected because the pic had been tracking poorly for weeks (and even went down at one point week to week). The studio felt the 1980s period piece was a hard sell to younger moviegoers. I suspect the problem was casting. Russell Brand has been repellant to moviegoers, while Tom Cruise as iconic rocker proved just too incredulous for audiences. The PG-13 musical is looking to open to only $15.5M after taking in just $5.5M today. Given that the pic was based on the Broadway warbler, it did far worse than Mamma Mia which with the same pedigree opened to $27M. It cost $75M. Warner Bros was holding out hope, though, for a good CinemaScore that could result in great word of mouth and therefore great legs for the film. It didn’t materialize: audiences only gave Rock Of Ages a mediocre ‘B’. There’s just no way to save this s(t)inker…"
Box Office Flops For Tom Cruise’s ‘Rock Of Ages’ & Adam Sandler’s ‘That’s My Boy’: ‘Madagascar 3? & ‘Prometheus’ Hold #1 & #2