Can't fight this feeling

So I have a not-exactly-secret confession to make. . . I'm a sucker for musicals. Give me a boy meets girl plot with people who sporadically burst into song and dance without getting laughed at by the general populace. Most of my friends know this about me and then just sadly shake their heads. Because I don't just love the critically acclaimed edgy kind of musicals, (Chicago) I love the not so great ones, too (Hello! Dolly). I don't care if it's historical (1776 which I just call "My favorite movie of all time") or if it's saccharine sweet (Meet Me in St. Louis). I can honestly say that I've never met a musical I didn't like.

This song is continuously stuck in my head.

This confession brings me to the subject of this blog. It's Adam Shankman's newest film Rock of Ages which stars the likes of Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Alec Baldwin. Shankman's previous movie musical was Hairspray, a film adaptation of the Broadway musical adaptation of the John Waters film. I must say that making it into a musical was an improvement, and it's the reason I learned how to do the "mashed potato."

Don't judge me.

But I digress. Shankman didn't disappoint with Rock of Ages. Unlike Hairspray, it's a musical that's populated with rock hits of the '80s rather than original music. This didn't hurt the movie. I sang along to the whole thing, to the great annoyance of my brother and probably the other people in the movie theater. I don't care because I had a blast. It was a light and fluffy confection of a film and it made me happy. It's your typical girl goes to get famous in Hollywood and meets boy story. Shenanigans ensue, they break up and get back together, blah, blah, blah. The shenanigans are the good part and the movie was well balanced despite the usual plot. If you have a problem with the plot, then I'll just guess that you don't really like musicals.

There wasn't anything spectacular about the lighting or cinematography.  The costumes were really good and the acting and choreography were stellar. It's really sad that the fashions didn't look as silly as they should have. I've seen people wearing that kind of stuff lately, but the hair was big and crazy. I commend the dancers for their amazing core strength. It was crazy, no lie.

Now on to the acting, which is what I really want to talk about. Every member of the supporting cast was AMAZING!!!!! The two leads are ingenues, and they held their own, but man the rest of the cast made the movie. I'm convinced that Tom Cruise studied footage of '80s rockers because his body language was perfect. The unlikely pair of Adam Baldwin and Russel Brand was laugh out loud hysterical. Their timing was impeccable. They played off of each other beautifully. Even Mary J. Blige, who isn't really an actress, held her own. She wasn't awkward the way some singers can be when they act. Paul Giamatti did not disappoint as the sleazy manager of Tom Cruise's Stacee Jaxx. My only issue with the film is that Catherine Zeta-Jones didn't sing enough. She's got a good set of pipes and I wish they'd used them more.

I wonder if he has monkey fur gloves to match the coat.

"This place is about to become a sea of sweat, ear-shattering music, and puke." - Alec Baldwin as Dennis Dupree