[5]Bandslam (PG-13)
Catholic Conference of Film Boradcasting [6]
— Genial comedy with music in which a newcomer (Gaelan Connell) at a New Jersey high school overcomes his socially disastrous past when befriended by a popular fellow student (Alyson Michalka) who makes him the manager of her rock group as they prepare for the titular battle-of-the-bands competition, his confidence getting a further boost from his blossoming romance with a bookish goth (Vanessa Hudgens). Though it deals with a few mature topics, and is unlikely to interest very young viewers, director and co-writer Todd Graff’s exuberant salute to clique-defying friendship is free of anything unsuitable for the tween-and-up audience at whom it’s aimed. A-I — general patronage. (PG) 2009. Full Review [7].