Review No.174: Katy Perry - Part of Me

It's hard to know what to write when watching films that are essentially taped concerts as they have very little plot to them which in turn makes for a very short review. When I saw the trailer for Katy Perry: Part of Me I thought it was simply a concert film with a little bit of DVD commentary thrown in for good measure however there was very much more to this autobiographical feature. Though indeed there are several full performances from her California Dreams Tour which took her all around the world from London to Tokyo and even to her own backyard but really this is a portrait of the artist and also it sees how she influences other fans. The start of the film is indeed her fans waxing lyrical about how she's inspirational and how she preaches the message that it doesn't matter if you're different or weird you can still achieve things, that is especially if you've got your own hair and make-up team, and this segment finishes off with a tape of the 16 old Perry talking to camera. Though I only really watched this because I had to I did in fact learn a lot about Perry including her strict religious upbringing in which she was only allowed to listen to Christian Rock and the only film she was allowed to watch was Sister Act 2 but not the first one however I agree with her parents that the sequel if far superior and much misunderstood. Eventually she went on the road touring her own music however it was far from an overnight success as she spent ages going round various record companies and at one point was so broke she had to ask her younger brother for money. We all pretty much know where the story goes from there as Perry's contemporaries, including Adele and Rihanna, talk about how great she is while we also see her family praising her. Though even now she still has personal issues as we well know her marriage to Russell Brand, a relationship that is really put under the microscope during the film, collapsed and the pair divorced soon after. The fact that Perry shows the aftermath to her divorce in great detail is a testament to her and personally I think it makes the film that more interesting as it does show her at her most emotional. Though the divorce almost means she doesn't go on stage we're left with the message that Katy is a professional and a chorus of Teenage Dream is all you need to get over all your relationship troubles.

I think the enjoyment of a film about a musical act sometimes comes from how much of a fan you are of that particular artist and for me I'm not the biggest Katy Perry fan. Her bubblegum pop is inoffensive enough it's just not my kind of thing however it's good to see that the lyrics are personal and that they do inspire other youngsters unfortunately they're not just for me. For that reason the performance footage did little for me despite the colourful staging, which we saw the planning of during one scene of the film, which takes its inspiration from surreal works of art including Alice in Wonderland. What I did enjoy was the backstory about Perry's upbringing and especially seeing her father doing some of his preaching you could sort of see where she got her love of performing from. The home video footage was also eye opening as we were able to view Perry from a young girl up to the artist that she is today and how each step made her what she is. As I already mentioned all of the scenes with Russell Brand were also fairly interesting as we saw him lurking backstage at her concerts and we also saw how their careers strained their marriage to an eventual breaking point. For me I found the film a little overlong mainly because there were far too many behind-the-scenes of her tour footage for my liking as each little element was explained in detail although I did like the names of some of her backstage team including her manager Bradford Cobb. At times my cynical side kicked in as I started to wonder if at least a portion of the film was created as an advert for her next tour however I think most Perry fans would want to see her on tour before watching this film and as was evidenced in Part of Me they are a fairly manic bunch. So to that end if you're a fan of Perry I would say that you'd completely love this movie and for me I found it interesting if overlong with colourful performances plus a mixture of highs and lows for the singer who had much more of an intriguing past than I first realised.

Verdict: As I'm not a fan the concert footage bored me somewhat while the film as a whole was overlong having said that her fanbase will absolutely love this and personally there was enough information here for me to at least appreciate Perry in a new light so for that reason I will give it 6/10

Review No.118: Rock of Ages

So as it's my birthday today I thought I didn't want anything too taxing, though as you'll see later I changed my mind, so I opted to watch the film adaptation of the sell-out jukebox musical Rock of Ages. The film is set in 1987 California and follows the exploits of a small-town girl, Julianne Hough's Sherrie, who comes to Hollywood in search of fame and fortune but instead ends up working as a waitress in the notorious Bourbon Rooms. There she meets Drew a city boy, I think you can see where this is going, who is an aspiring rock star and its not long before the two start dating with him writing a song about her which isn't completed till the end of the film. The owner of the Bourbon Rooms Dennis Dupree, played by Alec Baldwin who is the best thing by far in this film, manages to get top rock group Arsenal to play their final gig at his venue before lead singer Stacee Jaxx goes solo. Jaxx, played by an incredibly game Tom Cruise, hooks up with a Rolling Stone reporter before he goes on stage however Drew believes it is Sheree who has slept with him so abandons her with the two going their separate ways. Jaxx's manager Paul Gill sees potential in Drew so decides to try and make him a star however when the record executives inform him that rock is dead he ends up adding Drew to a cheesy boyband. Meanwhile Sheree ends up stripping at a club run by Mary J Blige she considers going back home however a chance encounter with Drew encourages her to not 'Stop Believin'. Other stories in the film involve Catherine Zeta Jones' mayor's wife wanting to clean up the town by shutting down The Bourbon Rooms and Dennis realising that he is in love with one of his staff members Lonni, who is played by Russell Brand donning a very odd Brummie accent. All these stories come to a head as Stacie performs his first solo gig at The Bourbon Rooms with Drew's boyband in attendance and Sherrie in the audience, I just wonder if he'll play the song he's been writing throughout the movie?

I have to say I was looking forward to Rock of Ages in a sort of a cheesy way and I am a fan of a lot of these songs however after I finished watching it I was angry that they'd butchered some of the guilty pleasure classics I use to listen to when I went out regularly in my youth. The main problem is that the two leads are just awful and their relationship isn't convincing for one minute mainly because Julianne Hough, best known for her work on the American version of Strictly Come Dancing, is a better stripper than a singer while Diego Boneta as Drew can barely see what Sheree looks like over his enormous crop of hair. While Baldwin tries his best in The Bourbon Rooms scenes he's hampered by Brand's odd choice of Birmingham accent and when the two finally confess their love for each other, during an awkward duet of 'I Can't Fight This Feeling' it is incredibly uncomfortable. A lot of the cast members seem to be purely there for the money, step forward Catherine Zeta Jones, or just to have a laugh like Paul Giamatti. The only stand-out moments are from Tom Cruise channelling his obnoxious persona from Magnolia, only this time with added monkeys, he is a convincing aging rock star but maybe that's art imitating life in a way. Though some of the set pieces are enjoyable I felt there were far too many performances and not as many scenes to develop characters which is needed especially in a film with as many plot strands as Rock of Ages has. I have to say overall I'm bitterly disappointed as I was hoping for another Mamma Mia type movie but, and I never thought I'd say this, I miss Pierce Brosnan's awful singing voice.

Verdict: While there are some enjoyable set pieces and Tom Cruise is on top form overall this is a disappointing mess so that's why it's getting 3/10