History has not been kind to the eighties and neither has “Rock of Ages," based on the Broadway musical, a terrible mess of clichés and lip syncing. Juliane Hough (“Dancing with the Stars”) plays Sherrie, an Oklahoma farm girl coming to LA for superstardom. There she meets Drew (Diego Boneta), barback for the club “Bourbon” who also has rock’n roll dreams. A romance blooms, one that will be ... more >
ARCHIVES

Rock of Ages | DVD
Every rose has its thorn
Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta
Directed by Adam Shankman

ROCK OF AGES AWESOMENESS
Self-destructive decadence--but no cigarette smoking
Diego Boneta, Julianne Hough and Tom Cruise
Directed by Adam Shankman
Rock of Ages, this week’s hair metal spandex singalong, asks a basic question: what’s the point of a musical? More specifically, it asks a pair of underlying questions about musicals: is enjoyment a worthy artistic goal? Is sentimental simplification acceptable in the name of fantasy and fun? On one level Rock of Ages does to the metal years of the late eighties no more or less than what ... more >