#Regina not in rock of ages movie movie#
#Regina not in rock of ages movie free#

The deafening double-barrel thud of Scorpions and Whitesnake is alone enough to define the mountainous waste-of-flesh that was the Yuppie heyday. That low, dishonest decade of hit singles rubs the nerves raw with its extraordinary sacklessness.

#Regina not in rock of ages movie free#

Sign up for the free Mother Jones newsletter.Įven taking into account spandex trousers, the aerobics craze, the rise of Anthony Michael Hall, the “ anti-bureaucratic revolution,” Psycho III, the crack epidemic, Reagan death-squads, and Muppet Babies, there is absolutely nothing I dislike more about the ’80s than the music.

Get a daily recap of the facts that matter. No wonder he looks happy.Fight disinformation.

And why not? Rock of Ages is the first film of his career which lets him wear high heeled boots without everyone laughing at him. The music is loud and cheerful, the performances are committed and pantomimesque, and Cruise, for the first time since Tropic Thunder, has a smile on his face. Rock of Ages gets away with all this by knowing exactly what it is and what it wants to do. Throw in the seen-it-all bar owner, the guileless young couple who will get back together for the final scenes, and the corrupt local politician who needs a comeuppance, and the stage is literally set for absolutely nothing you couldn't see coming a mile off. Jaxx signs on for one last gig, a fundraiser for the bar, where the support act will be the young glass washer and his band, looking for their 'big break'. The bar that launched his career is about to go under, his manager (Paul Giamatti) is on the take, and the journalist from Rolling Stone who promised so much has just trashed him in print. Within this endangered eco-system of poodle-perms, stonewashed everything, and lashings of bourbon and coke, Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) is the archetypical rocker facing middle-age and artistic irrelevance with belligerent ill grace. wrapped around a storyline that is lifted pretty much wholesale from A Star is Born, and transplanted onto Sunset Strip, sometime towards the end of last century, when rock itself is fading in the face of a million manufactured boy bands, and the clubs are fighting hard in the face of gentrification, concerned mothers, and rising rates bills. Journey, Styx, Pat Benatar, Bon Jovi, Poison. Call it the Mamma Mia of mock-metal a musical showcase of every head-nodding, chest beating, power chord-sodden anthem that ever blared out of a Saturday night garage party. There's cash in musical nostalgia, and that is exactly what Rock of Ages is. If you ever want to really irritate the serious young men who haunt the comic shops, remind them that Mamma Mia made more money than The Dark Knight in 2008.

#Regina not in rock of ages movie movie#

Just don't make a habit of it.Ĭonverting the musical to a movie was probably an inevitability. And if that's not you, then frankly, you should try it some time. This is theatre for anyone who's ever woken up with a bad case of tequila mouth and a vague memory of belting out some atrocious power ballad on a karaoke machine the night before. Throwing a loose script around a dozen or so emblematic American rock anthems, and presenting the whole enterprise with a bit of sly wit, a few double entendres for anyone bothering to listen to the dialogue, and plenty of flashing lights and smoke machines, sounds like an enjoyably ear-ringing and silly night out to me.

But apparently if you've been living ''Off Broadway'' the last couple of years, then the stage show on which this film is based has been quite the sensation. Had you ever heard of Rock of Ages before the trailers for this movie hit the screens a few months back? POWER CHORDS: Rock of Ages is a musical showcase of every head-nodding, chest beating, power chord-sodden anthem that ever blared out of a Saturday night garage party.