FilmNerd3

"I want to be beautiful like a rat"

Posted by: Gaunt, September 11, 2005 04:37 PM

High School band loses member to injury right before the big concert. With no better idea, band leader decides to draft first girl to walk past as the new singer.

Chance brings Korean transfer student who has no friends and limited command of the local language.

Friendship blossoms, talent emerges, trials are overcome, concert is a hit, credits roll. You know the formula.

This movie was fun, though it needed some editing (there was a wholly superflouous dream sequence that could have been completely excised with no impact on the plot). The music was catchy, and the girls were cute. That's all I have to say about that.

Japanese teen girl high-school band movie

Posted by: Task, September 11, 2005 12:09 PM

Saturday, September 10 3:00 PM CUMBERLAND 2

Rating high on the "whimsical" scale, this is the story of a pop music club that forms a band and rehearses a song or three for a school festival. Actually, their lead guitarist breaks a finger and the band breaks up because they can't play the stuff they rehearsed now. That's right where the movie starts, right there. So in the week they have left till the festival they form a new band, rehearse some different songs, and in the end they definitely rock.
While it is a pretty good story and I can find no technical fault with either the acting or the filming, it is also fairly slow to build up. There's a lot of stuff in this movie that has nothing to do with the main story, mostly the daily lives of these girls, and you have to want a window on Japanese culture to enjoy the film.
I think I would have preferred this story if it was done as an anime or a manga, it's definitely got the right feel for either medium, but in my opinion there just wasn't enough meat on the story to fill a feature-length time slot.
Overall, Japanese culture enthusiasts that want to rock: this one's for you!