Bandslam

It’s a familiar song: Misfit teens in the process ? of forming a high school band learn life lessons and raise their goblets of rock. But there’s enough of a strong filmmaking backbeat in Bandslam to carry the movie’s light tune. Vanessa Hudgens expands her repertory by playing a sarcastic loner rather than the brainy popular girl she’s made famous in High School Musical. As a rebellious former cheerleader, ?Aly Michalka perfects the power of hair tossing. And as the movie’s sweet, geeky hero, newcomer Gaelan Connell excels? in wry conversations with the always-welcome? Lisa Kudrow, who plays his loving mother. B

See all of this week’s reviews