School of Rock

Jack Black is the man! I liked him since I watched High Fidelity, and became a fan once I found out about Tenacious D. He is funny, but more importantly, he is a music geek, focusing on 70s/80s rock music. You can tell his influences if you listen to Tenacious D (one song is about Ronnie James Dio, once vocalist for Deep Purple). Tenacious D's skits are also very funny.

Every once in a while, actors will have a certain movie to use as their vehicle. A movie where they can perform their full ability and show the world what they are able. Jim Carrey had Ace Ventura (and Bruce Almighty). Macauley Culkin had Home Alone. Michael Jackson had Moonwalk, and John Travolta had Battlefield Earth. This time it's Jack Black's turn with School of Rock.

The story is simple. Jack Black plays Dewey Finn, who just got kicked out of his band because his looks and antics didn't fit the band. While bumming around he managed to get a job as a substitute teacher (by way of pretending to be his roommate). He discovers that his class is full of talented kids then starts his own band. But before that he has to teach these 10 year olds all about Rock N Roll. This includes giving out CDs to listen to as home assignment (Yes, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, etc). Kids that only know MTV (Christina, Britney, Justin, P Diddy) will find out about AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Ramones, etc. Basically, Jack Black's music.

I like the movie. It makes me wanna play in a band again (which hopefully soon will come true). It reminds me that there are better things to learn at school than just maths, physics, biology, etc. And that Jack Black is indeed cool.

Even if you don't like Rock, you gotta watch this movie. You'll learn a lot about music. Lots of the roots of today's music can be found in this movie. P Diddy used a Led Zeppelin tune (Kashmir) for the Godzilla soundtrack. Ozzy Osbourne was in Black Sabbath. Lots of female singers cite Stevie Nicks as their influence. And the list goes on and on and on...

"Music is my life man! What else am I supposed to do?"