Weekly Round-Up (6/10/12 - 6/16/12)

Under the Roofs of Paris (Rene Clair) **** - This is my first Rene Clair film and it is a magnificent one. It's a film about a love triangle between a young woman, a street singer and a gangster. It's funny, thrilling, moving and goes into unexpected directions. This was made in 1930 and it's one of the early sound films with some scenes playing out kind of like a silent movie. It also features some highly inventive use of sound and music. The ending is a bit unexpected but very satisfying nevertheless.

Rock of Ages (Adam Shankman) ** - People who know me know I just love, love, love, love musicals. Indeed, for me, there's nothing quite like a spectacularly choreographed song-and-dance number in the middle of a film. There are few things better than a great musical. This is not one of them. This is jukebox musical on '80s rock songs with a generic plot. Now, a jukebox musical can be great (I mean, Singin' in the Rain is a jukebox musical) if the staging and performance is fresh and imaginative and a cliched, generic plot can be easily overcome by wit, charm and great performances. This movie barely did any of these. It is almost devoid of charm Tom Cruise gives an interesting performance but not enough to completely save it.