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Rock School | 2005 | R | - 1.3.8
Documentary about a real-life Philadelphia school of rock, headed by its founder and self-proclaimed "überlord" Paul Green. The film follows an entire season of classes. Directed by Don Argott. [1:33]
SEX/NUDITY 1 - A man talks about talking to young people on the subject of "when he lost his virginity." A woman's top is unzipped and reveals cleavage and men and boys are seen bare-chested.
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VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - A man smacks a girl on the head. A man yells at a boy, smacks him in the head and throws him on the floor (they are play acting). A man with a plastic bat and a boy with drumsticks play fight.
► A man yells and berates children throughout the movie: he threatens to hit a girl (it's unclear whether he means it), and he says "I'm gonna kill your family and bathe in the blood" (this was evidently meant in jest). A man yells at young people and is very angry; he goes out into a hallway and kicks the wall. A man and a girl yell at each other (the girl ends up in tears).
► A boy talks about having attempted suicide by wrapping a vacuum cleaner cord around his neck and jumping off a flight of stairs. A boy talks about having been born by cesarean section because his head was too big for his mother's anatomy, and his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck; also, that the size of his head led to brain damage (it's not clear whether this is true). We hear that a boy has emergency surgery because of a bone disorder.
► Two young men and a girl have a spitting contest.
LANGUAGE 8 - 35 F-words, 1 obscene hand gesture, 19 scatological terms, 4 anatomical terms, 8 mild obscenities, name-calling (jerk), 3 religious exclamations.
SUBSTANCE USE - A young man smokes a cigarette. A man talks about a girl looking like a "future heroin addict" and a boy talks about singing a song that is "about pot."
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Rock music, perfectionism, talent, stardom, making it, mental disabilities, living vicariously through your children, ego, disrespect, wanting to be a rock star, fear, laziness, tenacity, bone disorders, work ethic, Satan, Quakers, activism, heroes, quitting, giving up.
MESSAGE - Long live rock.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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