Every now and then you come upon a movie that just makes you want to get up and dance, and for me, Rock of Ages is just that!Based on the live stage production with the same name, Rock of Ages follows a relatively simple plot; it's the 1980s, a small town girl goes to LA in hopes of making it big, she finds there's just more to it than that. She meets a beau, and the rest? Well, you'll have to watch it to find out. Along with a catchy soundtrack, the cast is great; there's Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin as support, along with the likes of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Malin Akerman. This is a movie I pop into the DVD player at least twice a year and just feel so good after seeing!

If you haven't heard, this is a musical based on a stage play. If you don't know that going in, and don't enjoy musicals, then you probably won't enjoy this movie. Hence all of the poor reviews below.This movie is excellent. The casting is hilarious and well done - Catherine Zeta Jones portrays a "god-loving Christian" while simultaneously busting out Michael Jackson dance moves with a serious, snobby air. Julianne Hough absolutely shines as the young country girl heading for the big city to live out her dream of becoming a singer, showing off her singing and dancing prowess. Diego Boneta has come out of the woodwork after somewhat smaller roles (Pretty Little Liars, Mean Girls) and played the part with equal parts serious talent and corny acting (which is required as it is A MUSICAL based on a STAGE PRODUCTION. Sigh.) And my god does Tom Cruise play his part of drunken, crazy rocker to perfection. Not only does he show off his great voice, we also get to see what he'd look like with ridiculous tattoos planted all over his torso ;) Apart from the great casting and classic throwback rock songs, you get a silly but fun storyline (which changes from production to production - I've seen a version of the story where Sherrie does sleep with Stacee and the antagonists are a building company trying to turn the Strip into a mall) some great dancing, singing and costumes, and Alec Baldwin. Who doesn't love Alec Baldwin? I really don't get the negative reviews for this movie. If you don't like musicals, don't watch it. It's not necessary to bring down the rating of a fantastic live action production of a great musical just because you don't like the genre of film. 10/10, have watched about 20 times since it came out.

Rock of Ages is one of the big musical bombs, to the point where Motley Crue wouldn't even let their music be used for it, but is it really as bad as everyone says it is? Well, let's look at the bad parts of this movie. The characters are clichéd, the storyline is predictable, the pacing is slow, and there are numerous unresolved subplots. But if you look past all that, I found it to be actually a lot of fun. I think most of that is owed to its great soundtrack, where every singer in the movie sings some surprisingly impressive renditions of '80s classics. Also, Tom Cruise seems to be having a lot of fun with his performance. It's a guilty pleasure to say the least. Or most. Take whatever you want from that.

Works, just, somehow. Was initially very unimpressed: I hate musicals and this seemed like a movie-length version of Glee (the episode- length version of Glee is bad enough). However, it does grow on you. The plot is threadbare, and predictable, but the movie does have an energy and momentum that makes it easy to watch. The music helps too.Another positive is the all-star supporting cast. Lead roles are by unknowns whose performances are so-so (though I really don't mind seeing Julianne Hough!). No, it is the supporting cast that give the best performances, but what did you expect with names like Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bryan Cranston and Malin Ackerman, plus Mary J Blige for some musical credibility. The faded rock star is the most interesting character, and is well-portrayed by Tom Cruise, who seems positively in his element in the role.The only negative with so many names is that some hardly have any screen time. I felt that the talents of Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand were wasted.Overall, better than first expected.