Watch Rock School For Free

Too much of everything

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Well-intentioned with a couple of superb shots, but the real star is C.J. Tywoniak, the guitar prodigy, not Paul Green. I feel the filmmaker should have been more open to the documentary's organics and he would have seen this. I wish the camera had followed C.J. backstage, doing his homework, more of his parents, etc. And much, much more of his playing. Looking back, I feel ripped off a little. That kid has GOT to be headed for legendhood.I waited and waited for the payoff -- the Germany concert -- which was good, but by then I was ticked off at the stuff in between. Made me wait too long and I lost interest. All in all, 20 or 22 minutes of story ironed out into an hour and a half. Great kids, tho.

This is the only DVD I have had so far that I have not managed to watch all of (and I've had Alone in the Dark!).After an hour of this American fool yacking on about how great he is and how well he can teach these children (apparently by shouting at them, humiliating them and being generally abusive)I couldn't take any more.It is simply one guy on an ego trip, he even states that he hates it if any of his pupils get better than him.A complete waste of time, would not have been made if it wasn't for the success of School of Rock, and shouldn't have been anyway.

First off, I'm a huge fan of documentaries. A lot of times I really enjoy them but am slow to recommend them to friends as broad appeal is sometimes limited. (American Movie being a huge exception). Rock School is just great, both as entertainment and certainly succeeds as a documentary. I would like to address the heavy handedness that others reviewing this film seem to take at the Zappa-heavy content or the tearing apart of Paul Green, the namesake of the Paul Green School of Rock. It is true that there is a lot of Zappa, a lot of fiery temper, and some harshness from the man himself. I guess I would ask those who attack the film with low ratings (because of the man) if they have ever had crowds bow down in front of them in a foreign country after performing so well? This film succeeds in its ability to deftly pull you into the reality of the school. You meet the kids, the instructor, and some parents and are constantly and linearly drawn to what feels like a very organic conclusion. I was very impressed at the rate at which you identify with the kids and the parents, and the ability of the director to edit in such a way to provide just the right amount of emphasis. Paul Green is completely right in his teaching technique. Paul Green is completely wrong in his teaching technique. Doesn't matter. Rock School is extremely entertaining and very interesting and compelling because of one thing Paul says early in the film... "It's easy to be a novelty act, a bunch of kids playing rock, but the goal is to do it very well..." The kids can indeed play. I especially enjoy the confession that "The Guitar teacher and the Guitar Player inside me are always at odds, as a teacher I want to make them better, but the player doesn't like that at all". The best part of the documentary is the way there is the prodigy juxtaposed with the sad emo kid, who was my favorite character... each has his own relationship to the instructor and each has a different outlook on life, on music, and on the school. I especially enjoyed Will O' Conner's (sad emo kid) candor in addressing a newspaper article in which he was misquoted. I felt that Mr. Green was indeed hamming it up in parts, but it didn't hurt the documentary at all. In fact, the character and role he has created for himself is one I find fascinating. I think and genuinely believe he cares about those kids. And wants them to succeed. And refuses to grow up. And gets results. The film itself is 1.78:1 and looks great, sounds great. Those of you used to docs looking and sounding sub-par despite being great (I'm looking at you, Paper Clips) and having genuinely fascinating moments but being very unevenly paced (Spellbound) will find this fresh and fun. The performance footage shown is just enough. Not so much you feel it's there to artificially pad the run time, and not so short you can't get a feel for their talent. The interviews are well placed, well directed, and very well edited. There are a lot of moments in the movie where you'll wish it were longer... but not so much you feel cheated. A good documentary is one, in my opinion, has got to show equal parts of an obvious passion for the subject material and those the camera capture as well as the courage to be honest. In today's land of multi-movie propaganda lectures, this is a great relief from the Greenwalds and the Moores... they could learn a lot from the masterful pacing and invisibility of Don Argott. You forget this is a documentary entirely... there is no agenda. Andrew Jarecki's BRILLIANT Capturing the Friedman's is one of the slight few other examples I can think of that play that card so well. Here it's raised to an art form. The exception being the last minute or two of the film that really tie it together in a very nice way. Kudos all around, I'll be keeping an eye out for more from Mr. Argott.

Bon jour. I am attending the Cannes Marche du Film and just saw this. It is really good. It is much better than the Jack Black movie which I could not stand. Although, I must admit that Jack Black as Paul Green was perfect casting.If you have any recollection of 80s hard rock, I think you'd like this. These kids do a great job with Billy Idol, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath and Zappa.I am a fan of documentaries and enjoyed Rock School. I didn't think it was as good as Dogtown & Z Boys (which I loved). But, if you enjoyed Spellbound, you will probably enjoy Rock School.I hope it gets picked up for wide distribution.