Ya know folks, every now and again there's a film that just makes me wanna smile. You see, DETROIT ROCK CITY is that movie right now. When I was just a wee lad, I dressed up as the 'Thing That Survived Three Mile Island', which consisted of a glow in the dark reptilian mask and a 'no nukes' t-shirt and won the Eeyore's Birthday Costume COntest here in Austin. The Prize? All four of them LPs (an ancient circular disc made of asphalt like substance with grooves which, when scratched with a needle attached to an amplifier gave off noise sounding like HIFI MUSIC) of the KISS Solo Albums... the ones where each album had a different member of the band's badass faces on it! Ever since I've heard of this movie, I've been awaiting it. And, I've been hoping that it would be a part of SXSW Music and Film fest here in Austin. Why? Well, so I could see it earlier than it's targeted release date, which now pushes it into the summer from it's earlier April release date.... sigh.... So who knows... perhaps...
I had the opportunity to see a MarketCast test screening of Detroit Rock City on Monday, and am finally getting around to sharing my thoughts with you. Please feel free to share this with your readers.
First off, let me just start with the obligatory bashing of market research companies.... Prior to this, I'd only attended two other test screening, both by the famed NRG. Hah, and I thought they were bad! This MarketCast group was incredibly disorganized and unprepared for the number of people that showed up. But my real beef was the demographics represented.... The "invitation" called for ages 18-34 only, yet a good 1/3 of the audience were under 18. I'd guess VERY few over 25. Even the "select" group of viewers who were paid for a more in depth opinion fell in the 16-25 area. Considering this is a movie about K.I.S.S. and K.I.S.S. fans in 1972, I would have though an older age group much more representative. Although the humour of the movie seemed targetted towards the younger end of the spectrum. Not sure if that was intentional or wise.
Ah yes, the movie. For those who haven't heard the synopsis already, Detroit Rock City, starring Edward Furlong, is about 4 high school K.I.S.S. fans in 1972 who after losing their tickets, would do anything to get into the show.
Despite the sometimes canned humour of the movie, they managed to reel me in pretty well. Wasn't long before I was feeling the agony right along with our four unlucky friends, wincing at every blow, furious with every person who got in their way. I found myself wanting to go to the concert as badly as they did (and I'm a pretty far cry from a fan of K.I.S.S.). And felt utterly depressed every time it seemed less and less likely to happen.
I keep mentioning the tone of the humour, so perhaps I should describe that. I don't mean to come down hard on it, sure enough it kept me laughing through most of the movie. But it all had a somewhat adolescent flavour to it. Bathroom gags, drugs, and lots of just simple jokes that anyone would be sure to pick up. Some of it was a little more thoughtful, like the running rock'n'roll versus disco gag. Our four rock'n'roll feings just can't seem to get away from the Stellas and Guidos of the world.
All that said, when the lights came on, myself, my friend, and the rest of the audience still had huge grins on our faces (well, until the MarketCast drones started handing out surveys). Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and I'd highly recommend the movie to all my friends when it is released. Best (of the genre, that is) I've seen since Something About Mary. Not to mention, an awesome soundtrack.
TheGuyNotCreativeEnoughToHaveAPseudonym
