I just saw drumline, and I really liked it. I’ve always wanted to play drums, and for a movie based on a rare, unlikely theme (a college marching band’s drumline) I thought it was really good. Especially the end (if you’ve seen it you know what I mean). So, I just wanted to start this thread as a discussion forum about the movie, because I didn’t see one started already.
Ehh it was alright, kind of what i expected… nothing absolutely spectacular you know. i saw it yesterday… i don’t know, for some reason i dont really have a lot of words for it. It was just alright to me.
I agree with ** maybelze05**. I always enjoyed the halftime shows back in high school and college, and maybe I’m jaded after having seen some good bands, but none of these bands in the movie really blew me away. Sure, they were good, but not so astoundingly amazing that you’d make a movie about 'em!
One problem with the movie was that as good as the “star” of the movie was (excuse me for not remembering his name), one person cannot carry a group performance like this. They did make this point to him in the movie, yet the movie still attempted to show off how good he was.
*** Spoiler Alert **** (as lame as this is that I’m only pointing out something that to everyone watching this movie is obviously going to happen, I don’t want to ruin it for someone who has never seen a movie before)
In the highlighted band competition at the end, where they have a tie and it will be settled by just the drum line of each of the tied bands (it doesn’t actually seem nearly as contrived when you are watching the film), to my unskilled and untalented ears, I felt the other band was better. They had better moves, etc., and if I were the judge I would have given it to them. But of course, I’m not being paid by the screenwriter!
My HS daughter - the unrequited band geek, saw it Friday and said her impression was that such geekage helped the enjoyment of the film.
I liked Drumline. Sure, the storyline was thin, but if you see a movie about a big band competition, that what you’ve gotta expect. I knew where the whole movie was going before it even started, but found it nonetheless enjoyable. The movie was really about the music, and the music was good.
The problem with Drumline is the simple fact that it is out of touch with reality. There is no such thing as a college competition. It should’ve either been high school or, even better, DCI.
[hijack]I haven’t seen the movie, but, as a current member of a college marching band, I’d just like to confirm what asterion brought up: I’ve never heard of a college marching band competition. In fact, around here, high school marching bands are generally better than college bands. They practice more, and, because they compete, they care more and try harder. In college, our only goal is to entertain the audience, and we do several shows each season to keep from getting monotonous. In high school, our primary goal was to do well in competition, and we worked on a single show all season. In high school, we practiced four days a week. In college, we practice twice a week. College shows are less complex and spectacular than high school shows, because we practice less and do several shows. The quality of the music in college is probably better (because of all the music majors), but, overall, that’s probably our only advantage.
It’s possible it’s different somewhere else, though. I can only speak for my university and this region.
From what of heard of the movie, it sounds exactly like what the atmosphere was like when I was in high school, though.[/hijack]