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Monday, January 07, 2008

High School Musical

"Well, you sound like you've done a lot of singing, too."
"Yeah, my showerhead is very impressed."

O Disney Channel. Whenever I think of Disney I think of cartoon features, like the "Little Mermaid"...but then the Disney Channel started focusing on the tween/teen crowd with shows like "Hannah Montana" and movies like "High School Musical"... HSM is the type of movie that makes young girls swoon over the newest young hottie.

At a New Year's Eve Party basketball star Troy (Efron) meets brainy Gabriella (Hudgens) and they make beautiful music (seriously, they sing karaoke together) . When school starts again Troy discovers that Gabriella now attends his school (no way!). Singing brought them together, so they consider trying out for the high school musical. However, that is not going to be easy.

Troy is the Captain of the basketball team, and being in the musical will interrupt his playing, so he is discouraged by his best friend Chad (Bleu) and the coah, his dad (Johnson). Gabriella is incredibly smart and the brainiacs of the school, led by Taylor (Coleman) want her to join them. But the biggest obstacle in Troy and Gabriellas path are the Evans' siblings: Sharpay (Tisdale) and Ryan (Grabeel). Sharpay is always the star of the drama productions with Ryan at her side and they aren't used to competition. And Sharpay is interested in Troy. Will the school accept these two stepping out of their cliques? Will they get the part? Will they end up together?

I think these answers are obvious, but I still enjoyed it. Director, Kenny Ortega directed "Newsies" which was also a catchy musical with entertaining choreography. Yes, some parts of this film are cheesy, BUT it has a good heart. It is nice to see a musical that the whole family can watch (my relatives don't like musicals like "Chicago" and "Rent" and other recent musicals which I enjoy). Also, the girls look good, but are also fully clothed, which sends good messages to impressionable kids. Plus, they sing and dance, how does it get better?

Dude, it's quotable: no, the lines aren't necessarily memorable, BUT the music makes up for that
Rent it: I think it's worth the hype

High School Musical (2006) 98 minutes
Director: Kenny Ortega
Starring: Zac Efron as Troy Bolton
Vanessa Anne Hudgens as Gabriella Montez
Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans
Lucas Grabeel as Ryan Evans
Alyson Reed as Ms. Darbus
Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth
Monique Coleman as Taylor McKessie
Olesya Rulin as Kelsi Nielsen
Chris Warren Jr. as Zeke Baylor
Bart Johnson as Coach Jack Bolton
Ryne Sanborn as Jason Cross

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