Rock School (2005)

Vibrant, entertaining documentary about Paul Green and his rock school, where kids go to learn the ins and out of rockdom. If you appreciate rock at all, you should get a charge out of this. (I was personally amazed at Green's advanced students teaching themselves, among other things, Frank Zappa's "Inca Roads" simply because Green didn't tell them how ridiculously difficult the song is to play.) There's a kind of self-congratulatory air that keeps the film from breaking through to the next level, though whether that's from the film or just residual runoff from Green's massive ego is debatable. (Green, to his credit, freely admits to his ego problems and allows himself to be seen as a massive dick at times -- though one wonders how much of the ranting, tantrum-prone Green is true and how much is played up for the camera.) Still, it's an engaging feelgood document. I mean, there's footage here of a 12-year-old shredding the shit out of riffs by Zappa, Van Halen and Santana. If that's not awesome, what is?

Grade: B+