Wikipedia article
'Thunder Soul' is a 2010 American documentary film produced and directed by Mark Landsman. The film features narration by Jamie Foxx and stars Conrad Johnson.[ The film premiered at South by Southwest in 2010.]
Synopsis
A former Kashmere High School graduate return home after 35 years to play a tribute concert for his beloved band leader, who, during the 1970s, turned the struggling jazz band, Kashmere Stage Band, into a world-class funk powerhouse.
Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 100% approval rating based on 29 reviews, with an average ranking of 7.9/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 81 out of a 100 based on 24 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
Joe Leydon of 'Variety' wrote "'Thunder Soul' offers a heaping helping of uplift".
Marjorie Baumgarten of 'The Austin Chronicle' wrote "[The film] tells the story of the Kashmere Stage Band, and before the film is through, this high school band you've never heard of will have earned a top spot on your personal hit parade".
According to Sheri Linden of the 'Los Angeles Times', "Though [the film] sometimes overplays the sentimentality, [it] gets not just the music but also the sense of possibility for this post-civil-rights generation".
Nathan Rabin of 'The A.V. Club' criticized the filmmakers for not being "interested in peering beneath the dazzling surface". According to him, despite portraying Johnson as a "benign dictator", "[the film] represents a feast for the senses, a soulful celebration of the black musical renaissance of the late '60s and '70s".
Kirk Honeycutt of 'The Hollywood Reporter' called 'Thunder Soul' "[a] genuinely moving and powerful doc[umentary] about one of the great funk bands ever, that just happened to be a high school band".
References
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