Twenty Feet from Stardom (2013)

“Twenty Feet from Stardom” is a music lover’s dream. If you have ever rocked to the Rolling Stones, David Byrne, Ray Charles, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, or Sting, you know their songs – “Gimme Shelter” and “Young Americans” are two – infect the soul as much from the backup chorus as the lead singers. “Twenty” is the story of those background voices. For me, the faces and names of Darlene Love, Judith Hill, and Merry Clayton have glimmers of faint recognition. But their voices -– “Rape! Murder! It’s just a shout away!” from “Shelter” -- vibe in me forever. These women never reached fame or riches, one even takes to cleaning houses. Their careers were sidelined by sabotage or bad luck, or by choice. Each woman recalls memories, and they and eat together, and their talents are praised by the likes of smitten men Mick Jagger and Gordon Sumner, and director Morgan Neville shows these ladies in a divine light. Too much so. The hedonism of rock n’ roll is vaguely referenced, but never explored. These women stood close to stardom, but also madness. Oddly, those stories are left off stage. A-

Rock of Ages (2012)

Worst fuckin’ episode of “Glee” I ever watched. And it lacks anyone half as cool as Chris Colfer. Blockbuster wannabe “Rock of Ages” tosses Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Bryan Cranston, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Paul Giamatti, plus two shiny youths -- Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta –- in an insipid mix-tape, mashed-up, lip-sync heavy rock story (sound familiar?) about fame and love that leans slightly more dangerous than “Bye Bye Birdie.” If “Birdie” were set in 1987. That’s the year “Ages,” based on a Broadway hit likely snipped of its balls on its way to the screen, takes place, when Poison, Def Leppard, and Jon Bon Jovi ruled MTV, radio, and record stores. Tone deaf from frame one with a sing-along Night Ranger bus ride, “Ages” sock hops between celebrating rock n’ roll big hair hedonism and giving a mocking F.U. finger to anyone who longs for vinyl records. Not that it matters. Our rock stars here drink, but never get drunk. Flirt and strip, but never screw. Drugs? No. Never. This is Wal-Mart rock, scrubbed clean for the kids who once listened to Quiet Riot, but now vote Romney, and party in PG-13 style. D+

The Runaways (2010)

When MTV debuted, Joan Jett’s shouted anthem “I Love Rock n’ Roll” (a cover) seemed to be the only female voice in an all-male sport. That chapter of Jett’s life is unseen in “The Runaways,” the standard biopic treatment of her first band, The Runaways – the early 1970s all-girl band that set guys’ eyes and other parts bulging, before the band imploded from drugs, sex, in-fighting and all the other rock band woes. “Runaways” puts Jett (Kristen Stewart) in second place, and focuses on Cherie Currie, the 15-year-old singer of the band, picked from a nightclub for not dancing. She jumps at the chance to escape her shattered family, and the band’s “I am God!” producer (Michael Shannon) drools at the thought of exploiting Cherie’s jailbait age. Dakota Fanning (who co-stars with Stewart in the “Twilight” pics) plays Cherie in a brave performance. Writer/director Floria Sigismondi hits every single Behind the Music tour stop, down to the prerequisite recording studio meltdown. The Runaways used the definitive F.U. song “Cherry Bomb” to burn the rules; the movie is a wet match. C