Opening in Los Angeles theaters on April 20th is a new documentary from filmmaker P. David Ebersole (Stranger Inside) called Hit So Hard: The Life and Near-Death Story of Drummer Patty Schemel, which tells the story of drummer Patty Schemel from the seminal grunge band Hole. The film utilizes Schemel's home videos from her time in the group, as well as interviews with bandmates Courtney Love, Eric Eriandson, and Melissa Auf der Maur, and other musicians such as Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt, Kate Schelenbach of Luscious Jackson, Gina Shock of The Go-Go's, Alice de Buhr of Fanny, Debbi Peterson of The Bangles, Roddy Bottum of Faith No More, and author Sarah Vowell. 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had the immense pleasure of sitting down with Patty Schemel, and Eric Eriandson to discuss Hit So Hard: The Life and Near-Death Story of Drummer Patty Schemel. The two iconic musicians talked about the new film, the origin of the project, the interview process, remembering the past, what went wrong with Celebrity Skin, Schemel's downward spiral as well as her triumphant comeback, Courtney Love's trouble with numbers, Patty and Eric's joyful reunion, the film's tribute to female drummers, and their favorite bands from the '90s. 

A new theatrical trailer for the musical Rock of Ages has docked in internet bay, by which I mean to say you can see a new trailer for Rock of Ages now.  It's got a lot of hair metal, overblown lighting that manages to be assaultive in that neon 1980s way, but without the skeezy charm of actual footage from the time.

If you've been waiting years to see a glimpse at two warring factions of Los Angelinos expressing themselves to the strains of Starship's "We Built This City" and Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It," then you need wait not longer.  Today, Warner Bros, released the first trailer for Rock of Ages, a musical based on Chris D'Arienzio's Broadway musical of the same name, and it contains the aforementioned scene.  The film, a nostalgia-bation story set in 1987, follows Julianne Hough as a small town girl who comes to LA with hopes of being a star and finds herself in the happenings at the Bourbon Club, a venue on the Sunset Strip that is presumably uninhabitable due to hairspray fumes.  There are a whole lot of recognizable actors in the film, and the trailer puts most of the front and center, building towards the promise of a shirtless Tom Cruise doing a big musical number as rock star Stacee Jaxx. 

Okay, the marketing for The Muppets has spent months creating good-natured parodies of other trailers, such as The Hangover Part II, Green Lantern, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  Those were all fun, but Disney's done pussyfooting around with the first big screen Muppet adventure since Muppets from Space back in 1999, and today sees the release of a second full length theatrical trailer.  Jim Henson's Muppet creations are being of pure radiant joy, designed only to spread joy and entertain without discrimination of any kind, and this trailer succinctly communicates that, with a whole lot of exuberance from Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and the rest of the Muppet gang joining up with Jason Segel and Amy Adams.  There are also teases of the abundant celebrity cameos and musical numbers.  Don't dally, watch up this here The Muppets trailer.

They may look like a bunch of felt mops/puppets, but much like a heavenly choir of angels, Jim Henson's Muppet creations are beings of pure goodwill and radiance, with maliciousness towards none.  Their unwavering altruism and generosity tends to manifest itself in a ceaseless desire to put on a damn good show, with music and entertainment for all.  In The Muppets, the gang will reunite after twelve years away from the silver screen in order to save the Muppet Theater from destruction at the hands of a greedy oil baron played by Chris Cooper.  A new international poster for the film omits human castmembers Jason Segel and Amy Adams to cram every available inch of space with muppety sweetness.

Glee has proven conclusively that America loves musicals in which familiar songs are given enthusiastic new renditions by good-looking people.  Next summer's Rock of Ages, then, is almost a guaranteed hit.  Set in the 1980's at a famous club on the Sunset Strip, the Adam Shankman-directed film adapts the popular stage musical and features actors like Julianne Hough, Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin singing recognizable Eighties songs.  Also in the cast is Tom Cruise, playing fictitious rock star Stacee Jaxx, and the first picture of a tattooed and shirtless Cruise in action has appeared online.

Last year, Jon Kaplan and Al Kaplan taught us all to love again with their series of short Arnold Schwarzenegger musicals, created from score samples and footage from Commando, Conan the Barbarian, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Total Recall.  Now, the Kaplan brothers are back, with that they promise will be the final installment of their beloved YouTube Shwarzenegger musicals, Predator: The Musical.  So take a ride with "If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It", and check out the other videos while you're at it.

Who would have ever thought about casting Christina Aguilera in her big screen debut, opposite the legendary superstar Cher? Former actor, Steve Antin did, and now we have a huge, extravagant movie musical called Burlesque.

A small town girl named Ali (Aguilera) decides it’s high time to get away from her cheap ass boss and head on down to Hollywood. Once there, she starts looking for a place to make a living as a dancer, the girl’s a natural after all! Going through the Backstage West, she starts to get desperate and things aren’t looking good. That is, until she spies a little place with a sign that calls her name… “Burlesque”.

There is a moment in Burlesque where Christina Aguilera is on-stage, and she finally belts out this massive musical number… you could literally feel the excitement from the audience.

While Christina is certainly not new to the entertainment business, it took a musical with Cher for her to step in front of the cameras for her big screen debut. And most impressively, she is pretty damn good as a small town girl looking to make it big.