- Jem and the holograms dvd special features update#
- Jem and the holograms dvd special features series#
After his death she and her sister Kimber (Stefanie Scott) went to live with their aunt Bailey (80s icon and Sacramento native Molly Ringwald) and her two foster daughters Aja (Hayley Kiyoko) and Shana (Aurora Perrineau).
She was given the nickname Jem by her late father, an inventor, who said that she was his "diamond in the rough". While the cartoon Jerrica was sort of a singing Barbie doll, here she's a much more everyday person.
Jem and the holograms dvd special features update#
The approach here is similar to that of another animated girl-group, Josie and the Pussycats, who got their live-action incarnation back in 2001- the filmmakers don't try to literally put the cartoons into a live-action world, but instead treat them more like real people, taking a few creative liberties and of course update a few things to the present day.Īs in the original cartoon, Jem is the stage name of Jerrica Benton, played here by Aubrey Peeples.
Nevertheless, there's been a bit of nostalgia for it 30 years later and the next logical step was to adapt it into a live-action movie.
Jem and the holograms dvd special features series#
At least that part is realistic.Grossing even less money at the box office than record-setting bomb We Are Your Friends, Jem and the Holograms was an attempt to find cinematic success in another Hasbro Toys property after Transformers and its sequels sold many tickets (despite not being very good movies.) Similar to Transformers, Jem started out as a series of dolls followed by a syndicated TV show with jerky animation said by many to exist just to sell the toys. What we can take away from this film, though, is that the susceptible public will latch on to any old thing and convince themselves it will change their lives for the better. That shouldn’t be a problem as such, the addition of a robot ensures this film is firmly set in a fantasy world, but Chu steeps this tale in realism with the use of social media, and that approach gloriously backfires when it becomes so difficult to believe in. The film presents an unrealistic representation of the music industry too, and just life in general. Let us imagine it, it’s less of a problem for us to suspend our disbelief and be blissfully unaware, than it is to be overly aware. Given the challenge in adhering to her stardom, it would make more sense just to not show the song. Her voice and song – while more than accomplished – isn’t special enough to warrant this campaign to reveal her identity and to have her signed up to a prestigious record label. Search ‘teenager sings acoustic songs’ in YouTube and you’ll be inundated with an abundance of individuals lending their ’emotional’ vocals to tracks they’ve written, or covered. The video posted online simply doesn’t sell it. What doesn’t help with our investment, is that we struggle to believe in her overnight success. It’s sickly sweet and a cappella singing is generally awkward at the best of times, and is a current fixture within this production, leading to many occasions where the only thing you can do as an audience member is rest your head in your hands and avoid making eye contact with the screen.
It’s also horribly mawkish in parts and uncynical way beyond a point of endearment.
It’s so much about being in the moment, and the role of social media in the protagonist’s career, it’s disregarded any hope of being relevant in the future. The film is heavily informed by social media, and as such it almost feels dated before you’ve even left the cinema. While enjoying all of the success, Jerrica becomes sidetracked by her dad’s invention a robot which seems to have messages for the young woman left to her from her father, who died when she was a child. Instantly signed to a record label led by Erica Raymond (Juliette Lewis) – she becomes her alter-ego Jem, and it’s the elusive nature of the pop-star that breeds so much publicity. Often clowning around and playing music together, when Jerrica’s lone recording of a song she had written is uploaded to YouTube by Kimber, she becomes an overnight sensation. Chu can be commended for at least modernising the narrative, and attempting to fit this story in to a contemporary landscape – it’s been done so in a horribly contrived, and unbearably saccharine fashion.Īubrey Peeples plays Jerrica, who lives with her sister Kimber (Stefanie Scott) and cousins Shana (Aurora Perrineau) and Aja (Hayley Kiyoko). Though screenwriter Ryan Landels and director Jon M. While we here in Britain are scrutinising over the need to bring Dad’s Army to the silver screen, there will be many others pondering quite why the 1980s animated TV series Jem is being rewarded with a big screen endeavour.
0 kommentar(er)
