''Thunder Soul'' is a 2010 American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

produced and directed by Mark Landsman. The film features narration by

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. Known for his work in both the screen and music industries, his accolades include an Academy Award, a Grammy Award ...

and stars Conrad Johnson. The film premiered at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

in 2010.

Synopsis

A former

Kashmere High School Kashmere High School is a secondary school in Houston, Texas that serves grades 9 through 12; it is a part of the Houston Independent School District. It is located in the Houston Gardens, Houston, Trinity Gardens neighborhood, and its namesake i ...

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 Kashmere Stage Band (KSB) was an elite performing unit of the student band at Kashmere High School from the late 1960s until 1978. History Kashmere High School is located in a predominantly black neighborhood known as Kashmere Gardens in Houst ...

, into a world-class funk powerhouse.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has a 100% approval rating based on 29 reviews. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 81 out of a 100 based on 24 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Joe Leydon Joseph Patrick Michael Leydon (born August 22, 1952) is an American film critic and historian. A critic and correspondent for '' Variety'' since 1990, he is the author of ''Joe Leydon's Guide to Essential Movies You Must See'' (Michael Wiese Pro ...

of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote "''Thunder Soul'' offers a heaping helping of uplift". Marjorie Baumgarten of ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...

'' wrote "

he film He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

tells the story of the

, 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 The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', "Though

sometimes overplays the sentimentality, tgets not just the music but also the sense of possibility for this post-civil-rights generation".

Nathan Rabin Nathan Rabin () is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for ''The A.V. Club'', a position he held until he left the ''Onion'' organization in 2013.

of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' criticized the filmmakers for not being "interested in peering beneath the dazzling surface". According to him, despite portraying Johnson as a "benign dictator", "

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 ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' called ''Thunder Soul'' " genuinely moving and powerful doc mentaryabout one of the great funk bands ever, that just happened to be a high school band".

References

External links

* American documentary films Documentaries about music Documentary films about musical groups 2010 documentary films Roadside Attractions films Films shot in Texas 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language documentary films {{2010s-US-documentary-film-stub