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Universal acclaim - based on 12 Critics What's this?

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  • Summary: Houston's legendary Kashmere Stage Band reunites in this funky, soulful, award-winning film. In an amazing testament to the power of music and teachers, the group comes back together after more than 30 years to pay tribute to their band-leader and mentor in what is sure to be one of the most beloved, and rump-shaking, docs of the year. (Roadside Attractions) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 12
  2. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. Reviewed by: Jeannette Catsoulis
    Sep 22, 2011
    100
    By introducing funky licks, fancy footwork and many of his own compositions to the band's stodgy set list of jazz standards, this indomitable leader (whose declining health adds a poignant twang to the film's final scenes) instilled racial pride alongside musical competency.
  2. Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    Oct 6, 2011
    80
    A precious scrap of American history.
  3. Reviewed by: Sheri Linden
    Oct 6, 2011
    80
    Though it sometimes overplays the sentimentality, Thunder Soul gets not just the music but also the sense of possibility for this post-civil-rights generation.
  4. Reviewed by: Eric Hynes
    Sep 20, 2011
    60
    Amid its celebrations of black power, ambitious Afros and fly female trombonists, the film serves as a rousing testament to the singular blessings of music education, since there's nothing inherent or automatic about kids learning how to groove.

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