School of Rock (2003).

Now I love this film. Apart from being an all round funny family movie, this is one of my favourite movies of all time because this is the film that has made me the hard/classic rock fan that I am today. Additionally, this is the film that solidified my love of all things Deep Purple (they're a band, in case you didn't know), a love that first started roughly when I was Grade 5. I was a fan of Deep Purple before this movie came out, but it is because of this movie that led me to change from being a secret fan of Deep Purple into a not so secret fan of Deep Purple.

Essentially, the main plot of the film follows a rock singer and guitarist named Dewey Finn (Jack Black), where as a result of his expulsion from his band, disguises himself as a substitute teacher and subsequently forms his own band comprising of the musically talented students of his class in his quest to win the Battle of the Bands. All this happens as a result of his initial goal of finding a way to pay his rent for his apartment.

Jack Black is what makes this film work. Sure the music is a big factor in the success of this film, but without Black, there would had been a void in this film that seemingly could not have been filled. In this rock film, Black's character not only encompasses his own typical personality traits, but additionally echoes traits that can be found in larger than life rockers such as Angus Young, Bon Scott, Ian Gillan and Meat Loaf. And he does this very well.

Jack Black and his death stare.

As well, this film has an underlying message that midway in the film, is uttered emphatically by Finn. And the message is this: stick it to the man. Rock music is all about sticking it to the man, according to Finn. In a funny scene, Finn falsely says in front of the Battle of the Bands judge that the kids are suffering from stick-it-to-the-man-neosis in an attempt to enter in the competition. This is perceived as being a serious blood disease by the judge, and the band was then subsequently able to participate in the competition. And with that note, I am ending this paragraph by saying that thankfully both in the movie and in real life, stick it to the man is not a disease, but a cure.