Detroit Rock City

By any objective standard, an adult human being might be well advised to hurl him or herself as far away from Detroit Rock City as possible...unless that adult human being happens to have been a member of the KISS Army in 1978. That's when this sloppy and generally crass teen comedy is set, sending four Motor City garage bandmates on a quest for tickets when their glam metal idols come to town. Director Adam Rifkin clearly took many of his cues from the seminal film about high schoolers desperately seeking concert tickets, Paul Bartel's Ramones-fest Rock 'N' Roll High School. Still, I should warn that I view this film through rose-tinted spectacles, since it's most appealing as a nostalgia trip for a 30-something ex-headbanger. I could inveigh against the vomit humor and Catholic-bashing, but I can't deny the appeal of a story about guys so eager to see KISS they could taste the flashpot smoke. Not for all tastes, this is the sort of bad movie you can't resist when it intersects with the story of your life. Optional. (S. Renshaw)