Reviews
REVIEW - The Hollywood Reporter - Kirk Honeycutt
Posted on September 7, 2020
A greater argument for music education in our secondary school curriculum can’t be made than Mark Landsman’s doc about a Texas high school funk band that tore up the music scene from 1968 to 1977.
- Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter
REVIEW - Inside Pulse - Travis Leamons
Posted on September 2, 2020
Landsman’s documentary flips the script to become a film of unflinching heart that will have you cheering with adulation and tearing up when things turn to heartbreak.
- Travis Leamons, Inside Pulse
REVIEW - AIN’T IT COOL NEWS - Josh Olson
Posted on August 23, 2020
This is one of those rare, beautiful movies that takes you everywhere you want it to. You’ll cheer, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and most importantly, you’ll want to dance… Easily one of the best movies I’m going to see this year.
- Josh Olson, Ain’t It Cool News
REVIEW - INDIEWIRE - Anne Thompson
Posted on August 23, 2020
You couldn’t ask for more dramatic and entertaining material. Landsman edits between period clips of benevolently demanding father-figure Prof and the band in its prime—unexpectedly beating all the white bands in competition—and contemporary footage of the 90ish prof, who was kicked to the curb by misguided school officials, and the grateful 50ish students whose lives he changed… I wouldn’t be surprised if this movie wound up in the Oscar race. It has the right elements to appeal to warm-hearted Academy voters.
- Anne Thompson, IndieWire
REVIEW - VARIETY - Joe Leydon
Posted on August 23, 2020
Mark Landsman’s spirited “Thunder Soul” offers a heaping helping of uplift while documenting the past triumphs and recent reunion of a predominantly black Houston high school’s singularly accomplished jazz stage band. Pic is a celebration of that ensemble, a group of African- American teens from a high-risk neighborhood who, during the 1970s, won nationwide competitions — and even released popular records, including a top seller titled “Texas Thunder Soul” — under the guidance of their indefatigably inspiring teacher/bandleader.
- Joe Leydon, Variety
REVIEW - HITFIX - Drew McWeeny
Posted on August 23, 2020
…Director Mark Landsman does an incredible job of making you understand who the Kashmere Stage Band was, who Conrad “Prof” Johnson was, and how the story played out. But where the film makes the jump from very good to great is when the kids of the original era of the Stage Band decide to play together again so they can pay tribute to “Prof,” and so he can see just how much of what taught them was retained.
This is where Landsman really nails it as a filmmaker, expertly charting the emotional ride, never tipping his hand too much or reaching for cheap sentiment. He knows just how much power there is to this story, and he’s smart enough to get out of the way of the people in the film. He doesn’t have to ladle on the emotion, because the film builds a natural power out of the events that is more than devastating anyway.
REVIEW - AIN’T IT COOL NEWS - Harry Knowles
Posted on July 29, 2020
What an incredible documentary, story and work. This is a documentary of astonishing power and emotion… THUNDER SOUL is a companion documentary for the great WHEN WE WERE KINGS. This is a powerful positive documentary that shows just how beautiful the empowering times of the seventies were for the Black community… beautiful afros - crazy … clothes and the music.
