Our smallest resident Jonas follower, aka Little Big Fan and the one who started it all, will be five years old in July. She got this shirt over the weekend (it was all I could do not to get myself this one. I refrained and tried to convince her to get it…but she had her sights set on that one).

So, LBF is arguably much more in the demographic for Camp Rock than some of us superfans who, in the aftermath, are grappling with issues of, well, exemplary movie production or the lack thereof (and an inability to dislike it anyway). I wasn’t sure how she felt about the movie; she was a little fidgety in parts while watching it and quick to point out its unacceptable dearth of Nick Jonas, but then…she has worn this t-shirt twice since purchase, couldn’t stop looking at herself in it during ballet class, and told me she was wearing it again on Friday (I’m talking her out of it).

Since she is nothing if not a vocal and opinionated person, she was happy to oblige when I asked for her review of the movie and the album. I was totally impressed with her overall assessment. Here it is pretty much verbatim (with ME speaking in parenthetical italics, like so).

I loved it. (Why?) I liked all the songs. (All?) Well…there was…I liked Joe best (but say Shane, because his name is Shane in that movie). And I know the mom of the girl…the mom on Wizards of Waverly Place. I think she was funny because she says, “That’s also MINE.” That was a funny part. (Yes, she was so good!) *CHUCKLE* And I like when Kevin says, “Can you make me a birdhouse?” – I can’t stop thinking about it, that was so funny. And I saw that when Joe got out of the car, Nick got in his seat. (Oh?) Yeah…you weren’t looking. I liked the girl who was popular. (Really?) Yeah. I liked her song. (Did you like her the best of the girls?) No, I liked Mitchie Lovato. (Ha-ha. Any of the other girls or guys?) Um. Not really.* The other favorite part was when Mitchie put on the hat and put a bunch of flour on her.

Her brief track-by-track album review and conclusions (versus HSM et al!) after the jump!

We Rock: (lukewarmly) Like. I like who’s in it.

Play My Music: I like this. (More or less?) Oh, more. Nick & Joe!

Gotta Find You: OK, because I like Joe singing.

Start the Party: Don’t like. I don’t really like the people who do this song.*

Who Will I Be: Who’s that singing? (Who do you think?) The girl I like! I like it. I love it.

This Is Me: I love it. I LOVE it.

Hasta La Vista: I don’t like it. Again. Don’t like the voices.*

Here I Am: Not OK. Don’t like it. The sound of it.**

Too Cool: I LOVE it.

Our Time Is Here: Love it. (Gotta agree.)

2 Stars: Don’t really like it.

What It Takes: I like this one!

(I have to ask this…worse or better than HSM?) Better, because it has more good songs. (You’ll watch it again?) Huh? Of course. I LOVED it. (OK. Thank you, dolly.) You’re welcome.

And there you have it. Draw from it what you will.

[Via: Target's piles of Camp Rock merchandise (image)]

And now we can exhale.

I am so glad the hype is over…now I will be waiting to see what kind of audience numbers tuned in…

I LIKED IT! The thing that struck me the most was what a very different film this was from High School Musical, in a fundamental way, and what a lame comparison that is. It is unfortunate baggage for what turned out to be an ultimately charming movie.

I have seen many Disney Channel Original Movies. My expectations were low. Some are horrific, people – and this was pretty great for a DCOM. My opinion if a comparison has to be drawn?

In DCOM terms, it is a scrappy “FAME“-lite to High School Musical’s glossy “Grease“-lite.

More thoughts, reviews, media and a request from the Guys follow…

WARNING: CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS!!!

It was a music showcase movie, not a burst-into-song-outside-of-the-diegesis, candy color and spangles situation. A chance to be a bit more spare in the presentation of music, and the people singing it. I love the Jonas songs, naturally, but so many of the other movie songs have won me over. And I don’t think a single song embarrassed me (except for the silly 5 second keyboard solo they slapped on Alyson Stoner’s otherwise excellent character, Caitlyn, which can’t count), not even Hasta La Vista.

And Joe. No, I am NOT impartial. But my goodness…and I think if you are familiar with Joe’s workaday antics, his portrayal of the Shane character is even more effective. You just know he’s actually acting. (As opposed to in the spectacular Burning Up video, where yeah, there’s our wacky Joe.) I liked him all around, such a natural (to say he looked great is just unnecessary)…but his ruddily emotive, in-your-face moments (yelling at Mitchie, the final duet) got me best. As a superfan, I can’t help but be really proud to see him almost entirely outside of his comfort zone. I think he could go far with the right guidance, to the right roles. My favorite of the praise he has earned for this comes from the Houston Chronicle:

It’s Jonas, however, that’s a real revelation. He’s natural and charismatic onscreen, much more so than HSM heartthrob Zac Efron. He never falls into the Disney trap of overplaying scenes, often suggesting emotion with subtle facial expressions. Expect his turn here to send fans into full-tilt hysteria.

Gotta agree!! That said, his comfort zone moments (when Nick and Kevin reappear) were great – calming and joyful. Seeing those three guys together simply makes happiness, and for me the movie picked up momentum to get me over any initial hesitation from the Play My Music performance on. Apparently the New York Times, agreed (in an otherwise iffy review):

The film has two high points. One is when the Jonas Brothers (in the story their band is called Connect Three) deliver their song “Play My Music” to the assembled campers, showing the verve and stage presence the film’s other performers lack.

Which reminds me, Kevin and Nick completely exceeded my expectations and were hilarious. (Joe as the straight man…who ever woulda thunk?)

Other good things? Demi Lovato’s performance was very strong. “Her mom” = adorable. The cast in general charmed me with their cuteness and diversity, though I would have liked to get to know some of them better. Jasmine Richards’ Peggy taking the Final Jam prize = TOTAL WIN (I was actually surprised, joked it should happen, and love that song).

There were some clunky moments (um…it’s a DCOM), and some issues with construction, where things seemed awkward or abrupt (I would say the transition out of the awesome Shane-Mitchie duet left something to be desired, more than the expectedly cliffhangerish ending).

So it is nice to come away from the night energized and pleased. The coverage of the movie has been exhausting and at times frustrating. I personally think that critics are reviewing the movie both with standards not befitting a DCOM (an embarrassment on their end – this was not gonna be “Citizen Kane“) and an inability to distinguish its dissimilarity from its predecessor that is obvious to most KIDS watching.

The craziest thing to see has got to be Vulture’s uber-meta review of the reviews, echoed by Perez and now-uncloseted teen-media-lover Richard (at Gawker).

The Boys create such frenzy, even among their non-admirers, it is something else.

So…do you love it? Lump it? Have a favorite (or least so) moment? A revelation?  The Boys are asking the same question in their latest MySpace blog from Europe – go tell THEM what you think HERE!

For me, I need to watch it again to decide how I really feel – I could end up liking it a LOT more, or even less. We’ll see. But I DID find a (non-Jonas!!) summer jam on the album that somehow wasn’t even in the movie (that I noticed)…I wonder why? It’s amazing. So deliciously eighties. Maybe it will be a follow-up video? Check it out:

[Via: Houston Post Chronicle; New York Times; julisol902401(YouTube)]

Wow.

How things have changed. Just when I think there can’t be a greater deluge of coverage for the Guys, down it pours. This Camp Rock premiere week has been something else!!! Don’t underestimate the power of the junket.

So…between monitoring/purchasing their music releases on iTunes, reading the daily blogs on MySpace, watching new videos on YouTube and reading all these articles (plus a draining week at work, for me) – not to mention the anticipation for the movie and premiere of the official Burning Up video on the Disney Channel – there has been precious little time to process it all. Breathe.

Now listen to reason, from the grand old New York Magazine’s Vulture, which always speaks the hilarious truth:

On Friday, they’ll rally their armies with their latest propaganda film, Camp Rock, premiering on the Disney Channel at the revolution-friendly time of 8 p.m. Next, they’ll launch a 46-date summer tour of North America (footage of which will be shot for their forthcoming 3-D concert movie), release their third album A Little Bit Longer on August 12, and then begin shooting their own television show, J.O.N.A.S., a “comedy-adventure spy series” (while stealing nuclear secrets under the guise of being actors on a scripted TV program, presumably). At this point, any resistance is inadvisable, as their absolute victory, and subsequent enslavement of all humanity, is now certainly inevitable. But will it be enough for the Jonases? “I think we live our lives the best we can,” Kevin Jonas tells the Times, ominously. “We’ve grown up with the idea that even when you’re at the top, act like you’re at the bottom.” They will crush you. – “You Are Now Entering the Season of the Jonas”

Better? I thought so. Now, here are a few of the choiciest nuggets distilled and aggregated from the best and most interesting of the press…(after the jump!)

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE

Jonas Brothers living a dream by Gretchen McKay

On some of the shriller fans (but what do they think about bloggers? haw haw)

If anything, they find all the adulation kind of, well, strange.

“Honestly, we look at each other and say, ‘Why are they screaming? We’re right over here,’ ” says Kevin, laughing. “But we love it.”

NEW YORK (freakin’!!) TIMES

Summer Advisory: A Jonas Front Looms by Edward Wyatt

Just an interesting, in-depth piece:

“It was extraordinarily good fortune for us,” Gary Marsh, the president of entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide, said of his company’s discovery of the Jonas Brothers. “We have so many other opportunities and extensions that we can use to launch and promote a group like this. And given who they are as people, their brand fits wonderfully with the Disney brand.”

Who the Jonas Brothers are is likely to go a long way toward determining whether they turn out to be just another boy band or are able to turn their considerable musical ability into long-term staying power.

…

Despite their seeming overnight success, the Jonas Brothers have labored in the lower ranks of the music world. As recently as 2005 they were playing 20-minute sets with two other bands as part of casting-call events for a tween girl band.

“It helps that they struggled a while before it started to work,” Mr. Jonas said. “They’ve carried their own equipment. And when you’ve seen 10 people in a concert hall, you’re genuinely thankful that a room full of people would show up for you.”

USA TODAY

Celeb Watch: Jonases get a good view from the top by William Keck

On that sensational finger jewelry:

All three brothers wear purity rings as symbols of their commitment to remain virgins until marriage. It’s a topic they clearly would prefer to keep private.

“The boys made a decision when they turned 12 years old to put those rings on their fingers,” their father says. “We didn’t give them these rings as a pledge of perfection, but as a reminder of values. Our hope is that they’ll always know that there’s a good, right way to treat the opposite sex.”

Also in this article: great anecdote of the slightly bumpy casting ride to Camp Rock, and future career goals.

And, best of all, a great video in which Joe invokes some impressive social values (Yes, even more than usual! Thus validating my devoted fandom, LOL. The quote was referenced in OK! Magazine – What the Jonas Brothers Look for in Girls! Though I sort of suspect he is describing himself, even if he doesn’t know so.)

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Disney’s keen on making more ‘Camp Rock’ with Joe Jonas by Richard Huff

Execs lavish Joe with praise…meanwhile he ponders their shelf life:

“He has that Mick Jagger image that he portrays on stage,” [Disney Executive Gary] Marsh said. “It’s who he is, he’s a performer. He’s a very natural performer. He’d never really acted before. I thought he did a fantastic job. And honestly, it’s a pretty nuanced portrayal.”

…

“That’s one of the things, being in a band — we wonder when our fan base’s going to stop caring. When are they going to get over us?” [Joe] said. “At the same time, our fans are going along for the ride with us.”

HUFFINGTON POST

“Camp Rock”: Another Disney Channel Summer Blockbuster by Ed Martin

A smart person gives us some praising context (more for the Disney Channel than the Boys, but let’s enjoy it anyway!):

As a member of the television generation, my childhood memories are filled with moments from broadcast shows that were created for and targeted to kids when I was a kid, on Saturday mornings and in primetime. More recently (in the Eighties and Nineties), ABC strived to program stridently kid-friendly shows at 8 p.m. (Full House, Family Matters, etc.), even branding an entire Friday night block around the genre (known as TGIF). But interest in kids shows declined near the end of the last decade when Hollywood suddenly filled up with a generation of twenty-something writers who seemed to have no working knowledge of childhood or how to communicate with children. (How might we explain so grievous a creative collapse? Were these writers hatched at age 21?)

Thankfully, Disney Channel has made childhood and adolescence cool again. Given the outsize success it is enjoying with shows that cost less, last longer and make more money than much of what we see on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and The CW, I wonder why broadcast television largely continues to ignore this burgeoning profit center, one that seems only to become increasingly empowered by the growth of digital media (where kids get all their essential entertainment info these days) rather than increasingly compromised by same?

Do you think I’m overstating the case? Then consider this: There will be more conversation about Camp Rock in more households this weekend between kids, tweens, teens and their parents — the latter largely fixed at the center of the all-important 18-49 demographic — than there will be about any of the new series the broadcast networks present next season. The same may be true of the upcoming Disney Channel series J.O.N.A.S.!, starring you-know-who.

CNN

Jonas Brothers own the summer by Doug Ganley

On their funky Jonas ways, Kevin says:

…I’ve never really actually considered him [Nick] “little brother,” though, ever.

… We just have a weird dynamic in our family that most people don’t have, and I think we just really appreciate each other all that way.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

TELEVISION REVIEW: ‘Camp Rock’ by Robert Lloyd

Shane — whose negativity was meant only to “keep the poseurs away,” like Bob Dylan in “No Direction Home” — tells Mitchie he is looking for a “new sound,” a change from the “stupid cookie-cutter pop-star stuff” he is forced to play by his label. (Although everyone at Camp Rock seems to like it well enough.) To be sure, “cookie-cutter pop-star stuff” is exactly what is on sale here, and that includes Shane’s new sound (cookie-cutter pop-star stuff on an acoustic guitar), an irony surely to be lost on the target audience, whether or not it was lost on the producers. I leave off the “stupid,” because although this music may be manufactured, it isn’t dumb. It is made by people who know just which melodic skip will put a lump in your throat and what chord change will drive you to your feet. It works on me, and I know better.

…

Four screenwriters labored to craft this piece, including Julie Brown (of “Earth Girls Are Easy,” “Just Say Julie” and elsewhere), who appears as a camp counselor. “Camp Rock” isn’t particularly good, but it’s good at what it does. The product may be “inauthentic,” if such a thing is even possible, but the way it will connect with a lot of little girls and more than a few little boys is real enough. Authenticity is in the heart of the beholder.

[Via: New York Magazine, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, NYTimes, USA Today, NY Daily News, Huffington Post, CNN, LA Times]

The Bros were on Live with Regis and Kelly today promoting Camp Rock. It was a great appearance, especially considering how tired and jet lagged they likely are.

Some of my favorite moments include:

• Joe FINALLY admitting that they get on each others nerves sometimes.
• The Boys discussing the pain of unauthorized clothes borrowing and sock marking.
• Joe’s tales of battling with an anal-retentive roommate (ahem…Nick).
• The Bros talking about how they sometimes miss each other when apart and on dates or with friends (in a sidekick kind of way).
• Kevin lamenting (sort of under his breath) that he wished they had time to date when asked what their dream date would be. Joe says dinner on the Eiffel Tower – ROCK ON!

Catch the appearance in three parts after the jump.

Part 1: Tight pants and roommate battles

Part 2: Celebrity crushes and missing sidekicks

Part 3: Music, movies and sideburns

[Via: mcbird13 (YouTube)]

Details from the Camp Rock premiere from our most favorite globetrotters! It seems it was a day full of good causes, good family, good friends, good food. Oh right, and a much anticipated premiere of a film in which y’all just happen to be.

At 3 pm we had a meet and greet with kids from the Make A Wish Foundation. It is always good to meet these kids that are going through so much.

The Red Carpet started at 4 pm. It was one of the longest Red Carpets ever. We had so much fun. There were tons of fans lined up on the sidewalk shouting when we came out.

The movie is amazing! It was fun to see all of the cast from Camp Rock. They really are great people and good friends. We hope that people will love it.

Get the detailed details of the day here.

They looked smashing on what was apparently an epic red carpet, watched the movie, and then went out for pizza with the cast.

Check out lots of great pics of the Boys on the red carpet here.

Today they just had an appearance on LIVE with Regis and Kelly (which was a very good appearance we will talk about later) and now they are off to Italy!

[Via: Jonas Brothers Official Myspace]

The Boys did their red carpet time last night at the Ziegfeld Theater premiere of Camp Rock in Manhattan on Wednesday.

The (very) advance murmurs on both the soundtrack and the film itself are decidedly mixed in general, but they take time out to single the Guys out for praise. Phew. If that is how it is going to be received, I will take it!!! But I am sure there is much more to come (*fingers crossed*).

One thing people do seem to be able to agree upon is that their stylist, Michelle Tomaszewski, is doing her job very well. Perez Hilton called her out quite directly – and she deserves it!

From the Jonas Brothers Special People Magazine, catch a recent photo of Michelle at work, after the jump…

(Click through for full page scan!)

[Via: JustJared, People Magazine]

This new E! clip includes a choice bit of new footage of the Guys doin’ their Camp Rock thing…it’s worth enduring the E!-ness!

Bear in mind, it always feels really weird to watch people you “know” (as themselves) acting. Personally, like with big televised live performances, I am both rooting for them and hyper-critical of them at the same time, at every gesture. And nervous (can’t imagine how they must feel).  For this reason, I know the TV premiere will be somewhat wonderfully painful!!

I think it is looking good, though – exciting!

Take a look after the jump.

[Via: E! Online; ZanessaLover4eva (YouTube)]

OK, We’ve sort of posted “Play My Music” from Camp Rock already. But it’s got a little video now!!! zOMG. It’s a lot of rehashed clips laid over the made-for-TV stage performance of the song. And it still holds up to repeat viewings.

Leave it to the Jonas to make what could easily be run-of-the-mill cheese into a fine Brie.

Have a taste, after the jump!

[Via: jonaspandemonium(YouTube)]

This one is for Mememoi who is on a quick vacation up north and who is normally the unofficial DCOM/Camp Rock liaison for Sibling Revelry (pretty much because she has a four year old and simply loves DCOMs.)

Connect Three performing Play My Music. I think Mememoi will be happy that you can undoubtedly hear Joe on this track – unlike We Rock.

I love it! Listen after the jump…

*Bonus Update* Demi Lavato & JB sing This is Real, This is Me from Camp Rock at the DC Games closing ceremony. Nice!

[Via jonasbrothersfan.com, lillianl0vesy0u (YouTube), inloveewithjonas (YouTube), Disney (image)]

Camp Rock!! Ohhhh, yes…I’m still excited! This video reminds me that this Cinderella story also contains a good dose of FAME (Oh, Leroy…).

BUT, the music video premiere this weekend left me with more nagging questions than satisfaction (notwithstanding Joe’s drumming dance move and that we get to hear Kevin’s singing voice). So:

1. Why are we seeing the climactic finale number 2 months before the movie is released?
2. Why is there a different version on TV, which I have no patience to sit down and watch, and when will someone get this version on YouTube?
3. And, most importantly: Where, oh, WHERE are Joe’s vocals on this track?????? He seems to have been reduced to that background robot voice. Uncool.

[Via: JonasPandemonium (YouTube)]