American Pop

This movie touched me and chilled me albeit not having any coherent plot. the animation characters play really well. (I am rotoscope tolerable). the story of the last century (up to the end of the 80's) through the life of a Jewish family and the musical mainstream genres of the decades.

Didn't expect to like this, but the immigrant-in-vaudeville storyline was something I'd never seen before. The story changes w/ each generation & this manages to thread 4 of them together seamlessly & concisely. The animation adds a layer of beautiful colors & imagery & the focus on trauma & dysfunction is as hard to turn away from as a car crash. I'd like to think the scene where the youngest guy passes an Orthodox Jew is a commentary on all his family lost, but maybe Bakshi just hates religion

It's got some good music, and the animation is interesting, but American Pop is too unfocused to be special or memorable.

Far and away the worst Bakshi thing I've seen. "Night Moves" my ass...

I respect what Bakshi seems to have been aiming for with this, but I don't think it's as coherent or as focused as it needs to be.

While Bakshi definitely earns an extra point here for his ambition, this just never fully gets off the ground. The animation during the musical sequences is excellent, but during the more dramatic scenes the limitations of rotoscoping become all too apparent. It's a shame, because this obviously means a lot to Bakshi. It's too heavy handed at times as well, with his music choices sometimes being a bit groan worthy.

The movie sparks discussion among people who have seen it, and at that level it's a success. But Bakshi's history of pop culture and the century that spawned it us underveloped and can't do more than scratch the surface. Interesting and worthwhile, but falls far short of its own ambition.

not great, but ambitious and worthwhile

Overambitious and unfocused, but still memorable. The rotoscoping works for once, because all the characters are animated that way.

100 years of musical breeding to produce Bob Seger.

I applaud Bakshi's ambition and music choices, but the rotoscoping made me physically sick to watch.

There's the usual Bakshi goodness in this, but it only comes out in spurts. This film is let down by a engaging yet overdone story across generations, bogged down by a generally lousy script, not to mention the little use of the mediocre animation. But like I said, it has its moments.

Ralph Bakshi tried with mix-technique to catch the feeling of the young American music culture traveling from the past to then present day. Unfortunately the animation parts and the plot were the weakest link of that try.

A very powerful film.

I think I'm becoming immune to pacing and editing problems or something, as I pretty much enjoyed this movie despite its flaws. And well, there was some very good music in it too.

Watching this while reading Mcgowan’s Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon is a trip. Fun little movie if you’re not obsessed with the grandeur it’s trying for

Coolpassagesoftime+bombkillsmom+war-piano-retardedsoldierlikesthenkillslol+it'swellmadeetc+nicepoetic/musicconnectionsthroughoutgenerations+sheOD-stretcher-tucksherinbetter

This seemed so wild and edgy and adult when I was 11 years old. Now it just seems stupid and confused. And the animation kinda sucks too.

Rotoscoping works very well here. Yeah, as everyone says, the plot and pacing are quite the mess, but I found it very tolerable with it looking and sounding so good. The last generation is my favorite with the crazy protagonist. He dances while doing everything.

Skip right to the hippies. Some great psychedelic scenes, even moving at times.