When Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah are singing gospel and strutting for God under the good-time direction of Todd Graff (his Camp is one of the best musicals you never saw), Joyful Noise goes down easy. Sadly, Dolly and the Queen are forced to speak dialogue that would choke two Meryl Streeps. Plastic surgery jokes (at Parton's expense) and liposuction gags (aimed at Latifah) have the subtlety of an anvil. Set in Pacashau, Georgia, the movie casts the two stars as rivals to head the  Divinity Church choir as they travel to Los Angeles for the nationals. Or is it the sectionals. I can never tell what's at stake, just like I can't on Glee, the flailing TV series this derivative movie so wants to treat as a kissin' cousin. Lots of talented young singers decorate the scenery, notably Jeremy Jordan (late of Broadway's failed Bonnie & Clyde but soon-to-open in Newsies)who has vocal and acting chops that shine even in this bucket of Glee Goes Gospel cornpone.

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• Video: Peter Travers Reviews 'The Devil Inside' and 'Joyful Noise' in 'At the Movies With Peter Travers'

“The Pretender”

This song wasn't part of the planned track listing for 2007's Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and was put together in a day. "It happened after we recorded a lot of stuff," said Dave Grohl. Yet it ended up as the album opener and the lead single. Grohl called it "a stomping Foo Fighters uptempo song with a little bit of Chuck Berry in it." The singer hinted at the lyrics' political overtones: "Everyone's been f---ed over before and I think a lot of people feel f---ed over right now and they're not getting what they were promised."