146. Pitch Perfect

Title: Pitch Perfect
Genre: Comedy, Music, Musical
Year: 2012

Summary: The film begins with "The Bellas", an all-girl a capella group from Barden College, performing at the Lincoln Center in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. The performance goes awry when soloist Aubrey, stressed from all the pressure, gets sick on stage. Four months later, a new student named Beca starts her studies at Barden College. Attending the activities fair, Beca meets Aubrey and Chloe of the Bellas, who are desperate to recruit new members for the club. Beca declines their offer to join, saying she can't sing. She then gets an internship at the local radio station, along with fellow freshman Jesse.

A month later, Beca's professor father visits her after finding out she hadn't been attending classes. He makes a deal with her that he'll let her move to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of producing music if she joins a club and proves that she tries to get involved in it.

Later, Beca heads to the showers and starts singing to herself. A naked Chloe corners her and begs her to audition for the Bellas. Beca does so at the last minute. She and eight other girls, including "Fat Amy", Lilly, and Cynthia Rose, are inducted into The Bellas. Meanwhile, Jesse wins a spot on the Treble Makers, the Bellas' all-male a capella rivals.

At practice, Aubrey's controlling nature gets on the nerves of the other girls. She is constantly critical of them and insistently has them use the same set list the Bellas have been using for years. This clashes greatly with Beca's contemporary style. Meanwhile, Beca hangs out with Jesse outside of the radio station, despite Aubrey's warning to the group not to get involved with Treble Makers. Beca plays several of her own mixes of contemporary songs for him, and he compliments her for her talent. He then tries to get Beca to watch the ending of The Breakfast Club, his favorite movie, after Beca tells him she does not like movies because they bore her and she never gets to the ending.

Despite their issues, the Bellas attend the regional a capella competition. On the way to the venue, the group stops for gas where Fat Amy is hit by a burrito by the Treble Makers in their own bus. After the other girls clean her up, they continue on to the venue but run out of gas since Fat Amy forgot to actually put any in the bus. They're then forced to call the Treble Makers to drive them to the venue. In spite of their bland set list, the group manages to place second at the regional a capella competition.

At the semifinals, Beca notices how bored the audience is with Aubrey's traditional arrangement, so she provides impromptu back-up, mash-up vocals. The Bellas come in third in the competition behind the Treble Makers and another group. Even though the audience was pleased, Aubrey was not and Beca quits the group. The Bellas make it into the Nationals after the other group was disqualified because their lead singer was discovered to be in high school, not college. They get together after Spring Break, but this time, Beca is not included.

During this time, Beca begins working as a DJ at the university radio station, playing her music on the overnight shift, and also steadily distancing herself from Jesse. She finds a copy of The Breakfast Club and watches it. She realizes how much she needs the Bellas in her life. Her father convinces her to rejoin the Bellas, who she finds falling apart. The now complete again Bellas have a heart-to-heart, and decide to kick things up a notch with Beca's 21st-century mash-ups. At the National Competition, the Bellas sing a piece arranged by Beca, including "Don't You (Forget About Me)", the theme from The Breakfast Club. The Bellas end up winning the competition and Beca and Jesse reunite with a kiss.

The next school year, Beca remains with the Bellas as they audition new members.