Corbin and Olesya Help the Hungry

Corbin Bleu and Olesya Rulin are just a few of the stars who lent a helping hand to feed the homeless at the Los Angeles Mission yesterday (November 25). Remember, during this holiday season, it's important to give more than just thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Olesya Rulin to Star in Updated Virgin Mary Story

Olesya Rulin will be starring in The Christmas Movie, a modern take on the story of the Virgin Mary. Olesya will play the role of Mary, a pregnant woman used to a life of luxury who discovers true love after finding herself in a trailer park in New Mexico.

Sounds cute, we'll definitely be checking it out. The film will be released next year.

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Olesya Rulin Joins No H8

Olesya Rulin is the latest celebrity joining the No H8 campaign. The campaign features portraits of everyday Californians and celebrities who are shocked and disappointed in the state's choice to ban same-sex marriage.

It's really good to hear this! We've always wondered where High School Musical stars stand on these kinds of issues, and now we know where Olesya stands on gay marriage. And we totally agree!

And don't forget, Olesya's movie "Flyin' By", costarring Billy Ray Cyrus, is out on DVD today! Go and pick up a copy!

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Happy Birthday, Olesya!

Olesya Rulin's birthday is today! The Russian native turns 23. Congratulations!

It's also St. Patrick's Day! Luck of the Irish :)

Pictures They Probably Didn't Want You To See

We know we said we wouldn't be posting this weekend, but someone sent us these pictures and we HAD to post them.

It looks like Vanessa Hudgens isn't the only High School Musical star who knows how to take a naughty picture. Here are Monique Coleman, Jemma McKenzie Brown, Oleysa Rulin, and Corbin Bleu exhibiting some un-role-model-like behavior.

BORING

Ultimate Disney's final interview for High School Musical 3: Senior Year is with Olesya Rulin and it's just as boring as the two that came before it.

Click here to read it.

Olesya Filming New Movie In Texas

Olesya Rulin is a busy bee filming a movie in downtown Rosenberg, Texas. Alongside her costar for the unknown film, Josh Danziger, Olesya was filming at Two-M's Malts and Burger Malt this morning.

The film's director is Aaron Rottinghaus and its producer is Ryan Rettig. The only movie Kelsi has scheduled for 2009 is Flyin' By, and its apparently done filming. So we have no idea what one this is!

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Olesya Rulin Likes Humuhumu?

As much as we love Ashley Tisdale and Sharpay, we really cannot stand the High School Musical 2 song "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a". It blows our mind that Olesya Rulin considers it one of her favorites, as she expressed in this interview!

And The Winners Are... Part Two

We've already released the first part of the winners for our High School Musical voting contest. Now here's the second! Thanks for all of you who voted!

BEST FILM OF THE SERIES
High School Musical 3: Senior Year

BEST SOUNDTRACK OF THE SERIES
High School Musical 3: Senior Year the soundtrack

BEST LEAD ACTRESS
Ashley Tisdale

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Olesya Rulin

BEST LEAD ACTOR
Zac Efron

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Bart Johnson

BEST NON-HSM THING ON DISNEY CHANNEL
Hannah Montana

High School Musical 3: Senior Year Review

The following may contain SPOILERS.

As a fan, High School Musical 3: Senior Year was extremely satisfactory. It was fun, entertaining, and provided closure for the characters we've been following for three years. However, from a critical perspective, we noticed some problems; but, we're going to focus on the good first.

The movie opens with a very sweaty Zac Efron close-up - something that made all the girls in the theater squeal with delight! - as Troy is in the middle of a championship basketball game. Of course, the Wildcats win. The rest of the movie, is focused on the East High students focusing on their future while prom, graduation, and the spring musical are on the horizon.

Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) is keeping an early acceptance/orientation invitation to Stanford a secret from Troy, who is caught between persuing basketball and performing arts (he is being considered for a Julliard scholorship). Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale), Ryan (Lucas Grabeel), and Kelsi (Olesya Rulin) are also being considered for the scholarship. And leave it to Sharpay to do whatever it takes to earn the scholarship - including stealing center stage from Gabriella once again and having her brother court Kelsi in order to obtain her "Troy and Gabriella" music.

The film is full of energry. The bigger budget of the theatrical release is immediately noticed. The wardrobe is amazing, the choreography is unbelievable, and the songs are inspiring. "I Want It All" is a true Broadway musical. "Now or Never" and "High School Musical" are among the best songs from all three movies, with "Scream" and "Walk Away" easily becoming the best solos from the series.

Zac Efron has evolved so much since the first movie. "Scream" showcases his acting abilities, and he has proved to have learned the most professionally from this amazing experience. Ashley Tisdale, who was praised for her performance in High School Musical 2, is excellent once again, providing some comic relief. Vanessa Hudgens proves that her talent peaked with the second movie, as her performance is not as believable or moving as it was in the previous installment. Lucas Grabeel proves to still be the most talented of the cast, with the other castmembers doing the best they can with the material provided. The newcomers, Jemma McKenzie Brown, Matt Prokop, and Justin Martin are not welcomed with trumpets. Either they weren't able to showcase their talent properly, or they had no talent to start with.

In short, this movie surpasses High School Musical 2 and is equal, if not better than, High School Musical. It is a incredibly special way to say goodbye to these character, whom we might never see again. The ending scene, which involves the famous jumping poses following graduation, made us emotional! It was so sad to watch this movie come to such closure.

However, in a critic's eye, there are a few areas in which the film lacks. We can start with the script. High School Musical 3: Senior Year is not as well-written as the previous two films, despite all three being penned by Peter Barsocchini. The plot is too scattered, with several going on at once: Troy and Gabriella saying goodbye, Troy's future, Gabriella's future, prom, graduation, the spring musical, the competition for the Julliard scholarship, Sharpay plotting, Ryan courting Kelsi, Chad and Troy growing apart, Chad and Taylor advancing their relationship, and more! With so much going on, the movie has no strong central plot other than senior year in high school, which, to be fair, might be what Barsocchini intended to do.

However, the problems continue with underused characters and plot lines. Taylor (Monique Coleman) had little importance in this movie. After her part was drastically reduced in the second film, we had hoped she would have a bigger part in this film. That hope was not fulfilled. Even Sharpay seemed to have a smaller part! And her battle with Tiara, a new sophomore character, could have been so much better. However, despite her reduced role and the fact that she's the "villain" in all three movies, we still empathize for Sharpay, who is publically embarrassed when Jimmie (Prokop) forces her off stage during the musical and Tiara (McKenzie Brown) takes over her role. Corbin Bleu, whose side storyline of growing apart from Troy could have been expanded, would also seem underused if it weren't for "The Boys Are Back".

These problems, however, cannot compare to the movie's good aspects. Like we said, this could very well be the best High School Musical film! And now time to give it a score... In fact, to mark the end of a fantastic, entertaining, heartwarming film series, we'll score all three!

• High School Musical: 9.7
• High School Musical 2: 9.2
• High School Musical 3: 9.75
  

Everyone Was There: the Premiere of High School Musical 3!

The United States was finally able to herald in the arrival of High School Musical 3: Senior Year last night, Thursday, in Los Angeles!

EVERYONE was there!: Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale (who was sporting darker locks!), Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Jemma McKenzie Brown, Milly and Becky Rosso (the British twins from "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody"), Lori Loughlin ("Full House", "90210"), Kaycee Stroh, Paula Abdul, Chris Warren, Jr., Anna Maria Perez de Tagle ("Hannah Montana" and Camp Rock), Selena Gomez, Jennifer Stone ("Wizards of Waverly Place"), Madison Pettis ("Cory in the House"), Chelsea Staub (Minutemen and, soon, "J.O.N.A.S!"), Meaghan Jette Martin (Camp Rock), Alyson Stoner, Brenda Song, David Henrie, Olesya Rulin, Kenny Ortega and dog and High School Musical star Manly, and Cody Linely and "Dancing With the Stars" partner Julianne Hough! Plus SO many more, but we felt those were the most important!

Noticeably absent, however, was Lucas Grabeel, who we now deem antisocial.

Here are videos and pictures from the premiere! There may be more on the way!

Are You Ready to Dance With Joy?

Corbin Bleu, Lucas Grabeel, Monique Coleman, and Olesya Rulin appear in this Dance With Joy commercial. Corbin has a few words to say after.

Photo Shoots

We love these!

Below are the links to individual photo albums from the shoots for High School Musical 3: Senior Year!

Zac Efron/Troy
Vanessa Hudgens/Gabriella
Ashley Tisdale/Sharpay
Lucas Grabeel/Ryan
Corbin Bleu/Chad
Monique Coleman/Taylor
Olesya Rulin/Kelsi
The Whole Cast
Zac and Vanessa/Troy and Gabriella

Olesya Rulin Plays Fast Ball

Twist sat down with Olesya Rulin and played Celebrity Fast Ball. They named her High School Musical 3: Senior Year costars and she had to say the first word that came into her mind! Watch below to see what she said!

High School Musical Stars Declare Themselves

Zac Efron, Olesya Rulin, Monique Coleman, and newcomer Matt Prokop appear in the video below to declare themselves. Watch and it'll all make sense!

Olesya and Billy Ray's New Film

High School Musical star Olesya Rulin and Miley Cyrus' dad Billy Ray star together in a new film entitled Flying By, about a guy who gets his high school band back together after 25 years. Interesting... It's set for release next year.

Our Top 10 HSM Actors

There are ten main High School Musical actors. We've decided to rank them based on how we like them. The lower the number, the more we like them (i.e. we hate number 10 but love number 1).

1. Ashley Tisdale. We think we've made it pretty clear that she's our favorite. We can't give any reasons why, she just is!
2. Zac Efron. He is just so hot we cannot control ourselves. Plus he seems pretty humble.
3. Lucas Grabeel. So talented, yet so underestimated.
4. Monique Coleman. If there's anybody who's been humbled by the success of High School Musical, it's her.
5. Kaycee Stroh. We used to hate her, but now we love her!
6. Ryne Sanborn. He's got a certain charm that we find adorable.
7. Chris Warren, Jr. He seems humble, but we see him as the person who secretly thinks he's all that and a bag of chips.
8. Vanessa Hudgens. She's pretty and talented, but really whiney. Plus, she stole Zac!
9. Corbin Bleu. He has got to be one of the most annoying people. Maybe if he didn't put his hair in a ponytail, we'd feel differently.
10. Olesya Rulin. Sure, she may be the quiet and sweet Kelsi in the movies, but reports from our insiders say that she's the biggest diva. She even wears her sunglasses indoors. Psh...

Well, we're sorry if we've offended anyone with our comments, but just remember it's out opinion. We hope you're inspired to think about how YOU would rank these stars. Email us at disneyhsmblog@yahoo.com because we'd love to read your list!

Olesya in Los Angeles, Too!

Olesya Rulin was spotted in Los Angeles. She was attending the "Planet Green" premiere and concert.

Is ANYONE filming High School Musical 3: Senior Year?!?!?

Vanessa and Olesya, Too!

Ashley Tisdale was not the only one at the Utah Jazz vs. LA Lakers game last night. She was joined by costars Vanessa Hudgens and Olesya Rulin.

Why So Blue? Plus Filming Details!

Filming for High School Musical 3: Senior Year began on Saturday, as we all know. And we have some details for you! But before that, let's talk about Ashley Tisdale.

There are reports that Ashley has been down in the dumps lately. She had a police escort with her at all times and the only person she would talk to was Vanessa Hudgens. There's no word on why she's so sad, but we hope it doesn't affect her performance and that she cheers up soon! Plus, it's a good thing Vanessa was even there to hang out with Ashley - she wasn't even scheduled to shoot that day.

Now for some other notes on filming and such.

• Zac Efron, Chris Warren Jr., Ryne Sanborn, and Corbin Bleu have filmed some classroom scenes.
• Some of the last scenes have been shot (note: they don't shoot the scenes in order; "You Are the Music in Me (Sharpay Version)" was the last scene filmed in the second film).
• No outside scenes have been filmed yet.
• Ashley Tisdale has been seen wearing a pink cowgirl outfit (what scene will that be for?!?) and Olesya Rulin had been wearing sunglasses indoors all day. Apparently, the extras made fun of her.
• Director Kenny Ortega was put in charge of Ashley's dog.
• All actors have at least three security officers, a fan was escorted off the site, and several extras were asked to leave because of cell phone use.