|
I have to wonder if she'll be carrying the faux-Hispanic thing and fake tan into the role of Glinda.
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2021 10:23
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 4, 2024 11:36 |
|
|
no amount of vocal talent could conspire to make those songs good
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2021 11:15
|
|
|
So, Sondheim just died.  I was just laughing about Bradley Whitford's impression of him in Tick, Tick... Boom! and now he's gone? Goddamn.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2021 01:43
|
|
|
I really have no words. I don’t usually find myself outright mourning a celebrity or even an artist but I’ve spent so much my life so close to his works that it’s hard to imagine he’s past tense now. The greatest, and there’ll never be greater.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2021 03:34
|
|
|
Just saw Z O M B I E S on Disney+, and it’s refreshing to see a musical that knows exactly what it is. It knows it’s a boy meets girl comedy word zombieism is a metaphor for racism. Really great dancing, probably could’ve used one or two more songs instead of reprises.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2021 06:55
|
|
|
Magic Hate Ball posted:I really have no words. I don’t usually find myself outright mourning a celebrity or even an artist but I’ve spent so much my life so close to his works that it’s hard to imagine he’s past tense now. The greatest, and there’ll never be greater. If I want to deep dive on Sondheim, got any pointers/a roadmap?
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2021 18:55
|
|
|
There are a lot of good video recorded performances of his best known plays. I’d start with Sweeney Todd, with Angela Lansbury- it’s a fun show, the macabre subject matter and dark humor make it pretty accessible to modern audiences.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2021 19:09
|
|
|
Maxwell Lord posted:There are a lot of good video recorded performances of his best known plays. I’d start with Sweeney Todd, with Angela Lansbury- it’s a fun show, the macabre subject matter and dark humor make it pretty accessible to modern audiences. I watched the one MHB posted, the first time he posted it actually.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2021 22:09
|
|
|
DeimosRising posted:If I want to deep dive on Sondheim, got any pointers/a roadmap? West Side Story. Excellent stage production, as the dancing and choreography has a lot more energy than the movie. Hope Spielberg can capture more of the stage play in his.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2021 22:43
|
|
|
The 2006 Broadway revival of Company is my favourite piece of Sondheim ever, and it's on YouTube! https://youtu.be/8fhW00fU1uQ Raúl Esparza was loving robbed at the Tonys.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2021 22:53
|
|
|
DeimosRising posted:If I want to deep dive on Sondheim, got any pointers/a roadmap? If you’re familiar with listening to musical cast albums, the run of original cast recordings from Company to Into the Woods are some of the best ever made, and are a fine example of his best work (all, I think, produced by Thomas Z Shepard, who was unbelievably capable of reproducing the tone of a theatre). The filmed original casts of Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park, and Into the Woods are all classics as well. Musically speaking, Sweeney Todd is his dramatic magnum opus - he sometimes said he could never write an opera, because he couldn’t think of keeping an audience occupied for an entire evening with his music alone, but it’s a shame he didn’t produce more sung-through pieces, because, though it hews closely to the play it’s based off of, Sondheim’s use of music is what makes it a truly unhinged evening. Something to keep an eye on in his work in general is his use of ironic pastiche, which you get lots of in almost every musical he wrote. Company riffs on all the musical styles that were popular when it premiered, Follies obviously uses pastiche to blur the lines between reality and memory (and unreality), A Little Night Music is almost entirely pastiche, etc etc. What makes this remarkable is when the pastiche breaks into earnestness, either by diverting away from it (like the moments of musical terror in Sweeney Todd, which are counteracted by the music hall patter of Mrs Lovett), or by developing within the framework of it. The Miller’s Son, which comes at the end of A Little Night Music, is in the style of a folk song, which at first feels like a bawdy celebration of carelessness, but gradually develops into a lively meditation on the frank awareness of mortality that the rest of the characters are too rigid to recognize. On top of all of this he was a phenomenal wordsmith and incredibly talented at mixing music with meaning. His two-part book of annotated lyrics is wonderfully catty but also deeply insightful, and it makes me sad he never wrote an equivalent for his music.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2021 08:25
|
|
|
Just got home from the Spielberg West Side Story. I think he absolutely NAILED it, and I'm a huge fan of the original movie. Ansel Elgort was the weakest link, especially when he was doing just about anything involving "talking" and not singing, but the rest of the cast was lovely. Not that he was terrible, for the record. Choreography was gorgeous. I cannot imagine this not getting a ton of Oscar nominations.
|
|
#
?
Dec 12, 2021 01:53
|
|
|
Yeah I forgot about this thread, but the Spielberg movie beat out the stage productions I saw as well as the 60s movies. The script changes and the context changes worked wonderfully too. Making Cool about Tony vs. Riff fighting over the gun/rumble like that, with the choreography with it, making America transition from apartments to streets , etc. we're all fantastic. Only thing I have an issue with is Somewhere; beautiful and poignant in the film, especially with the meta aspects, but the song is still such a good duet, making it solo makes it technically not as good of a song. Also glad they kept the play structure but retained the movies men vs. women America thing. Also works post assault where she changes her stance on America.
|
|
#
?
Dec 12, 2021 02:14
|
|
|
I gotta join in on the Spielberg Westside story love. The choreography was such fun and there so many amazing shots. The cast overall was fantastic, and the city felt so grimy and real. As I was exiting the theater, it was amusing to hear some younger audience members complain that about Tony's death.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2021 00:20
|
|
|
I loved Westside Story. The thing is gorgeous and incredibly relevant in how it deals with ideas of whiteness. But Tony was incredibly miscast. Rachel Zegler did such a great job with her take on Maria. She just feels authentically like this eighteen year old girl looking for romance who is quiet but mischievous. Similarly the Jets really did authentically feel like dirtbags. It's really hard to imagine him as having been the lead of the gang. I feel like Tony should be really intense, but clearly trying to do better and control himself.
|
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2021 15:01
|
|
|
I think Tony was bigger than the rest of the jets at least? Taller? So i guess physical leadership. But yeah Riff was just out dancing him. That being said I liked both renditions of 'Maria' and 'Cool' alot, but maybe those are carried by cinematography more. Agreed that Rachel was just fantastic.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 01:47
|
|
|
I think even then his physicality isn't really utilized that well. Like I'm sure that's true, but Chino, Riff, and Bernardo just have a lot more gravitas to their characters. But while they're elevated musical characters, I can relate to them. Tony in my mind should feel like he's always hanging from a thread, always just a bit too intense, always ready to get back into a brawl, but he's really, really trying to be a good guy.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 02:56
|
|
|
Ansel Elgort looks like he should be hosting a Youtube channel where he's "just asking questions" about phrenology.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 03:13
|
|
|
He looks like an attempt to clone Val Kilmer that went terribly wrong.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2021 03:40
|
|
|
Where can I find a list of the verbal parts that lead into great songs? I was thinking of a bit where I make a CD of just those parts with no singing.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2022 20:07
|
|
|
If you don't start with Meat Loaf - You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth, don't bother.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2022 03:52
|
|
|
Golden Bee posted:Where can I find a list of the verbal parts that lead into great songs? I was thinking of a bit where I make a CD of just those parts with no singing.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2022 03:54
|
|
|
This approaches slam poetry
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2022 09:21
|
|
|
I watched Jacques Demy's Donkey Skin last night. I think it's his most visually ambitious film. The tone, which perfectly captures the feeling of a fairy tale, straddles the line between Kids Movie and Maybe Don't Show This To Kids. I don't know. The threat of incest that's inherent with the fairy tale of Donkey Skin is kind of unavoidable, but it's never gross or exploitative, and instead feels like a tale of a woman's body and fate being controlled by men of authority, and the parental fear familiar to kids. There's a whole feature on the Criterion blu-ray that has a panel discussing both the fairy tale and the Demy film, and most of them saw it as kids and said the adult stuff just flew over their heads, and they analyze the whole thing, which was a nice insight to have. The music is the biggest failure for me. There's only one song that I actually liked. After the Prince has created a contest to see which woman's finger will fit in a ring, there is a song about a magician swindler selling potions that will shrink fingers, and a bunch of women sing about how they're gonna mutilate their fingers. Overall, I think it's an unsung Fantasy classic. Not my favorite Demy, cuz everything else is much stronger, but it might be an easier watch for the posters who couldn't get into Umbrellas of Cherbourg, since the musical numbers are pretty short and well spread out.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2022 19:07
|
|
|
I wanna talk about the Young Frankenstein musical from 2006. I love it dearly. The original cast had Roger Bart, Megan Mullally, and the guy who played The Monster in Van Helsing getting to reprise his role. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEkAM7KuDtI I saw that there was a new release of it last year and it's completely revised. Seems like Mel Brooks got permission to use the violin leitmotif from the movie, which wasn't in the original run. I prefer what they came up with for the old version though. The "Life, Life" theme is very strong.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2022 00:39
|
|
|
I've watched two more Bob Fosse films this week, Sweet Charity and Cabaret. Both were excellent, with Cabaret being amazing. The Blank Check podcast just covered his entire filmography, so I've been using this as an excuse to watch everything after loving All That Jazz last year. Nothing's really topped All That Jazz, but Cabaret is such a cinematic accomplishment that it's kind of irrelevent that it's not as endearing to me as ATJ. I really loved Sweet Charity, which seems to get more flack for being looser, meandering, and having a kind of flabby edit. Those are all valid criticisms, but the musical numbers and choreography are so good that I still rate it pretty highly. "Hey Big Spender" is an obvious high mark, but the film really hit it's high with the high art freak-out extended dance number, that was equally impressive, bizarre, and hilarious. Even as an amateur filmmaker, Sweet Charity shows Fosse's ability to balance all types of tones that are fun and engaging while also dark and bitter. Even when the film felt like it was losing steam, it will detour into another amazing dance number like the Rhythm of Life Church sequence. It's long, it's flabby, but it's a vibe, and it's a visual treat throughout. Cabaret really wowed me, because it ends on such a bittersweet tone, minus the sweet. The illusion of a good time is so hollow compared to the horrific imagery and ideas and emotions that have filled the story. I was expecting a big cohesive bow at the end, and instead I was left deflated in the best way possible. It is a depressing triumph that doesn't necessarily leave me depressed, but shaken. I kind of missed the bigger dance choreography from Sweet Charity, but the more intimate, dreamy haunting dance numbers are still wonderful. Just an excellent film, musical or otherwise.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2022 14:45
|
|
|
I’ve also been watching these films and generally agree with your sentiments. I liked all the dance and song numbers of Sweet Charity, especially “if my friends could see me now” and “ rhythm of life.” And the club dance sequence is so visually fun. But I find the ending doesn’t fit the tone of the rest of the film to me. Most of it is light and a bit naively hopeful, with witty dialogue and comedy. But then at the end you have Charity crying and begging for him not to leave. That part didn’t work for me. Overall, I enjoyed it. I had only seen Liza Minelli before in arrested development, so after her first number in Cabaret I quickly realized why she was so big. Cabaret is great. The kit cat club is visually so dark and weird and the mc feels a bit devilish. Liza is just magnetic, and all the editing to show the rise of nazis works so well. “Maybe this time”, “Mein Herr” and “Cabaret” are all great songs. And Liza just kills them and is so powerful. Also lol at “Two Ladies.” I also just watched All that Jazz last night. It rules, but digesting a bit.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2022 15:18
|
|
|
checkplease posted:I’ve also been watching these films and generally agree with your sentiments. I liked all the dance and song numbers of Sweet Charity, especially “if my friends could see me now” and “ rhythm of life.” And the club dance sequence is so visually fun. But I find the ending doesn’t fit the tone of the rest of the film to me. Most of it is light and a bit naively hopeful, with witty dialogue and comedy. But then at the end you have Charity crying and begging for him not to leave. That part didn’t work for me. Overall, I enjoyed it. That's straight up from Nights of Cabiria, though, which I love (and ultimately prefer). You start off seeing Cabiria/Charity being dumped on by the world, and its kind of bitter but also playful and kinda darkly funny in a mean way, then the movie makes you fall for them and sympathize with them and just want them to catch a break, only for the cycle to repeat itself. That time, though, it isn't funny because you care about them and just want them to be happy. It changes the tone on purpose, and lands on a gut-punch intentionally. I can understand that not being the most thrilling emotional experience for a viewer, but I happily eat that up. Same with Cabaret. The entire third act is dreadful, there's so much looming doom, the characters are getting more down, their relationships rapidly fraying, and then you get songs about embracing the fantasy of entertainment while there are literal nazis in the crowd. And it's 1933, so it's just going to get worse. It's not "fun", but it's great. The Money song also was a stand-out. It's really funny, but it's also the depressing truth for Sally (and the people in general) and ratchets up the tension between her, Brian and Max. Franchescanado fucked around with this message at 15:36 on Jul 27, 2022 |
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2022 15:31
|
|
|
I need to watch Nights of Cabiria it sounds like. I just don’t like people making my cool girl Charity cry I guess. But I feel like if the guy died from some sudden freak accident, it would have worked for me. I dunno, maybe I’ll feel that tone shift more on future rewatches. I think with Cabaret there’s also this sense of doom though. Like from the beginning, you know their relationship probably won’t last as Sally is just so fleeting. And the building up of Nazis highlights that all is this will soon disappear. So for me there’s not a big tone shift, even if the endings lingering shots are just so deflating. I gotta watch all these musical numbers again. All of them are just so good. Money is also hilarious.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2022 15:50
|
|
|
As much as I liked All that Jazz, I think Cabaret is the top Fosse. I don’t know what I was expecting when I saw it a few years ago but I was kind of floored by how dark it was. Still need to see Star 80 though.
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2022 17:11
|
|
|
Cabaret is the easier film to just put on and watch. All that Jazz definitely needs some knowledge behind fosse and his career. I haven’t seen Lenny yet, but at least read about it and the production.
|
|
#
?
Jul 28, 2022 15:44
|
|
|
Just watched Liza with a Z. Can confirm again that Liza knows how to sing. Fun stuff.
|
|
#
?
Aug 10, 2022 17:20
|
|
|
Resurrecting an old thread but I just got back from the Matilda musical movie and thought that it was interesting. Particularly Trunchbull's songs were pretty cool like Toe the Line and Physical Education. I also liked the Throughline with Matilda's story that she was writing throughout the course of the movie.
BioEnchanted fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Dec 9, 2022 |
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2022 22:15
|
|
|
BioEnchanted posted:Resurrecting an old thread but I just got back from the Matilda musical movie and thought that it was interesting. Particularly Trunchbull's songs were pretty cool like Toe the Line and Physical Education. I also liked the Throughline with Matilda's story that she was writing throughout the course of the movie. I watched this with my kid and threw it on Netflix as a nothing whatever and couldn’t stop watching it, I was telling my spouse, am I crazy or is this a decent film Actually we watched it a second time and liked it just as much
|
|
#
?
Dec 28, 2022 01:10
|
|
|
Cassette Moodcore posted:I watched this with my kid and threw it on Netflix as a nothing whatever and couldn’t stop watching it, I was telling my spouse, am I crazy or is this a decent film I will be honest, while I liked it I thought it was in a few ways a weaker movie than the Devito one, for example with the Bruce Bogtrotter situation. First of all, Bruce in the new movie doesn't really look like a fat kid, too uneven. He looks like he has a pillow under his shirt. Also the cake in the new one is slightly less impactful ironically because of the layer-cake aesthetic - they make the silhouette a triangle instead of a block. The cake in the Devito movie looked thick and stodgy like even one slice would kill you, but the layered version has too much empty space in the same overall silhouette so it looks less heavy, even if there is technically more cake shown. Also the ending of the cake scene is more impactful with Trunchbull simply reacting to the loss by slamming the plate over Bruce's head, her going back on her word in the new movie just felt less impactful because the chokey is already something she's known for using, so it just evokes the feeling of "Of COURSE she's doing that.", and the moment drags on and loses steam a bit, while the plate smash is quicker and more violent and therefore more shocking.
|
|
#
?
Dec 28, 2022 03:41
|
|
|
Franchescanado posted:That's straight up from Nights of Cabiria, though, which I love (and ultimately prefer). You start off seeing Cabiria/Charity being dumped on by the world, and its kind of bitter but also playful and kinda darkly funny in a mean way, then the movie makes you fall for them and sympathize with them and just want them to catch a break, only for the cycle to repeat itself. That time, though, it isn't funny because you care about them and just want them to be happy. Every post Charity Fosse project is on some level about how much Fosse resented having to remake Cabrina as a frothy G-rated musical comedy. I love how the big number in the show within the film in All That Jazz just hammers home how many songs in musicals are just sex things. It's a sex thing you loving moron! Let me make it a sex thing! gently caress you, they're dancing an orgy now! Deal with it!
|
|
#
?
Dec 28, 2022 04:31
|
|
|
I always like when movies have little jokes that you don't expect, like in the beginning of Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile there is a moment where in his first night in his new bedroom in the city the kid is jumping at shadows and asking an increasingly annoyed Alexa parody what the noises are. Like "What was that?" "That was a fire engine." "What was THAT!?" "That was a police car" *hears a clattering from the attic* "What was THAT?" "I do not know."
|
|
#
?
Dec 28, 2022 09:35
|
|
|
hey, musicals fans, the original Roxy cast album of the Rocky Horror Picture Show finally got put on spotify i had never listened to it before in good quality and wow, i actually think i might prefer it to the movie soundtrack!
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2022 16:54
|
|
|
BioEnchanted posted:I will be honest, while I liked it I thought it was in a few ways a weaker movie than the Devito one, for example with the Bruce Bogtrotter situation. First of all, Bruce in the new movie doesn't really look like a fat kid, too uneven. He looks like he has a pillow under his shirt. Also the cake in the new one is slightly less impactful ironically because of the layer-cake aesthetic - they make the silhouette a triangle instead of a block. The cake in the Devito movie looked thick and stodgy like even one slice would kill you, but the layered version has too much empty space in the same overall silhouette so it looks less heavy, even if there is technically more cake shown. Also the ending of the cake scene is more impactful with Trunchbull simply reacting to the loss by slamming the plate over Bruce's head, her going back on her word in the new movie just felt less impactful because the chokey is already something she's known for using, so it just evokes the feeling of "Of COURSE she's doing that.", and the moment drags on and loses steam a bit, while the plate smash is quicker and more violent and therefore more shocking. Oh yeah, agree with all this, hopefully this was a gateway movie to get her to watch the devito one
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2022 07:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 4, 2024 11:36 |
|
|
Bumping this thread to proudly declare... the Matilda musical is pretty good!
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2023 02:21
|
|