[Every Monday, I'm going to be counting down my 52 favorite musical numbers from musical movies and TV shows. I might not like the full movie/show, but the number makes the list for various reasons: 1) I have to like the song, 2) the visual of how the number is performed is most likely unique or fun, 3) both song and visual mixes well to create an exciting or powerful number. So let's get to the next on the list.]
I did not like this overall movie. The songs aren't all that great. The visuals tend to be lacking (except for the women). The story is just not there. And if you took a shot every time somebody said "Guido," you'd be dead in 5-10 minutes. I think they say that damn name more often than The Room gives surprised salutations. But the best part of the movie? Fergie. That's right, with Oscar winners dripping from this movie's every facet, the best part of this movie is Fergie. And, of course, that's mainly because her song is the best, from the song itself to the visuals/cinematography and choreography. It's just fantastic. See for yourself...
Showing posts with label nine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nine. Show all posts
12.28.2009
R2D2's Ultimate Top 10 Countdown Of The 2000s #7 - Musicals.
[For the last 10 days of the decade, I'm doing a Top 10 list a day, all culminating into an ultimate post of Top 10 lists. We have previously seen Top 10 Comedies, Dramas, Animation, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, and Foreign. Now we're moving on.]
I grew up with a musical family, and, as such, with musicals. However, while, say, my mother is more into the classic musicals such as The Sound of Music, I like more quirky musicals, musicals with interesting concepts and catchy songs. And now that I've seen Nine, I can officially release this list. So, that being said, let's get on with it.
Not a musical in the classic sense, this is more of a movie--a fairy tale--about music. With a couple exceptions, most of the music doesn't even have words. But it's a great story/modern fairy tale surrounding the magic of music. But as it isn't a musical in the classic sense of the word, I placed it in the #10 spot.
Yeah, a mixture of purposefully clever placement and coincidence, my #9 spot goes to none other than Nine. It's a movie about movie making and thus has some clever cinematography. The movie is lax in the plot department, and it suffers because of it, but it has some decent musical numbers, especially Fergie's number, "Be Italian."
Tim Burton's adaptation of the blood-thirsty barber out for revenge. Sure, the singing is decent at best, and only about half the songs are overtly catchy, but it's still a fun movie. And who doesn't love the delectably humorous song "A Little Priest"?
Rob Marshall, whose other big musical has already been on this list, gave us this Oscar-winning film about murder and the attempt at getting away with it. Beautiful and scantily clad women dance around singing numerous catchy songs, the best of which include "The Cell Block Tango," "And All That Jazz," and the surprisingly good performance by John C. Reilly, "Mr. Cellophane."
There are really only 3-4 main songs in this movie, the two biggest being "Happy Working Song" and "That's How You Know." After a while, the singing dies down to correlate with Giselle adapting to the real world. So it's mostly a pseudo-musical, but that's enough musical to make my list. The movie was a lot better than I expected, too, with its homage to previous Disney films and their cliches. Self-deprecating humor while still respecting the source material. It's like Shaun of the Dead, but without the zombies.
Based on Homer's "The Odyssey," this film by the Coen Brothers is also not your typical musical. But there is enough singing interspersed throughout that I would label it as such. Between the song of the Lotus Eaters (baptism folks), the song of the Sirens, and all the Soggy Bottom Boys stuff, it's a fun little musical. Granted, it's really not the musical aspect of the film that makes me love it, but the modern adaptation of a classic story. Oh, and it's funny ("Damn! We're in a tight spot!"). But ever time I watch it, I can't help but get "Don't leave nobody but the baby" (the Siren Song) stuck in my head... catchy tune.
If you've never heard of it, the original Reefer Madness came about in the 30s (then titled "Tell Your Children") to warn people that weed will cause you to play the piano at excess and want to have giant orgies. It spawned an off-broadway musical adaptation which was then adapted into a film... and it's freakin' hilarious. It takes a couple prim-and-proper, overly naive 50s-esque teens and introduces them to marijuana, resulting in a funny chain of events that involves selfishness, forgetfulness, sex, and murder. And the cast is great, too. It involves Kristen Bell, Christian Campbell, Neve Campbell, Alan Cumming, Ana Gasteyer, Steven Weber, and John Kassir (AKA the voice of the Crypt-Keeper, actually reprising his stage performance for the movie). It's hard to pinpoint my favorite songs, but they'd have to include "Jimmy Takes a Hit," "Little Mary Sunshine," and "Murder."
I wasn't sure whether or not to include this on the list, considering it was more of a web-based, 3-episode long movie/mini-series. But it's just so good I couldn't not include it (double negative and all). Directed by Joss Whedon, the story follows a wannabe supervillain named Dr. Horrible played by Neil Patrick Harris. He's in love with a woman from his laundromat named Penny (Felicia Day), but she starts seeing his arch-nemesis, the self-absorbed Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion). It also has an ending that, well... that I can't spoil. If I absolutely had to pick a favorite song (which is near impossible at this point), I'd have to say "Brand New Day." But I haven't even mentioned the greatest part of all this. If you purchase the DVD, there are a couple different commentaries for the movie, one of which is a musical in and of itself. Yes, they made a musical commentary. Now that is brilliance right there.
Brought to us by the guy who did Saw 2, 3, and 4, Repo! The Genetic Opera is a gory rock opera about a future where there is an epidemic of organ failure, and a company is set up to loan you organs. But if you can't pay up, they send out Repo Men to come kill you and take the organs back. And yes, if you've seen the recent trailer for the film Repo Men with Liev Schreiber, Jude Law, and Forest Whitaker, it's a complete and total rip-off of this musical... but without the music, and more action-based. It has a totally interesting cast, and its biggest shock is that Paris Hilton is actually good in it (because she's basically playing herself). Practically the entire movie is sung (it is an opera, after all), but the sung dialogue is just like an interlude in between the big musical numbers... the best of which include "Legal Assassin," "At the Opera Tonight," "Chase the Morning," and, the best song in the movie, "Zydrate Anatomy." It's full of fun acting, cartoonish humor, great songs, intense moments, and a great (operatic) story.
Interesting that my number one on the list has the most creative songs, yet they're (mostly) songs that have already been written... and not for musical purposes. It's a fantastical (and visually stunning) film about love and the bohemian lifestyle. It takes big, popular songs of the past and uses them in a musical setting. Some of the most creative uses are the medleys, like the "Elephant Love Medley" and "Zidler's Rap." But my personal favorite, in correlation with the drama of the scene, is "El Tango de Roxanne." It's a beautiful, powerful, and chilling scene that always gives me goosebumps. So, great acting + great visuals + great music + great story = great movie, and my #1 musical choice of the decade.
End Note: This list would be much different had it been a list of "Top 10 Songs from Musicals of the 2000s." In that case, "Falling Slowly," the main song from Once, would have topped the list... because while I think the song is incredibly beautiful, I didn't care all that much for the movie itself. Hence, why the movie didn't make the list, so go ahead and shoot me now.
Top 10 Musicals of the 2000s
I grew up with a musical family, and, as such, with musicals. However, while, say, my mother is more into the classic musicals such as The Sound of Music, I like more quirky musicals, musicals with interesting concepts and catchy songs. And now that I've seen Nine, I can officially release this list. So, that being said, let's get on with it.
10. August Rush (2007)
Not a musical in the classic sense, this is more of a movie--a fairy tale--about music. With a couple exceptions, most of the music doesn't even have words. But it's a great story/modern fairy tale surrounding the magic of music. But as it isn't a musical in the classic sense of the word, I placed it in the #10 spot.
9. Nine (2009)
Yeah, a mixture of purposefully clever placement and coincidence, my #9 spot goes to none other than Nine. It's a movie about movie making and thus has some clever cinematography. The movie is lax in the plot department, and it suffers because of it, but it has some decent musical numbers, especially Fergie's number, "Be Italian."
8. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Tim Burton's adaptation of the blood-thirsty barber out for revenge. Sure, the singing is decent at best, and only about half the songs are overtly catchy, but it's still a fun movie. And who doesn't love the delectably humorous song "A Little Priest"?
7. Chicago (2002)
Rob Marshall, whose other big musical has already been on this list, gave us this Oscar-winning film about murder and the attempt at getting away with it. Beautiful and scantily clad women dance around singing numerous catchy songs, the best of which include "The Cell Block Tango," "And All That Jazz," and the surprisingly good performance by John C. Reilly, "Mr. Cellophane."
6. Enchanted (2007)
There are really only 3-4 main songs in this movie, the two biggest being "Happy Working Song" and "That's How You Know." After a while, the singing dies down to correlate with Giselle adapting to the real world. So it's mostly a pseudo-musical, but that's enough musical to make my list. The movie was a lot better than I expected, too, with its homage to previous Disney films and their cliches. Self-deprecating humor while still respecting the source material. It's like Shaun of the Dead, but without the zombies.
5. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Based on Homer's "The Odyssey," this film by the Coen Brothers is also not your typical musical. But there is enough singing interspersed throughout that I would label it as such. Between the song of the Lotus Eaters (baptism folks), the song of the Sirens, and all the Soggy Bottom Boys stuff, it's a fun little musical. Granted, it's really not the musical aspect of the film that makes me love it, but the modern adaptation of a classic story. Oh, and it's funny ("Damn! We're in a tight spot!"). But ever time I watch it, I can't help but get "Don't leave nobody but the baby" (the Siren Song) stuck in my head... catchy tune.
4. Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (2005)
If you've never heard of it, the original Reefer Madness came about in the 30s (then titled "Tell Your Children") to warn people that weed will cause you to play the piano at excess and want to have giant orgies. It spawned an off-broadway musical adaptation which was then adapted into a film... and it's freakin' hilarious. It takes a couple prim-and-proper, overly naive 50s-esque teens and introduces them to marijuana, resulting in a funny chain of events that involves selfishness, forgetfulness, sex, and murder. And the cast is great, too. It involves Kristen Bell, Christian Campbell, Neve Campbell, Alan Cumming, Ana Gasteyer, Steven Weber, and John Kassir (AKA the voice of the Crypt-Keeper, actually reprising his stage performance for the movie). It's hard to pinpoint my favorite songs, but they'd have to include "Jimmy Takes a Hit," "Little Mary Sunshine," and "Murder."
3. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008)
I wasn't sure whether or not to include this on the list, considering it was more of a web-based, 3-episode long movie/mini-series. But it's just so good I couldn't not include it (double negative and all). Directed by Joss Whedon, the story follows a wannabe supervillain named Dr. Horrible played by Neil Patrick Harris. He's in love with a woman from his laundromat named Penny (Felicia Day), but she starts seeing his arch-nemesis, the self-absorbed Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion). It also has an ending that, well... that I can't spoil. If I absolutely had to pick a favorite song (which is near impossible at this point), I'd have to say "Brand New Day." But I haven't even mentioned the greatest part of all this. If you purchase the DVD, there are a couple different commentaries for the movie, one of which is a musical in and of itself. Yes, they made a musical commentary. Now that is brilliance right there.
2. Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)
Brought to us by the guy who did Saw 2, 3, and 4, Repo! The Genetic Opera is a gory rock opera about a future where there is an epidemic of organ failure, and a company is set up to loan you organs. But if you can't pay up, they send out Repo Men to come kill you and take the organs back. And yes, if you've seen the recent trailer for the film Repo Men with Liev Schreiber, Jude Law, and Forest Whitaker, it's a complete and total rip-off of this musical... but without the music, and more action-based. It has a totally interesting cast, and its biggest shock is that Paris Hilton is actually good in it (because she's basically playing herself). Practically the entire movie is sung (it is an opera, after all), but the sung dialogue is just like an interlude in between the big musical numbers... the best of which include "Legal Assassin," "At the Opera Tonight," "Chase the Morning," and, the best song in the movie, "Zydrate Anatomy." It's full of fun acting, cartoonish humor, great songs, intense moments, and a great (operatic) story.
1. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Interesting that my number one on the list has the most creative songs, yet they're (mostly) songs that have already been written... and not for musical purposes. It's a fantastical (and visually stunning) film about love and the bohemian lifestyle. It takes big, popular songs of the past and uses them in a musical setting. Some of the most creative uses are the medleys, like the "Elephant Love Medley" and "Zidler's Rap." But my personal favorite, in correlation with the drama of the scene, is "El Tango de Roxanne." It's a beautiful, powerful, and chilling scene that always gives me goosebumps. So, great acting + great visuals + great music + great story = great movie, and my #1 musical choice of the decade.
End Note: This list would be much different had it been a list of "Top 10 Songs from Musicals of the 2000s." In that case, "Falling Slowly," the main song from Once, would have topped the list... because while I think the song is incredibly beautiful, I didn't care all that much for the movie itself. Hence, why the movie didn't make the list, so go ahead and shoot me now.
12.27.2009
NINE.
As a fan of musicals (I was raised with them and come from a pretty big musical family), I knew I was going to see this. It also didn't hurt that it was fully of people (both behind and in front of the camera) who either won or were nominated for an Oscar. But then reviews started coming out, a lot of them stating that the film was somewhere between pretty good and great, and most leaning toward merely "pretty good." I suppose this is the part where I usually do my plot description, but that's really the film's primary fault: there really isn't one. If I had to try, I'd say it's the following: a famous filmmaker, Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis), is having a bit of writer's block for his upcoming film. So he tries to just get away from his crew (including Judi Dench) whilst cheating on his wife (Marion Cotillard) with Carla (Penelope Cruz). There's also a reporter for an American fashion magazine (Kate Hudson), visions of his dead mother (Sophia Loren), as well as daydreams about a prostitute from his childhood (Fergie). All the while trying to figure out a script to be able to give to his leading lady and muse (Nicole Kidman).Basically, it's more of a character study than anything. And if you couldn't figure it out on your own, over half the songs constantly repeat the name "Guido," making sure you understand this is all about him. And I don't mean this as a bad thing... I suppose one of the movie's main themes is Guido's selfishness and possible narcissism and how it affects everyone around him.
But really, there is absolutely no real plot to carry the movie, and I think that's where it suffers the most. Well that and the fact that about a third of the songs are kinda boring. I had a couple friends at the movie, too, and one of them had the complete polar opposite opinion in one regard. But as she tends to have worse taste in films, I'll go ahead and say I'm probably right in this case (and the fact that most of the reviews out there share the same thought as me). And the opinion? (Mine:) Kate Hudson's performance wasn't the greatest in the film, while Fergie blew them all out of the water (My friend: But Fergie just sat in a chair, and Kate Hudson danced around! Me: *le sigh*). Fergie had the best and most memorable scene in the film, the best choreographed number, the best edited scene, and the best song (which I suppose is why they used it in the trailer). It's just unfortunate that all the songs weren't at that same level. I'm not saying that was the only good song, though. No, there were a lot of good songs, and a lot of the songs were filmed really well. I just mean that that one was the best (in my humble opinion).
The acting was outstanding, of course, with all these great actors and actresses. Though with all these great people in one movie, you can't have them all with big parts. There are tons of beautiful women in the movie, but only a couple of them are in the movie more than 5-10 minutes (these being Penelope Cruz and Marion Cotillard. Nicole Kidman comes in third, then Kate Hudson and Fergie). Judi Dench is also in it quite a bit, and she does really well with her role. Sophia Loren only seems to be there so the movie can go "Hey, look, we have Sophia *beepin'* Loren!" Will this one be another Oscar nom for Day-Lewis? Probably not, but he still did brilliantly as usual. And he was surprisingly funny. I wasn't expecting the amount of humor he brought to it.
Overall, the movie is gorgeous in every way possible. The cinematography is superb (and you wouldn't expect any less from the director of Chicago). The women are beautiful and scantily clad (and you wouldn't expect any less from the director of Chicago). The musical numbers are dream-like and fascinating (and you... OK, you get it). Good music, good acting, decent writing, poor plotting. In other words, it could have been better, but it was still pretty dang good.
A Keanu 'Whoa'
6.20.2009
R2D2... The One With Movies I Can't F**king Wait For.
I haven't done one of these in a while, so here we are. I've been thinking of doing this for a couple weeks, but decided the time is right.- Just to get it out of the way, release Half-Blood Prince already! It's my favorite book of the series, and rumor has it, it's the best film thus far. Stupid Warner Bros. for pushing it back 8 months...
- I just saw the trailer for Zombieland, and my God, does this movie look awesome. I've known about it for a while, but the trailer made it a #1 priority. It'll be like merging Shaun of the Dead with Hot Fuzz... though Americanized. Woody Harrelson? Jesse Eisenberg (coming off his last great -land movie, Adventureland)? Abigail Breslin? Emma Stone? And Bill Murray as a zombie cameo? How freaking awesome is that? Come out, already!
- So, who else is hyped about Gamer? Gerard Butler, Michael C. Hall, and Ludacris in what appears to be Death Race meets Battle Royale meets Halo. A movie about real people that can be controlled by other people like video game characters to fight in real battles... To quote Michael Cera in Juno: "Wizard."
- Similarly, I also saw a trailer recently for Surrogates, a Sci-Fi Action/Thriller with Bruce Willis about android look-alikes that are controled by the people they look like from a safe environment to partake in anything the real person would be afraid to do themselves. And then somebody finds a way to kill the surrogates that also kill the people. Thrills ensue. Looks awesome.
- Pandorum. I've only seen the trailer once, but it has Ben Foster in it, and it looks like a freakin' creepy sci-fi movie like Alien or Event Horizon or something.
- The Last Airbender. No trailers yet. And only two or three real pictures. And it's M. Night Shyamalan. However, I was a huge fan of the show (full name, Avatar: The Last Airbender), and regardless of casting all three of the leads as white (while everybody else in the film is Asian of some kind... as they should be), I'm still excited to see it (it helps casting Dev Patel as Zuko). M. Night, you better do this film justice. I want to see two (good) sequels so there can be one film for each season.
- Regardless of how others feel, I'm a fan of the Saw series (if for nothing else, the brilliant continuity). And as this sixth and (supposedly) final film of the series comes out this year, along with the rumored, much-anticipated return of Cary Elwes as Dr. Gordon, I couldn't be more excited.
- 9/Nine. Two movies. I could have included District 9 and done all three together, but District 9 still hasn't won me over. I'll see it, but it hasn't reached a super-excitement level with me yet. I've been excited about the Burton-produced 9 since the first trailer came out last year. And the musical aspect along with the stunning star/Oscar power of Nine, who wouldn't be excited for it? Both have star-studded casts, actually. 9 has Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau, and Christopher Plummer. Nine has Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren, and Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson... and it's directed by Oscar-nominated Rob Marshall (Chicago).
Go check out all the trailers for these films! What movies are y'all excited for?
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