Chicago

It's time to talk about the big musical, the only musical this decade and in nearly 30+ years to win Best Picture, it is non other than the showstopping "Chicago." The movie is about a girl named Roxie who wants nothing more than to be famous. She does anything to make her dream come true even cheating on her own husband with a man who says he can make her dream a reality. Unfortunately the he lies and loses his life to the enraged Roxie. She then goes to jail where her popularity rises and she starts to become more famous. She then enlists a smooth talking lawyer to help her be free again. That's when the star powers clash and the movie becomes more interesting.

Chicago has a very colorful cast of characters from a suave talking lawyer to a bribe taking Matron to a jealous starlet. The cast couldn't have been better. They all have a story to tell and try to take the spot light. I personally think Billy Flynn, the lawyer, steals the show especially in the court scene were he sings "Razzle Dazzle." It's such an intense scene choreographed well.

The director does a great job of incorporating the songs into the scenes. It doesn't feel like the characters are just breaking out into random songs, but the songs are actually part of the story.

Now the most important part of a musical, the music. The songs are pretty good, but aren't memorable aside from a few. The only songs that I found really good were the "Cell Block Tango"  and "Razzle Dazzle." The songs are intense and add a lot of layer to the characters.

Overall I think this movie is a fantastic musical and well deserving of the covenant Oscar, the songs are good, the characters and story are fantastic. I give "Chicago 4/5, well directed and top notch acting.  

Moulin Rouge!

Okay I missed a day since my last review my bad, was felling a bit lazy. Well now it's time to review a musical that was nominated for Best Picture, the first of the last decade and the first in nearly 22 years since "All That Jazz." I'm talking about non other than the great love story known as "Moulin Rouge." I have to say the film was deservedly nominated for Best Picture because it did so many things so well. However "Moulin Rouge" is not a traditional musical, it has no original songs, instead it uses other popular songs, this type of musical is known as a Jukebox. The film itself is set in 1899 in the lovely city of Paris, but the songs are all modern classics.

The movie shines in to places one of which is the story. The story is about love and how it can change and make a person feel. The main character is Christian a aspiring writer, who writes great stories of love even though he has never experienced it. Out of sheer coincidence he winds up writting for a show called "Spectacular Spectacular." Christian and his fellow performers go to the Moulin Rouge were Satine mistakes him for a rich Duke/investor. They unexpectedly fall in love when the real Duke shows up and they are tossed into a forbidden romance. The story of love is so true and well executed. We as the audience feel for Satine and Christian and we wish to see them together.

The cast does a wonderful job in the movie. There are so many colorful characters. Satine, played by Nicole Kidman, steals the show though. She does an incredible job and shows off so many sides of her troubled character.

The other great part of this movie is the art direction. The movie is beautiful aesthetically. From flashy lights to grim set pieces, the world feels like a fantasy land. The set up and the way the characters look and dress were just spectacular. The actual directing was amazing to, how the songs were set up to the dance numbers. "Moulin Rouge" is just a sheer work of art.

The only thing that I didn't like were the songs. Don't get me wrong the songs that they used were great and used effectively in the movie, but I wish it had original songs that I could hum to. No matter it is a slight bump.

Overall the movie is great and it tells an great story about love. I really enjoyed the art style, but wish it had original songs. I give "Moulin Rouge" 4/5, a visual masterpiece with a timeless story.

Hairspray

 

Since we've been on the topic of John Travolta, I thought the next movie musical I should review is 'Hairspray," the 2007 edition. I haven't seen the the original, but I do enjoy this version very much. "Hairspray" about a heavyset girl, Tracy Turnblad, who wants nothing more than to be part of The Corny Collins Show, her and her friend watch everyday after school. She soon find out that the African Americans with just as much if not more talent are not being given that same rights. So quickly she begins to fight for integration on television. The movie deals with two major problems in television back in the day one is the lack of color people and the other is how people who didn't fit the American beauty were treated regardless of skin color.

Tracy Turnblad played by Nicki Blonsky did an incredible job for her debut. She played Tracy perfectly. Tracy is a perky lovable girl, who has a lot of energy and is able to dance. She is persistent with everything she does and isn't afraid of what people think , a rare quality in the 60's. Slowly she changes everyone she encounters.

Penny Pingleton played by Amanda Bynes is another interesting character. She is like Tracy in some ways, but fears way to much what people will think of her especially her mother. She is in a forbidden romance throughout the movie with  Seaweed, a African American boy. She hides everything form her judgmental and stuck in the past mother.

Again John Travolta steals the show by playing Edna Turnblad, Tracy's mother, yes her mother. Edna is a heavyset girl who hasn't left her house in years because she fears people will make fun of her because of the way she looks. She is very isolated and doesn't seem to know how the world has changed around her. She is supportive of Tracy, but is to intimidated by other to truly support her daughter. Travolta does an excellent job and I wish he had been nominated for a Best Supporting "Person" Oscar.

Overall everyone in the entire cast is enjoyable and very watchable on screen. Corny Collins played by James Marsden is one of my favorite character in the movie mainly due to Marsden.

The story and plot of the movie is both engaging and fun. The comedy is well blended even into one of the more serious scenes, but doesn't take anything away from the movie and its effect.

The main thing in any musical is the music and boy is the music good in "Hairspray." They all have a vibe of the time period and are well integrated into the movie. Non of the songs feel out of place or out of date. My favorites are "Welcome to the 60's" and the end song "You Can't Stop the Beat." They are great big numbers that show how the world is changing or has changed.

Overall Hairspray is a delightfully fun movie with great songs and an engaging story. I personally think it should have been nominated for Best Picture. I give Hairspray 4.5/5. A fun engaging film with rocking numbers.

Grease

Okay, I know I haven't done a review or an update in like a month, but things happened and I had to focus on that for a while. Well now I am back and ready to do some reviews. Alright lately I've been watching a lot of musicals and wondering why musicals are so rare these days. They are such an extraordinary genre that infuse great story telling with toe tapping hum along numbers. So for the next few days I am going to do reviews on some of my favorite musicals old and new.

Okay to start off I am going to review the most successful musical of all time and one of my favorites, Grease. A story of two teenagers, a preppy innocent girl, Sandy, and a tough self conscious greaser, Danny, who fall in love during the summer time. However, they face problems showing affection when they get back to school because they fear what their respective click might think of them. But in the end they change for each other and they drive off into the skies.

Okay no matter how much I love this movie the story is not the strong point. It is entertaining, but a bit shallow. Danny continuously unknowingly harms Sandy and they break up. They then get back together when Danny sweet talks her. This basically happens throughout the movie until the end. I guess it show the spontaneous relationship teenagers have, never really knowing what they want. There are also some sub-plot that are interesting but aren't handled to well. Like the fake pregnancy thing near the end with the character Betty. The event occurs early on in the movie, but is not resolved until the end of the year.

One place that this movie does shine is in its characters. Who are very interesting and fun. Danny for instance is a this tough greaser, but we see early on that he is a sweet gentleman. It's just when his friends are around he has to put up this fake persona. Overall he is charming and John Travolta does an excellent job.

Sandy is also very lovable, but we do get irritated when she acts so dumb towards her affections for Danny.

Betty on the other hand is a character that is really tough and raunchy. However the closer to the end we get and the more she fears for the pregnancy we get a lot of sympathy for her. We see her put her wall down and see her as a real human being.

Now what makes this movie such a classic and memorable are the songs and dances. If it were nit for the amazing  music in this movie it would have been forgotten along time ago. The songs are remarkable and movie the story, plot, and character development forward. "Summer Nights" a fun song that tells of what Danny and Sandy did during there summer. It was funny seeing the others perspective of the events. "Greased Lightning" another fun song that has the boys working on their car. The dance sequence during the school dance. "You're the One That I Want" the best in the movie in my opinion. So much happens in that song and so much is told. It probably is one of the most catchiest songs ever made. All the songs in Grease are terrific and elevate the movie to classic status.

Grease is a enjoyable and fun movie with a decent story, great cast, and amazing music. It is deservedly the most successful musical ever made and a standard for all musicals. I give Grease 4/5. Fantastic music  and characters, but a lackluster story.