I understand that at this point in film history, this topic may be off-topic, but "Moulin Rouge" and "Chicago" are recent popular film musicals, so maybe they're making a comeback. I saw "Les Miserables" on Broadway on my honeymoon in 1987, and I still haven't figured out why we haven't seen a film of that. Does anyone have any favorite film musicals? My favorite is "Cabaret", but that's because I think it's the most mature, entertaining and innovative musical, not really because it may be the most "realistic." There's plenty of other musicals which are incredibly entertaining. I don't understand why it's a more-accepted thing nowadays for someone to fart or belch than to sing to express their thoughts.

Anyway, besides the incredible "Cabaret", I think all movie lovers should watch "My Fair Lady", "West Side Story", "The King and I", "Oklahoma!", "Guys and Dolls", "The Music Man", "Singin' in the Rain", "The Wizard of Oz", "Mary Poppins", "Victor/Victoria" and "A Hard Day's Night." There's several more, but if you don't like those, then maybe I should shut up.

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Moulin Rouge is a favorite. I loved the fact that in many ways, Luhrmann embrased style of classic musicals like Oklahoma, while making the style his own with the use of current pop music. Actually, now that I think of it, MR may be one of the great musicals of all time that does not involve much in the way of original music.

Then again, Luhrmann hasn't been able to do any wrong by me since Strictly Ballroom. His Romeo + Julie is one of only a handful of truly inspired adaptations of Shakespeare for the big screen, if only because he mananged to capture the chaos of the story in a way that is too often absent.

But I digress.

Without question, my favorite movie musical of all time is West Side Story. It is also my favorite musical of all time. I mean, as if the power trio of Sondheim/Bernstein/Robbins weren't enough, the film adds Robert Wise to the mix. I think what I admire most about it, in fact, is that rather than simply giving us a filmed version of the stage production (I hate that), Wise took full advantage of the unique qualities film has to offer. Unfortunately for my father, that included dubbing Natalie Wood's singing, which damn near broke the man's heart.

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Originally posted by KT:
One musical I really like, although it's not a film, is Into the Woods, because it starts out with fairy tale stories and then just goes into a downward spiral, but ends on a hopeful note.

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If there is one musical I would like to see on the big screen, it's Into The Woods. Just to bring if full circle, a director with the irreverent attitude of Luhrmann and the sheer skill of Wise could make that a classic.

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Originally posted by KT:
Too many mint juleps = bad spelling, oops!

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KT, you have some seriously classy taste when it comes to libations!

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That's mind-bending, LT. Wise directed your favorite sci-fi AND your favorite musical. I didn't mean to short-shrift "The Sound of Music." I'm sure that Wise was responsible for that intro, just as he was for "West Side Story."

I really need to shut up now since musicals seem to now be the province of cartoons!! Bye, TBC.

Actually, I think that's part of the downfall of musicals ... so many musicals these days are based on cartoons. I really loved Sondheim musicals and nothing newer has really compared. Half of them are produced by Disney. I haven't seen a musical, live or film in a while ... I did go see Aida, and Mamma Mia, and suffered through both (even though I am an Abba fan). The last musical I saw that I liked was "The Wild Party" several years ago because (1) Toni Collette, (2) Mandy Patinkin and (3) it's a whole freaking musical about a party. It;s set in the 20s and there are drugs and tragic moments and all that. Yeah, I'm still angsty.

I hear Avenue Q is good, but I have this ... thing about puppets so I probably won't see it anytime soon.

I did like Moulin Rouge ... mostly because I enjoy watching Baz Luhrman's visual creations. But again, because of the setting, most of the musical mumbers made sense in the context of the story. The ones I didn't like were the less sensical songs, like "Like a Virgin."

Ah, yes. I love Sondheim! "Into the Woods" and "A Funny Thing Happened to the Forum" are my favorites. I also really like "Chicago"---but i thought the movie was undeserving of Best Picture. My dad said he listened to the music to "Avenue Q" and was severely underwhelmed----hes a theatre professor and actor (he played Psudelous from Forum) so I guess Ill just agree with him. Oh, and "Rent---Love it! I was caught repeating raunchier lyrics at the dinner table when I was 10----of course, I had no idea what they meant so it was rather uncomfortable. As for "Moulin Rouge", it's currently my favorite movie for the same reason you like it, KT. Im gonna try to check out "Romeo + Juliet". Is it any good?

I loved "Kiss of the Spiderwoman" and saw it a couple of times, once in NY (Chita Rivera) and once in London (Bebe Neuwirth). "Rent" (NY) was solid, and "Hedwig & The Angry Inch" (LA) was amazing. I was pretty disappointed with "Sunset Blvd.", "Chicago" and "The Who's Tommy." Probably my all time favorite musical was "The Rocky Horror Show" (LA), which was SO much better than the film...I had no idea.

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Im gonna try to check out "Romeo + Juliet". Is it any good?

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Well ... sometimes. It's not as good as the Zeffirelli version.

It is very neat to look at, but I think the acting definitely leaves a lot to be desired and the updating of the story doesn't quite fit or make sense to me, especially since having them be young Miami Beach rich kids makes it that much less likely that they would be going around speaking in iambic pentameter, much less be capable of throwing around the words that Shakespeare has given them. West Side Story did this much better.

However, if you don't have your expectations too high, there are a lot of interesting visual touches and for the audience he was aiming at I think he did a good job in crafting the movie so that you don't need to understand all the dialogue in order to know what's going on. I think that's good in doing a film like this because Shakespeare can definitely be hard to understand for a modern ear. I was an English major, and have read pretty much all of Shakespeare's work, and discussed it in depth in a class setting, but even now there are many passages that I won't get unless I am physically reading and can go over it a few times slowly.

Oompa Loompa Doompa Dee Doo, I have a perfect answer for you!

Obviously, my favourite musical is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory but The Wizard of Oz is a close second!

With apologies in advance for derailing the thread, I have to offer a contrary take on Romeo + Juliet.

Zeffirelli and Luhrmann's respective films actually share a great deal in common. Both directors made the wise decision to cast young people in the title roles, though DiCaprio and Danes in Luhrmann's film are more youthful in appearance than fact. In both cases, the leads are the weakest members of the cast, but are surrounded by some standout performances (especially Tybalt and Mercutio in both films).

There is rich tradition of producing Shakespeare out of period, not only on stage, but in film. The results are mixed, but Michael Almereyda's Hamlet in 2000 (modern day New York) and Richard Locraine's Richard III in 1995 (1930s England) are only two examples, in addition to Lurhmann's, that I think work well. The contemporary setting of Hamlet, for example, casts Hamlet as the somewhat directionless son of wealthy parents, which does a fine job of reinforcing the underlying themes of youthful indecisiveness and alienation that are often missed in the script, especially when an inappropriately adult Hamlet is cast (I'm looking at you Kenneth Branagh and Mel Gibson). So, too, Richard III's setting in a pseudo-fascist England provides a more appropriate environment for modern audiences to understand the titular character's mad obsession with power, than a period environment, which often serves to emphasize political elements of the play that were relevant to Elizabethan audiences, but are more of an historical curiosity today

All of that being said, what I like best about Luhrmann's film is what the period setting provides, chaos. I would posit that Shakespeare's play is less about love than hormones run amuck. Romeo and Juliet are very, very young and have lived sheltered lives. The combination of puberty's hormonal rush and the long standing feud between their families fuels the tragedy, which occurs over a relatively short period of time. Luhrmann's setting, cinematography, editing, and soundtrack do a really effective job of creating a sort of breathless rush that serves the play well.

I actually think watching Zeffirelli and Luhrmann's films back-to-back would be a worthwhile way to spend an evening.

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Apology for derailment accepted.

NOTE- Best "Romeo and Juliet" films:
1) Zeffirelli's
2) Luhrmann's
3) Cukor's (everybody's in their late 30s to early 50s, but very professional M-G-M)
4) Castellani's
5) Czinner's (the ballet with Fonteyn and Nureyev)

NOTE: NOTE: "West Side Story" is better than all of the above, but cops out on the "Romeo and Juliet" ending.

Hey, what happened to Favorite Musicals?

Go ahead and add "All that Jazz" (don't really care for it, although "Cabaret" is numero uno.) Come on, the Disney cartoons also qualify as musicals. What do you think? Let's hear it.

I apologize for posting my father's opinions on "Avenue Q". I ummmm....heh..."bought"....the soundtrack from the show and it's gut-bustingly funny. The music's a tad uninspired, yet the lyrics are top-notch. It's pretty graphic in it's language content so dont bring the kids.

Until I read the not-so favorable NY Times review of "The Frogs" I was really looking forward to it. Oh well.

And...and....if anyone anywhere has heard of the uber-original musical "Freakspiel", which is doubtful because its an original production made shown in, of all places, Auburn, Alabama, find more about it!! Its a freak show set to music (music written by the AU Theatre chair----the guy who wrote the Dr. Pepper jingle) and "Avenue Q" is kid-show fare compared to the wall-to-wall language and sex in this production. I,alas, was not allowed to see it, but I read the script (which was conviniently lying on the kitchen counter) and it was awesome!! It definately has potential and I wont be surprised if it goes anywhere!

EDIT: Oh dude! I thought this was in the music message board. I apologize for this post being not only really "rant-y" but also not pertaining to MOVIE MUSICALS! My bad!

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Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is an excellent choice.

So is South Park: Bigger,Longer, and Uncut.

But yeah, I like those old one's too.



Someone give me my poll rights.



K-Dog

South Park the movie (the part where Satan goes totally Michael Bolton is classic)

The Blue Brothers

O Brother Where Art Thou (close enough to a musical)

Oh yeah! I forgot!

The Blues Brothers is excellent, great songs and great movie !

I don't know if O Brother Where art Thou is close enough to be a musical but if it is, it is definitely one of my favourites!!

I like The Blues Brothers and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but my favortite has to Singin In The Rain. Donald O'Connor amazes me every time I see him perform 'Make Em Laugh.' That was true talent. I wish more performers today put out the enthusiasm like Kelly and O'Connor.

Truthfully musicals are not my favorite type of movie. Although there are some that I liked as Chicago which was not yet mentioned.

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Top five--

1.) Hedwig and the Angry Inch
2.) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
3.) Blues Brothers
4.) Moulin Rouge!
5.) Oh Brother Where Art Thou

Most of the truly great musicals have been mentioned but I would like to add a few others.

I am surprised that no one has mentioned Dancer in the Dark which is probably the most unique of the musicals that have been created in the last several decades.

In addition, there are some older gems that I love. I am a musical buff so these aren't necessarily great films but they are musicals I enjoyed, to add to the list of those mentioned:

Carousel
My Fair Lady
Gigi
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Hello Dolly
Funny Girl

The two best stage musicals I've seen are definitely Les Miserables and Miss Saigon. I do not think these musicals would convert to the big screen as well as some others. Many have mentioned Into the Woods, but I think Sondheim's Sweeney Todd could make an excellent film with the right cast.

Dancer In The Dark certainly belongs on the list, MsKubelik. I think, "I've Seen It All" is one of the most striking numbers I have ever seen in a movie musical.

That being said, I had a hard time making it through the film and doubt I will ever watch it in its entirety again. I found von Trier's treatment of women challenging enough in Breaking The Waves, but DitD was uneccesarily cruel in its treatment of women. I think he may be one of the most skilled film makers working today, but I'm finding myself increasingly unable to watch his work.

You're right about Sweeney Todd, too. That would be a great film.

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Worthy of note...

Fred Ebb, Broadway Lyricist of Cabaret and Chicago, Dead at 71

The Playbill obit neglects to also note Ebb's authorship of the lyrics to "New York, New York," but then given the length and quality of his career, it's hard not to leave something out.

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