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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 12, 2016 9:42:03 GMT
So, the Babs thread in General got me to thinking about A Chorus Line and how much I like that film even though I think it got panned by the critics at the time. Even the dreadful casting of Cassie and her highly distracting lopsided bubble perm will not put me off it.
What at are your favourites? Good and bad, and guilty pleasures!
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Post by mallardo on Jun 12, 2016 9:49:11 GMT
Best ever for me is Milos Forman's version of Hair. Many changes had to be made to the story - of necessity - and that put people off, but the moment, right off the top, when the police horses start high stepping to the music, I knew it was going to work.
I also rate Chicago pretty highly although Richard Gere's Billy Flynn was unfortunate.
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Post by Mark on Jun 12, 2016 9:57:58 GMT
Chicago is a great adaptation. Really enjoy watching it from time to time. I also love Dreamgirls as a film, although can't yet compare to the stage adaptation (and probably won't be able to since this new production will influence from it).
Rent- enjoyable but I really hate some of the cuts. Can't watch it without flicking onto the full uncut version of Goodbye Love.
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Post by ptwest on Jun 12, 2016 10:10:17 GMT
I love the adaptation of Hairspray - it just makes me smile!
I also love Evita - even the fact the Madonna really cant act doesn't ruin it!
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Post by Jonnyboy on Jun 12, 2016 10:29:06 GMT
I love Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd, but then again I love anything with Helena Bonham Carter.
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Post by waybeyondblue on Jun 12, 2016 10:38:35 GMT
JCSS - it's a bit dated but a thing of loveliness. A fine example of imagination exceeding budget.
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Post by benny20 on Jun 12, 2016 10:49:46 GMT
Hairspray, Chicago and Evita was great
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Post by Baemax on Jun 12, 2016 11:21:57 GMT
Hairspray. I always think it a misstep when a movie of a musical adheres too closely to the stage production, especially with regards to casting, so that they went out and got a top-quality and movie-friendly cast was really a big point in its favour. I enjoyed the new music, and I loved the new ending so much that the stage show of Hairspray will forever be a bit of a disappointment to me now.
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 12, 2016 11:41:20 GMT
Good:
Hairspray Chicago Cabaret Les Miserables Sound of Music Rocky Horror Dreamgirls
Bad:
Rent Jersey Boys Sweeney Todd Last Five Years Into The Woods Phantom of the Opera
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Post by theatre-turtle on Jun 12, 2016 11:42:53 GMT
Chicago is a great adaptation. Really enjoy watching it from time to time. I also love Dreamgirls as a film, although can't yet compare to the stage adaptation (and probably won't be able to since this new production will influence from it). Rent- enjoyable but I really hate some of the cuts. Can't watch it without flicking onto the full uncut version of Goodbye Love. I think Rent is hard to enjoy if you're a fan of the original show - it's hard to explain why but the film doesn't have the same impact, and the vocal performances seem to be manipulated or generally feel lightweight, compare for example the female soloist in Seasons of Love to the original Broadway cast recording.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2016 11:57:39 GMT
'Hello, Dolly!'. Yes, I know everyone says Barbra was too young for Dolly but she's simply glorious and the songs have never sounded as good as they do in her hands. Plus she looked gorgeous and the whole film is utterly fabulous!
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Post by ShoesForRent on Jun 12, 2016 12:53:53 GMT
I know Phantom is not the best (understatement of the year) but it's the movie that got the ball rolling for me nearly 10 years ago... it's the first show I knew by heart thanks to the film... so it (along with Gerard and Emmy) have a special place in my heart
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Post by bjorne on Jun 12, 2016 13:00:56 GMT
Hairspray, Hair and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Rent has fantastic moments in the movie like the Tango Maureen scene but that's all. I love it but the stage version is... more.
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Post by brenth on Jun 12, 2016 13:21:03 GMT
Gypsy with Roz Russell... I know lot of people don't like it but much a I love Bette Miller, I hated her in this... She can't act and spent most of the film gurning. I saw it in London and I am still traumatised by seeing Mildler's teeth 50 feet high. It was like watching a veloceraptor with a ginger bubble perm... Great entertainer but as subtle as a pneumatic drill...
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Post by poster J on Jun 12, 2016 14:04:01 GMT
Chicago, Cabaret, Les Mis and Dreamgirls spring to mind, and Grease.
I also quite like the more recent version of Hairspray, and of course The Sound of Music (for Julie Andrews' performance alone). I don't mind the Rent movie, but I have never had the privilege of seeing it on stage.
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Post by mrtumnus on Jun 12, 2016 15:46:44 GMT
Little Shop of Horrors Sunshine on Leith
The other way round Can't stick the Billy Elliot film but love the stage show.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2016 17:01:02 GMT
So, the Babs thread in General got me to thinking about A Chorus Line and how much I like that film even though I think it got panned by the critics at the time. Even the dreadful casting of Cassie and her highly distracting lopsided bubble perm will not put me off it. What at are your favourites? Good and bad, and guilty pleasures! So i saw the title of the thread and I immeadiately thought if any says A Chorus Line, they are nuts.... and it's right there in the opening post.... lol !! BB - YOU'RE NUTS!! And how fitting that Bebe is a character in that same show. For me, expanding the story outside of the line made it lose most of it's impact. What I Did For Love is not about Michael Douglas! Though i do like the added song 'Surprise'
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Post by joshb on Jun 12, 2016 17:41:49 GMT
Recently I've really enjoyed the Into the Woods film. The musical is too fitted to theatre to fully and properly work on film but I still really enjoyed it. The cast all gave great performances and sounded pretty good (Emily Blunt was the highlight for me) and I find it greatly enjoyable to watch.
Hairspray is pretty much the best example of adapting stage to film too, and I love it for pretty much being my gateway into a love for musicals and theatre.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2016 18:11:26 GMT
Not my favourites, but I certainly think Jersey Boys and Phantom of the Opera are underrated.
Jersey Boys works well as a docudrama and I don't really think of it as a musical because the songs don't progress the story or characters as much as like they do on stage. Although I do miss "Beggin You" and "Fallen Angel".
I really don't understand some of the negativity for Phantom, it looks fantastic the songs and story are all there, I know Gerard Butler's voice isn't the best but I think it works well on film, on stage I'd be disappointed.
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Post by theatremadness on Jun 12, 2016 18:13:07 GMT
I also love Hairspray, that was my introduction to the musical and I'm also a big lover of the Chicago film. Very well done and always enjoyable to watch, both of them.
My favourite is probably The Producers. Some may like it, some may not, but for my money, it's just about the best stage musical comedy put onto film, it completely mastered the genre of musical theatre it was going for, in my opinion, and all the performances are brilliant. I can quote it from beginning to end and will laugh with every viewing!
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 12, 2016 18:57:49 GMT
So, the Babs thread in General got me to thinking about A Chorus Line and how much I like that film even though I think it got panned by the critics at the time. Even the dreadful casting of Cassie and her highly distracting lopsided bubble perm will not put me off it. What at are your favourites? Good and bad, and guilty pleasures! So i saw the title of the thread and I immeadiately thought if any says A Chorus Line, they are nuts.... and it's right there in the opening post.... lol !! BB - YOU'RE NUTS!! And how fitting that Bebe is a character in that same show. For me, expanding the story outside of the line made it lose most of it's impact. What I Did For Love is not about Michael Douglas! Though i do like the added song 'Surprise' Lol, sorry!
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Jun 12, 2016 19:03:46 GMT
My favourite is probably The Producers. Some may like it, some may not, but for my money, it's just about the best stage musical comedy put onto film, it completely mastered the genre of musical theatre it was going for, in my opinion, and all the performances are brilliant. I can quote it from beginning to end and will laugh with every viewing! Another one that was badly received but I agree. I loved it too. I think the critics didn't like how Susan Stroman basically took the stage show and filmed it. Err, what's up with that? Nowadays we're paying to see the actual stage show broadcast into a cinema so what's the problem? Carmen Ghia and the lissssssssssssssssssssssssp
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Post by loureviews on Jun 14, 2016 6:57:31 GMT
The best:
West Side Story Guys and Dolls Gypsy Hair Jesus Christ Superstar Show Boat (36 and 51) The King and I Chicago
Reasonable:
Evita The Sound of Music Oklahoma Carousel The Phantom of the Opera Godspell Rent Hello Dolly
Not good:
A Little Night Music Jersey Boys Nine A Chorus Line
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Post by crabtree on Jun 14, 2016 7:31:18 GMT
Oh dear, I'm afraid I find Sweeney Tood just a terrible adaptation of a musical, but also a truly dire film in itself. It's a film that seems to be apologizing for being a musical, not celebrating one of the greatest musical ever written. A disaster.
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Post by Dave25 on Jun 14, 2016 10:42:01 GMT
Evita!!!
I think this way of storytelling (acting through notes) should not be approached in a literal way because per definition it is not. It is a triumph of the fantasy with sung thoughts, etc. In Evita they use all kinds of filmic cinematography, very clever editing and incorporate the music in many different ways (a choir, sung thoughts, moments of music as a voice over, instead of constantly seeing the person mouthing to it, etc). It's filmic, sweeping, a triumph of the fantasy with the exact right use of the music. Even though madonna is not a good singer.
The worst one is Les Mis. Not only because of the literal approach (singing live in eachothers face in a 1 take dry close up shot)which takes away all the magic and the essence of sung thoughts on screen, but also because of the constant switching between acting and singing. Sometimes in 1 sentence, speaking 4 words and then use vibrato for 10 seconds on the 5th. The bizarre thing is that people like Jackmam thought this constant switching made the given of singing feel raw and real while actually it works better if there is no switching but combining and embracing it.
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Post by Dave25 on Jun 14, 2016 10:57:55 GMT
It's a film that seems to be apologizing for being a musical, not celebrating one of the greatest musical ever written. A disaster. True, that is the problem with most adaptations. It is like they are apologizing for being a musical. Which makes it very uncomfortable. I guess it goes wrong from the start by hiring a screenwriter that does not understand the essence of musical on film. How important the singing is and how important it is to adjust the cinematography to that. It should be a triumph of the fantasy. Not a normal film. Sung dialogue can be used in so many more ways than just the uncomfortable "speaking 4 words and use vibrato on the 5th, but at least it feels less uncomfortable for the actor that way with the current standard screenplay" attitude. Because then you create a product that is uncomfortable for the audience. Because it has a style-clash. I don't want to see actors or screenwriters apologizing for singing. I want them to embrace it and to embrace extensive cinematography too. They did not embrace either of these things in Les Mis and Sweeney Todd.
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Post by anthony40 on Jun 14, 2016 17:48:58 GMT
I for one am the first to jump in line to embrace and support the process of committing a musical to celluloid because I subscribe to the theory that if you make one musical film, the studio bosses will fork out the money to make another.
I also believe that anything that is going to promote musicals and put them in the forefront of the general public and expose them to the wider public who may not have attended one in the past can't be a bad thing.
That said, for varying reasons I have been impressed with the current batch of film musicals; Chicago, so dynamic! Sunshine on Leith, exposed me to a whole batch of Proclaimers songs that I was unaware of, Mamma Mia!- everyone has an opinion but lots of fun, The Last 5 Years- Thank God! someone committed this to film; Hairspray- at first I thought that Michelle Phieffer and Queen Latiffa were terrible miscast however they have not grown on me and there's no doubt that James Marsden was one of the best things in it, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, Les Miserables, DreamGirls, Rent, the Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, Evita, London Road... I could go on.
But the one that stands out for me as being (arguably) the worst and the one that I feel most aggrieved by is Nine.
What a train wreck that was. The storyline was so modified the songs tat ere included were incoherent. The whole second half of the stage show what cut.
Every musical has a song. That one song that instantly makes people recognise "Oh, that's from that show". If the show is really successful, the may possibly be a second, third or even a fourth.
Given that, how can 'the song' from the show Be On Your Own be cut?
Actually, such is my anger, frustration and sheer disappointment over this that I'm no longer going to keep typing......
Urgghhh!
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Post by crabtree on Jun 14, 2016 19:04:46 GMT
I guess it is all about trying to find the visual language that allows the songs to burst forth - so many films go for the literal approach, assuming that film has to be literal. Cabaret was a huge success for finding a context for the songs. One of my favourite films is The Boyfriend.
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Post by Dave25 on Jun 15, 2016 23:17:20 GMT
I guess it is all about trying to find the visual language that allows the songs to burst forth - so many films go for the literal approach, assuming that film has to be literal. This. It is unbelievable that directors, producers and filmmakers do not understand this. This artform on screen is not literal but about sung thoughts, a triumph of the fantasy. What they often seem to do now is tone the music and singing down to match the standard literal visuals and approach. Preferably with a lot of switching between speaking and singing in 1 sentence. Which makes a sudden sung note after 4 spoken words extremely awkward and uncomfortable. What they should do is match the visual language to the singing. Let the music lead the story and then paint it in with cinematography.
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Post by Baemax on Jun 16, 2016 9:51:21 GMT
I liked the Evita movie because it was a good example of a successful movie that didn't jar too much with the musical aspect.
Then I saw the show again and now I can't watch the film without being made painfully aware of how completely unequipped Madonna is to sing the score.
I quite liked the Sweeney Todd movie too; it managed to strike a middle ground where it was recognisably a Stephen Sondheim musical but also recognisably a Tim Burton movie. Shame the singing couldn't match up to the glorious orchestra - it doesn't bother me as much as it clearly bothers others, but I do acknowledge it as a proper shame.
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