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We are kicking off the month of December with a pretty vague theme as it's not said what kind of adaptations. Now, if you are not new here, then you know I am not a fan of musicals. It's just that people singing and dancing all of a sudden for no reason whatsoever doesn't really compel me. There are, however, some exceptions and over the years I've fallen in love with several of these films. So without further ado, here are my picks for the week.
Les Misérabls (2012)
Okay, it's been years since I last saw this adaptation but I will never understand why people hate on it so freaking much. Sure, there's Eddie Redmayne and Russell Crowe isn't the best singer out there — it's not like Ryan Gosling is Harry Styles in La La Land though, and nobody gives him shit because he's hot — but I really, really liked it.
Mamma Mia! (2008) - Review
I don't care how many flaws this film is, or how disappointing it was to find out it was all a green screen, it is so much fun — I fell in love with ABBA because of this film — and it will always have a special place in my heart because I first saw it with my mom and we both love it.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) - Review
I still can't believe this flopped when it first came out as it's one of the funniest and more entertaining films I've ever seen. I cannot recommend this enough.
I've seen all three this time out!
ReplyDeleteI hated this version of Les Miz but then I didn't really care for the stage version I saw either. The original story is compelling but the music for this one left me cold (and I love musicals as a general rule).
I didn't think much of this version of Mamma Mia either. I watched it, it was fine and I never thought about it again until the theatre I attend regularly was getting ready to do a production and I was reluctant to go since the movie hadn't done much for me. However I LOVED the stage play so perhaps I need the immediacy of live theatre for this particular piece to work for me.
I think Rocky Horror is too outré for general audience who are just looking for a night out at the movies and even more so when it came out so I'm not surprised it tanked on its initial release. I saw it at a midnight showing with people in costume, water bottles, flying paper towels and a stage version being enacted under the screen which is pretty much the full experience and it was great. I tried later to watch it at home alone and it just wasn't that great.
Since the theme was wide open I decided to go with stage to screen adaptations. I limited myself to ones where I had seen both the film and a production of the play on Broadway.
Into the Woods (2014)-Adaptation of the Sondheim musical reimaging of classic fairy tales-Rapunzel, Cinderella, the Baker & His Wife etc.-with an impressive cast (Meryl Streep, Chris Pine, Tracey Ullman among others) is enjoyable but misses the magic of the stage production despite CGI and the utilization of location shooting. I saw this in 1988 at the Martin Beck Theatre, though Phylicia Rashad had by that time replaced Bernadette Peters who had originated the role of the Witch.
Gypsy (1962)-Star powered (Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood and Karl Malden in the leads) filmization of the classic stage play based on the memoirs of ecdysiast Gypsy Rose Lee growing up in the shadow of her more talented sister June and her fearsomely aggressive stage mother Mama Rose that Ethel Merman made legendary when it opened in 1959 with a score by Jules Styne & Stephen Sondheim. I saw the 2003 revival with Bernadette Peters as Mama Rose at the St. James Theatre.
MacBeth (1948)-Moody expressionistic take on the Shakespeare "Scottish Play" about the price of unfettered ambition and lust for power by a courtier (Orson Welles) and his rapacious wife (Jeanette Nolan). I saw the production starring Christopher Plummer (he was very good) and Glenda Jackson (she was electrifying!) at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in 1988.
It doesn't surprise me either than The Rock Horror Picture Show flopped because of how people were back then. Damn, I'm sure it would flop nowadays too if it were to realize now. But it's still unbelievable.
DeleteInto the Woods is the only I've seen of your picks and I wasn't a huge fan. I wasn't familiar with the original musical but I think Disney was not the right choice to make it into a film.
I have seen all of these films and like them all. I like Les Mis and don't understand why so many dislike the film and Russell Crowe because he sang much better than Ryan Gosling who was so off key in La La. I love ABBA since the 70s and love this movie because of the music and location but I thought they truly were in Greece. Maybe they just wanted the place she had done in studio. The first time I saw Rocky Horror was back in 1982 and I got a sandwich thrown in the back of my head. I didn't realize they were acting everything out. It is my least favourite of the 3 here but it is good and Tim Curry is excellent.
ReplyDeleteIt broke my mom's heart when I told her it wasn't actually filmed in Greece as she loves Greece. But it's still such a fun film.
DeleteI liked these 3 films and... I didn't know some of Mamma Mia! was shot partially on green-screen though I wish they had someone else fill in for Pierce Brosnan's vocals as he's just a terrible singer. Thank goodness they only had him sing quietly in the sequel.
ReplyDeleteHe was very bad, I know, but frankly I didn't mind his singing that much. I rather liked his duet with Streep to be honest.
DeleteI agree SO MUCH with what you said about Les Miserables. I think it holds up really well, and I'm surprised at the amount of hate it gets now. Love Rocky Horror too. I didn't get super into the Mamma Mia films but I do appreciate them.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to see other people loving Les Miserable. The only miserables here are those who hate the film haha.
DeleteLes Mis is great, despite Russell Crowe committing treason against music. I haven't seen Rocky Horror in years, but I'll be revisiting it soon. Mamma Mia didn't work for me, at all. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteOh no, I'm sorry Mamma Mia didn't work for you.
DeleteI didn't really know about the hate this Les Miz movie was getting. I did enjoy the movie. But I also get the criticism about the singing in Les Miz (it was mostly Crowe's singing right? I thought Redmayne was ok enough). The whole Ryan Gosling in La La Land and the lack of criticism his singing gets, my guess is because he is not playing a well established role, people aren't comparing his singing to another person who's played the role. However well or not well he sings he sets the tone for that character. With Les Miz, a lot of people have seen the stage musicals, and the songs on Les Miz are not like pop songs, the singing skills required are higher and people expect to hear that level of expertise in the movie and are disappointed. I don't know if you've seen the stage musical or the stage musical concert, if you haven't here's one of the stage actor's that played Javert (the role played by Crowe) singing "Stars" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57QiQDenG0k he has such a powerful commanding voice.
ReplyDeleteI just checked it out and oh my god! he is terrific! Now I get why people complained about Crowe.
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