The only thing sacred about Grease 2 was Maxwell Caulfield's ass in those jeans. Hot damn!Penelope wrote:Blasphemer!!! Grease 2 is sacred, I tell you. SACRED!
AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals - They're at it again!
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Big Magilla
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I still hate All That Jazz. I may be alone in this but I don't think of it as a musical - but as a documetnary on open heart surgery with musical hallucinations thrown in.
I need to watch both Grease and Grease 2 again. I don't remember much about Grease 2, but I do recall liking the cast a lot more than the cast of Grease in which only Joan Blondell managed to retain her diginity. Even the great Eve Arden looked like a fool in that one. The main problem I had with it, as I recall, is that all the close-ups in the dance numbers were staged from the waist up. Randal Kleiser can be a competent director, but he shouldn't be allowed within 1,000 feet of a musical ever again.
I need to watch both Grease and Grease 2 again. I don't remember much about Grease 2, but I do recall liking the cast a lot more than the cast of Grease in which only Joan Blondell managed to retain her diginity. Even the great Eve Arden looked like a fool in that one. The main problem I had with it, as I recall, is that all the close-ups in the dance numbers were staged from the waist up. Randal Kleiser can be a competent director, but he shouldn't be allowed within 1,000 feet of a musical ever again.
rudeboy wrote:For all its faults (including the insipid Travolta and Newton-John) Grease has some bright performances .......
Grease 2, on the other hand, is a disaster of epic proportions -the reproduction number has to be seen to be believed.
I have such fond memories of Grease. The standout amongst the cast was Stockard Channing, even if she was quite long in the tooth to be playing Rizzo!
Grease 2 is a guilty pleasure. The songs remain catchy - especially the opening number and ''Reproduction''. I don't particularly care for ''Cool Rider'' but love the ballad sung by the leads at the school party at the end.
Got both films on dvd recently for my kids. They instantly liked the Travolta/Newton-John, ''You're the One that I want'' number and have played it over and over again.
It's amazing how many scenes Bollywood - Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) & Main Hoon Na (2004), to name just two - has ripped off from both these films. It's a wonder that the producers haven't sued!
rudeboy wrote:Penelope wrote:rudeboy wrote:Grease 2, on the other hand, is a disaster of epic proportions - the reproduction number has to be seen to be believed.
Blasphemer!!! Grease 2 is sacred, I tell you. SACRED!
Enjoyable, yes. But for none of the right reasons.
I know I'm a freak, but I would gladly trade any moment in the overrated Singin' in the Rain just for the sight of Michelle Pfeiffer singing "Cool Rider" or the joyous "Reproduction" number. Heck, I'd rather watch the marvelously godawful Pirate Movie with Kristy McNichol than have to endure Singin' in the Rain again.
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
Blasphemer!!! Grease 2 is sacred, I tell you. SACRED!rudeboy wrote:Grease 2, on the other hand, is a disaster of epic proportions - the reproduction number has to be seen to be believed.
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
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Big Magilla
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Half a Sixpence on stage was a charming old-fashioned English music hall little gem. On screen, I agree, it was awful.
I loved The Unsinkable Molly Brown when I first saw it at Radio City Music Hall in 1964. It compared favorably to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers then, but doesn't play well on TV. Still, it's a decent film and the Meredith Willson score is great. I also have a soft spot for The Happiest Millionaire, another film that hasn't aged well, but features two priceless gems - Gladys Cooper and Geraldine Page snraling put-downs at one another in There Are Those and Greer Garson dueting with Fred MacMurray on It Won't Be Long 'til Christmas, inexplicably cut from the film after its roadshow engagement but restored to the extended cut DVD.
I loved The Unsinkable Molly Brown when I first saw it at Radio City Music Hall in 1964. It compared favorably to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers then, but doesn't play well on TV. Still, it's a decent film and the Meredith Willson score is great. I also have a soft spot for The Happiest Millionaire, another film that hasn't aged well, but features two priceless gems - Gladys Cooper and Geraldine Page snraling put-downs at one another in There Are Those and Greer Garson dueting with Fred MacMurray on It Won't Be Long 'til Christmas, inexplicably cut from the film after its roadshow engagement but restored to the extended cut DVD.
A Chorus Line and Annie are very good calls Magilla (although I'm afraid I couldn't stand Oh What a Lovely War either). For all its faults (including the insipid Travolta and Newton-John) Grease has some bright performances and catchy numbers - the album was played by my mother and later sister many times when I was small, so I have a bit of a soft spot. Grease 2, on the other hand, is a disaster of epic proportions - the reproduction number has to be seen to be believed.
For the record I love Aladdin, easily the best (and most tuneful) of the recent Disney output and a good deal more entertaining than the solid but overrated Beauty & the Beast. Aladdin for me comes second only to The Jungle Book as the best score of any Disney musical.
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut has perhaps the strongest, wittiest and most consistent song score of any animated movie.
EDIT: A few more truly terrible musicals - Half a Sixpence, The Happiest Millionaire & The Unsinkable Molly Brown
For the record I love Aladdin, easily the best (and most tuneful) of the recent Disney output and a good deal more entertaining than the solid but overrated Beauty & the Beast. Aladdin for me comes second only to The Jungle Book as the best score of any Disney musical.
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut has perhaps the strongest, wittiest and most consistent song score of any animated movie.
EDIT: A few more truly terrible musicals - Half a Sixpence, The Happiest Millionaire & The Unsinkable Molly Brown
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Big Magilla
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Hey, I liked Godspell - hated the film version of Jesus Christ Superstar, but liked Godspell probably because it was filmed in locations I was greatly familiar with in 1973.
For the record, I think the worst film musicals of all time were:
1. Annie - John Huston's "old man" musical abounds in anachronisms, one of which includes Garbo's Camille being shown at Radio City Music Hall in 1933, three years before it was made. Carol Burnett's performance smacks of paraody as do most of her screen performances, an unattractive holdover from a TV career built on paradoy.
2. Mame - jaw-droppingly awful film version of a beloved stage show. Lucille Ball looked liked she was enbalmed and probably should have been.
3. Man of La Mancha - how they could muck this one up I don't know, but they did despite Peter O'Toole bringing it his usual class.
4. A Chorus Line - Richard Attenborugh directed the exhuberant Oh! What a Lovely War but forget everything he learned from his d.p. on that one with this Grade Z production.
5. Jesus Christ Superstar - misguided film within a film framing device mars what would have been a difficult shoot to begin with and the actor-singers all stink. Josh Mostel in a toga that looks on him like a giant diaper is one of the least attractive sights ever perpetrated on the film-goiing public.
6. Grease - where were the dancing feet?
7. Hello, Dolly! - 37 years later Striesand is still too young to play Dolly Levi. Gene Kelly proves that without Stanley Donen he was no good as a director.
8. On a Clear Day You Can See Forever - Babs again mugging her way through what might have been a great stage to screen vehicle in less pushy hands.
9. Moulin Rouge! - La Boheme collides with the 20th Century and collapses. Oh, Nicole, hopefully some day they'll let you star in a real musical.
10. (tie) The Phantom of the Opera/The Prodcers/Rent - over production in the frist, over-the-top silliness in the second and extreme grunginess in the third provide mis-direction galore in the modern film musical.
For the record, I think the worst film musicals of all time were:
1. Annie - John Huston's "old man" musical abounds in anachronisms, one of which includes Garbo's Camille being shown at Radio City Music Hall in 1933, three years before it was made. Carol Burnett's performance smacks of paraody as do most of her screen performances, an unattractive holdover from a TV career built on paradoy.
2. Mame - jaw-droppingly awful film version of a beloved stage show. Lucille Ball looked liked she was enbalmed and probably should have been.
3. Man of La Mancha - how they could muck this one up I don't know, but they did despite Peter O'Toole bringing it his usual class.
4. A Chorus Line - Richard Attenborugh directed the exhuberant Oh! What a Lovely War but forget everything he learned from his d.p. on that one with this Grade Z production.
5. Jesus Christ Superstar - misguided film within a film framing device mars what would have been a difficult shoot to begin with and the actor-singers all stink. Josh Mostel in a toga that looks on him like a giant diaper is one of the least attractive sights ever perpetrated on the film-goiing public.
6. Grease - where were the dancing feet?
7. Hello, Dolly! - 37 years later Striesand is still too young to play Dolly Levi. Gene Kelly proves that without Stanley Donen he was no good as a director.
8. On a Clear Day You Can See Forever - Babs again mugging her way through what might have been a great stage to screen vehicle in less pushy hands.
9. Moulin Rouge! - La Boheme collides with the 20th Century and collapses. Oh, Nicole, hopefully some day they'll let you star in a real musical.
10. (tie) The Phantom of the Opera/The Prodcers/Rent - over production in the frist, over-the-top silliness in the second and extreme grunginess in the third provide mis-direction galore in the modern film musical.
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Sonic Youth
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Where's A Hard Day's Night?
I mean, if they can allow other "American" films like Chariots of Fire onto the 100 Cheers list, then... you know?
If you're going to have A Night at the Opera, you may as well have A Day at the Races too.
If you're going to have Moulin Rouge, you may as well have Everyone Says I Love You.
They wouldn't dare put Green Pastures on the short list, I see.
My hated Disney musical of choice is The Lion King. Aladdin may not be outstanding, but I've always quite liked the "Prince Ali" song.
They'll ignore the charming and fetchingly small scale like Love Me Tonight in favor of 25 of the most grandiose musical monuments. Singin' in the Rain will be number one, and now we don't have to watch it. Good night.
And Godspell.
I mean, if they can allow other "American" films like Chariots of Fire onto the 100 Cheers list, then... you know?
If you're going to have A Night at the Opera, you may as well have A Day at the Races too.
If you're going to have Moulin Rouge, you may as well have Everyone Says I Love You.
They wouldn't dare put Green Pastures on the short list, I see.
My hated Disney musical of choice is The Lion King. Aladdin may not be outstanding, but I've always quite liked the "Prince Ali" song.
They'll ignore the charming and fetchingly small scale like Love Me Tonight in favor of 25 of the most grandiose musical monuments. Singin' in the Rain will be number one, and now we don't have to watch it. Good night.
A few groaners on the list, but overall not bad. At least they left off friggin' Annie.
And Godspell.
"What the hell?"
Win Butler
Win Butler
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Big Magilla
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A few groaners on the list, but overall not bad. At least they left off friggin' Annie.
Narrowing the choices to 25 is tough, but if the choices are based on both great songs and the way the songs are put over it becomes easier. It's Always Fair Weather, for example, has some of the most inventive dancing, as well as some of the most pungent comedy, ever captured on film, but the songs themselves are not particualrly memorable. Carousel has some of the greatest music ever written but the film is not especially cinematic.
I may consider The Wizard of Oz one of the greatest films ever made but I think of it as a fantasy film with a few songs thrown in along the way. Speaking of fantasy, I'd eliminate all non-live musiicals - no cartoons no matter how great the music might be.
With that criteria, I'd pick:
An American in Paris (1951)
The Band Wagon (1953)
Cabaret (1972)
Damn Yankees! (1958)
Easter Parade (1948)
Fame (1980)
42nd Street (1933)
The Gay Divorcee (1934)
Gigi (1958)
Hair (1979)
The King and I (1956)
Mary Poppins (1964)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
The Music Man (1962)
My Fair Lady (1964)
Oliver! (1968)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Show Boat (1936)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
The Sound of Music (1965)
A Star is Born (1954)
Swing Time (1936)
Top Hat (1935)
West Side Story (1961)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Narrowing the choices to 25 is tough, but if the choices are based on both great songs and the way the songs are put over it becomes easier. It's Always Fair Weather, for example, has some of the most inventive dancing, as well as some of the most pungent comedy, ever captured on film, but the songs themselves are not particualrly memorable. Carousel has some of the greatest music ever written but the film is not especially cinematic.
I may consider The Wizard of Oz one of the greatest films ever made but I think of it as a fantasy film with a few songs thrown in along the way. Speaking of fantasy, I'd eliminate all non-live musiicals - no cartoons no matter how great the music might be.
With that criteria, I'd pick:
An American in Paris (1951)
The Band Wagon (1953)
Cabaret (1972)
Damn Yankees! (1958)
Easter Parade (1948)
Fame (1980)
42nd Street (1933)
The Gay Divorcee (1934)
Gigi (1958)
Hair (1979)
The King and I (1956)
Mary Poppins (1964)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
The Music Man (1962)
My Fair Lady (1964)
Oliver! (1968)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Show Boat (1936)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
The Sound of Music (1965)
A Star is Born (1954)
Swing Time (1936)
Top Hat (1935)
West Side Story (1961)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
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The Original BJ
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The Original BJ
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The biggest omission for me is Nashville, my favorite musical.
However, I completely understand why it was left off: I know voters don't really think The Muppet Movie and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang are better films, (well, with this crowd you never know), but when thinking of great movie musicals, the Altman film somehow does seem of a slightly different genre.
To be honest, I didn't even notice its omission until it crossed my mind hours after posting that original list.
And I agree, rain Bard: The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of the best musicals of the past two decades, but I'd knock off Moulin Rouge and Evita long before Aladdin.
However, I completely understand why it was left off: I know voters don't really think The Muppet Movie and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang are better films, (well, with this crowd you never know), but when thinking of great movie musicals, the Altman film somehow does seem of a slightly different genre.
To be honest, I didn't even notice its omission until it crossed my mind hours after posting that original list.
And I agree, rain Bard: The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of the best musicals of the past two decades, but I'd knock off Moulin Rouge and Evita long before Aladdin.