Tag Archives: Musical

2025

Live-Action Disney’s Perceived Poison Apple Emerges a Semi-Charmed “Snow White”

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All the princess problems — sound stages on fire, casting controversies, misbegotten social media posts and one of the lowest rated teasers since trailers have been tested — haven’t sullied the wishing well for Disney’s latest foray into Snow business. It seems even a woke White can re-awaken for a spell, featuring enchanted anti-Fascist fun for the whole family, extending the Mouse House’s cottage industry of adapting every piece of IP this side of Home on the Range and The Rescuers Down Under. Director Mark Webb’s long promised 2025 live action fairy tale film Disney’s Snow White (B-), delayed for, um … the pandemic? … or strike threats? … maybe, evolves the 1937 animated classic with a sometimes sophisticated screenplay by The Girl on a Train and Secretary erotic thriller scribe (a choice!) Erin Cressida Wilson and a bevy of Broadway talent. And magic mirror, mirror, it’s a musical by golly, with a rousing good versus evil story, a hopeful message and heroine and a few welcome surprises amidst the flurry of fussy but adorable deer and birds. Rachel Zegler is in full command of her luminous star power in the instantly iconic title role, warrior royalty incarnate with a gorgeous, heartfelt belt sensationally suited for Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s catchy and contemporary original songs. Andrew Burnap is dashing and funny as a new love interest character bricked up for feisty forest fights and the occasional dulcet duet timed to choreographer Mandy Moore’s spry steps. And as the Evil Queen, Gal Gadot is gorgeous and campy AF while posing menacingly in costume guru Sandy Powell’s glam gowns and crowns, sporting Freddy Krueger talons and noshing on cracked crab leg snacks, even though she proves a poor unfortunate soul in the singing department. Webb bobs for apples thematically and tonally until emerging with sweet cinematic cider: for every high point group musical sequence, there’s also a dollop of the dubious: a witch disguise serving Reverend Kane from Poltergeist 2, an inert and unconvincing State of the Union style drawbridge speech and a blatant, inaccurate product plug for the bejeweled theme park roller coaster, to name a few. But even ho-hum is better than heigh-ho when the movie jump-scare reveals seven deadly sins: the what-the-duck-dynasty stop-motion septet of dwarf denizens mining and whining in a nearby uncanny valley. Zegler deserves a lifetime achievement award for singing, dancing and whistling while she works with these supporting hybrid CGI puppet monstrosities, hunkering like Hummels at the gates of hell with dad joke quips. Were there a digital dwarf-free edition of the film, this Disney musical joy-bomb would score more than its otherwise provisional recommendation. As live action Disney movies go, however, this one deserves an electrical light parade following the studio’s prolonged purgatory in a remake cringe festival. Out of Grimm, this film gets a few grins; and it ultimately scores the sweet central duo of Zigler and Burnap big wins.

2024

“Better Man” Biopic a Kong Day’s Journey into Trite

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Bad boy Britpop singing sensation Robbie Williams has been such a party animal through much of his adulthood, it’s no wonder director Michael Gracey takes the wild swing of rendering his character as an anthropomorphic allegorical ape for the biopic Better Man (C+). And the ups and downs of fame, self-loathing and addiction prove it’s hard out here for a chimp, even if behind his big hairy audacious goals of showbiz superstardom, he’s achieved oversized celebrity in the UK and cult admiration here in The States. The film shines in big production numbers scored to such hits as “Rock DJ,” “Angels,” and “The One” with clever, kinetic choreographed sequences punctuating lesser passages. Behind-the-music style beats comprising much of the bloated story don’t shed much light on the interior life of the simian songster played with CGI motion capture by Jonno Davies. Rise to fame, romance, rap sheets, rehabilitation, reconciliation and more are on display, along with tiresome hallucinogenic alter egos laced through concert crowds to cast doubt. The film’s occasionally meta presentation wins points with wry, often profane quips but reveals very little about what motivates the character at its center. After a long time in the wilderness hibernation of what can only seem like Cocaine Bear has invaded Pink Floyd’s hotel room, there’s some tidy and redemptive sentiment to cleanse the palette. More cautionary mental health tale than rhythmic romp (a far less fun Rocket Man?), this murky movie monkey business wears out its welcome.

2024

Whimsical, Witchy Women Spotlighted in Sensational Singing Saga “Wicked: Part I”

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The ultimate musical about dorm room essentials and etiquette signals its inspirational intentions on a wondrous dry erase storyboard when an underground campus scandal threatens to silence outspoken professors, prompting two mismatched roomies to rally together for a common cause. It’s also the prequel to The Wizard of Oz about young witches at a crossroads of magic school Shiz University, the activist roommate going green while the other mindlessly revels in her pink bubblegum popularity. This tidy trapper keeper of Broadway-adapted bliss, John M. Chu’s Wicked: Part I (A) juggles the poppies, rainbows and yellow bricks of its spellbinding origin story while celebrating its vibrant cinematic connections to Victor Fleming’s 1939 classic with lavish set pieces, buoyant production numbers and, most of all, an iconic central duo metaphorically stepping into Dorothy’s shoes. The splendid odd couple at the heart of this tuneful tale represents no easy-bake coven; rather it’s a rarefied once-in-a-lifetime collision of talent. Cynthia Erivo as outcast Elphaba and Ariana Grande as populist Glinda slay their respective roles, their Stephen Schwartz songs such as “The Wizard and I” and “Defying Gravity” and the machinations of the mid-tempo melodrama. Splitting the film adaptation into two installments gives Chu a delicate opportunity to better excavate the characters’ relationships and showcase sequences faithfully fused from Gregory Maguire’s novel and L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The adaptation experiment works brilliantly and brings the story full circle. It’s only half the story, and yet there is a complete movie arc in this single act with the young ladies discovering agency and friendship to a rousing conclusion and one-year intermission. The prequel to a prequel as it were shines equally in a near-silent moment of undeniable power and resilience as it does in its most elaborate song-and-dance sequences. There is also a stunning allegory afoot for those who seek a tonic elixir antidote to grim political poison in the air, with an undeniably prescient “rise up” drumbeat piercing the artifice. Jonathan Bailey is a charming supporting character as love interest Fiyero, bringing rizz to Shiz via a standout “Dancing Through Life” number with an inventive choreographed sequence within the university’s circular rotating library. The filmmakers have clearly thought through the best and most creative ways for each and every beat to come through, emotionally and sonically. The film’s crafts from the whimsical costume designs to the elaborate production environments and soaring underscore provide wall-to-wall wonder. Most of all, this musical fantasy is a genuine triumph of casting, with Grande acing her assignment as both comically oblivious but daffily lovable and Erivo offering a slow-burn reveal and belting to the emerald heavens. If I could pass Chu a note or two, it would be that some of the CGI could be less fussy and the choreography could be more Fosse. Nearly three quarters of a century after cinematic Oz world-building began, the Good Witch and the Wicked Witch conjure some rousing revisionist history and extend the franchise in one of the year’s most enchanting experiences.


2024

“Emilia Pérez” is Audacious Art for Adventurous Moviegoers

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French filmmakers prove more artfully attuned to both the transgender experience and crime in the Mexican milieu than the product of billions of dollars of American political ad spending in a bold and brilliant subtitled melodrama paced, plotted and performed with the zest and scope of an opera. On the surface, Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez (A-) qualifies as a musical with piquant original songs contributed by Camille, a rousing original score by Clement Ducol and tight, cagey choreography by Damien Jalet, but the tone poem aesthetic echoes a fascinating central character study and crime adventure. The plot centers on a Mexican lawyer (a never better Zoe Saldana), who helps a vicious crime lord fake his own death and transition to life as the female title character (a fascinating Karla Sofia Gascon). A delightfully unhinged Selena Gomez portrays the widow who, several years later, believes Emilia is aunt rather than father to her two children. Meanwhile Perez embarks on a crusade to shed light on the disappearing victims of the country’s cartels. Audiard’s audacious work as writer/director, backed by Paul Guilhaume’s stunning cinematography and Juliette Welfling’s deft editing, creatively chronicles the journey of the story’s trio of remarkable women. Saldana and Gascon in particular are riveting and empathetic in authentic pursuit of their lives’ calling, and Gomez sneaks up in the final reel with some genuine scene-stealing too. Anthony Vaccarello of fashion house Yves Saint Laurent designed costumes for the film, impeccable in all manners of craft. This import is distributed by Netflix, but be advised it is best enjoyed without distraction on the epic canvas of a big screen.

2024

Musical “Joker” Sequel a Folly

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Director Todd Phillips had a very novel approach for his 2019 take on the Joker character embodied by Joaquin Phoenix in an acclaimed, unhinged performance of the title role with Gotham City inhabitants in a “mean streets” milieu. Filmmaker Phillips and his star Phoenix return for the sequel, and although it has some flickers of inspiration and takes a big swing by being a hybrid courtroom drama in the form of a golden age musical, Joker: Folie a Deux (D) is an unmitigated disaster in execution. In an asylum while awaiting trial for a half dozen murders, Arthur Fleck/Joker meets a kindred spirit played by Lady Gaga, and a bad romance ensues, complete with real and imagined production numbers of showtunes such as “Get Happy,” “If My Friends Could See Me Now” and “That’s Entertainment!” About one and a half of the musical numbers actually work, but with Joaquin croaking out a rocker voice and Gaga sing-whispering with little gusto to blend in duets, it’s not a pretty soundscape. I love musicals and cringed each time a song started. It’s mostly like a broken record. The film is all over the map in terms of tone and doesn’t clearly articulate its thesis if there is one. It is dull, drab and a chore to watch. Goodwill related to the first film’s originality is undercut with this debacle of a follow-up.

2024

Comedy Musical “Less Than Kosher” a Surprising Take on Jewish Identity

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A funny new film focuses on that pivotal time as a young person making a way in the world when you rediscover or finally find your voice. Shaina Silver-Baird, whose comic sensibility evokes a wry, mischievous love child of Aubrey Plaza and Kate McKinnon, is the co-creator/co-writer, executive producer and star of director Daniel AM Rosenberg’s comic musical Less Than Kosher (B+). She plays Viv, a washed-up thirtysomething ex-pop star and self-proclaimed “bad Jew” who reluctantly lands an unlikely job as the music leader at her family’s synagogue. Familial sassiness, a “meet not so cute” with the rabbi’s son, a memorable mushroom drug trip and a TikTok trending montage of “Judeo-Pop” remixes are among the funny episodes punctuated with devilish Tarantino yellow font chapter headings. The film is a joyous roundabout story of modern young Jewish life approaching its characters with no judgment as they maneuver the trappings of adulting. Viv’s sequences as cantor quickly become out-of-body spiritual experiences, one of which feels ripped out of a Disney Broadway showstopper. Silver-Baird proves she’s a gregarious comedienne as well as a lovely songstress, and she is matched in goofy temperament and tone opposite funnymen David Eisner and David Reale as rabbi and son, respectively. Rosenberg holds it all together with fun physical comedy and lots of original zingers. He leaves you wanting more as it’s not entirely clear what comes next for the comic characters, but it’s a berserk and buoyant work with lots of laughs and heart.

Note: This screening was part of the young professionals night at the 2024 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. The festival’s theatrical movies run through February 26 with streaming films also available through March 7. Full line-up of films can be found here: https://ajff.org

2024, Rent It Tonight

”Mean Girls” Musical Movie Inconsistently Fetching

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The North Shore High School Mathletes would ace this calculation: one update of a two decade old film comedy plus one translation of its stage musical adaptation equals only a fraction of the property’s legacy entertainment value. The 2024 musical version of Mean Girls (C+), co-directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr., succeeds in delivering dollops of nostalgia and a star-is-born villain performance by Reneé Rapp as the pink terror Regina George. As a musical, though, it’s inconsistent, with the filmmakers framing production numbers awkwardly before finding their groove. Songs happen in this high school musical because characters are filming themselves on their phone or because they’re adjacent to the marching band practice room or because they’re fantasizing or because they’re describing something absurd; there are few connective threads holding all this together as an actual movie musical. It doesn’t help that the new-to-school protagonist played lowkey by Angourie Rice doesn’t get an “I want” moment and little time to establish herself before smitten with the guy in calculus class (a natural Christopher Briney) or lured in by the clique called The Plastics. Auliʻi Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey are a hoot and in great voice as the heroine’s genuine friends; reprising roles from the 2004 film, Tina Fey and Tim Meadows make very little impression. There’s some awkward choreography of students behaving like African animals; like a breeze from Poomba, it swiftly clears the savanna of laughs or charm. Rapp’s vampy antihero has the most fun in her role, and there are some creative montages leveraging social media to amplify the antics. For those who loved the original film or want to revisit its sly psychology put to music, there’s some fun to be had here. But it’s largely a missed opportunity twenty years later to say something new or differently about its themes of girls trying to treat each other better to the next generation.

2023, Rent It Tonight

Trio of Talented Actresses Give “Color Purple” Movie Musical New Life

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There’s very little resisting Alice Walker’s most iconic work in any of its forms: the 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the 1985 Oscar-nominated movie, the elaborate Broadway 2005 musical stage show or its even more acclaimed stripped-down 2015 revival. So don your lavender, orchid, magenta and violet hues and grab your best friends to enjoy another inspiring telling of this ode to sisterhood in a crowd-pleasing auditorium. Nobody ever told Shakespeare he’s been interpreted too much. Director Blitz Bazawule’s 2023 film adaptation of the book-turned-musical The Color Purple (B) does show some signs of wear, despite some jubilant applause-worthy moments. His fresh lens on the tale gets a little lost in translation as he tries to plumb the depths of the sharply drawn characters while giving them their due as singers too. For those just hopping on the bandwagon, the story traces forty years in the life of Miss Celie (Fantasia Barrino) who is torn from her sister and children in the rural South in the early 1900s and faces hardships including an abusive husband “Mister” (Colman Domingo). With support from a sultry singer named Shug (Taraji P. Henson) and her stand-her-ground stepdaughter Sofia (Danielle Brooks), Celie ultimately finds extraordinary strength in the unbreakable bonds of a new kind of female empowerment. This new production includes three iconic and melodic moments of sonic uplift so potent and a final reel so tearjerking and triumphant viewers may forget the film’s sluggish start. Bazawule reveals his exposition a bit too much like a “greatest hits” for those who know the story rather than discovering it fresh as the characters would experience it. He also doesn’t land exactly how to effectively execute the musical numbers – are they real or fantasy? lived-in or larger than life? – until he hits the stride of barnburners “Hell No,” “Push Da Button,” and “I’m Here.” This re-imagining is handsomely photographed, poignantly acted and has a stirring finale. Barrino is so good in the final reel that one might wish she was extended more of a showcase early on in the film. This new Purple is recommended for the timeless story, the strength of the ensemble and bursts of greatness that blossom just when you need something beautiful to savor.

2023, Rent It Tonight

Chalamet is “Wonka” in Charming Candy-Colored Prequel

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Expect an everlasting gobstopper of a smile on your face as the greatest showman of the chocolate-loving world headlines a delightful new origin story. Paul King’s musical fantasy family feature Wonka (B+) stars Timothee Chalamet as the titular confectioner who arrives in Europe to realize his dream of opening a candy shop but finds himself choc-blocked by a series of rivals. Chalamet is absolutely enchanting, summoning his theatre kid charms to embody a crooning, inventive optimist, not yet cynical to the ways of the world or banishing anyone to the fudge room. Partnered with the fabulous young actress Calah Lane in a series of adventures, they gracefully spark imagination and engage in deft wordplay. The whole ensemble is a hoot, including Olivia Colman as a wicked innkeeper, Rowan Atkinson as a priest with a sweet tooth and Hugh Grant as a surly Oompa-Loompa. King’s whimsical palette and maximalist production design sets the stage for fabulous surprises and sly humor around every corner; and Jody Talbot and Neil Hannon (frontman of Irish band Divine Comedy) bring uplift in the form of old-fashioned Broadway-style songs. When the plot shifts into all-out heist mode for a while, it’s a little less interesting; but like a string of taffy, Timmy springs it right back into sentimental health. This is definitely the non-ironic family feature of the year with just enough bite to keep everybody satisfied.

2023

Even a Fairy Godmother Couldn’t Save Disney’s Wobbly “Wish”

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Disney’s centennial emerges as its animation division experiences an awkward crossroads. Do animators lean into princesses, swashbucklers or steampunk? Do they focus on hand-drawn or computer generated animation? Tried and true Menkens and Mirandas or other new voices? Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn’s Wish (C+) is evidence of creative inertia, compromise and the wrong kind of recycling as its makers craft measures of vintage atmosphere but draw too heavily on fan service origin stories over forging interesting new paths. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you: that’s actually a mixture of watercolor and CG, a literal tug-of-war for tone in cartoon compositions before you even fixate on the film’s undercooked but byzantine story. It’s all a mallet to the palette. The plot focuses on Asha (voiced by a spirited Ariana DeBose), who makes a passionate plea to the stars after sensing a darkness in her kingdom led by Magnifico (Chris Pine, all snark and bark). The so-so music by Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice (frequent Selena Gomez collaborators) is a nod to contemporary sensibilities but feels overwrought against the frilly imagery; they feel like stand-ins for something more hummable. There are indeed some creative flourishes: the notion that the deepest wishes of a country’s citizenry live inside precious bubbles within a royal repository and must be rescued and returned to their rightful owners feels like the stuff of Pixar pop psychology fusing into Disney proper. Buck and Veerasunthorn have delivered a pleasant enough fairy tale with heart, but it’s not quite emotional or funny enough to score classic status. They don’t even score with funny sidekicks. For all the building blocks assembled in the service of a Disney formula, it rarely reaches its higher yearning.

2023

Megan Thee Stallion the Standout of “Dicks: The Musical”

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Making a comic film with perpetual double dares to its audience to not be shocked by its master-crass of gags is a delicate art, and these filmmakers are too loosey goosey in their dirty ditty-filled romp to consistently nail their themes or targets. Director Larry Charles delivers the mixed bag of Dicks: The Musical (C) based on work by Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp who reprise off-Broadway roles as sort-of adult identical twins who meet through business and try, Parent Trap style, to cajole their single parents, played by Megan Mullally (funny but with a ridiculous accent) and Nathan Lane (funny but not much to do here), into one big happy reunited family. A sassy Bowen Yang is fine as the wry omniscient narrator, but Megan Thee Stallion is the sublime surprise as the corporate boss with a women-rule-the-world song for the ages in one of the few sequences fully realized (gay clubs will have this on loop for eternity). There are also some creative puppets standing in as allegories and private parts amidst a bunch of hit or miss songs. The costumes, choreography and production design are generally a hoot, but the scattershot story rarely gets liftoff and the takeaways from the twisted morality tale are murky at best. The South Park movie and Book of Mormon stage show were much more successful in the mature musical milieu. As actors and writers, Jackson and Sharp seem to be laughing their way through the whole enterprise, but they’ve only reached a semi.

2023, Rent It Tonight

Musical Drama “Flora and Son” Full of Grace Notes

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John Carney’s music-infused films – Once, Begin Again and Sing Street– chronicle lost souls tuning into one another via the art of song, and his latest, Flora and Son (B), sticks close to his finely tuned formula. Eve Hewson and newcomer Orén Kinlan are fabulous as the titular characters, a single mother and a troubled teenager looking for meaning in hardscrabble Dublin. Flora, estranged from her bassist husband (Jack Reynor’s charm makes him hard to hate) and in search of a higher calling, finds a California-based virtual guitar teacher, the roguish and rhythmic Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and soon the central quartet of characters gets its groove back through common craft. Despite the strength of the performances, the story and song quality aren’t quite up to the Carney measure of excellence, and the brisk tale somehow feels awkwardly truncated. Still, the way these characters connect has mountains of magic in it. Full of acerbic wit and Irish sting, Hewson is singular in her role and quite irresistible. She and Gordon-Levitt have undeniable chemistry. It’s now abundantly clear what to expect from a Carney film, and fans of the auteur should have plenty of humor and harmony to enjoy. (Sept. 29 on Apple TV streaming service)