Posts Tagged ‘Musical’

Carnival in Costa Rica DVD Review: An Endless Unfunny Rom-Com Musical

Posted: 5 May, 2013 in Movies/TV
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Carnival in Costa Rica DVD Review: An Endless Unfunny Rom-Com Musical

In case it has slipped past both your central and peripheral paths of vision in recent years, the residents of the United States of America don’t really care for its neighbors beneath it. Apparently, they feel they’re, well – beneath them. Canadians? Kosher – so long as they don’t talk politics or health care. Mexicans? Never. Not in a million years. Who cares if they do all of the menial tasks most of the USA’s own citizens feel are a tad too tedious: they still don’t like them. And that goes doubly so for those lazy, happy-go-lucky Costa Ricans – who are something of the subject of the awful 1947 Twentieth Century Fox Technicolor romantic comedy musical, Carnival in Costa Rica. Note how I say they are “something of the subject” – this is because there’s nary an actual Costa Rican in the entire dreadful picture. Read the rest of this entry »

*Blu-ray Review* Glee: The Complete Third Season

Posted: 16 October, 2012 in Movies/TV, TV
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Blu-ray Review: Glee – The Complete Third Season

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Glee – The Complete Third Season on Blogcritics.

OK, confession time, kids: despite the fact that I am a good thirty-five to forty percent gay and have a strong passion for vintage musicals and singing in general, I never actually took the time to sit back and watch a single episode of Glee until the Third Season showed up on my doorstep one day. Granted, 90% of it was due to the fact that I do not — nor probably ever will — have any cable or satellite service at my home. In any case, within minutes of opening up Glee: The Complete Third Season on Blu-ray, I quickly realized what a mistake I had made in not seeing the show any sooner. (more…)

*Blu-ray Review* Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies

Posted: 11 June, 2012 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies on Blogcritics.

Oh my. As a guy who all-but worshipped Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera in high school, I have to say that the idea of a follow-up musical to that unprecedented worldwide hit sounds about as appealing as a sequel my other favorite musical from my teenage years, Brain De Palma’s Phantom of the Paradise. In fact, I would have much rather watched a continuation to De Palma’s 1974 cult classic as opposed to having the overwhelming urge to repeatedly insert various pointed objects into my aural and visual organs by bearing witness to the god-awful tragedy that is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies — his 2010 massacring of his previous 1986 triumph. (more…)

*Blu-ray Review* Joyful Noise

Posted: 5 May, 2012 in Movies/TV, Music
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Blu-ray Review: Joyful Noise

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Joyful Noise on Blogcritics.

From the opening scene of the Queen Latifah/Dolly Parton vehicle Joyful Noise — wherein a racially-diverse Georgia gospel choir complete with full musical accompaniment belts out pitch-perfect praise to the Lord above — it’s clear that this film is about one thing and one thing alone: singing. Even as Dolly Parton’s onscreen pastor husband (a none-too-noticeable cameo from the great Kris Kristofferson) passes away immediately after the primary musical number’s conclusion, the focus of the film shifts to that of song. After all, death is only something for the dead to worry about, right? At least it is in this particular Christian neighborhood. (more…)

DVD Review: The Frank Sinatra Film Collection

Posted: 2 May, 2012 in Movies/TV
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DVD Review: The Frank Sinatra Film Collection

Article first published as DVD Review: The Frank Sinatra Film Collection on Blogcritics.

The Chairman of the Board. Ol’ Blue Eyes. The Voice. The Man Who Was Almost Dirty Harry. He Who Fathered Sufficiently Less-Talented Offspring. Whatever you call him, there was only one Frank Sinatra. And let’s face it: who could possibly even hope to measure up to Frankie’s still-alluring charm, tenor, and screen presence? The answer, of course — no matter how hard some of today’s clowns may try (and they do) — is a very heartfelt and sincere “no one.” There will, undoubtedly, be those who will attempt to do so; and though my first piece of advice would most assuredly be “You’re a loon,” my second suggestion would be to watch an assortment of Mr. Sinatra’s motion pictures. (more…)

*DVD Review* Living in a Big Way

Posted: 17 April, 2012 in Movies/TV
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DVD Review: Living in a Big Way

Article first published as DVD Review: Living in a Big Way on Blogcritics.

You just never know which movie you sign on to be the director of will be your last. Gregory La Cava was a former animator who started out working in Hollywood with Woody Woodpecker producer Walter Lantz during World War I, and went on to direct one of the greatest comedies of the 1930s, My Man Godfrey. Six projects later, in 1947, La Cava found himself helming a semi-musical post-World War II comedy starring the legendary Gene Kelly — an assignment that would prove to be his last credited directorial contribution to the industry, as Living in a Big Way (which he also co-wrote) wound up all-but killing his career. (more…)

*Blu-ray Review* The Sky’s the Limit (1943)

Posted: 10 April, 2012 in Movies/TV
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Blu-ray Review: The Sky’s the Limit (1943)

Article first published as DVD Review: The Sky’s the Limit (1943) on Blogcritics.

Of all the times one might have heard the late legendary crooner Frank Sinatra sing the lounge favorite “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road),” it’s highly possible to not even think about who Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen actually wrote the song for. Turns out the barroom ballad was really written for Fred Astaire — and the film the tune was written specifically for was 1943’s wartime musical comedy/drama The Sky’s the Limit, which co-starred the talents of former child performer Joan Leslie, regular jokester Robert Benchley, and future onscreen tough guy Robert Ryan. Here, Astaire stars as Fred Atwell — the ace of the Flying Tigers squad, serving the United States of America during World War II by shooting down enemy planes aplenty. (more…)

*Blu-ray Review* The Muppets

Posted: 17 March, 2012 in Movies/TV, Music
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Blu-ray Review: The Muppets

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: The Muppets on Blogcritics.

After that major disappointment known as Muppets from Space, many of us started to write off the late Jim Henson’s famous creations as passé. Our feelings were not without their cause: all of the magic that we had previously seen in the (better) Muppet motion pictures from the ‘70s and ‘80s had all but vanished — something that was evident once we saw Sam the Eagle being distracted by and subsequently staring at a girl’s breasts in the 1999 film’s teaser trailer. After that, the Muppets retired from the big screen altogether (which was probably a good thing), and the possibility of a worthwhile comeback was more than unlikely. (more…)

*Blu-ray Review* The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall

Posted: 29 February, 2012 in Event, Movies/TV, Music
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Blu-ray Review: The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall on Blogcritics.

Much like the Tim Rice/Benny Andersson/Björn Ulvaeus collaboration Chess, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s record-breaking The Phantom of the Opera has been a part of my life since high school. Phantom, however, struck a particularly favorable chord with me during those awkward post-elementary school years. After all, if there’s one thing a songwriting self-conscious lad with absolutely no ability to communicate or connect with the people around him can relate to, it’s the character of the Phantom: a misshapen creature who dwells within the catacombs of the Paris Opera House and longs to “make his mark” with a young ingénue above. (more…)

*DVD Review* Campus Rhythm

Posted: 28 October, 2011 in Movies/TV
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DVD Review: Campus Rhythm

Article first published as DVD Review: Campus Rhythm on Blogcritics.

It’s weird to see a Monogram Pictures movie released by a major label like MGM. In the ’80s, as VCRs became a commodity in homes across the US, most titles released to VHS that were originally produced by that iconic-though-defunct Poverty Row studio were usually distributed by no-name videocassette labels. The reason for this was that most Monogram titles had fallen into Public Domain over the years; anyone could circulate copies of the Bela Lugosi horror flick Invisible Ghost — a Monogram Picture — en masse and make a buck or two in the process; whereas MGM tended to release films that were mostly from their own catalogue, since they probably didn’t feel anyone would buy a movie like Campus Rhythm then, as it would have meant mass production, marketing, etc.
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