What is The Last Movie You Watched?

[Prospero]

I stated to watch Les Miserables for professional reasons, fred. (As a judge for a film and TV award)

[fred41]

I stated to watch Les Miserables for professional reasons, fred. (As a judge for a film and TV award)

Oh, cool then.
That did not occur to me, sorry.

[tsmirandameadows]

Documentary: Long Distance Revolutionary....

This is going to make me come off like a terrible person but I always have to laugh hysterically whenever I hear of Mumia. Why? When I was a teenager I lived in a group home for a couple of years -- that's partly why I chose to work in one as an adult -- and we had a staff, whose name escapes me and whose seemingly favorite tshirt was a "Free Mumia" shirt. One day, my best friend Chris had gotten in trouble for something and the staff in question, wearing her favorite shirt, was trying to give him consequences. He became enraged and then said something I'll never forget "Fuck you, I hope Mumia fries in the electric chair! Fry Mumia! Fry Mumia!" So now, over a decade later, whenever I hear of Mumia Abu-Jamal, all I can think is "Fry Mumia!"

Chris also had an episode where the house clinician, who had recently announced that his wife was pregnant, had pissed him off. The conversation proceeded like so: "Fuck you, Brad: I hope your baby is autistic!" "Chris, do you need a time out?" "AUTISTIC!" "In your room?" "AUTISTIC AUTISTIC AUTISTIC!!!"

Good times.

[tsmirandameadows]

I watched Mulan. Apparently Audrina has never seen a bunch of the classic disney movies and since Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD remix just came out I made her watch some, but then when we arrived at Mulan I realized I have never seen that movie either. So we sat down and watched it together.

Mulan was pretty cool as a kid but I couldn't stand it as an adult. "Is honor so important that it's worth dying for?!" Uh, yeah, that's kind of the point... I donno, maybe I just read too much of Classical literature, and too much of folks like Plato and Vergil rubbed off on me, while in college.

[Stavros]

Stavros, I figured I'd try to review this film from a perspective of someone who actually liked the musical. I saw it on Broadway and watched the Broadcast of the 25th anniversary of the show on PBS...and loved it.

Well...I can't give a complete critique of the film because I didn't get very far. I made it a third of the way through then I turned it off. It's bad. Why?...because they put together a cast with enough modern day star power that seemed like a perfect fit on paper. It seemed like a good cast for a Les Miserables movie...and it is....if you want to make yet another film based on the Victor Hugo novel..(what the hell - there's already a ton out there, why not one more ..right?).
...but it doesn't work as a musical. They chose hammy overacting to the music...which is always a fatal mistake. Everything Stavros said is pretty much true. Russell Crowe can't sing any better than the average person belting out a tune in their car on the way to work....and at the very least, they should have picked an actor who was perhaps a Baritone (watch the Norm Lewis version of Javert in the 25 anniversary edtion...he's the actor that plays Sen. Davis, Kerry Washington's former love interest in the television show "Scandal"). Anne Hathaway sobs her way through the centerpiece song to the point where you can barely feel the music through her snot filled diction.
I will probably try this movie again at a later date to view Samantha Barks as Eponine (I'll just fast forward)...she's got a good voice and she's a total cutie-pie.
That's it.

To be fair I could also have mentioned Samantha Barks as I thought she was the best thing in it, but her character just fades away and is another example of how poorly conceived this thing is. But I do understand your frustration -I am a snob who prefers opera, yet I recognise it is a niche entertainment and most people would rather go and see a show, and that must be the strength of musicals, and Americans can usually put on a show better than most others even if the London stage has a good reputation. Another disappointment is the lack of originality, choosing the well-trodden route of musicalising a book or historical figure rather than creating a musical from an orginal concept. But I am not sure if Les Miserables could have been saved even with good singers. Lea Salonga on youtube somewhere shows how to make I Dreamed a Dream sound as good as it should be, its even worth listening to more than once.

So what do you think have been the best musicals on film? I ask because I saw a recent clip of the 'classic' West Side Story and thought the singing was rough in too many places...

[fred41]

So what do you think have been the best musicals on film? I ask because I saw a recent clip of the 'classic' West Side Story and thought the singing was rough in too many places...

Well Stavros....I had a long rambling and babbling answering I was typing out...was well into the fifth or so paragraph..when I hit the wrong key and lost it all. Probably for the best since it may not really have answered your question.

The short answer is: I'm probably not well qualified to answer this question since I really don't enjoy what could be termed as a typical classic style musical. Sure I enjoy a good song and a skilled performance of such, but I much prefer a straightforward story with regular dialogue.

So before I go on, I've got to know: are you asking me which Hollywood adaptation of a Broadway type musical did I enjoy or at least find successful...or do you mean any Hollywood musicals (with the full realization that an awful lot of early American films including comedies had ample musical numbers)?

[Ben in LA]

The Day After Tomorrow.

It was on when I woke up from dozing off - and it was such good movie when I saw it originally - so what the hell? I watched it again.

[onetluv]

pain and gain.hella good movie..my favorite movie with the rock (dwane Johnson) so far.finally plays a bad guy.hes a freakin beast in that movie..probly the biggest hes ever been.he looks freakin massive.but yea..really good movie tho..based on a true story.well worth the dollar sumthing to rent from the redbox.

[Prospero]

Just saw "The Railway Man" a forthcoming film about Eric Lomax, based n his true story. he was captured at Singapore by the Japanese and suffered terrible treatment. A very powerful and emotional film about coming to terms with the past.

[Prospero]

Re Musicals on film. For me there are only a few great ones. My personal favourite is "My Fair Lady" though Audrey Hepburn (who is gorgeous) didn't sing her part. I also loved "Cabaret" Few modern musicials work for me.