Topic: July Movie Marathon: Musicals (Yes... You read right!)

[addicted2dvd]

Pete:
Movies- 23 (21 Reviewed)
Episodes - 4

Danae Cassandra:
Movies - 20 (17 reviewed)
Episodes - 12

I was gone all day, first at work and then wedding shopping with my friend Trish (I'm her maid-of-honor, so we're doing a lot of getting ready for her wedding), so I have a lot of work cut out for me.

Sounds like someone is starting to throw out some excuses! 

[addicted2dvd]

Pitch Perfect (2012/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Universal Studios Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Jason Moore Writing: Kay Cannon (Screenwriter), Mickey Rapkin (Original Material By) Length: 112 min. Video: Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1, French: DTS: 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Anna Kendrick as Beca
Skylar Astin as Jesse
Ben Platt as Benji
Brittany Snow as Chloe
Anna Camp as Aubrey

Plot:
Arriving at her new college, Beca (Anna Kendrick) finds herself not right for any clique but somehow is muscled into one that she never would have picked on her own: alongside mean girls, sweet girls and weird girls whose only thing in common is how good they sound when they sing together. When Beca leads this a cappella singing group out of their traditional arrangements and perfect harmonies into all-new mash-ups, they fight to climb their way to the top of college music competitions.

Pitch Perfect is an outrageously hilarious laugh-out-loud comedy that also stars Anna Camp (The Help), Brittany Snow (Hairspray) and Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids).

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Music Videos
• Outtakes/Bloopers
• BD-Live
• Digital Copy

My Thoughts:

This one I enjoyed quite a bit. Though I have seen better...still above average. The main thing I didn't like here is there is a little gross-out humor. Which is a type of comedy I never liked. Without that I would have rated this one higher. But I liked the story line and liked the characters. Definitely worth the time put in to watch it.

Rating:

[addicted2dvd]

Pitch Perfect 2 (2015/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Universal Studios Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Elizabeth Banks (1974) Writing: Kay Cannon (Writer), Mickey Rapkin (Original Material By) Length: 115 min. Video: Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio: 5.1, Spanish: DTS: 5.1, French: DTS: 5.1, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Anna Kendrick as Beca
Rebel Wilson as Fat Amy
Hailee Steinfeld as Emily
Brittany Snow as Chloe
Skylar Astin as Jesse

Plot:
Beca (Anna Kendrick), Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) and the Barden Bellas are back to pitch slap the world! After a scandal threatens to derail their last year at Barden, the three-time defending champs worry that they've lost their harmony for good. With one chance left at redeeming their legacy, they must face off against the toughest competition on the planet: German supergroup Das Sound Machine and fight for their right to win at the World Championships of A Cappella. It will take the power of sisterhood to find their voice and see what it takes to be the world's top pitches!

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Outtakes/Bloopers
• BD-Live
• Digital Copy

My Thoughts:

I'm always surprised when I am able to say this... but I enjoyed this one more then the first one. Really it is just more of the same... except they did away with the gross-out humor. Which in my eyes is an improvement over the firs film. I feel comfortable recommending this one. It is worth the time put in to watch it.

Rating:

[Danae Cassandra]

Astaire & Rogers: Partners in Rhythm
Year of Release: 2006
Directed By: Tara Tremaine
Starring: Chuck Klausmeyer (narrator)
Genre: Documentary, Musical

Overview:
Featuring clips from all 10 films Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made together, from 1933's Flying Down to Rio to 1949's The Barkley's of Broadway, this glorious salute captures the sweat, determination, inspiration, talent and scintillation chemistry that made the team an icon of elegance in motion. Candid photos, behind-the-scenes tidbits and sidelights about such famed Astaire-Rogers collaborators as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Hermes Pan and George Stevens add to the fun. Take some gliding, sliding, tapping, twirling steps back in time with Astaire and Rogers Partners in Rhythm.

My Thoughts:
Fine little retrospective look at the partnership of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, featuring a bit of biography of each but mainly focused on their RKO career together. Brief, but worth a look for fans of the duo. There's still nobody out their like Fred & Ginger.

Bechdel Test: Fail (N/A)
Mako Mori Test: Fail (N/A)

Overall: 3/5

[Danae Cassandra]

Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
Year of Release: 2002
Directed By: Robert Trachtenberg
Starring: Stanley Tucci (narrator)
Genre: Documentary, Musical

Overview:
Everyone feels a connection with Gene Kelly. He's a guy's guy to men. To women, he's a knight whose shining armor is a T-shirt and khakis. And he solidifies that link with a vigorous, athletic way of dance he calls American Style. Gene Kelly makes us all fee like we should be dancing and singing in the rain.

The life and career of this innovator whose work includes Singin' in the Rain, On the Town and An American in Paris are recalled in this study of the driven genius - often narcissistic, always a perfectionist - who reenergized the movie musical and redefined dance on screen. Packed with marvelous clips and interviews with family and Hollywood colleagues, Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer is the definitive look at a magical talent whose story has never been fully told until now.

My Thoughts:
A really nice biography of Kelly and retrospective of his career. Kelly is not only an icon of dance, but an icon of the American film. Quite thorough and worth a watch for fans of his.

Bechdel Test: Fail (N/A)
Mako Mori Test: Fail (N/A)

Overall: 3/5

[Danae Cassandra]

Cats
Year of Release: 2001
Directed By: David Mallet
Starring: Elaine Paige, John Mills, Ken Page, Rosemarie Ford, Michael Gruber, John Partridge
Genre: Fantasy, Musical

Overview:
CATS the longest-running musical in Broadway history, the show that changed the face of modern musicals – now as you've never seen it before...and as you'll never see it again!

This ultimate home video version of the Olivier and Tony Award-winning classic boasts an all-star cast headed by Elaine Paige (London's original Grizabella) and Sir John Mills, with music performed by an eighty-piece orchestra. From the opening dance number to the final refrain of Memory, you'll want to experience Cats – Now and Forever!

My Thoughts:
I used to have this soundtrack on cassette. Of course, I upgraded to CD a long time ago. I can sing along with every song - except the Rumpus Cat song, which isn't on the soundtrack. So, for everyone who will never have the opportunity to see this on Broadway (in other words, everyone like me!) this is great. Yes, the story is exceedingly thin. After all, it's all about the competition between cats to be the one picked for the Jellicle Choice, so it's a showcase of each individual cat. Actually it's a showcase of T.S. Elliot's poetry and Lloyd Webber's music, and a triumph of musical theatre. Highly recommended.

Bechdel Test: Pass
Mako Mori Test: Pass

Overall: 4/5

[Danae Cassandra]

Pete:
Movies- 24 (23 reviewed)
Episodes - 4

Danae Cassandra:
Movies - 23 (21 reviewed)
Episodes - 12

Pete still needs a review for The Pajama Game and I still need reviews for Begin Again and Buena Vista Social Club.

[addicted2dvd]

Pete:
Movies- 25 (23 reviewed)
Episodes - 4

Danae Cassandra:
Movies - 23 (21 reviewed)
Episodes - 12

I still needs a review for The Pajama Game & The Wizard of OZ and Danae Cassandra still has to do reviews for Begin Again and Buena Vista Social Club.

[Danae Cassandra]

Fantasia
Year of Release: 1940
Directed By: Samuel Armstrong, James Algar, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Hamilton Luske, Jim Handley, Ford Beebe, T. Hee, Norm Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson
Starring: Leopold Stokowski, The Philadelphia Orchestra
Genre: Fantasy, Animation, Musical

Overview:
Walt Disney's animated musical masterpiece is an extravaganza of sight and sound—now brilliantly restored for the first time ever in high definition! Blu-ray technology finally allows you to experience Fantasia—and Fantasia 2000, the triumphant classic it inspired—the way Walt envisioned! Plus, for the first time ever on Blu-ray, experience the 2003 Academy Award®-nominated animated short Destino—the extraordinary collaboration between Walt Disney and legendary artist Salvador Dali!

Revealing new bonus features and commentary bring the Fantasia experience to life, allowing generations of moviegoers all over the world to enjoy this timeless classic like never before. See the music come to life, hear the pictures burst into song and experience the excitement that is Fantasia over and over again.

My Thoughts:
Fabulous music, groundbreaking animation, and one of Disney's bravest and riskiest films.  If all the sequences aren't evenly fabulous, there are ones that stand up as absolute classics 77 years after this first came out.  My personal favorite is "Night on Bald Mountain," but there is something to be said for all of them.  I just wish the introductions weren't there, or just announced the piece of music.  They're completely unnecessary.

Boy is that overview misleading though!  If by "the way Walt envisioned" you mean sanitized for your enjoyment, then yes, yes it is.  Sunflower & Otika are still missing, and they were in the original Walt made.  Gad I really hate censorship.

Bechdel Test: Fail
Mako Mori Test: Fail

Overall: 4/5

[Danae Cassandra]

Fantasia 2000
Year of Release: 1999
Directed By: Pixote Hunt, Hendel Butoy, Eric Goldberg, James Algar, Francis Glebas, Gaetan Brizzi, Paul Brizzi, Don Hahn
Starring: James Levine, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Genre: Fantasy, Animation, Musical

Overview:
Walt Disney's animated musical masterpiece is an extravaganza of sight and sound—now brilliantly restored for the first time ever in high definition! Blu-ray technology finally allows you to experience Fantasia—and Fantasia 2000, the triumphant classic it inspired—the way Walt envisioned! Plus, for the first time ever on Blu-ray, experience the 2003 Academy Award®-nominated animated short Destino—the extraordinary collaboration between Walt Disney and legendary artist Salvador Dali!

Revealing new bonus features and commentary bring the Fantasia experience to life, allowing generations of moviegoers all over the world to enjoy this timeless classic like never before. See the music come to life, hear the pictures burst into song and experience the excitement that is Fantasia over and over again.

My Thoughts:
This is not only a worthy successor to Fantasia, it's one of the very best Disney sequels.  In many ways I like it better than the original.  If for nothing else than the introductions are both shorter and better written.  The computer animation lacks the warmth of the original's hand-drawn drawn, but some of it is so spectacular as to make that a minor criticism.  "Pines of Rome" and "The Firebird" are my personal favorites, though "Rhapsody in Blue" comes in close behind for a lovely trifecta.  Recommended if you enjoyed the original film. 

Bechdel Test: Fail
Mako Mori Test: Fail

Overall: 4/5

[Danae Cassandra]

Pete:
Movies- 25 (23 reviewed)
Episodes - 4

Danae Cassandra:
Movies - 25 (23 reviewed)
Episodes - 12

Pete still needs reviews for The Pajama Game & The Wizard of OZ and I still have to do reviews for Begin Again and Buena Vista Social Club.

[addicted2dvd]

The Pajama Game (1957/) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | (United States) Director: George Abbott, Stanley Donen Writing: George Abbott (Screenwriter), Richard Bissell (Screenwriter), George Abbott (Original Material By), Richard Bissell (Original Material By) Length: 101 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono Subtitles:

Stars:
Doris Day
John Raitt
Carol Haney
Eddie Foy, Jr.
Rita Shaw

Plot:
Labor and management at the Sleeptite Pajama Factory aren't sleeping much lately: a proposed 7 1/2 cent hourly wage increase is why - and a strike may result. But negotiations here involve snappy stars, terrific tunes and dynamic dances as Doris Day The Pajama Game.

Extras:

• Scene Access

My Thoughts:

I found this one to be a fun film... even if it is not what I would call a great one. It has a good story line. And while I liked Doris Day's character... I really had mixed feelings for John Riatt's. Through some of the movie I liked him.. but yet at some point I really stopped caring about him. Worth the time put in to watch... but it is not one I will be in a hurry to upgrade.

Rating:

[addicted2dvd]

The Wizard of Oz: 70th Anniversary Edition (1939/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia |Trailer | Warner Home Video (United States) Director: Victor Fleming Writing: Noel Langley (Screenwriter), Florence Ryerson (Screenwriter), Edgar Allan Woolf (Screenwriter), Noel Langley (Original Material By), L. Frank Baum (Original Material By) Length: 102 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: Mono, German: Dolby Digital: Mono, Italian: Dolby Digital: Mono, Spanish: Dolby Digital: Mono, Portuguese: Dolby Digital: Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Music Only: Dolby Digital: Mono, English: Dolby Digital: Mono Subtitles: Chinese, Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Other

Stars:
Judy Garland as Dorothy
Frank Morgan (1890) as Professor Marvel
Ray Bolger as "Hunk"
Bert Lahr as "Zeke"
Jack Haley (1898) as "Hickory"

Plot:
Whisked away by a swirling tornado, 12-year-old Dorothy, her dog Toto, and even her Kansas farmhouse, sail over the rainbow and into the dazzling land of Oz. Filled with playful Munchkins, enchanted forests and endless surprises, this dream-come-true world is one great adventure after another. But the most wondrous adventure of all begins when Dorothy and her newfound friends go in search of the kingdom's mysterious Wizard and the secret that will lead her home.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Feature Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Gallery
• Outtakes/Bloopers
• BD-Live

My Thoughts:

This one is a true classic... though one that has been played through-out my life. As I remember it becoming an annual thing of the family all watching it together. But it is a fun movie with a great cast. Well worth the time put to watch it.

Rating:

[addicted2dvd]

Burlesque (2010/United States) Wikipedia |IMDb |Trailer | Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (United States) Director: Steven Antin Writing: Steven Antin (Writer) Length: 119 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Cher as Tess
Christina Aguilera as Ali
Eric Dane as Marcus
Cam Gigandet as Jack
Julianne Hough as Georgia

Plot:
A small town singer, Ali (Christina Aguilera), moves to the big city for her chance at stardom where she is enchanted by Burlesque, a glamorous nightclub packed with dancers, sizzling music, and an owner in need of a star (Cher). Jam-packed with visually stunning musical numbers and an all-star cast featuring Eric Dane, Kristen Bell and Stacy Tucci.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Audio Commentary
• Featurettes
• Outtakes/Bloopers

My Thoughts:

While the story line was pretty good I found I just didn't care about the characters. And neither Cher or Christina Aguilara impressed me at all here. No more then an average movie at best. So not one I will be recommending or adding to my collection any time soon.

Rating:

[addicted2dvd]

Pete:
Movies- 27 (26 reviewed)
Episodes - 4

Danae Cassandra:
Movies - 25 (23 reviewed)
Episodes - 12

I still need to review Shrek: The Musical and Danae Cassandra still has to do reviews for Begin Again and Buena Vista Social Club.