Bad musicals

[3LB]

Why are some of the worst movies ever, musicals?

I just ran across The Sgt Peppers Movie a week or so ago and its even worse than I remembered. No wonder the popularity of all involved tanked or nose-dived after this pos.

I remember getting dragged to see Paul McCartney's Give My Regards To Broad Street when I was 19 and felt embarrised to be seen leaving the theater. It wasn't actually a musical per se', it was just bad.

Even with the popularity of the musicals coming envogue again, I still can't stomach them.

Am I just too jaded?

[dean_martin]

in my book, good musicals on film (as opposed to stage productions) are the exception rather than the rule. I found Across the Universe both embarassingly bad and boring. So far, I've been able to avoid Momma Mia. My wife has it on dvd so it's just a matter of time.

There are some classics that I'm not qualified to comment on. It's either been too long since I've seen them (e.g., Fiddler on the Roof, Sound of Music) or I haven't seen them (e.g., Singin' in the Rain). I would like to see comments on those.

OTOH, I like John Waters' Cry Baby and Hairspray. The Hairspray re-make was tolerable.

[ForeverAutumn]

I haven't seen Sgt. Pepper in years. I remember loving it when it first came out but that had more to do with my tween crush on Peter Frampton than anything else. :o But seeing it later in life, it's pretty bad. The thing is, it would have been bad with or without the music. It was just too cheesy a story.

Give my regards to Broad Street is another example of a movie being bad just because its a bad movie, not because its a musical. What a snooze fest that movie was.

We go to a lot of live theatre and what I really hate is when someone takes a perfectly good movie (or book) and turns it into a bad musical stage production. Case in point, The Color Purple. Great book! Good movie. But then Oprah had to get her claws into it and turn it into a musical. :nonod:

As a serious play it would have been fine. But what's the point of adding music to it? Not one memorable song in the bunch. It just made the damn thing feel longer.

The same about the Lord of the Rings, the musical. I mean, WTF?!

And I once saw The Handmaid's Tale as an opera. I won't make that mistake twice.

[ForeverAutumn]

in my book, good musicals on film (as opposed to stage productions) are the exception rather than the rule. I found Across the Universe both embarassingly bad and boring. So far, I've been able to avoid Momma Mia. My wife has it on dvd so it's just a matter of time.

There are some classics that I'm not qualified to comment on. It's either been too long since I've seen them (e.g., Fiddler on the Roof, Sound of Music) or I haven't seen them (e.g., Singin' in the Rain). I would like to see comments on those.

OTOH, I like John Waters' Cry Baby and Hairspray. The Hairspray re-make was tolerable.

I think I'm the only person who actually liked Across the Universe. . :lol:

I think that part of the problem with new musicals is that there is very little original music. Baton Rouge, Across the Universe, Mama Mia, all steal their soundtracks from other music and I think they lose something by doing that. Sure the music is used creatively to tell a story, but I'd rather see real creativity in an original score to tell the story.

I love those old musicals like Fiddler on the Roof, Sound of Music, all of the Bing Crosby movies, the Wizard of Oz, etc.

There there's the rock genre of musicals. Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Wall, Tommy, Phantom of the Paradise. Some great, some cheesy, but all original music. Whether they are stage productions first or movies first doesn't matter as long as they are original.

[dean_martin]

I think I'm the only person who actually liked Across the Universe. . :lol:



No . . . my wife loved it while I helped in associating characters with their respective songs. I was oddly interested in seeing Bono and Joe Cocker, but it seemed to take forever to get to those parts.


BTW, FA - I missed "Baton Rouge". I don't want to assume too much and say you meant Moulin Rouge because my knowledge of musicals is next to nil. However, I would be very interested in a musical based on bayou rednecks from Louisiana.

[ForeverAutumn]

BTW, FA - I missed "Baton Rouge". I don't want to assume too much and say you meant Moulin Rouge because my knowledge of musicals is next to nil. However, I would be very interested in a musical based on bayou rednecks from Louisiana.

LOL. And since all new musicals steal their music, no doubt it would open with the haunting banjo music from Deliverance.

Yes, I meant Moulin Rouge. Thanks for correcting me.

[3LB]

Maybe they'll make a musical out of Deliverence. Sweeny Todd was a musical about a serial killer, so why not...not that I'll see it.

The Willy Wonka remake was OK. The musical numbers were tolerable, but the little Oompa Lumpas gave me the creeps.

[3LB]

I found this on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ta9KMLpiHM&feature=related

Yes, its Alice Cooper

What's funny about seeing the movie now, something I didn't really notice years ago, was that there was dialog, and they edited it out. How bad could the dialog have been, considering what did make on screen?

[ForeverAutumn]

I found this on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ta9KMLpiHM&feature=related

Yes, its Alice Cooper

What's funny about seeing the movie now, something I didn't really notice years ago, was that there was dialog, and they edited it out. How bad could the dialog have been, considering what did make on screen?

Oooooh. Trippy.

Alice Cooper looks a lot like Frank Zappa there, don't you think?

Cooper, Aerosmith, Earth Wind and Fire. You gotta wonder now if they regret doing that movie. I mean, it's not like they were just starting out and needed the exposure a la the cast of Rocky Horror Picture Show (another original musical score, I might add).

[3LB]

I think that RHPS started a trend in musicals, that wildly campy and wildly bad was envogue, and it may have been, but I think the underground success of RHPS gave would be musical movie makers the wrong impression, that a musical didn't have to make sense or be particularly good. But yer right, the appeal of RHPS was that it was so bad it was funny to watch, and that none of the actors were very well known didn't hurt it either (except maybe Meatloaf).

Another stinker from this time period - Xanadu.

[Worf101]

"Cant' Stop the Music" - God, I still love the Village People.

"Phantom of the Opera" - Musical and Movie Sucked. The most overrated musical of all time.

"Tommy" - Sorry, records overated and the film is even worse.

"Phantom of the Paradise" - Awful.

"Song of Norway" - Anyone remember this "Sound of Music" wannabe?

"Lost Horizon" - I went temporarily deaf and blind for a week. :yikes:

"Paint Your Wagon" - Eh..... Clint Eastwood singing?

"Thank God it's Friday" - Oh my effin' gawd!!!

Da Worfster

[kexodusc]

Shrek the Musical was far, far, far worse than anything I've ever endured previously. How this thing ended up on Broadway is beyond me.

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[ForeverAutumn]

Shrek the Musical was far, far, far worse than anything I've ever endured previously. How this thing ended up on Broadway is beyond me.

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Oh my freakin' gawd! I had no idea such a thing existed. That's just sad. :shocked:

[3LB]

Shrek the Musical was far, far, far worse than anything I've ever endured previously.

you have a case for justifyable homicide IMO

:crazy:

[3LB]

"Tommy" - Sorry, records overated and the film is even worse.
I'm glad you said it. I've only made it through the album once and fell asleep during the movie the one time I attempted to watch it


"Paint Your Wagon" - Eh..... Clint Eastwood singing?

and Lee Marvin. Wierdest casting I ever saw - and dumb movie

[Auricauricle]

Just about anything by Lloyd Weber or Disney Inc. turns me inside out. Yeeeeeech!!

I see your Paint Your Wagon and raise you one Cat Balloo.

[Worf101]

Just about anything by Lloyd Weber or Disney Inc. turns me inside out. Yeeeeeech!!

I see your Paint Your Wagon and raise you one Cat Balloo.
Dem's fightin' words!!!!!!
Jane Fonda, when she was a bonafide, certified, gold plated babe!!!!!!
Lee Marvin in his Oscar winning role!
Nat King Cole!!!!!

No, nope, nein, nicht, nyet. Cat Ballou is the shiznit.

Da Worfster

[Auricauricle]

Oh go bite a dilithium crystal, Slopehead! :)

[ForeverAutumn]

I just learned about this one...it's been added to the theatre subscription series that we are part of. It's a good thing that my Mom enjoys this series because if it weren't for her, this would be enough to get me to drop our subscription...

http://tour.legallyblondethemusical.com/

[emaidel]

Unlike the opinions of some previous posters, I loved "Hairspray," and "Phantom of the Opera." The musical I probably disliked above all others, both on Broadway and on film was "Rent."

I took a business associate and his wife to see the play in New York, and after the first act ended, and we all politely applauded (while most of the largely young, and female, audience went ballistic), my associate's wife asked me, "What do you think?" My response was, "I don't think I like this very much," at which point her husband responded, "I'm glad you said that, Ed, This is the WORST show I"ve seen in my life!"

Despite its having won a Pulitzer Prize, and despite the regrettable death of its author on opening night, and also having the credentials of being based on "La Boheme," "Rent" struck me as a musical about "struggling artists" who somehow felt the world owed them a living while they tried to "find themselves." Self-indulgent pity never worked for me, and surely didn't in "Rent." Just awful.

[Troy]

Where do I begin?

I pretty much hatehatehate all musicals. There are no really good ones, and most outright suck. And yes, I've had to plow my way thru a lifetime full, because my parents liked them when I was a kid and my wife likes them now.

Even supposed classics like King and I, Wizard of Oz, Singing in the Rain, or Sound of Music that might potentially be good stories or have good individual songs / production numbers fall apart for me. I can't get past the idea that the orchestra comes welling out of a sewer grate and everyone suddenly breaks into song. It all feels so fake and Polly Anna-ish, ruining any chance for me to keep my suspension of disbelief–so critical to any movie-going experience. Some of the Fred Astaire / Busby Berkeley musicals have great dancing and production numbers, but the movies themselves feel totally artificial.

So if you like some of the great individual songs or weird crap like Astaire dancing on the ceiling with a mop, or Gene Kelley dancing with an animated Jerry the Mouse, or Donald O'Conner destroying everything in sight by dancing on it, rent any of the 37 "That's Entertainment" compilations. Tolerable, because it's all, ahem, money shots, without any pretense of telling some lame story.

Lost Horizon! Wow, that sucked incredibly. I mean REALLY! My mom made me sit thru it twice and if you ask her about it now, it's still one of her favorites of all time. It's largely forgotten now, but it used to be on most lists for the worst films of the 70s. I don't think it's available on DVD, but if you are looking for a torture film for the Ludovico Treatment (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&resnum=0&q=ludovico%20treatment&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi), that's the one. I have a 30 second mp3 clip from "The Word is a Circle" and whenever it comes up in the shuffle it makes everyone in the room queasy.

Those douches that made Rent ruined the abandoned Oakland train station when they filmed in the cavernous lobby. They tagged up the whole building with fake graffiti, ruining it's spectacular patina. What a tragic waste.

Tommy, Sgt Pepper and the other surreal 70s rock musicals are like swallowing a mouthful of diarrhea digested from the finest ambrosia. How can you make such terrible movies from such iconic albums? And sorry to disagree, but Tommy's a great album.

Can't stop the music/Thank God it's Friday? Wow, I hadn't even thought of those since 1979. Thanks.

And Moulon Rouge and Chicago were so, so bad. It's funny how Hollywood keeps trying to launch a revival of the musical for the last 10 years, even giving the oscar® to garbage like Chicago, and they still can't get past the musical in the 21st century as anything except a cult item. I haven't had to watch Mama Mia, just because I had to put my foot down about it. My wife has watched it repeatedly with girlfriends, and when its finished the room looks like an opium den, with all the blissed out faces.

Sweeny Todd was the first musical I've ever been able to sit through without leaving totally pissed off. The singing was inexcusably amateurish, but I enjoyed the cannibalism and gore aspect.

Man, that Shrek thing is something else.

[ForeverAutumn]

You know Troy, you always have such an interesting point of view. I love reading posts like the one above. And I mean that sincerely, no sarcasm detector needed.

While you often come off cynical, your posts are always well thought through and honest. I like that about you.

I haven't seen the movie Sweeny Todd, but saw the stage show a few months before the movie came out. It wasn't the most exciting show I've seen and the music was barely tolerable, but it was one of the most interesting productions I've seen in a long time. Both from a story and staging perspective.

To take the opposing view from yours. I really enjoy the old Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby movies. Watching someone walking down the street and then just bursting into song just makes me feel good for some reason. I can't explain it. But maybe if more people took the time to sing and dance their way down the street instead of rushing and cursing, the world would be a happier place.

[Troy]

Thanks FA. My dislike of musicals is an "area of special study" for me.

It's funny, I'm really not that cynical. Opinionated? Oh yeah. But cynical? Not any worse than a lot of people. I just call it like I see it. Read my recent posts about Inglourious Basterds or District 9 and you'll see that I can be equally effusive in a positive manner too. I've seen zillions of movies in my life, many more than most people, I think. So I suppose I have higher expectations, or a lower threshold, than most people.

And I use a lot of adjectives, so that makes everything I say overemphasized.

I like and appreciate some of the old production numbers, but nothing that can't be cured with a half hour of a "That's Entertainment" film once every 5 years.

The third act of the Sweeny Todd movie is staggeringly violent. So ironic, so tragic and overwhelmingly gristly. A movie is so much more intimate and immersive than any play could ever be. It was pretty heavy. The musical aspect offset it really nicely for me, like a good sweet and sour dish.

[luvtolisten]

I used to think all musicals were lame. Then I got dragged out to see "The Jersey Boys'. I really enjoyed it. I would see it again.

[poppachubby]

Momma Mia....enough said...