No time for much commentary today, but, inspired by Encore's Musical Blog-a-thon [http://encorentertainmnt.blogspot.com/2010/05/musical-blog-thon_30.html], a list of eight favourites.1. Calamity Jane (1953) - Whip crack-away!
2. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
3. The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) - Two Jacques Demy classics: the exuberant, flawed-yet-irresistible Rochefort, and Cherbourg, its sweeter, sadder cousin.
4. Cabaret (1972) - "After Cabaret it should be a while before perfomers once again climb hills singing or a chorus breaks into song on a hayride..." (Pauline Kael). Well, there's nothing wrong with that occasionally, but it's certainly true that Cabaret blows the cosier tendencies of the American musical apart.
5. Little Shop of Horrors (1986) - Steve Martin gets the standout sequence, but superb songs, a terrific creature, and a surprisingly soulful love story ensure that Little Shop provides pleasure throughout.
6. 8 Women (2000) - In Andrew Asibong's terms: "a bright pink candy-box of pulsating kitsch, perversion and sweet-smelling cruelty." The musical, Ozon-style, is also, of course, a cinephile's wet dream.
7. Les Chansons d'Amour (2007) - Christophe Honore brilliantly conjours the spirits of Demy and other New Wavers here.
8. I'm Not There (2007) - Deconstructing Dylan.
I'd comment more but I'm hopelessly behind in seeing movies! The clips look very intriguing, though. Calamity Jane is a fav of mine. I adore Doris Day!! Good list
ReplyDeleteThanks! This list turned out tres French...
ReplyDeleteThat is tres cool. :)
ReplyDeleteSome recent movie-musicals that I've enjoyed are Once, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Camp. (I wonder if The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert would count? I guess not, since they're just lip-synching to disco songs!)
ReplyDelete