I watched that. Moore got roundly booed because he made it personal against Bush and said nothing relevant. Adrien Brody, on the other hand, got a standing O because his words were eloquent and hopeful. Sometimes it's just in the delivery.
I thought Chicago was a wonderful movie. I don't agree that the story was weak: the story in a musical is usually exaggerated and pronounced precisely because it's not a straight drama.
For example, can we honestly believe that Tony and Maria in West Side Story would be able to develop such a powerful bond between them after an initial meeting that lasted less than two minutes? That Tony would be willing to die for her within 24 hours? That Tony would run through a Spanish neighborhood calling out the name "Maria!" and only one girl would answer? Of course not.
Why does Marian the Librarian fall for the Music Man?
How stupid is Christine, not realizing that the "Angel of Music" is a deranged homicidal composer living underneath the Paris Opera House?
Oh, and Seymour: don't feed the plant. Geesh.
So, back to Chicago. The movie is not about a murder and defense strategy. It's about sensationalism, fame and fortune. It's about notoreity and cynicism. It's about unscrupulous lawyers and opportunistic murderesses. It's about alibis, reasons and excuses. It's about the invisibility of normal, decent people in a world dominated by the sensational, the famous, the notorious and the cynical.
Yeah, the story was weak, until you start to look at it. Then you look closer and you realize maybe it has a lot to say after all.
Rene Zellwegger wasn't supposed to be glamorous. That's the point. If not for her notoriety, she never would have become famous.
Catherine Zetahhhhhhhh Jones was awesome and deserved that award.
Queen Latifah - "just a big black woman?"
I submit you missed the movie. Her performance, singing, acting, her very presence: sublime. The only reason I could see for denying her a nomination is that she simply made her part look to easy.
Richard Gere did fine. But I really got a kick out of John Riley (the husband), who so perfectly captured the concept of being "Mr. Cellophane" that he threatened to make his song redundant.
So a good cast, a good story, great singing and choreography, fantastic editing, and other crucial filmmaking qualities worked together to bring a little over two terrific hours of film.
Now, I didn't see Gangs of New York, but bravo to a sterling effort, from all I've heard. I didn't see The Hours, but frankly, nothing I've heard about it makes me want to see it (Nicole Kidman's acting was so great! She was so ugly I didn't even know it was her! No thanks. I'll pass). I will see the Pianist when I get a chance. I promise. And Lord of the Rings, well, God Bless Peter Jackson, but it did not belong on the list this year. Sorry. It just din't.
The #1 musical I loved was "Sound of Music", not only was the music GREAT, the cinematography, the acting and the PLOT were great! It was a true story - the Von Trapp family moved to Stowe VT and had a ski lodge called the Trapp Family Lodge. I also read they didn't get much money for their story - Maria sold her story to a German publisher - they published and later sold it to Disney. You'd think Disney making zillions of $ from a musical about a real family would give them some money but they didn't. A bad deal is a bad deal - no "grace" in show biz - (except for the beautiful Grace Kelly)Another fav musical - Cabaret - so lively and had a plot (as far as I'm concerned) Queen Latifah seems like someone who just throws her body around - big deal? Cath Z Jones dancing and singing was excellent and I like the song "All that Jazz" but that's the only part of the movie I liked. The Hours was thoughtful and dealt with depression and death, not subjects for everyone, which is why I'm surprised it was nominated for as much as it was - I'm glad Nicole won - it took a lot of work and a lot of guts to do that - she didn't look "ugly" just plain. "Phantom of the Opera" was praised by a lot of people, but I just thought it was an expensive light show, enjoyable to a certain extent, but really not worth the $$, it was hard to admit at first that I didn't really like it, but here in GS I'm confessing!!
Ok, I'll agree regarding the Sound of Music and it's strong story (although I must confess, I fail to see what's the big deal about this musical. I'm a big fan of musicals, and everyone treats this like it's the holy grail of musicals when, to me, it's okay at best. Then again, maybe I'm just having a bad reaction to "Eidelweiss," quite possibly the worst song in musical theater history that was not in "Carrie").
Cabaret did have a story. But in my opinion, so did Chicago, which is part of what I tried to point out.
Oh goodie, I get to share my Phantom of the Opera story. First off, the musical never fails to give me a pounding headache. Something about Prima Donna. I got into an "argument" once with the theater critic of the New York Daily News (Howard Kissell), because he thought Phantom was a better musical than Les Miserables (don't you say nothin bad about my Les Miz). So I disagreed with him and, to make a long story short, he replied:
quote:The reason you like Les Miz more than Phantom is that Les Miz had real characters and a plot. I've often said that if you put a gun to the head of the people leaving Phanton and ordered them to tell you what happened, they couldn't, not even to save their lives.
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GarthP2000
Then you had whats-his-face come on and give his anti-war speech. Man, I bet quite a number of folks loved THAT one.
Prophet Emeritus of THE,
and Wandering CyberUU Hippie,
Garth P.
www.gapstudioweb.com
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Raf
I watched that. Moore got roundly booed because he made it personal against Bush and said nothing relevant. Adrien Brody, on the other hand, got a standing O because his words were eloquent and hopeful. Sometimes it's just in the delivery.
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Zixar
Then sometimes it's just a fat idiot pushing an agenda that's so far to the left it makes Joe Stalin look like Joe McCarthy.
:)-->
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Raf
I thought Chicago was a wonderful movie. I don't agree that the story was weak: the story in a musical is usually exaggerated and pronounced precisely because it's not a straight drama.
For example, can we honestly believe that Tony and Maria in West Side Story would be able to develop such a powerful bond between them after an initial meeting that lasted less than two minutes? That Tony would be willing to die for her within 24 hours? That Tony would run through a Spanish neighborhood calling out the name "Maria!" and only one girl would answer? Of course not.
Why does Marian the Librarian fall for the Music Man?
How stupid is Christine, not realizing that the "Angel of Music" is a deranged homicidal composer living underneath the Paris Opera House?
Oh, and Seymour: don't feed the plant. Geesh.
So, back to Chicago. The movie is not about a murder and defense strategy. It's about sensationalism, fame and fortune. It's about notoreity and cynicism. It's about unscrupulous lawyers and opportunistic murderesses. It's about alibis, reasons and excuses. It's about the invisibility of normal, decent people in a world dominated by the sensational, the famous, the notorious and the cynical.
Yeah, the story was weak, until you start to look at it. Then you look closer and you realize maybe it has a lot to say after all.
Rene Zellwegger wasn't supposed to be glamorous. That's the point. If not for her notoriety, she never would have become famous.
Catherine Zetahhhhhhhh Jones was awesome and deserved that award.
Queen Latifah - "just a big black woman?"
I submit you missed the movie. Her performance, singing, acting, her very presence: sublime. The only reason I could see for denying her a nomination is that she simply made her part look to easy.
Richard Gere did fine. But I really got a kick out of John Riley (the husband), who so perfectly captured the concept of being "Mr. Cellophane" that he threatened to make his song redundant.
So a good cast, a good story, great singing and choreography, fantastic editing, and other crucial filmmaking qualities worked together to bring a little over two terrific hours of film.
Now, I didn't see Gangs of New York, but bravo to a sterling effort, from all I've heard. I didn't see The Hours, but frankly, nothing I've heard about it makes me want to see it (Nicole Kidman's acting was so great! She was so ugly I didn't even know it was her! No thanks. I'll pass). I will see the Pianist when I get a chance. I promise. And Lord of the Rings, well, God Bless Peter Jackson, but it did not belong on the list this year. Sorry. It just din't.
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CircleGame
The #1 musical I loved was "Sound of Music", not only was the music GREAT, the cinematography, the acting and the PLOT were great! It was a true story - the Von Trapp family moved to Stowe VT and had a ski lodge called the Trapp Family Lodge. I also read they didn't get much money for their story - Maria sold her story to a German publisher - they published and later sold it to Disney. You'd think Disney making zillions of $ from a musical about a real family would give them some money but they didn't. A bad deal is a bad deal - no "grace" in show biz - (except for the beautiful Grace Kelly)Another fav musical - Cabaret - so lively and had a plot (as far as I'm concerned) Queen Latifah seems like someone who just throws her body around - big deal? Cath Z Jones dancing and singing was excellent and I like the song "All that Jazz" but that's the only part of the movie I liked. The Hours was thoughtful and dealt with depression and death, not subjects for everyone, which is why I'm surprised it was nominated for as much as it was - I'm glad Nicole won - it took a lot of work and a lot of guts to do that - she didn't look "ugly" just plain. "Phantom of the Opera" was praised by a lot of people, but I just thought it was an expensive light show, enjoyable to a certain extent, but really not worth the $$, it was hard to admit at first that I didn't really like it, but here in GS I'm confessing!!
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Pirate1974
The best thing about this year's Oscar show:
Whoever designed this see-through dress deserves some kind of award.
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Raf
imablvr:
Ok, I'll agree regarding the Sound of Music and it's strong story (although I must confess, I fail to see what's the big deal about this musical. I'm a big fan of musicals, and everyone treats this like it's the holy grail of musicals when, to me, it's okay at best. Then again, maybe I'm just having a bad reaction to "Eidelweiss," quite possibly the worst song in musical theater history that was not in "Carrie").
Cabaret did have a story. But in my opinion, so did Chicago, which is part of what I tried to point out.
Oh goodie, I get to share my Phantom of the Opera story. First off, the musical never fails to give me a pounding headache. Something about Prima Donna. I got into an "argument" once with the theater critic of the New York Daily News (Howard Kissell), because he thought Phantom was a better musical than Les Miserables (don't you say nothin bad about my Les Miz). So I disagreed with him and, to make a long story short, he replied:
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Zixar
Pirate: Just heard your girl there is back on the market! Jennifer Garner is splitting up with her husband...
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