The Wild Blog in the West

Last time, I was talking about how I was running out of musicals made in the last 20 years to review, and that I would soon be stuck reviewing musicals that I dread.  But lo and behold, I remembered that there were still some good musicals out there!  How could I have forgotten the musical that got modern musicals rolling? Moulin Rouge  (2001) is less a traditional musical than an amped-up, psychedelic jukebox musical sprung from  the mind of director Baz Luhrmann.  Although set in Paris at the fin de siecle , it contains songs like "Roxanne" (the Police), "Like a Virgin" (Madonna), and "Your Song" (Elton John).  The actors sing with their own voices, but no doubt there was some Auto-Tune sweetener along the way. Almost everything about Moulin Rouge  is secondary to the visuals -- the kaleidoscope of colors and constant swirling motion expressed through quick-cutting, fast zooms, and pans.  The visual craziness is a Baz Luhrmann trademark, though it

I don't normally do this, but I figured it was appropriate for the musical that many regard as Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece.  Prior to my review , I had listened to some of the songs and watched part of the stage musical, but I wanted to post the review while the movie was still fresh in my mind. Since then, I have watched the entire stage production on YouTube with George Hearn and Angela Lansbury, purchased the 2005 Broadway version with Patti LuPone and Michael Cerveris, and watched the 2001 Sweeney Todd  concert in front of the San Francisco Symphony, starring LuPone, Hearn, and Neil Patrick Harris as Toby.  While I feel as certain as before that Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd  was a very good musical adaptation, I am able to approach the transition with a more nuanced perspective. And durn it, if I can go on and on about the changes to Les Miserables  over the years, I can at least give some attention to the American Mozart's masterwork, can't I? After wat

Now I've done it.  It's bad enough that I put Mamma Mia! on the Right list, but a Burtonized Sweeney Todd ? Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street  (2007), directed by Tim Burton, was well-received upon its release , but has apparently received mixed reviews from fans of the stage musical.  The stage musical was written by the legendary Stephen Sondheim and premiered on Broadway in 1979, then in the West End in 1980. Based on 19th Century legends, Sweeney Todd is the tale of a London barber who just finished serving a long sentence for a crime he did not commit.  He was sentenced by the corrupt Judge Turpin, who lusted after his pretty young wife.  After Todd -- then known as Benjamin Barker -- was shipped off, Turpin invited his wife, Lucy, to his home under false pretenses and then raped her.  Lucy took arsenic afterward, and the judge took her and Barker's young daughter, Johanna, as his ward.  Flash forward 15 years, and Todd returns to his old home to fin

Hairspray  (2007) is another movie that was on the border between Right and Wrong.  However, unlike Across the Universe , I feel a bit more confident saying that Hairspray falls on the Wrong side. Hairspray began as a movie -- a quirky non-musical from 1988 starring Ricki Lake.  From there, it became a Broadway stage musical, and then that stage musical became a movie.  Obviously it's not unusual for movies to be remade, but for a remake to come out less than 20 years after the original?  But then, that's the trend these days for movies to be remade every 10 years or so, though it usually involves a superhero franchise. The story focuses on an overweight teenager named Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky in the Ricki Lake role) living in Baltimore with her two parents.  Tracy and her friend, Penny Pingleton, devote their lives to  The Corny Collins Show , a local American bandstand that features teenagers dancing to the latest music -- of 1962.  The date and the location are si

At this point, it's becoming more difficult to find notable movie musicals made in the past 15 years.  Live-action musicals, that is -- of course there are countless animated ones.  There are a few obvious live-action musicals still left, but otherwise, I'm struggling to think of any.  That brings me to  Rock of Ages . Like Across the Universe and Mamma Mia! , Rock of Ages is a jukebox musical.  Unlike  Across the Universe ,  Rock of Ages  isn't "wrong" because its ambitions and creativity fell just short of the mark.  No, Rock of Ages  has very simple aims: be feel good and nostalgic.  Yet unlike  Mamma Mia! , Rock of Ages  does not fulfill these aims.  I am hard-pressed to think of a more blah musical. Rock of Ages began as a stage musical.  Whereas the other two jukebox musicals dug into the song catalogue of one band, Rock of Ages features songs from a variety of 1980s hard rock and "hair metal" bands: Journey, Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi, Def Leppar

My last few posts have been a bit cranky, so time for something cheerful.  And few things are more cheerful than the 2008 musical,  Mamma Mia! . Mamma Mia! is based on the hugely popular West End jukebox musical, which was built from popular tunes by ABBA .  For those who don't know, ABBA was the first non-English-speaking band to enjoy huge success in the English-speaking pop world.  The band consisted of two men and two women from Sweden, and lasted from 1972 until 1982.  Even if you hate pop, you can't escape their songs, which include " Fernando ," " SOS ," and " Dancing Queen ." In 1997, British playwright Catherine Johnson wrote the stage musical, which premiered in London in 1999.  It was a smash, and made its Broadway debut in 2001, where it has played nonstop ever since.  From there, it was only a matter of time before a movie version premiered. That movie came in 2008, and went on to gross $600 million worldwide.  All of this succes

My Across the Universe review should have sent the message that liking a movie and thinking that it works are two different things.  While I feel that Across the Universe had significant weaknesses, I have affection for it.  By contrast, I think that Chicago  (2002) executes very well... but it leaves me cold. It's not that I hate it.   Chicago is highly entertaining, filled with energy that rarely flags.  But there is nothing for me to hang my hat on: no one to root for and no appealing message. Yet my view is clearly in the minority, as  Chicago is both a commercial and critical darling.  Commercially, Chicago  is second only to Grease  at the box office, with more than $170 million.  Critically, it boasts a Certified Fresh rating of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes . It's easy to see why audiences would take to it, with its blend of energy and spectacle, but what's more interesting is why critics -- a notoriously difficult bunch -- seem to like it.  Energy and spectacle a

This one was, and may always be, the toughest decision I have ever had to make.  Some musicals are just made to be on the Wrong list.  But Across the Universe (2007) does so much right -- so very, very right.  A month from now, I could completely flip and decide that Across the Universe  should be on the Right list.  But at the moment, I think that its flaws outweigh its virtues.  The movie starts well and then slowly sinks throughout the course of its 133 minutes. In the most basic sense, Across the Universe is a jukebox musical that makes good use of the Beatles' song catalogue.  Yet it would be more apt to describe it as a love letter to the Beatles.  Certainly not the first -- that would probably be the much-panned Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band   -- but possibly the best.  As someone with a deep, abiding passion for the Beatles, I don't take that lightly. The story unfolds much like the Beatles' own trajectory.  During their early suit-wearing period,