Tag Archives: musical

Wicked: For Good

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Last year, Wicked found its way into my top 10 of the year. I loved the first movie and I was excited to see the follow-up, the finish to the story with Wicked: For Good.

I did enjoy the movie, but it just did not feel as enjoyable as the first half.

We pick up back in Oz with Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) being pursued and demonized as the Wicked Witch of the West, and she is trying to show the citizens of Oz that the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) was a fraud. Glinda (Ariana Grande) was the public face for the Wizard and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), and was being created as the Good Witch.

The strengths of this film included the two leads, Erivo and Grande. Their chemistry was off the charts in the first film, and they both carry it right into Wicked: For Good. Both of them give Oscar worthy performances once again, however, there was too much of the film where they were at odds, which dragged things down a bit. Specifically, with the love triangle between them and Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), which did not seem to work very well.

The film looked beautiful once again. They had filmed this right after the first film, so everything was still in place and the sequel is sensational looking.

While there is no song in the second film that could match the power or emotionality of “Defying Gravity,” I did enjoy the music throughout. The voices of both Grande and Erivo are spot on and could handle anything thrown at them. My personal favorite songs were “Wonderful” featuring both Erivo and Grande with Jeff Goldblum. The scene of them dancing together really was an awesome shot and “No Good Deed” with Erivo standing out.

I just had trouble with this film not reaching the levels of the first film. Wicked was filled with magic and charm, while it felt like Wicked: For Good was too busy trying to cram the parts of The Wizard of Oz to make it fit the story of the original 1939 film. I am not sure much of the Wizard of Oz bits worked for me.

Specifically, the origins of the Scarecrow and the Tin Man made no sense to me and felt extremely shoehorned into the script. I won’t spoil this for anyone who doesn’t know from the stage play, but I did not like the use of these characters.

A lot of the story was not dealt with, as if there were several dangling plotholes left unfilled. Again, without spoiling I can’t go into too many details, but this was a problem for me, especially in reflection.

The second film is definitely darker than the first one with a few surprisingly dark scenes. There was less humor in this new film, which is not a bad thing, but Ariana Grande, whose comedic timing was on full display in the first film, did not have the opportunity as much in this one. Again, that is not necessarily bad, as it might show character growth, but it was a missing feature for me.

Wicked: For Good is a solid film, if not as good as the first one. I wonder what it would be like to watch both films back to back? I wonder if that would change the thoughts I had for part two? Maybe I’ll do that some day.

3.75 stars

Wicked

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The classic stage musical Wicked has arrived in theaters with a part one. Part two will come next year. When I first saw the trailer for this film, I was not very impressed. However, after seeing this, I can comfortably say that this is one of the best movies of the year.

According to IMDB, “Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), a misunderstood young woman because of her green skin, and Glinda (Ariana Grande), a popular girl, become friends at Shiz University in the Land of Oz. After an encounter with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum), their friendship reaches a crossroads.”

There is so much great about this movie. I’ll star with the performances of the two leading ladies, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who were both sensational. I would venture to guess that both Erivo and Grande will receive Oscar nominations for this movie. They absolutely shine on the screen. Erivo looks awesome in her green makeup and Ariana Grande proved that she was a better actress than anyone every thought she was. And the two of them had amazing chemistry with each other and it worked so well.

Both of them were amazing with the music too. You would expect Grande to knock the music out of the park, but Cynthia Erivo matched her with every note and her performance of “Defying Gravity” is goosebump inducing.

Though we did not see much of him, Jeff Goldblum was excellent as the Wizard of Oz and it was cool to see Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible too.

The movie is gorgeous. The cinematography is next level and the colors are great. Much like other versions of Oz, the colors are an important aspect for the land.

I loved the world building going on here too. Everything made sense and it did not feel that anything was forced. The writing was epic and told this adaptation well.

I do think that the movie is a little long. Some of the first act could have been trimmed to make things work a little better. The third act though was exceptional. I knew where the end of the film was coming so the big “TO BE CONTINUED” popping up on the screen did not bother me. It felt like a perfect place to stop. I know some people may not be happy about a film that is a part one.

I did not ever see the stage show and I was very limited with the music too, but I thought the film does a great job creating a world that I want to keep watching. It was an epic film and director Jon Chu really did a fantastic job. It is one of the best movies of the year.

4.8 stars

Yentl (1983)

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In my class, we are reading The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen. There is a section in there where the main character, Hannah, tells some other Jewish girls stories about movies & TV shows she has seen. One of those she mentioned in Yentl, starring Barbra Streisand. I had never seen that and I knew it was a musical so it fit right in the Genre-ary DailyView.

However, I am not sure if the film would be considered a musical. The structure of the film is different than most musicals. Despite Streisand’s character Yentl singing in some scenes, Yentl does not sing every time. In fact, there are some songs where we see her singing and, within the same song, she is not singing any more.

Yentl (Barbra Streisand) wanted to be able to study the Talmud, a main book in Jewish theology and law, but, as a woman, she was forbidden to do so. Still, her beloved father (Nehemiah Persoff) allowed her to study is secret. When he passed away, Yentl cut off her hair and donned a disguise as a man in order to be able to continue the study. Yentl met Avigdor (Mandy Patinkin) along the way and became friends with him. Yentl fell for him despite Avigdor being in love with another.

I did not know that Mandy Patinkin was in this movie. I love him from The Princess Bride so he brings a quality to this film that may not have been there for me without him. 

Barbra Streisand did all of the music in the film and her voice is, of course, stunning. The music works very well with the story that is being told. Michael Legrand won an Oscar for his work on the score.

I did have a few problems with the film. First, and most prominently, I had a difficult time accepting Barbra Streisand as a man. He voice, her beautiful face just did not speak man to me. I also wondered about the beard that this “man” never seemed to grow and never shaved.

That just is a matter of suspending disbelief, but I had a hard time believing that Mandy Patinkin, who was close up with Barbra several times, including roughhousing with her, could not tell the difference.

The film did feel cruel at times, especially toward Hadass (Amy Irving). When she married “Anshel” (Yentl’s male name), and the story had her fall for him, that felt particularly cruel and there was no pay off for that. The film really treated Hadass in a bad way.

However, the film is decent, with some powerful songs. Patinkin is great and I feel Streisand did the best she could to make her seem to be a male. 

Oliver! (1968)

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Since I have started the Genre-ary DailyView, it has given me the opportunity to see some classic musicals that I probably wouldn’t have watched several of these films. Oliver! is a good example of this. 

Oliver! from 1968 was an Oscar winning movie based on a stage musical which was based on the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. Carol Reed won an Academy Award for Best Director and the picture received the Best Picture Oscar.

An orphan named Oliver (Mark Lester) wound up under the influence of a street criminal named Fagin (Ron Moody), who added Oliver to his troop of street urchin pickpockets, which included the Artful Dodger (Jack Wild). One of Fagin’s accomplices, Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed), showed a more violent and cruel nature. 

It is fun to hear songs that I recognize, but never knew where they originated from. Songs such as “Consider Yourself,” “Food, Glorious Food,” and “As Long as He Needs Me” are songs that I knew prior to watching this film. 

Our villains of the story were excellent. The character of Fagin was one of the best movie villains around, deep and developed, and Sikes was sinister and scary.

Mark Lester does a solid job as the young Oliver. He holds his own with all of the actors around him. 

Clearly this is a classic and you can understand why it won six Oscars.

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

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This morning for the EYG Genre-ary DailyView, I went to Prime and found yet another long, but classic musical, one with several well known songs, including one that I happen to have on my phone.

Fiddler on the Roof is a well known musical written by Joseph Stein. It was turned into a movie in 1971. It tells the story of a family of Jewish people living in a pre-revolutionary Russian village. Tevye (Topol) is a poor milkman who lives with his family in a Ukrainian village of Anatevka. He went about his life, following traditions and hoping to find matches for his five daughters. 

Tevye struggled with the changing world and his daughters’ choices that went against his long standing beliefs. 

Tevye spoke to the camera, being his own narrator through much of the movie. 

There are plenty of classic songs in the film including “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” and “Sunrise, Sunset.” 

The cast included Paul Michael Glaser (from Starsky & Hutch), Leonard Frey (who received an Academy Award nomination), Norma Crane, Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh, Neva Small, Paul Mann, and Molly Picon.

There is not a clear throughline of a plot, focusing basically on Tevye’s family. There are a lot of Jewish culture and traditions shown in the film and it was fascinating to see how a different group of people live their lives.

My Fair Lady (1964)

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A lot of these musicals on my list are actually very long. Tonight’s Genre-ary DailyView entry is My Fair Lady, which was almost three hours. It is also a iconic classic of musicals. A multiple Oscar winner, My Fair Lady was so much fun.

Phonetics professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) found a flower girl name Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) and made a bet that he could turn her into a cultured woman of class. 

Honestly, Henry Higgins was a horrible person. He was a jerk. I am not sure that he understood why he was such a jerk. His attitude toward Eliza was shameful at a point. 

I loved the music. ”I Could Have Danced All Night” is an iconic song and is so much fun. There were some songs that I thought could have been edited out, but they were all fun anyway.

Audrey Hepburn was absolutely brilliant as Eliza. She basically played two characters, with the way she was as the flower girl at the beginning and then the refined woman at the end. Every once in a while the flower girl showed up in the refined woman, and it was great.

This is one of those films that everybody should see at some point of their lives. It was really entertaining and fun.

Kinky Boots: the Musical (2019)

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What a treat.

Today’s entry for the Genre-ary was a filmed version of the musical stage play, Kinky Boots. I found this on Vudu and I was curious about it. I only had a slight knowledge of this play and it surprised me how much I loved this.

Charlie Price (Killian Donnelly) took over his late father’s show factory and, in an attempt to save it, adjusted the plan of products into a niche market for kinky boots directed toward transvestites and drag queens. Charlie had been inspired by Lola (Matt Henry), a feisty drag queen that he met in London.

Based on a book by Harvey Fierstein, the music of Kinky Boots was written and scored by Cyndi Lauper. I did not know any of the songs from Kinky Boots, but they were catchy, energetic and thoroughly entertaining. 

The stage show was amazing. I especially enjoyed the “Everybody Say Yeah” routine with the choreography and the treadmills. It was spectacular.

I found myself feeling vey emotional at the end of the film too. I did not expect that and it was a welcome situation.

I would love to see more Broadway plays filmed in this format and available for those of us who are not near these productions. Kinky Boots: The Musical was a joy this morning.