25 Best MOVIE Musicals-- per Entertainment Weekly- Page 3

[jpbran]

Posted: 12/10/07 at 11:44pm

Fame's another one that has characters performing, but is it really a musical?

Can't believe no one's mentioned All That Jazz before you! Good call! (LOVE that movie...)

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 1:01am

Just because there are no book songs in CABARET, it doesn't mean it isn't a musical. In my book, it's number 1.
The idea that BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and SOUTH PARK couldn't be considered because they are cartoons is preposterous. To me, BEAUTY & THE BEAST definitely deserves a place in this list, many people on the board want to dismiss it because of the pedestrian Broadway show but it's a beautiful film and the Alan Menken/Howard Ashman songs are truly magnificent.

[mateo]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 1:48am

I just mean, I think classic movie musicals are easily worthy of all 25 slots.

Anyhow, there should be a list of at least 100, not 25.

[jeniferrenepatricia]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 1:59am

Definitely agree with everyone that mentioned "All That Jazz." What about Victor/Victoria? Oklahoma? Xanadu? I'm happy that they included three Garland movies...she's priceless.

[DMsquared2]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 2:18am

Um...Gigi?!! It's a bore.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 10:49am

Hmm, I have an interesting relationship with the West Side Story movie. Not being a fan of the dubbing, the change in the last note of "Something's Coming" that completely ruined a genius relationship Bernstein set up between that and "Maria," and general distortions of the score in general makes me disappointed in it, and I can't get past how much better the show is (especially with Larry Kert singing!) So it's funny when I see something like this to kind of step out of my box and realize what a great movie it is on its own, without being compared to the show, and that's because the show is so amazing in the first place. But yeah, it's good to step back and remember that it is indeed a fantastic movie.

Re: Beauty and the beast and little mermaid...I prefer TLM myself, but everyone has always deemed BATB as the best. I was actually waiting to see it on the list.

I too adored the South Park movie and thought it had every right to be up there.

[folkyboy]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 11:53am

i love that Judy was in so many of their choices!

but i am incredibly surprised "Oliver" was not chosen. and while i know it's foolish of me to suggest, i really enjoy "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" as well. i'd have included that one as well Updated On: 12/11/07 at 11:53 AM

[jpbran]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 12:25pm

I agree-- a longer list was DEFINITELY needed. At least 50...

Yes, there are some really bad and seriously marginal musicals out there, but when compared to other genres (comedy, action, horror, etc.), the good/bad ratio is MUCH better.

[robbiej]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 12:44pm

ALL THAT JAZZ is, without question, my all-time favorite film. But, for some reason, I never consider it a musical. I wouldn't even know how to truly classify it. Is it a musical? Is it a drama? Is it a satire? Is it auto-biography? Is it a fantast?

Well...YES. That's why I love it. But I can see people not considering it a musical (or enough of a musical) to leave it off this list.

But no OLIVER? Come now. Where's the love for the magnificent Shani Wallis???

[RetroBoy]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 2:01pm

OMG! I can't believe someone actually called a 9 time Academy Award winning masterpiece like GIGI, a bore!!! I just watched it on Saturday and was totally swept away by it. Top notch MGM, Top notch Lerner and Loewe headed by a top notch cast and helmed by a top notch director. It deserved to be higher on that list.

I found that list laughable at best. The inclusion of ONCE let me scratching my head. SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER and UNCUT was genius but I don't think it merits a higher ranking than THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Omitting DREAMGIRLS is a glaring oversight and OLIVER needed to be on that list.
Updated On: 12/11/07 at 02:01 PM

[madbrian]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 2:05pm

Any list that omits 1776 and Oliver, and has The Sound Of Music so low has no credibility with me.

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 2:10pm

I miss LITTLE SHOP, DREAMGIRLS, and OLIVER.

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 5:37pm

With Cabaret being mentioned so much in this thread, it got me wondering about something that I've brought up on another thread. Is it possible that we will ever get a newly remastered DVD package of this classic? Or better yet, an HD-DVD or Blue-Ray (where musicals are already woefully underrepresented). The original DVD release is grainy, and even worse, the audio is terrible!! This film deserves so much better. I want my Pristine Cabaret Disc!!! Thanks, I feel better now.

[_LaLuna]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 7:03pm

I'm just shocked at how high The Sound of Music was... I would've put it at probably #3, but definitely in the top 5... not #19.

[EdmundOG]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 7:20pm

"I'm pretty sure that, outside of my family, I'm the only person in the world who avidly dislikes SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS."

Pfft. Try being me. I don't like 'The Wizard of Oz'.

(I find it treacly, poorly plotted, and completely missing the point of the original book. But I understand why people like it, and I don't begrudge them that. So hataz to the left.)

EDIT: I also think Singin' in the Rain would work better without most of the music, that West Side Story has become horribly dated, and that Julie Andrews was the only entirely good thing about Mary Poppins. It's a rough top five for me. Updated On: 12/11/07 at 07:20 PM

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 8:12pm

luvcaroline, I 2nd that! Cabaret is my all time favorite movie and I find it ridiculous that the DVD is such poor quality. Now that I think about it, why IS All That Jazz missing from that list? it was better than Chicago...

[roquat]

Posted: 12/11/07 at 11:45pm

Count me in for OLIVER, and I also think FIDDLER ON THE ROOF and FAME deserved a place (but I find them incredibly underrated anyway.) I've never understood THE SOUND OF MUSIC's reputation--it's painfully saccharine, and I just don't think Rodgers and Hammerstein have ever really worked on film.

It was mentioned, but could I please get some love for the 1980 Steve Martin/Bernadette Peters PENNIES FROM HEAVEN? It flopped financially, and didn't quite work aesthetically either, but it may be the most daring and revolutionary musical movie ever made in this country--its technique is close to that of THREEPENNY OPERA. All the numbers are beautifully (and subversively) staged, without any "aren't we clever" self-congratulation.

[roquat]

Posted: 12/12/07 at 2:49pm

Anyone else like FAME? And are we counting works like SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, FOOTLOOSE, FLASHDANCE, and DIRTY DANCING? Not "musicals" in the traditional sense, but music drives them and shapes them, and they all have iconic musical sequences which are still being quoted in pop culture (that automobile ad which takes off from the FLASHDANCE audition sequence is a prime example.)

Oh--and how about YENTL?

[jpbran]

Posted: 12/12/07 at 4:26pm

Oy, the movie-musical vs. musical-movie thing again...

Hairspray is a good example. The original was a musical-movie; the 2007 version was a movie-musical.

Maybe it's just me, but just because characters dance (or sometimes sing), doesn't make it a musical, especially when it's something their character does as part of the story.

Yes, Cabaret (arguably) falls into this category, but then so does a mixed bag like Footloose, Dirty Dancing, Saturday Night Fever, Walk the Line, Living Out Loud...

Just because there's a plane crash in the English Patient, I wouldn't call it an action movie. And Titanic has a sex scene, but it's ain't a porno. (Yes, this last paragraph is extremely sarcastic.)

[TulitaPepsi]

Posted: 12/12/07 at 10:06pm

Big plus - LOVE ME TONIGHT at # 10.

Big minuses - No COVER GIRL. No THE GANG'S ALL HERE. No BORN TO DANCE.

[feinstein9]

Posted: 12/12/07 at 10:33pm

Also sad about the lack of Yentl! Sad. And the low placement of Funny Girl? I kept thinking "they better not leave it off... they better not leave it off..."

[BrianIdol]

Posted: 12/13/07 at 12:17am

moulin rouge REALLY should be on the list - the movie was responsable for jumpstarting the public interest in movie musicals for the new millenium!