From Here to Eternity Movie - Page 2

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/10/14 at 10:28am

Went to the screening last night. Left at intermission. The book, direction, staging and choreography are all just embarrassing. And that first act finale was such a huge WTF. There were a couple of highlights in the music (though rarely in the lyrics), though much of the score sounds like it was written for an entirely different story and the two solos for the females in the first act were utterly bland and boring. Many songs simply don't sound structured for musical theatre and the phrasing is broken up in such a way that it's either hard to follow or you can predict every other line.

Watching this, I was reminded of another bland Shaftesbury flop I saw years ago (in person), Peggy Sue Got Married. At least that had Ruthie Henshall and one dynamite ballad. I just couldn't stick around to see if there was any sort of redemption in the second act. I felt like I had been watching for 4 hours already.

[LucyEth]

Posted: 10/10/14 at 10:42am

Mister Matt: If you thought the first act was bad, you'd have been throwing things at the screen during Act Two. Truly dismal. Act One for me was "eh," not the worst thing I've ever seen, mediocre at best. And I agree that the Act One finale was bizarre. What should have been a passionate love song was instead a peaon to "America," with all these random people onstage writing postcards. A real "what were they thinking?" moment. And then it went downhill from there. Some of the most embarrassing musical numbers I've ever seen on stage. The last 10 minutes were affectively staged and written, but by then it was waaaaay too late. And the cast...the less said the better. Most of them were completely miscast and had horrible American accents. Why did everyone sounded like they were from Brooklyn? Anyway, I could go on and on, but what's the point. This show was DOA.

[yellowse]

Posted: 10/10/14 at 11:19am

I stayed for the second act for Robert Lonsdale, completely had me wrapped up in his character. I found Ryan Sampson/Angelo compelling as well, I too had no idea how dark this story was.

But this will never fly in NYC. That first act closer was a doozy, what were they thinking?! And the poor female characters never had a chance...

Updated On: 10/10/14 at 11:19 AM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/10/14 at 11:39am

Would like to see it so may get it on Amazon or other sources.

Interested to see how you musicality this.The Brits try anything so if they are game so am I.

[Eurotrash]

Posted: 10/10/14 at 11:39am

I was unable to detect any discernible plot in Act 1, when I saw it, last year. And indeed, there was an extremely loud American gentleman behind me shouting 'there's no story, there's no story' during the interval. But, if a Broadway opening is being advertised, someone may have decided it can be fixed? I'd like to see how, I liked quite a few of the musical numbers.

[LucyEth]

Posted: 10/10/14 at 12:01pm

Lonsdale, to me, was all wrong. Too light a persona, and that whiny voice...! All wrong for a character that should be sensitive yet masculine. He nailed the former, but had no sex appeal whatsoever. Darius Campbell, on the other hand, is a major hunk, but my God, could he be more one-dimensional and wooden? The women were just awful.

And the answer to the question "How have they musicalized the material?" is..."They haven't."

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/10/14 at 12:07pm

Since this has music and it was a movie without music, it has been musicalized. You and others may not care for it and that is your right. It will not be the last movie musicalized that did not make it.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/10/14 at 12:07pm

Since this has music and it was a movie without music, it has been musicalized. You and others may not care for it and that is your right. It will not be the last movie musicalized that did not make it.

[Eurotrash]

Posted: 10/10/14 at 12:20pm

In the theatre, I found RL's voice distinctive and reedy, but not whiny, thought he does hit the odd whiny note on the CD. And the accents issue works both ways, I laughed my pants off when I discovered Chaplin on Spotify.

[LucyEth]

Posted: 10/10/14 at 12:23pm

Mr. Roxy: Yes, of course, but my point is that they've missed the mark in terms of HOW they've musicalized it. We're splitting hairs, no?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/10/14 at 12:24pm

Fair enough.

[LucyEth]

Posted: 10/10/14 at 12:41pm

Eurotrash: I work with a Brit who cringes every time she has to sit through Americans doing bad British accents. Everyone ends up sounding Cockney to her. The Aussies, I've found, are the best at doing American, not sure why that is. Or maybe it's that the ones who gain stardom happen to be the ones who do it best.

And are you referring to Charlie Chaplin? When did he play and American? Or am I old and missing an obvious reference?

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 10/10/14 at 1:04pm

^^^^^^
I think Eurotrash was referring to the bad British accents on the cast album of CHAPLIN the musical.

Hearing these reviews, it seems that I didn't miss much.

[LucyEth]

Posted: 10/10/14 at 4:21pm

Oh. Well. Guess I AM old...

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/10/14 at 5:57pm

Don't we all cringe when we hear an actor poorly depicting our own accent? I'm not from the south, but I find it difficult to listen to the British performers on the Whistle Down the Wind cast album attempt their American southern accents. Though I acknowledge that a southern accent is probably more difficult to master than a typical American accent. If there even is one.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/3/14 at 10:53pm

It looks like the release date of the DVD has been pushed to December 8th instead of the original date of November 10th.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/4/14 at 1:30am

I skipped it in theaters, but the recording is on Spotify. I don't mind the opening song and I did "Fight the Fight," but why is his voice SO nasal? Is he trying to sound "nerdy?" I didn't quite understand that. Like it's basically all sung in his nose.