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The version I watched seems to be a mix between the theatrical and the director's cut. What I watched was definitely three hours but imdb says it has a black and white scene which I don't remember. I appreciate this movie on a few levels. It is very well acted. I think the staging and costuming is all great. But this felt very long. I also thought many of the musical numbers would have been better served as dialogue. I do like that this does bring to life colonial America in a way that textbooks really don't though. If there was a version of this that was under two hours, I could see liking this a lot more and showing it to students.

You say you want a revolution... We watched:

Mr. Feeny KITT Dr. Mark Craig you young whippersnapper

I also really like the music in this even if it isn't doing anything particularly groundbreaking. It has an easy, humable vibe to it that I really enjoy. I have had "The Egg" in my head since last night, and "Is Anybody There?" is a tour de force from Mr Feeny Kit John Adams.

This movie's a little goopy, considering it features Gwyneth Paltrow's mother and all.

The version I watched was 2:47 not sure which one that is and I think there was a black and white scene with Adams and his wife but I could be wrong. Also odd compared to last weeks movie which was also three hours, I felt that Fiddler moved a bit more. This one had some slow patches, particularly at the start, that made it feel it's length.

What I found odd, but charming, about the film is how most of the songs are these light funny little songs yet the drama is very real and very heavy at times. Not to mention the dead solider song which comes out of nowhere. My only real problem, weird tonal things aside, is that it felt very stagey. Like I could see the stage set up right away, and even though I have never seen it on stage I know exactly what the stage would look like and how things would play out. They do try to do the odd thing like Lee on the horse and the five men on the stairs to add a bit more movement and variety to things but that said how interesting can you make a bunch of men sitting in a room and arguing more interesting? Maybe a more variety of shots. Not just following the action. I'm not sure but I think to me it was less of a movie and more of a stage show.

I also think you need to follow Adams because it's going to be hard to watch the movie from anyone's perspective who isn't staunchly pro-independence and anti-slavery. I have also seen the HBO miniseries John Adams. That's a bit boring for a student to watch compared to this but I appreciated it much more as an adult than this.

This is just killing time until we can get an adaptation of 17776.

I suspect it's him as well and the full cast list just hasn't been revealed or uploaded yet that happens all the time with movies months away from release.

That's true I hadn't really thought of that. You have some younger people like Jefferson who you could have easily been a non-baritone. That might be why the songs that do offer something different standout a bit more.

Yeah, but that doesn't look like a complete cast list since the are only 11 people. None of those people look like the guy in the trailer. I guess we'll have to wait to find out. Joe Manganiello's character is named Max Fist.

Ignore Joe Manganiello giving off serious Tick-Tock Man vibes here and tell me if that's the actual Paul Scheer at 00:34?

From a technical standpoint, if I had a criticism, it’s that by virtue of the story being male driven, there’s not a lot of dynamism during company songs. It’s just a wall of baritones bombarding you. That being said, the more I think about it, I wonder if that’s by design. It really gives a unharmonious, cacophonic impression that I feel might be deliberate. I own the soundtrack (which Howard Da Silva [Ben Franklin] wasn’t present for and his understudy is...disappointing) and listen to how it was recorded.

As I said on the earlier thread, I think my first experience with 1776 was over the course of a couple days in, I want to say, 7th grade. It's always stuck with me since then as it combines music and early American History which are things I'm both passionate and fascinated by. What I love about it is it really gave John Adams a lot of credit for what he accomplished--especially as he's largely dismissed as a mediocre president. Which, honestly, is probably true, but I don't think being the head of state was really where his talent was. 1776 is a remarkably accurate retelling of what happened at the time, with much of the dialogue being pulled directly from John Adams's correspondence to his wife. Which, now that I write that, is probably the more logistical reason to put him in the forefront of the Musical.

Honestly, I really enjoyed the hell out of this. I've known about the musical for forever but had never seen it, neither on stage or in film. I guess... I've been sort of pushing against the mythos of the Founding Fathers for a long time, and while the film does play in that sandbox (especially with Jefferson), I found 1776 generally irresistible. I love that it pointed out the hypocrisy of both the South AND the North in their mutual complicity for slavery, even as the Northern representatives decried the practice for its inhumanity. And, like @Cameron H., I really do admire John Adams, and I enjoy seeing these events from his perspective. He spoke more eloquently and forcefully against slavery (having never owned one) than any other of these rich white dudes, and just... as someone with a cold, desiccated heart, I can't help but be warmed by his genuine love and respect for his wife. The lifelong love affair and friendship between those two is so remarkable, especially for the time, that I can't help but look at the two of them with great fondness. Two brilliant minds buoyed by their connection to one another.

I'm curious how all this plays to the non-Americans who might have watched this. I can't say I had some jingoistic tear in my eye as I watched history come alive, but there is some kind of "oh, this is kind of neat" feeling I wouldn't have from a movie about literally any other country declaring independence.

Definitely looks like him and even after reading press releases they aren't announcing much in the way of the cast yet, though I am interested in how it is a dark take on the superhero genre with the lead character claiming to be a dimensionally displaced one but no one really believes him.

Yeah, I think any songs with Martha and Abigail are welcome for this reason. It also helps that Adams and Franklin have distinctive voices—even if they wouldn’t be considered classically “good.” There’s just not a lot of harmonizing going on in general. Musically it’s not very complex. That’s not a criticism, mind you. I love the music.

I suspect it is him (which is really cool), I just meant I couldn’t confirm it 100%. Even before he appeared on screen, as soon as I saw that it was from the people who made Mandy, I was like, “Oh, yeah, it’s probably him.”

Looks an awful lot like him but he's not listed on IMDb, so...I don't know

I'll be impressed with Jimmy Carter once he creates a habitat for these huge man titties.

My dad's uncle passed away recently and he has hundreds of vinyl records. I already posted that I saw his The Jazz Singer Record and told my dad, I have to have this no matter what. I also have the original musical Fiddler record, and I am keeping that along with the original Sound of Music and other musicals! I am so excited to listen to them all!

Both of these are great because they both gave me different childhood nightmares. Volcano gave me a fear of being trapped in a metro tunnel filling with lava. And Dante's peak made me afraid of dissolving in acid lakes. 10/10

I actually watched this last night, intent on recommending it. And I think I may have loved it unironically. It was weird, there was definitely bad in it, but it didn't upset me as much as other movies. Just a fun summer action flick (released in April). Even though I loved it, it still is crazy enough to be a prime contender for the show.