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I buy this. What struck me though is how just unhappy and unfulfilled he was by everything. Yet he constantly had the Leading Player in his ear telling him "Hey, you know what would satisfy you? Do this." He does everything he is told to do, and yet none of it brings him fulfillment. It's when he finally rejects the Leading Player's advice and is done with him that he is finally happy. Maybe I was inspired by the hippie-ish feel of a lot of this but I took this as a slight anti-consumerism kind of stance. You are constantly being told by people and media that this will make you happy and make you complete yet a lot of those things are surface level things that don't actually do any of that. It's only once you're true to yourself that you can find happiness even if that means not being or having the best.

I think I was underwhelmed as well but the movie did have a certain charm and when it was done I appreciate a lot of what they did do. I'm a sucker for movies about people making movies. There is something about that "let's put on a show" vibe that is just charming to me. This had some of that. The fact that two of the performances are labeled in the credits as "guest stars" rather than just the typical "and with" struck me as odd but then when Martha Raye came on as Berthe and was very hammy but in that "You know me, I'm just having fun" way I thought "Wow, she IS a special guest star." It's like in Oh Hello! when they'd interview different people each show I felt like they could have done that with her part and it would be like a special guest star. Also calling them a guest star seemed to fit with the feel and the humor. Speaking of the humor while inconsistent what was there worked for me. I find the meta stuff pretty funny and Charlemagne seems like a fun role. Overall I have no doubt this is something that is a lot more fun live, but I can see why this was a hit. Would I watch this again? Probably not, but would I watch a production of Pippin? Yes for sure.

Are they gonna...re-switch? Wat. Having said that, HELL YEAH!!!!

This was what got me. It really didn't feel artistic in any way. It felt very amateurish to me.

Agreed on all accounts. The meta stuff was really interesting but took me by surprise. So, I couldn't fully appreciate it because, by the time it kicked in heavily, I felt I had missed a lot. Cinco said this was better on a second watch and I have to assume he's right. Ben Vereen though. Amazing.

Yeah, my bad. Lol Honestly, I really like the first song and I liked a lot of the meta stuff, but mostly, this wasn’t very good. With Bob Fosse’s name attached I expected some pretty stellar choreography, but in all but a few cases, it was pretty lackluster. Also, Pippin, or Pepin the Hunchbacked, was a real person, but also kind of a non-entity. I was really confused as to why he was chosen as the protagonist — especially when it’s pretty much completely factionalized. It literally could have been about anyone. Was that the point of them trying to coax someone up on stage? Maybe...? All in all, I wouldn’t mind seeing a better version of this, but this version was...not great.

Honestly it was a huge letdown. ETA: Also, wasn't it kind of weird how the last song was sung over a freeze screen?

If you want the adult version of The Electric Company, this is it. We watched

It's a vegetarian dog eat plant-based dog meat substitute world.

As a publisher I deal with one of the many companies that Amazon has purchased (CreateSpace) to publish my books both in print and to their kindle store. I expect there are several similar companies for distributing independent films, music, clips, etc. I would literally rather eat my own balls than watch this movie. Looking forward to the episode.

My stallion, Rio, is a valiant friend. His strength is unmatched and his beauty ascends. His steadfast allegiance to our family is true, and that's why Rio will make excellent glue.

This is the interpretation I had, which is an intriguing one, especially if the material were modernized and made less cheesy. I did like the ending. It seemed like it took away his final number (which I didn’t mind AT ALL). One essential rewrite would be for the play to stop referring to itself as a comedy when it’s not that funny.

So, I've been trying to figure out what this movie is actually about. One theory I've had is that it's about white male mediocrity. Pippin himself bemoans his less than "extraordinary" existence and how he wants to do more, but he, by his own admission, kind of sucks at all of it. Ultimately, The Lead Player tells him that the best thing he can do is die in a spectacular fashion -- and he ends up fucking that up too. At least, that's what I got out of it. Of course there was a line cut from the performance. At the end, when asked how he's feeling, Pippin is supposed to reply, "Trapped, which isn't bad for a Musical Comedy." Fosse wanted that line to be "Trapped, but happy, which isn't bad for a Musical Comedy." Honestly, I like how this performance ended as it leaves his response ambiguous. However, I also like Fosse's rewrite since, if I'm right about white male mediocrity, it ends with him dissatisfied, but accepting his limitations.

I went to a Second City Toronto show in 1987. One of the skits was David Cronenberg's version of Anne of Green Gables. Anne was a space alien who could kill people with a zap from her pointed finger. Mike Myers played Anne.

This was actually way more watchable than I thought it would be, perhaps because I viewed it through a WTF lens and it felt like a wacky/tacky Vegas stage musical (PARTICULARLY the song from the grandma with the HUGE mic). I did like the meta part because it at least somewhat explained why Pippin was such a douche. Ben Vereen was great. William Katt (unfortunately) seemed like a blond surfer dude. But I made it through the whole thing (with a few surreptitious fast-forwards), which was a pleasant surprise. This is the first Bob Fosse production that I’ve ever seen (other than the rapidly edited Chicago). The choreography was...underwhelming and the stage show looked like it was shot in someone’s walk-in closet and the audience looked like mannequins. truly random thought: Love to see a David Lynch interpretation of this.

I think this was toned way down, maybe because it was filmed for Canadian television? This was done 9 years after the original premiered on Broadway.

Yes, they were both big hits. I haven't seen Godspell but it's on my possibles list. Fosse won multiple Tonys for Pippin and Ben Vereen won Best Leading Actor. (Fun fact from Wikipedia: A later Broadway revival had a female playing Ben Vereen's role and she won a Tony for Best Leading Actress. It's the only time there has been Best Leading Actor and Best Leading Actress wins for the same role.)

Wasn’t this, and Godspell, a hit? I feel like I’ve seen a movie contemporary to when Pippin was on Broadway that referenced it. I want to say Annie Hall, but I don’t think that’s right...

That one lengthy sex scene was horny. I think a lot of the risque stuff was probably shocking at the time but pretty tame any time after the late 80s.

The funny part is the composer also wrote Godspell. It took him 30 years but he had a big hit with Wicked.

I also feel like I was oversold on the horniness of the movie.

This doc of David Byrne’s Broadway show is fucking great! On par with Stop Making Sense, in my opinion. Even my parents loved it, and my Dad is a hard sell on this type of show.

Haha, sweet! I know what I’m watching this weekend!

There are 23 previous comments before mine, this must mean something.