Cakebug Tranch

ALSO. Did anyone see that god-awful 'Blinded By the Light' last year? (I am looking at letterboxd and it seems like a few of you have, and no one hated it as much as I did, but here's my review of it: https://letterboxd.com/shaksper/film/blinded-by-the-light-2019/) One of the major issues I had with that movie was that it featured a writer character who was apparently miraculously gifted, but the writers of the movie didn't have the talent to write him material that was actually in line with how everyone was reacting to him. So they cut away just about every time he's about to read his stories out and we have to take their word. So much of 'Funny Girl' felt like that for me with Fanny - I kept wanting to see how AMAZING she was but all we saw was her and the other girls getting on and off trains. Show us the shows in Baltimore, ffs! Dazzle us! Because it seems the only reason she's famous is because she goes in and deliberately sabotages other peoples' work just to get a laugh. I don't care how funny you are, that's so unprofessional and would get you fired no matter what. I wanted to like this more, but in the end... meh.

My wife and I have worked in the theatre for 25 years and we both felt that this was a major gap in our musical knowledge. So, seeing this felt like a way of ticking something off the list more than anything. Twice, with 'People' and 'Don't Rain on my Parade', my wife said 'OH! That's from this?!', but without those numbers this thing felt pretty aimless. More than anything, I was amazed that it seemed the composers' primary job was to come up with five or six 'follies'-style numbers that could be performed anywhere, rather than using the music to move the story along.

Hey! I worked on that production of Love's Labour's at Stratford, as well as the Hamlet that's coming out this week. I work as video dramaturg for all of the Stratford productions, advising on text cuts.

Glad to see this is a well-received pick! I mostly only know this because of the individual songs that came out of it (like 'People who need people') and because it was a featured storyline in 'Glee'. It seems like it might be long-ish, but I'm hoping that it's more 'Cabaret' and less 'Gigi'!

Hi everyone! I'm sorry that my inability to check email last night meant I delayed the pick today. I am never around here anymore but that doesn't mean I don't miss you all, and I am especially appreciative of watching you all generate great work over on Letterboxd. I had a bit of a struggle this week with what I would pick: should I pick the standard HDTGM-worthy thing to make fun of, or something that would pep us up in this difficult time? In the end, I chose the latter, a generally well-received musical based on a Broadway production that launched an international career. What's that you say? "They didn't make a Broadway musical of Across the Universe!" Yet. They haven't made it yet. Anyway, I noticed that this movie had been added to Netflix, I had never seen it, but my wife said "oh, I want to see that!", which is as much as to say, I'm picking that, instead of the terrible movie I was going to pick. So, let's all watch the movie version of the Broadway musical that would eventually launch the career of Rachel Berry! No one in this thread had reviewed it on Letterboxd yet, so hopefully this is a new experience for many of us! It's nice to be back! I'll try to remember to be around more! (I've said that 3000 times in the last 3 years. Sorry guys.)

I'm here! I'm here! But I guess... if it's already been flipped... I can come back in 2 weeks. I have a pick here but I'll wait to see if CamB has already picked something. I miss everyone!

Coming soon to a theatre near you! It's RUPERT! The wise-cracking, fun-loving Australian urchin who rose to become the world's most beloved man and newspaper oligarch! For the Rupert Murdoch lover in YOUR life! Coming on Trumpsday, 23rd of Trumpruary, 2122!

Apologies for missing the first day of the discussion: I'll try to get in to the forum as much as I can but I hope we can find plenty to discuss here. This movie gets me every time, even though I know there are enough terrible things that mean I shouldn't buy in. 'A Million Dreams' makes me cry every god damned time, and I can't make it through with a dry eye. I don't know, if it's the performance or the content, but the idea of hope and dreams hits me just in the right way at the moment. I love the fantasy version of Barnum and Charity's early relationship, and love the quick transition from urchin into fifty-something Jackman pretending to be thirty years younger. Honestly, I think for me the things I love best are the things that speak to me as a father, so songs like 'From Now On' really strike the right chord with me. Others, not so much. My daughter hates Jenny Lind with a burning passion and refuses to watch her scenes, and that's no great loss. My favourite part of the existence of 'The Greatest Showman' comes from the latest season of The Good Place, which states that Michael and Janet's meddling with the afterlife meant that the world is all messed up: Brexit happened, the Jacksonville Jaguars are good now, and this movie musical about PT Barnum made $400million...

Also, I kind of feel as though I should dig up the world record holding longest ever thread for this, but given the proximity of Zac Efron, this feels right. I'm... kind of really excited about this?

10,000%. Also, that was the ideal way of selling it to my daughter. "Look who's in it! TROY!"

I posted quickly this morning before I drove down to New York for work, so didn't get much of a chance to introduce this, but glad to hear everyone's pretty positive about it. I know it's a film many of us have already seen, but my second-to-last pick was La La Land, which many of us had seen too, which spurred great conversation. I first saw this movie on an airplane, not having much of a sense of what it was. I cried like a baby throughout. Then I nudged my seven year old daughter and suggested she watch it. She watched it three times in a row. Long story short, we've seen this movie as a family at least seven times now, usually fast forwarding through the crap bits (Jenny Lind, Come Alive) and focusing on the bits we love. It's a hot mess of a movie but they commit SO HARD to what they're making that it sort of works. Anyway, good luck getting the music out of your head!

This is Me! Cakebug! I've missed you all! Since I've been gone, walking a Tightrope of academia, I've had A Million Dreams about presenting a film which will help the forum Come Alive because, as I know, with this discerning crowd, too much is Never Enough. So let's Rewrite the Stars and realize that From Now On, you'll have a new guilty pleasure musical. Come with me to The Other Side. Ladies and Gents, This is the Moment You've Waited For... Hugh Jackman Whoa-oh-oh-oh!

I've been listening every week since the podcast started, and have been reading along with Michael after each episode. Last week I read ahead just a little bit and got to this devastating point, so have been dreading this week's episode ever since. I want to pass on my thanks and admiration to Michael for the sensitivity and care that he handled this really hard point in the book. This is by far my favourite podcast and I am really sad that we're only a few chapters from the end. I'm really hoping that Michael goes on to read us another one. RIP, little Fawleys.

Taylor Anne's going to be so mad that you brought up baked beans

Me too! And while I'm a bit sad that this pick didn't generate all that much discussion (I dipped out for a week, accidentally), I'm very happy that everyone liked it! I think we can all agree that this was my second best ever MM pick!