Musical Mondays Week 24 Reefer Madness

[Cameron H. 23786]

There is a danger out there. An invisible danger and it has it’s greedy, no-good claws into the nation’s children. Of course I’m talking about: dabbing...and also

 

[EvRobert 1684]

As I mentioned, I as considering this for my next pick. This is such a weird strange musical that pays homage to classic musicals (the opening number mentions that the drama club performed Green Grows The Lilacs, which is the play that the musical Oklahoma! is based on, there's that great switch from black and white to color which to me invokes The Wizard of Oz) while playing up the "scare movies" of the 30s (i.e. the original black and white Reefer Madness). Really looking forward to talking about this with ya'll.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

As I mentioned, I as considering this for my next pick. This is such a weird strange musical that pays homage to classic musicals (the opening number mentions that the drama club performed Green Grows The Lilacs, which is the play that the musical Oklahoma! is based on, there's that great switch from black and white to color which to me invokes The Wizard of Oz) while playing up the "scare movies" of the 30s (i.e. the original black and white Reefer Madness). Really looking forward to talking about this with ya'll.

Are you sure you don't mean Green Growthy Lilacs? That's what the subtitles called it anyway.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

As I mentioned, I as considering this for my next pick. This is such a weird strange musical that pays homage to classic musicals (the opening number mentions that the drama club performed Green Grows The Lilacs, which is the play that the musical Oklahoma! is based on, there's that great switch from black and white to color which to me invokes The Wizard of Oz) while playing up the "scare movies" of the 30s (i.e. the original black and white Reefer Madness). Really looking forward to talking about this with ya'll.

In the movie I liked how the lecturer talked with the principal ahead of time (I doubt he would trust Blumsack with that job) and got info without the principal realizing it. He used that info to ingratiate himself with the audience before he dropped the figurative hammer on them.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

I want to congratulate the makers of this movie on getting Mr. Paul Scheer for a cameo.

 

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

There is a danger out there. An invisible danger and it has it’s greedy, no-good claws into the nation’s children. Of course I’m talking about: dabbing...and also

 

Just a little dab'll do ya!

[Cameron H. 23786]

Ultimately, I though RM was just okay. The first couple of numbers were great, and I laughed at a lot of absurdity, but it really was a one joke premise that they stretched out for nearly two hours. I described it as top heavy in my Letterboxd review because by the time I got to the end of the movie the things that had made me laugh at the beginning had become a bit tired. I think it would have benefited by being about 20 minutes shorter.

 

That being said. I still love “Romeo & Juliet.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

Ultimately, I though RM was just okay. The first couple of numbers were great, and I laughed at a lot of absurdity, but it really was a one joke premise that they stretched out for nearly two hours. I described it as top heavy in my Letterboxd review because by the time I got to the end of the movie the things that had made me laugh at the beginning had become a bit tired. I think it would have benefited by being about 20 minutes shorter.

 

That being said. I still love “Romeo & Juliet.

I can agree with this. If it had been released in theaters I would have thought it was like Clue. They showed three different endings and now all showings have the three endings combined. Pick one, moviemakers!

[Cameron H. 23786]

I can agree with this. If it had been released in theaters I would have thought it was like Clue. They showed three different endings and now all showings have the three endings combined. Pick one, moviemakers!

 

What were the three endings? I didn't catch them...

 

I always liked how Clue did them I own that on DVD and you can choose for it to pick an ending at random for you, but I always though it funnier to watch them all back to back.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

 

What were the three endings? I didn't catch them...

 

I always liked how Clue did them I own that on DVD and you can choose for it to pick an ending at random for you, but I always though it funnier to watch them all back to back.

I guess it wasn't technically three endings but it felt like the movie should have ended earlier. Every time you thought it would end it kept going. There are at least two. The movie ending with "Tell Your Children!" would have been a natural ending. Then the parents in the school and the film cast (in their various last costumes) go outside to the reefer burning and the lecturer leaves with Blumsack driving. There was one other point earlier I will have to refresh my memory on.

[EvRobert 1684]

I can't disagree that about 20 minutes could have been shaved off the movie. I've never seen the stage version, so I don't know how faithful the movie is to the stage version, but I would assume that it doesn't seem as long on stage because you'd have a 10-20 minute intermission to grab a smoke, a drink, stretch your legs, etc. that you don't get when you're watching this on the screen.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

Since I just watched the non-musical last night it's fresh in my head. What do you think about the non-musical vs. musical? I find it funny that the commentators on the DVD stressed that Neve Campbell couldn't play Mary Lane because she would be "in love" with her own brother! Yet in the original movie Jimmy Harper is Jimmy Lane, Mary's brother! A discarded character, Bill Harper, was the one who gets hooked and has all the consequences. Jimmy Harper in the musical is a composite of the two.

 

Speaking of cameos, I am also impressed the non-musical got Monty Python's Terry Jones to play the piano.

 

"Hot Fingers" Pirelli

 

 

 

 

 

Terry Jones (NSFW)

 

 

 

 

[SaraK 1980]

Speaking of Neve Campbell, she was sorely wasted, I kept waiting for her to pop back up later. Also I forgot how pretty she is.

 

The first song that KBell sang, I kept thinking about how when she was cast in Frozen, a big talking point was how surprising it was that she was musical and sang so well. Apparently everyone missed this movie or assumed it wasn't her voice or didn't want to bring it up in conjunction with a Disney movie.

 

I enjoyed this for the most part. It lost me in the middle for a big, but the end songs were a lot of fun. They must have had a ridiculous amount of fun shooting this. I wonder if Alan and Bell discussed this on set of Burlesque. I hope they're friends in real life.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

Speaking of Neve Campbell, she was sorely wasted, I kept waiting for her to pop back up later. Also I forgot how pretty she is.

 

The first song that KBell sang, I kept thinking about how when she was cast in Frozen, a big talking point was how surprising it was that she was musical and sang so well. Apparently everyone missed this movie or assumed it wasn't her voice or didn't want to bring it up in conjunction with a Disney movie.

 

I enjoyed this for the most part. It lost me in the middle for a big, but the end songs were a lot of fun. They must have had a ridiculous amount of fun shooting this. I wonder if Alan and Bell discussed this on set of Burlesque. I hope they're friends in real life.

Speaking of Neve Campbell, she WAS sorely wasted. Two points:

1) Why is she pulling her uniform open on the poster art? She never does in the movie (although the tango outfit is far sexier).

2) I wish Poppy and Mickey interacted or danced together in the musical. Mickey was played by Michael Goorjian, Neve's love interest on Party of Five!

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

"Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 p.m."

[grudlian. 4725]

Ultimately, I though RM was just okay. The first couple of numbers were great, and I laughed at a lot of absurdity, but it really was a one joke premise that they stretched out for nearly two hours. I described it as top heavy in my Letterboxd review because by the time I got to the end of the movie the things that had made me laugh at the beginning had become a bit tired. I think it would have benefited by being about 20 minutes shorter.

I agree with all this. The first 20 minutes or so, I was loving this. Then I just stayed losing interest. I'm not entirely sure what I would cut to tighten it up but shortening would help.

 

Everyone in the movie was great though. Even knowing she could sing from Frozen, I don't think I've seen KBell actually sing. She was amazing. Alan Cumming was the other standout in my opinion but I guess that should be obvious since he's a standout in everything.

[Cameron H. 23786]

I agree with all this. The first 20 minutes or so, I was loving this. Then I just stayed losing interest. I'm not entirely sure what I would cut to tighten it up but shortening would help.

 

Everyone in the movie was great though. Even knowing she could sing from Frozen, I don't think I've seen KBell actually sing. She was amazing. Alan Cumming was the other standout in my opinion but I guess that should be obvious since he's a standout in everything.

 

I think some of the Black and White scenes could have been shortened or omitted entirely. Like there was a joke about Asian people eating cats or some nonsense and then a cut to an Asian woman in the audience looking uncomfortable. It's just sort of a lazy and not very funny joke. We get that these people are a bunch of racist nincompoops. We don't need to be reminded of it all the time.

 

I think the problem is the writers really wanted to give it that schlocky, B-movie, propaganda vibe, and although some of that stuff is really good, I didn't feel like they had quite enough good material to justify its existence. The movie should have just settled on having the B & W fear monger scenes bookend the movie. You could still have Alan Cumming appear in the movie to break the fourth wall and lecture the audience (which I thought, for the most part, was effective), and kept the focus on Jimmy and Mary Lane.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

Ultimately, I though RM was just okay. The first couple of numbers were great, and I laughed at a lot of absurdity, but it really was a one joke premise that they stretched out for nearly two hours. I described it as top heavy in my Letterboxd review because by the time I got to the end of the movie the things that had made me laugh at the beginning had become a bit tired. I think it would have benefited by being about 20 minutes shorter.

 

That being said. I still love “Romeo & Juliet.

You mean "Romeo AND Juliet"? I loved the emphasis on "AND" or sometimes slight pause between Romeo and "and" as if the play would be Romeo OR Juliet.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

 

I think some of the Black and White scenes could have been shortened or omitted entirely. Like there was a joke about Asian people eating cats or some nonsense and then a cut to an Asian woman in the audience looking uncomfortable. It's just sort of a lazy and not very funny joke. We get that these people are a bunch of racist nincompoops. We don't need to be reminded of it all the time.

 

I think the problem is the writers really wanted to give it that schlocky, B-movie, propaganda vibe, and although some of that stuff is really good, I didn't feel like they had quite enough good material to justify its existence. The movie should have just settled on having the B & W fear monger scenes bookend the movie. You could still have Alan Cumming appear in the movie to break the fourth wall and lecture the audience (which I thought, for the most part, was effective), and kept the focus on Jimmy and Mary Lane.

In the DVD commentary they mention that the board Alan taps on to get the principal to say "Love" was a Valentine's Day board but it didn't read well in the movie.

[Cameron H. 23786]

It cannot be stressed enough how much I enjoy this scene

 

 

That being said, hot chocolate in the middle of the day. That’s a Friday night, bad movie watching drink my friend

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

It cannot be stressed enough how much I enjoy this scene

 

http://youtu.be/BFC9o87388c

 

That being said, hot chocolate in the middle of the day. That’s a Friday night, bad movie watching drink my friend

Agreed. They used hot chocolate because it's in the original. They need to learn you don't have to do everything the original movie did.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

I admit when I first saw this I didn't much care for it. I think I turned it off somewhere when Jimmy first tried smoking. Turned it on later and was blown away when this scene came on. My reaction was a mixture of "They went THERE?!?" and "This is really well done and Jesus is full of snarky attitude. I'll give the rest of the movie a shot." Started watching it and it grew with me. As with Repo! I listen to the soundtrack far more than watch the movie. The songs hold up and trigger memories of the movie so I don't need the "filler" all the time.

 

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[Cinco DeNio 5290]

I admit when I first saw this I didn't much care for it. I think I turned it off somewhere when Jimmy first tried smoking. Turned it on later and was blown away when this scene came on. My reaction was a mixture of "They went THERE?!?" and "This is really well done and Jesus is full of snarky attitude. I'll give the rest of the movie a shot." Started watching it and it grew with me. As with Repo! I listen to the soundtrack far more than watch the movie. The songs hold up and trigger memories of the movie so I don't need the "filler" all the time.

 

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Speaking of Jesus, I will ask people to be on the honor system and not look it up. Jesus was in a previous MM selection. Does he look familiar? (It was NOT Jesus Christ Superstar but it should have been.) If no one gets it overnight I'll post the answer tomorrow.

[IMAHUGEHDTGMFAN 1837]

 

And Girls, of course

 

Give me a couple of hours and I'll post my views about "Reefer Madness"

 

In the meantime, were any of you shown any AntiDrug PSAs/Movies when you were in high school??? I'm dying to know

 

The only video that they played for us more than 15 years ago was the french film The Red Balloon for psychology class

 

 

BRB

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

 

And Girls, of course

 

Give me a couple of hours and I'll post my views about "Reefer Madness"

 

In the meantime, were any of you shown any AntiDrug PSAs/Movies when you were in high school??? I'm dying to know

 

The only video that they played for us more than 15 years ago was the french film The Red Balloon for psychology class

 

 

BRB

Welcome back!

 

I don't remember any anti-drug PSA or movies (not even the "I learned it from you, Dad!" one). The TV movie "Surviving" came out when I was in high school and we discussed that.