Musical Mondays Week 81 Summer Stock

[Cam Bert 8145]

11 hours ago, tomspanks said:

You're almost there!  What wacky title translation will Japan come up with?

 

6 hours ago, GrahamS. said:

For Parasite or Midsommar? I’d be curious to hear both.

Sorry to disappoint but both are just direct translations. Well Parasite has a subtitle so it is "Parasite: Semibasement/Partialy Underground Family" The word they use doesn't really have an English word. Like in the ground but not underground, like a sunken living room or a subbasement.

I'm actually looking forward to the new year. Parasite mid January, Jojo Rabbit the next week, then Knives Out a week or so after that and the Midsummer after that. With Cats and few other things in between.

[gigi-tastic 2322]

On 12/3/2019 at 3:15 PM, GrahamS. said:

I just REALLY looked at this poster and it’s fucking awesome.

Makes me wonder if they’re going to a production of Midsommar in Sommerlojer. I think Midsommar would actually be improved by being a musical.

Would the bear sing? That's all I care about

[gigi-tastic 2322]

19 hours ago, Cam Bert said:

 

Sorry to disappoint but both are just direct translations. Well Parasite has a subtitle so it is "Parasite: Semibasement/Partialy Underground Family" The word they use doesn't really have an English word. Like in the ground but not underground, like a sunken living room or a subbasement.

I'm actually looking forward to the new year. Parasite mid January, Jojo Rabbit the next week, then Knives Out a week or so after that and the Midsummer after that. With Cats and few other things in between.

I'm DYING to see Knives Out! I hate going to the movie theater because it's always so loud but I really can't wait for it to stream. I've been excited since TIFF

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

On 12/2/2019 at 5:47 PM, gigi-tastic said:

So did anyone else read about Henry Ford's crazy white supremacist plot to make square dancing replace the evils of jazz?

https://www.avclub.com/this-square-dancing-conspiracy-goes-deeper-than-you-thi-1821128344

I apologize that I just read this article but it was fascinating.  I had to highlight these two comments:

"So it’s Henry Ford’s fault that I had to hold hands with girls in gym class!"

The response: "Henry Ford was in the pockets of Big Cootie."

Love it!

 

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

On 12/3/2019 at 6:24 AM, Cam Bert said:

I want to take a poll. So early in the rotation we had Easter Parade which had Judy Garland and Fred Astaire and now we have Summer Stock which is Judy Garland and Gene Kelly. Now I don't want to start the Astaire vs Kelly debates again too much, but which pairing do you think or if you recall had more chemistry or was just the general better match up?

I go for option 3: Kelly and anybody.  Kelly was good with Donald O'Connor in Singin' in the Rain and with two other guys in On the Town.  It's Kelly that makes the magic.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

On 12/3/2019 at 1:22 PM, tomspanks said:

I prefer Judy + Gene.  Take this with a grain of salt, because I only have a vague idea of what I'm talking about, but I prefer Judy in the barn, in a tap-dance-off, rather than being lead around the ballroom floor doing a quickstep.  Not that Judy is an inelegant dancer or anything, but I think I prefer her dancing with Gene.

Summer Stock Barn Dance

Easter Parade

Top Hat (w/Ginger Rogers)

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

I've been meaning to post general likes and dislikes.  I'd better get on that before Summer Stock gets put into winter storage.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

OK, here goes.

I loved the storyline overall.  I was so afraid it was going to be pure hokum or so artificial as to be unbelievable.  For instance, Singin' in the Rain's meet-cute is entirely coincidental.  If Gene hadn't run from his "adoring" fans at that moment and chosen that route to run away and landed in Debbie Reynolds' car then the rest wouldn't have happened.  As it is he only was attracted/intrigued because she gave him as much sass as he gave smarm.  (One of those "She doesn't want me?!? I'll show her!" deals.)  I was afraid that's where SS was heading but was happy to be wrong.

I didn't much care for all the troupe interplay and stuff.  Tighten it to a "love triangle/4some" for tension instead of just how long it's going to take for everyone to come to their senses.  The Abigail/Orville love story was fun the first time but definitely felt tossed in just to quickly (not neatly) resolve that scenario.  Also Orville fetching Abigail wouldn't have stopped the show.  Not sure what he thought that getting Abigail would accomplish.  (He also didn't seem to know anything about his family's influence and friends and such.  He could have contacted some of his suppliers in New York and had them help look for Abigail instead of "going all over New York".  That was also a lousy shot at her, blaming his trying to find her as the reason his plan might not work.)

I did LOVE the stage lights number and dialogue.  It was much more organic and I could see it happening in real life.  Lots of discussion of the various aspects of acting, the stage, makeup, the excitement, etc.  SitR has Kathy stand on a ladder while Gene tells her about all the excitement and such.  He turns the fans on to breeze her hair and the fans magically make no sound when he starts to sing.  SS had sound in all the right places, ESPECIALLY that wonderful solo dance with the paper and the squeaky board.  Wow was that awesome.  I understand Moses Supposes wanting to show up the diction coach but a whole dance number just fell a little flat.  I was perfectly on board with Make 'Em Laugh being a physical number.because Donald O'Connor was showing how far you had to go sometimes but the result made the effort worth it.

The whole actors-on-a-farm thing was not needed.  They only had 36 hours for crying out loud before the big barn dance/Historical Society meeting!  Judy just expected them to know what was needed for each task and sort-of-laughed at them when they did it wrong.  They were doing you a favor by agreeing to your terms (added after the original request which is unfair).  Be considerate or they might walk out too.  Hers wasn't the only barn in New England.

I guess the time frame is what does me in overall on repeat viewings.  We went from her being flat broke to the stage folk being completely part of the farm at the time of the dance and the dance was only the next evening from the movie's opening!  Everybody took to everything too quickly, on both sides of the divide.  Judy really should have given the actors the condition of helping on the farm before offering to let them stay.  Gene should have talked to his actors first instead of agreeing.  I am glad they addressed that a little with Judy dressing him down for browbeating Abigail.

I have more but we've moved on.  I did buy this instead of renting it and will definitely watch it again.  It's also a fun one to listen to while cleaning at home or listening at work.  It's a great pick and I am grateful to Cam Bert for the introduction.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

I also meant to ask.  Has anyone seen Judy?  Is it worth seeing?

[Cameron H. 23786]

2 hours ago, Cinco DeNio said:

I also meant to ask.  Has anyone seen Judy?  Is it worth seeing?

I am curious about this, too

[grudlian. 4725]

2 hours ago, Cinco DeNio said:

I also meant to ask.  Has anyone seen Judy?  Is it worth seeing?

I liked it okay. It has all the trappings of most biopics. Rene Zellweger is pretty good.

It's focusing on her final weeks as a performer. So, it's not uplifting. It covers her childhood and, though it's shown as not great, I still think it kind of glossed over how bad it really was for her.

[gigi-tastic 2322]

4 hours ago, grudlian. said:

I liked it okay. It has all the trappings of most biopics. Rene Zellweger is pretty good.

It's focusing on her final weeks as a performer. So, it's not uplifting. It covers her childhood and, though it's shown as not great, I still think it kind of glossed over how bad it really was for her.

I know that Liza said she wouldn't see it. Apparently she  doesn't watch portrayals of herself or her mother and thinks that this film would be particularly painful. As a person whose lost their mother tragically , I can't imagine how I would feel to see a movie based on the lower points of her life. I'm torn on seeing it because I know it's kind of dark and personally I can read all about how much someone struggled in a biography but seeing it acted on screen for some reason hurts more?