Tumbledown (2015), 6

R | 1h 45min | Comedy, Music, Romance | 18 April 2015
A young woman struggles to move on with her life after the death of her husband, an acclaimed folk singer, when a brash New York writer forces her to confront her loss and the ambiguous circumstances of his death.
Co-writer/Director: Sean Mewshaw
Stars: Rebecca Hall, Jason Sudeikis, Blythe Danner.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2338424/
Watched online, ok print.

13 songs in the Soundtracks, 8 Written by Damien Jurado and performed by him with/without others.

OK film. Very little comedy, usually just wisecracks by JS, which are welcome. Not as heavy with grief as you might expect, but respectful.

Rated 6.2 (5,692)

distr. Starz, dir. Mewshaw; 6

Danny Collins (2015), 7

R | 1h 46min | Biography, Comedy, Drama | 19 March 2015
An aging rock star decides to change his life when he discovers a 40-year-old letter written to him by John Lennon.
Writer/Director: Dan Fogelman
Stars: Al Pacino, Annette Bening, Jennifer Garner, Bobby Cannavale, Christopher Plummer.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772288/

Watched online, ok print.

21 songs in the Soundtracks, 10 Written and Performed by John Lennon.

IMDb trivia: "Inspired by the story of singer Steve Tilston, who learned of the existence of a letter that John Lennon had written to him 34 years after the letter was written."

I liked this film. None of the conflicts were traumatic, none of the resolutions were easy or pat. Obviously good cast, and they performed well.

1st (of 2 so far) directing efforts for this writer of Tangled ('10), other kid-flicks and a variety of genres (13 released so far).

Rated 7.0 (27,076)

indie, dir. Fogelman; 7

Into the Woods (2014), 8-

PG | 2h 5min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama | 25 December 2014
A witch tasks a childless baker and his wife with procuring magical items from classic fairy tales to reverse the curse put on their family tree.
Director: Rob Marshall
Stars: Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, Chris Pine, James Corden, Emily Blunt, Christine Baranski, Tracey Ullman, Johnny Depp.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2180411/

23 songs in the Soundtracks, all Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

I'm a big fan of this show, and especially the film of the stage production: Into the Woods (1991), 8+.

Saw this 2014 film in the cinema the week it was released, and rated it 7. I know I was unbelievably disappointed in the darkness of the scenes: night is just too <censored> realistically lit, ala the poster. On the big screen, that's overpoweringly true. Today I watched during the day, so the room was not totally dark.

The performances are excellent. I still adore the '91 performances, but these also have merit. My favorite song is probably Agony, and in '91 we get 2 princes with very stagey voices, and I love that. Here we get a more physical confrontation with princes who are even more handsome, but whose voices don't give the extra ferrous flavor of irony from '91.

MS is not B.Peters, but she does a great job, which I would also say about every other major character in comparison with '91.

I was smiling during most of the film today, so I'm bumping it up to 8-. I still want to wag a finger at RM for choosing the realistic lighting for this fairy tale, or maybe worse. Come to think of it, Chicago ('02) and Nine ('09) were also very darkly lit.

Rated 6.0 (122,141)

Disney & more, dir. Marshall; 8-

Drumline: A New Beat (2014), 6

Not Rated | 1h 41min | Comedy, Drama, Music | TV Movie 27Oct2014
Danielle (Dani) Bolton, an upper class Brooklyn girl, defies her parents in order to attend a college in Georgia so she can join - and revitalize - their once-prominent drumline.
Director: Bille Woodruff
Stars: Alexandra Shipp, Leonard Roberts, Jordan Calloway.
Jacques Anthony Bell ... choreographer

Kiki Ely ... choreographer

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3520698/

Watched online, ok print.

1 song in the Soundtracks, more onscreen.

This shares a few cast members with antecedent Drumline (2002), 6, including a small role for Nick Cannon, who plays the same character, grown up to be a star. His drumline rival is a PhD who's brought in to lead the drumline to competitive dominance so more funds can be raised from alumni during tight economic times.

In addition to the sexism thrown at the female frosh by older drumliners, we also have the son of a superstar (former; now he's drug-addicted). Both are perceived as privileged brats. Although they gravitate toward each other, they have plenty of issues too.

The drumming is good. A lot of insert shots where the hands are shown without faces. The marching band footage seems like they did not get champion bands to play the parts: lots of errors and cuts likely to cover worse errors.

Just ok.

Rated 5.1 (1,018)

VH1 & more, dir. Woodruff; 6

Dance-Off (2014), 5

Not Rated | 1h 35min | Comedy, Music, Romance | 7 Oct 2014
Two cross-town rival dance teams go head to head for the National Nationals Championship.
Director: Alex Di Marco
Stars: Shane Harper, Kathryn McCormick, Finola Hughes.
Stacey Tookey ... choreography

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3024964/

Watched on AmazonPrime.

No songs in the Soundtracks; plenty onscreen.

Deeply mediocre dancing/choreography. Small-time dance contest, nowhere near National scope. The naming of the competition "National Nationals" is an accurate indication of the creativity employed to create this film. 

The plot might be ok if the acting were. The 2 adult leads, FH and another, are playing this as camp; the rest are more sincere. It's a tacky mix.

I fell asleep at least 3 times and had to restart, so I saw the final dances thrice. They are so bad that they were filmed in 2 settings: the competition stage, and some imagined location. Yeah, that distracted me from the quality.

SH (b. '93) is a generalist dancer: tries to be G.Kelly and Twitch, succeeds at neither. He has no tricks of his own, no precision at anything, no particular style or grace. Don't know if that's the character he's playing or his own limitations. I suspect it's the choreography and/or lack of rehearsal, because he has a lot of dance credits in his C.V, including "principal dancer" in HS Musical 2 ('07).

KM was the lead in Step Up Revolution ('12), where I commented "KM has something different in the way she moves, perhaps because all the choreographers were male. By different, I don't necessarily mean better." Looks like she was a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance ('09-'10), was on the "Top 3 Perform" episode but not the next one, and was brought back in subsequent years as an All-Star.

No need to revisit this one.

Rated 4.8 (705)

indie, dir. Di Marco; 5

Like Sunday, Like Rain (2014), 7+

R | 1h 44min | Drama, Music | 6 October 2014
Surrounded by wealth and living with abundant resources in Manhattan, 12-year-old cello prodigy Reggie, lives a solitary life lacking only frequently absent parents and friends. Estranged from family, having slacker boyfriend troubles, and fired from her waitressing job, sometimes musician 23-year-old Eleanor needs a new place to live and a new job.
Writer/Director: Frank Whaley
Stars: Julian Shatkin, Leighton Meester, Debra Messing.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3104818/
Watched online, ok print.

No songs in the Soundtracks, but at least 1 classical piece for string quartet (& piano) was played frequently by the prodigy and his group; the title of the piece is the title of the film.

The kid JS is not only a cello prodigy. He's 12, just finished taking physics and calculus in H.S. We see him mesmerize his English teacher reading a poem (his own?) aloud in class, and he cooks too. He is generous without being extravagant, very calm, considerate of others, and charming.

DM is the mother, but she's just around long enough to demonstrate her non-existent mothering skills (she wants him to eat, and to ride back and forth to school with the chauffeur). When the nanny gets deported, she hastily hires LM, and leaves the country, but JS & LM are at home with the cook/maid and the chauffeur. 

LM was available for the gig b/c her bf finally did her wrong once too often, and then made a scene at her work, so she was both homeless and jobless. This temporary nanny job was a good fit.

The beauty of the film is the growth of a relationship between JS & LM. The poster is absurd, because it makes the bf look like the central character, which he is not. He should have been absent, or in a corner in miniature.

Writer/director FW is a familiar actor; he was the cripple in Swing Kids ('93) among 50 other films. This is his 4th writer/director credit, with another in pre-production.

Rated 6.9 (3,948)

indie, dir. Whaley; 7+

The Song (2014), 5-

PG-13 | 1h 56min | Drama, Music, Romance | 26 September 2014
An aspiring singer-songwriter's life and marriage suffer when the song he writes for his wife propels him to stardom.
Writer/Director: Richard Ramsey
Stars: Alan Powell, Ali Faulkner, Caitlin Nicol-Thomas.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2517044/
Watched on AmazonPrime.

No songs on the Soundtracks; plenty onscreen.

Dreadfully dull rom-dram with preachy (scripture) voice-over. Music is country-pop-ish. Handsome leading man covers his suave with huge horrid beard, so they can streak it with grey to show aging.

He falls for sweet/pure girl not interested in music, woos her, they marry. He goes on the road, has a flashy female opening act with designs on him. His trips home are tense. Wife is withholding. Eventually the other woman beds him, and wife finds out. They split up for a while, but he sees the error of his ways and woos her back. <yawn^2>

Avoid.

Rated 6.0 (1,904)

distr. Goldwyn, dir. Ramsey; 5-

Boychoir (2014), 6

1h 43min | Drama, Music | 5 September 2014
After his single mother dies, a young boy with an excellent voice is sent to a prestigious choir school, and has trouble adapting to the culture of the school.
Director: François Girard
Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Eddie Izzard, Garrett Wareing.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3302706/
Watched online, ok print.

No songs in the Soundtracks, plenty onscreen, primarily classical choir.

OK film, very much what you would expect from the synopsis and cast. The wrinkle not mentioned: the boy's father was a fling, and had supported the mother financially, but was married with a family and plenty of cash. So he buys the boy a space in the school to park him somewhere out of sight. That wrinkle gets resolved by film's end.

EI is nearly despicable. When the established soloist in the choir gets sick and our "orphan" boy is given his part, the star steals his sheet music to sabotage him. EI, one of the choir teachers, catches him with the pages, confiscates them, looks down his nose at the boy and says "If you're going to cheat, cheat better." So the next time the boy does something sneakier and more destructive.

DH is the gruff, flawed choir master with a better sense of fair play than EI.

The "orphan" perpetrates as much as he's victimized, although most of his actions are reactions to what the other boys do/say to him.

Voice change is also a plot point.

The film's ok, not great.

Rated 6.7 (5,597)

indie, dir. Girard; 6

Freedom (2014), 6

R | 1h 34min | Drama, Music | 21 August 2014
Two men separated by 100 years are united in their search for freedom. In 1856 a slave, Samuel Woodward and his family, escape from the Monroe Plantation near Richmond, Virginia. 100 years earlier in 1748, John Newton the Captain of a slave trader sails from Africa with a cargo of slaves, bound for America. 
Director: Peter Cousens
Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr., Sharon Leal, David Rasche.
Jeffrey Page ... choreographer

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2584018/

Watched on AmazonPrime.

14 songs in the Soundtracks, including Amazing Grace, credited to John Newton. Lots of spirituals.

The connection between the 2 stories was not at all clear to me until near the end when I recognized the Bible in both tracks.

OK story of the fear that runaway slaves must have felt, and of the horrors of the slave ships. But nothing really in depth.

Rated 6.2 (1,358)

indie, dir. Cousens; 6

Step Up All In (2014), 6+

PG-13 | 1h 52min | Drama, Music, Romance | 8 August 2014
All-stars from the previous Step Up installments come together in glittering Las Vegas, battling for a victory that could define their dreams and their careers.
Director: Trish Sie
Stars: Ryan Guzman, Briana Evigan, Adam Sevani.
Dondraico Johnson ... choreographer

Christopher Scott ... choreographer

Jamal Sims ... choreographer
Associate Choreographers (onscreen):
Phillip Chbeeb
Parris Goebel
David "Kid David" Shreibman
Nolan Padilla
Brandon Shaw
Cyrus "Glitch" Spencer

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2626350/

42 songs in the Soundtracks.

Another competition story, and a lot of good dancing, all street styles. Great to see so many prior dancers. BE had only been in #2; RG in #4; AS in 2, 3, 4; and lots more.

I think this was better about holding shots longer and let us watch the dancing. The director talks about that in the c.track.

2nd one directed by a woman, who also directs Pitch Perfect 3 ('17), and has various non-feature-director credits.

This is the last one with Step Up in the name...so far. But they were doing these every 2 years:

Step Up Revolution (2012), 6+, dir. Scott Speer

Step Up 3D (2010), 6+, dir. Jon Chu

Step Up 2: The Streets (2008), 6, dir. Jon Chu

Step Up (2006), 7, dir. Anne Fletcher

Rated 6.0 (30,035)

distr. Lionsgate, dir. Sie; 6+

Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014), 5- {nm}

Not Rated | 2h 3min | Comedy, Romance, Thriller | 22 June 2014
Dr. Hess Green becomes cursed by a mysterious ancient African artifact and is overwhelmed with a newfound thirst for blood. He however is not a vampire. Soon after his transformation he enters into a dangerous romance with Ganja Hightower that questions the very nature of love, addiction, sex, and status.
Co-writer/Director: Spike Lee
Stars: Stephen Tyrone Williams, Zaraah Abrahams, Rami Malek.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3104930/
Watched on AmazonPrime.

I have no idea why this would get the tag Comedy.

The idea that this film "questions the very nature of love, addiction, sex, and status" is beyond me. I got absolutely nothing out of it. And since I don't care for this sort of subject, I should have passed.

This is a remake of Ganja & Hess (1973), by black filmmaker Bill Gunn ('29-'89).

As I pointed out in my notes for Clockers (1995), 6- {nm}, this poster is similar to the one for Otto Preminger's The Man With the Golden Arm ('55). Clockers and Da Blood both use images designed by Saul Bass for Otto Preminger films.

Rated 4.1 (1,170)

indie, dir. Lee; 5-

Walking on Sunshine (2014), 6+

Not Rated | 1h 37min | Comedy, Drama, Musical | 27 June 2014
Set to the music of popular hit songs from the 1980s. A beautiful coastal village, present day Italy. After a whirlwind romance, Maddie is preparing to marry gorgeous Italian Raf.
Directors: Max Giwa, Dania Pasquini
Stars: Annabel Scholey, Greg Wise, Hannah Arterton.
Litza Bixler ... choreographer
Adrian Gas ... assistant choreographer

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2107861/

Watched on AmazonPrime. The disc is at least $16 unless I'm willing to settle for Region 2.

14 songs in the Soundtracks, almost all performed with ensemble dancing. The dancing is not terribly athletic, but fun anyway.

Definitely a (delayed) imitation of Mamma Mia! ('08), with familiar pop songs providing the musical numbers in a Mediterranean setting. These songs are from various artists.

The plot is about a pending marriage, with 2 sisters falling for the same guy in Italy 3 years apart.

I liked it because it's a full-out musical with songs I like. I don't know any of the performers, but they were competent and (mostly) good to look at. I definitely want a copy for my collection.

Rated 5.4 (4,433)

(British), dir. Giwa & Pasquini; 6+

As You Like It (2006), 6 {nm}

PG | 2h 7min | Drama, Comedy, Romance | 1 September 2006
A daughter of the powerful Duke must show her courage and inventiveness to be with the man she loves.
Co-writer/Director: Kenneth Branagh

Stars: Bryce Dallas Howard, Adrian Lester, David Oyelowo.

Stuart Hopps ... choreographer

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450972/

damaged disc: early ch 7 of 14 has at least a dozen freeze points, but they all recover quickly, which is why my ffwd test did not catch them. Sure enough, this was a 9'07 release. HBO must have used the same factory that did all the Warner wrecks. (There is a '13 dvd, upc 0883316769959, but it costs more than $14 today.)

I really didn't like this: too many characters, too much going on, and too sudden changes. It would be a 5, but I read Sparknotes afterward, and appreciate what KB brought (how much worse it could have been). I'll watch the '78 BBC version in a couple of days.

At least 3 couples are formed by love at first sight; only 1 doesn't persist to the altar, but she marries the boy who loved her before. Ugh to all of it.

We have 2 pair of fraternal animosity, with amazingly quick resolutions of the enmity. <sigh>

We have a jester and a wannabe, but neither contribute much to the proceedings. (One of them delivers the "All the world's a stage" line, but little else that I got.)

What Branagh brought that helped me: he set the play in Japan, with both British and Japanese characters, and cast the de Bois brothers with black actors. So it was easy to distinguish who was who. And the makeup department helped a lot with the dukes, who were played by the same actor which I didn't realize it until I saw that in the cast list afterward.

In the Sparknotes, they talked about Duke S's band killing a deer, but in the film they made a point of NOT having a deer, showing us a pot of mushrooms & roots cooking. Can't imagine why that change was made.

KB added a non-speaking scene to begin the play, showing the coup with ninjas attacking Duke Senior's party watching a geisha perform and Duke Frederick taking power. I don't remember any exposition explaining things, which would be necessary in a play that does not show the attack.

The BBC '78 version is 2.5 hours, so other material must also be cut. (Thankfully, Helen Mirren is in that one, so I have something to look forward to.)

Rated 6.3 (2,823)

HBO, BBC & more. dir. Branagh; 6

The Identical (2014), 6-

PG | 1h 47min | Drama, Music | 17 April 2014
Twin brothers are unknowingly separated at birth; one of them becomes an iconic rock 'n' roll star, while the other struggles to balance his love for music and pleasing his father.
Director: Dustin Marcellino
Stars: Blake Rayne, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2326574/
Watched on AmazonPrime.

~35 songs in the Soundtracks, none from the E.Presley hit list. In fact, EP was mentioned next to the name of the star brother, to legally separate fiction from reality.

The infants are separated when the parents give one to a traveling preacher RL and his wife AJ; it's the Depression, and the bio parents are unemployed. Not really clear why they kept 1 child, but they "buried" the now-missing twin in an empty shoebox.

We follow the twin whose parents have familiar faces, with the bio-parented twin in the news. Our twin also has excellent singing talent, but the preacher wants the son to become a preacher, and certainly not pursue rock 'n' roll. But when impersonating the star becomes an industry, our twin becomes The Identical.

Because this film is not worth watching a second time: the premise doesn't really go anywhere interesting. Our twin wants to add some songs of his own to the act, but his manager forbids it. So instead of trying it anyway, our twin quits the business. The star dies in a private plane crash, and our twin finds the letter his bio-father wrote to explain his "adoption". Our twin goes to the star's gravesite and meets his bio-dad, and later we see him with adopted dad. He never reveals he's the actual twin, and keeps doing the impersonation career.

AJ gets very little to do here.

The music is very EP-esque, but not close enough to tempt attorneys to sue. The actor has only 1 other film credit, in the awful film Hounddog ('07), 5, playing guess who. His career is apparently to impersonate EP, with a reference to a concert in '19 on his website. He really looks the part, and I suspect he dialed back his EP-ness for this film. This is not a 5 because he has charisma.

Rated 5.1 (2,322)

Cinedigm, dir. Marcellino; 6-

Rio 2 (2014), 7

G | 1h 41min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy | 11 April 2014
It's a jungle out there for Blu, Jewel and their three kids after they're hurtled from Rio de Janeiro to the wilds of the Amazon. As Blu tries to fit in, he goes beak-to-beak with the vengeful Nigel, and meets his father-in-law.
Director: Carlos Saldanha
Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Jemaine Clement, Andy Garcia.
(no choreography credit)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2357291/

24 songs in the Soundtracks.

I like the animation, the colors, the music, the rhythms. Unfortunately, this has a lot of plot, and only ~3 production numbers (opening, ch14, closing). The BD has a nice jukebox feature that plays 11 songs performed.

The Blu/Jewel family is not "hurtled" into the Amazon rainforest. They choose to go when our original human couple discover another blue macaw. Turns out to be a huge flock of them, including Jewel's father AG.

Their habitat is being denuded by illegal logging, so the birds and the 2 ornithologists fight them off.

I wish they made more of these films, especially with lots of big production numbers (lots of birds dancing). For now, I'll have to settle for going backward to the non-musial Ice Age films, also by this director.

Rated 6.3 (70,930)

Fox & more, dir. Saldanha; 7

Always Woodstock (2014), 5--

TV-14 | 1h 37min | Comedy, Music, Romance | 19 March 2014
When Neurotic, struggling songwriter, Catherine Brown's life in New York City falls apart, she is forced to confront her past when she spends the summer at her childhood home in Woodstock.
Writer/Director: Rita Merson
Stars: Allison Miller, James Wolk, Rumer Willis, Katey Sagal.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1995477/
Watched on AmazonPrime.

36 songs in the Soundtracks; very few performed by cast. Katey Sagal only sings twice: one partial and one duet.

Very close to a 4: irritating. Not enough music, and it's folk-like.

Plot is horrid, with AM getting fired, coming home to infidelity, running off to the empty disheveled house she inherited in Woodstock. She gets local help with her music from KS and almost loses the new love JW she finds there. But it's all tedious and narcissistic, and annoying.

Rated 5.4 (651)

indie, dir. Merson; 5--

Girltrash: All Night Long (2014), 6

Not Rated | 1h 26min | Comedy, Crime, Drama | 1Feb2014
The story of five girls and one epic night. The girls will find love, lust, girl-fights, rock and roll, and a whole lot of stoned sorority girls.
Director: Alexandra Kondracke (as Alex Martinez Kondracke)
Stars: Lisa Rieffel, Erin Kelly, Michelle Lombardo.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1555440/
Watched on AmazonPrime.

No songs in the Soundtracks, but plenty in the film, pop-rock style.

This is an actual musical, where cast members break into song to describe what they're feeling/thinking. No dancing, unfortunately.

This is almost a male-free zone. The villain is a woman, but the one man whose name we learn steals the wad of cash the band scored to pay back the villain. So instead they need to win the band contest.

OK. The poster is unfortunate, because the vibe is not so vulgar. But it's not Disney either.

Rated 6.4 (1,065)

indie, dir. Kondracke; 6

Song One (2014), 5-

PG-13 | 1h 26min | Drama, Music | 20 January 2014
A young woman strikes up a relationship with her ailing brother's favorite musician.
Writer/Director: Kate Barker-Froyland
Stars: Anne Hathaway, Johnny Flynn, Mary Steenburgen.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2182972/
Watched on AmazonPrime.

1 song in the Soundtracks, but plenty more in the film. I don't know what the genre is called, but it's modern folk music to me.

Musician wannabe gets hit by a taxi while jaywalking, sustaining serious injuries, now in a coma. Mom MS calls sister AH to come home from her fieldwork for PhD thesis. Last interaction AH had with brother was many months earlier: she was angry he had dropped out of college.

AH finds a lot of JFs music in brother's possession, plus a song of his own. She goes to where JF is performing and gives him the brother's song, explains the situation. He shows up at bro's hospital room, and AH/JF begin relationship. 

AH spends lots of time at bro's bedside, bringing sounds and smells to try rousing him. Eventually he does recover. I think AH & JF are still a couple at the end of the film.

My summary sounds better than the film is. Avoid.

Rated 5.8 (8,464)

Cinedigm, dir. Barker-Froyland; 5-

Low Down (2014), 5-

R | 1h 54min | Biography, Drama, Music | 19 January 2014
A look at the life of pianist Joe Albany from the perspective of his young daughter, as she watches him contend with his drug addiction during the 1970s jazz scene.
Director: Jeff Preiss
Stars: John Hawkes, Elle Fanning, Glenn Close.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1864405/
Watched on AmazonPrime.

30 songs in the Soundtracks.

Unfortunately, this music was as unpleasant as the druggy lifestyle. I suppose the daughter isn't in foster care because his mother was willing to keep her, but really, she's at risk when the father is home and using. The last scenes show her flirting with the drug paraphernalia. After all, she's now saddled with some extra pain just by growing up with these parents.

The author of the screenplay and the book upon which this was based has the same name as the daughter in this film, and her father really was a jazz pianist.

I probably dislike it because it's well done, effectively conveying a very unpleasant situation. I grimaced throughout.

AVOID.

Rated 6.1 (1,617)

indie, dir. Preiss; 5-

Whiplash (2014), 8-

R | 1h 46min | Drama, Music | 16 January 2014
A promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.
Writer/Director: Damien Chazelle
Stars: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Paul Reiser, Melissa Benoist.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2582802/

Watched online, ok print.

18 songs in the Soundtracks. The title track is Written by Hank Levy. Most familiar tune: Caravan.

This has an unbelievably high rating for IMDb, with a lot of votes, and it matches the extra restrictions to be on their Top 250 list at #44. Wow. Never knew this was about jazz.

A powerful tale, kept me engaged the whole time. It helps that the music is in my favorites zone, but it's the psychological suspense that is so gripping. I doubt that a second viewing would be as rich if you remember the outcome. So no spoilers here.

IMDb Trivia: "Although a visual double was used, all of Andrew's drumming was performed by Miles Teller himself to pre-recorded tracks. About 40% of Teller's drumming was used in the soundtrack." I definitely detected a different pair of arms in one drumming sequence, but have been unable to find the name of the drummer, only that "Nate Lang (Carl) is an accomplished drummer and trained Miles Teller and Austin Stowell for their roles." Spoiler alert: read this good article about the playing in the film only after watching.

This writer/director wrote Grand Piano ('13), and goes on to create La La Land ('16).

Rated 8.5 (598,022)

distr. Sony, dir. Chazelle; 8-

Frozen (2013), 6--

PG | 1h 42min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy | 27 Nov 2013

When the newly-crowned Queen Elsa accidentally uses her power to turn things into ice to curse her home in infinite winter, her sister Anna teams up with a mountain man, his playful reindeer, and a snowman to change the weather condition.

Co-writers/Directors: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

Stars: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294629/

borrowed dvd

13 songs in the Soundtracks, 10 Music and Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.

After the princesses had grown up, I was immediately annoyed by the first 2 songs, and the fact that we were dealing with princesses and romance again. Granted, the Midas touch problem was slightly more interesting, but I'm immediately wondering why the cursed princess, too dangerous to allow even her sister to see her, is the one who is coronated. Seems logical she should be trained to abdicate and allow the "normal" sister ascend the throne. Whatever.

IMDb credits say this was inspired by Hans C. Anderson's The Snow Queen. I'm not an expert on that tale, but "inspired by" is a fairly loose connection.

2 love interests for the normal sister, plus a reindeer sidekick for one guy, and a sentient snowman round out the cast, with a giant snow monster and a nation of trolls along for the ride. Supposedly "true love's kiss" was going to solve the problem, but it was "true love" in a non-romantic sense that saved the day.

Maybe it was my mood, but I don't think so. I'll give it a "6" in case mood is the problem.

Rated 7.5 (508,175)

Disney, dir. Buck & Lee; 6--

CBGB (2013), 5

R | 1h 42min | Drama, Music | 11 October 2013
A look at the New York City punk-rock scene and the venerable nightclub, CBGB.
Co-writer/Director: Randall Miller
Stars: Alan Rickman, Malin Akerman, Justin Bartha.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1786751/
Watched on AmazonPrime.

50 songs in the Soundtracks, often "performed" by actors impersonating vintage bands, including some I'd heard of (Talking Heads, The Police) and even like (Blondie).

Although AR's idea was to have a Country BlueGrass Blues club, the first band that wants to play is punk, and they do original music (no ASCAP fees), and since AR has had 2 failed clubs already, this is appealing. A journalist says the band has good stuff, and the club becomes popular, with lots of punk bands wanting to play, and fans and record producers. Plus a cartoon-drawing magazine (called Punk) chronicling the progress. Film ends with real bands at Grammy awards thanking the real (AR) character for creating a place for them to perform.

OK, but not something I enjoyed seeing, and certainly don't need a revisit.

Rated 6.6 (7,766)

indie, dir. Miller; 5

Grace Unplugged (2013), 5

PG | 1h 42min | Drama, Music | 4 October 2013
Grace Trey is a phenomenal singer. But at the tender age of eighteen, after she gets the music break of a lifetime and is thrust into the "real world" - her faith is put to the test.
Co-writer/Director: Brad J. Silverman
Stars: AJ Michalka, Kelly Thiebaud, James Denton.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2349460/
watched on AmazonPrime

20 songs in the Soundtracks, most performed by cast.

Keyword in synopsis: faith. This is about a Christian rocker (the dad) who doesn't allow his daughter enough creativity in the family band, so she seizes an oppty to remake one of his pre-Christian hits, and makes it big. But she can generate a follow-up original single, so the record company hires writers, and she's offended by the sexual nature of the songs. So, despite being selected as the opening act for her idol, she goes back home. In the future, we see the Christian boy she met at the record company is about to be her husband, she and her dad are making a big hit from their faith-rock band, and they've started a faith-based branch of the record company. See all the good that happens whether or not you have faith. I'm sure she'll never disagree with her father again.

Ugh. Avoid.

Rated 6.2 (2,960)

distr. Orion & LionsGate, dir. Silverman; 5

Grand Piano (2013), 6-

R | 1h 30min | Music, Mystery, Thriller | 25 October 2013
A pianist with stage fright endures a performance under the eyes of a mysterious sniper, who will shoot and kill him if a wrong note is played.
Director: Eugenio Mira
Stars: Elijah Wood, John Cusack, Kerry Bishé.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2039345/
Watched online, ok visually, but extremely out of sync aurally.

3 songs in the Soundtracks, but I believe others were played onstage by EW's character.

The piano, custom-built by a deceased composer/pianist, who built a lock into the keyboard. Inside is supposed to be something worth a lot of $$, or the key to it. The music that unlocks it can only be played by EW (and the dead guy) because the tempo is so fast. This is the first time the piano has been onstage. The sniper (JC, only a voice for most of the film) tries to get EW to play the combination precisely to open the piano's secret chamber.  EW deliberately misses a note, and the sniper balks on his threats. EW gets his wife to sing from her boxseat while he goes backstage toward her. The sniper meets him in the hallway and they fight. The fight progresses to the catwalk above the stage, and they fall, with JC doing a hard landing on the piano. Later, when the mangled piano is on the moving van, EW plays the notes again, and we hear the mechanism unlock the chamber, and EW bends down toward it, but the film ends. MacGuffin avoided.

Sorta suspenseful for a single viewing, but I'm spoiling it to avoid a repeat.

Rated 5.9 (16,059)

indie, dir. Mira; 6-

Plush (2013), 5

R | 1h 39min | Drama, Music, Thriller | 15 October 2013
A young singer/songwriter, despite being married, becomes involved with her new guitarist, who she soon discovers has a dark past and may be a danger to her and those close to her.
Co-writer/Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Stars: Emily Browning, Xavier Samuel, Cam Gigandet.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2226519/
Watched on AmazonPrime.

20 songs in the Soundtracks, a couple played by a band in/of the cast.

Thriller bordering on Horror, this begins with a murder by gravel and ends with a murder (in self defense) by garden hose, with some others in between.

Avoid.

Rated  5.4 (3,427)

indie, dir. Hardwicke; 5

BlacKkKlansman (2018), 7 {nm}

R | 2h 15min | Biography, Crime, Drama | 10 August 2018
Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer from Colorado Springs, CO, successfully manages to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan branch with the help of a Jewish surrogate who eventually becomes its leader. Based on actual events.
Director: Spike Lee
Stars: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7349662/
the Oscars are tomorrow. This has 6 noms.

JDW (b. '84) is son of Denzel. I did not guess that; I read it in the IMDb trivia. But knowing this, his voice does have a familiar tone.

Although this is based on real events, I still find it implausible that they used one cop to interact with the Klan on the phone, and another in person. I'd think you'd transfer all interactions to the in-person cop.

Early on, when AD is chosen to be the in-person operative, a colleague spots his Star of David necklace. But later he talks about not being a practicing Jew. Seems inconsistent.

The story is just as jaw-dropping as it sounds. But it doesn't connect with me emotionally as much as couple of other Best Picture noms. I did like SL adding the footage of the 2017 Charlottesville events as the epilogue.

Rated 7.5 (111,730)

Focus Features (Universal) & more, dir. Lee; 7

One Chance (2013), 7-

PG-13 | 1h 43min | Biography, Comedy, Drama | 9 Sep 2013

The true story of Paul Potts, a shy, bullied shop assistant by day and an amateur opera singer by night who became a phenomenon after being chosen for -- and ultimately winning -- Britain's Got Talent (2007).

Director: David Frankel

Stars: James Corden, Alexandra Roach, Julie Walters, Colm Meaney.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1196956/

Watched online, ok print.

28 songs in the Soundtracks, 6 performed by Paul Potts.

An incredible story; too much went wrong in this guy's life, but then it went right. Well acted & presented. Good music, although PP doesn't have a typical tenor (lacks power.) Can't tell from his bio page if he's actually performed opera roles.

Rated 6.8 (10,462)

distr. Weinstein, dir. Frankel; 7-

Begin Again (2013), 6

R | 1h 44min | Comedy, Drama, Music | 7 September 2013
A chance encounter between a disgraced music-business executive and a young singer-songwriter, new to Manhattan, turns into a promising collaboration between the two talents.
Writer/Director: John Carney
Stars: Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Adam Levine, James Corden.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1980929/
Watched online, ok print.

32 songs in the Soundtracks, many sung by KK or AL.

I should probably rate this higher, but it's not something I would watch again.

I have no idea why this is considered Romantic! by Rolling Stone (see poster); well, maybe because MR & KK walk around NYC splitting the earphone jack on her phone to listen to her library, and then we see him doing that with his estranged wife just before he's shown packing his stuff to move back home. KK does not land a man in this, but that's a good thing. She becomes independent and confident in her craft.

The coolest part of this is the indie production of her album, where she borrows equipment and records in open spaces of NYC with borrowed musicians. And then... instead of selling it to MR's record company, they post the album online for $1, and let the cash roll in. So this film is a good marker of technology as it applies to the music business, both for production and distribution.

Good story and good acting. Good music too, for its genre, which I could not possibly name, nor cite similar artists, because it's outside of my pleasure zone. But the songs and their arrangements are very credible for someone who's going to break out into the big time.

Rated 7.4 (127,754)

distr. Weinstein, dir. Carney; 6

Make Your Move (2013), 6-

PG-13 | 1h 50min | Drama, Musical, Romance | 12 July 2013
A pair of star-crossed dancers in New York find themselves at the center of a bitter rivalry between their brothers' underground dance clubs.
Writer/Director: Duane Adler
Stars: Derek Hough, BoA, Will Yun Lee.
Napoleon Dumo ... choreography
Tabitha Dumo ... choreography
Yako Miyamoto ... taiko choreography

Bree Wasylenko ... assistant choreographer

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1828959/

Watched online, ok print.

7 songs in the Soundtracks.

My rating is really 5, but I feel that I should like this better, and speculate it may be my mood, but I don't think so.

This is the sort of dancing I like: TAP fused with hip-hop and modern. But it's filmed badly: partial bodies, bad angles and too many cuts. Maybe I'm extra angry because it was tap, and I want to see it, but they take it away from me.

None of the hip-hop was terribly athletic; I don't remember any anti-gravity moves and the little bit of ensemble movement was a) only 3 guys, b) shown as DH selecting guys from the audience and c) filmed from angles that deprived us a proper view. Did they really have so much going wrong that they had to choose the cr@ppy angles/distances, or are they being "artsy"?

The story is useless, and the characters don't inspire me to care. But if it had enough good dancing, well shot, I would at least say 6. The choices really frustrated me.

This writer/director wrote all 5 of the Step Up films, but this is his 2nd of 3 directing efforts, all of which have IMDb ratings in the 5.* zone.

Rated 5.7 (2,900)

indie, dir. Adler; 6-

Five Dances (2013), 5

TV-14 | 1h 23min | Drama, Music, Romance | 4 October 2013
The coming of age tale of an extraordinarily gifted young dancer recently arrived in New York City.
Writer/Director: Alan Brown
Stars: Ryan Steele, Reed Luplau, Catherine Miller.

Jonah Bokaer ... choreographer

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2186781/

Watched online, ok print.

7 songs in the Soundtracks.

The dancing is modern/minimalist, performed by dancers who seem ballet-trained. It's always rehearsal, and very seldom is it danced to music. Not appealing.

The story is of the newly arrived Kansas boy (18), who's homeless (sleeps in the studio until fellow dancer discovers it and invites him to her couch.) But phone calls with mother are tense;; she's being evicted and wants him to come home because she's alone and can't move in with his grandfather (probably her father); during one of the calls she's soused. He seems to buy a ticket to return to KS, but doesn't go.

One of the female dancers, the married one, has sex with the choreographer after hours in the studio, which is a repeat from several years earlier. Very tense afterward, and she announces the event in rehearsal; more tension.

One of the male dancers wants the KS boy, and in a couple of after hours rehearsals, succeeds in seducing him. It's his first time. Seems to go well. They're boyfriends now. 

No idea if the dancers were getting paid. They spend a lot of time in studio in daylight.

The film ends; I didn't catch a resolution to any open issues. 

It wasn't really 5 dances. More like 5 rehearsals progressing through one dance.

One viewing was too many.

Rated 7.2 (2,290)

indie, dir. Brown; 5

Idlewild (2006), 6-

R | 2h 1min | Crime, Drama, Musical | 25 August 2006
A musical set in the Prohibition-era American South, where a speakeasy performer and club manager Rooster must contend with gangsters who have their eyes on the club while his piano player ... 
Writer/Director: Bryan Barber
Stars: André Benjamin, Big Boi, Terrence Howard.
Hinton Battle ... choreographer

Edgar Godineaux ... second assistant choreographer

Maria Torres O'Connor ... assistant choreographer 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417225/

disc arrived recently; this was mentioned in Hollywood Singing and Dancing, the 1980s-2000s.

25 songs in the Soundtracks (many labeled Explicit on the album listing). Mostly hip-hop; very little is from the period.

Reminds me of The Cotton Club ('84): too much violence, not enough musical performances. Here we get a lot of death by handgun. TH plays a sadistic killer-for-pleasure who happens to be a gangster too.

Of the non-violent characters, no one made me want to follow their story.

I did enjoy the animated rooster on the flask, and the animated musical notes on the sheet music, but I'd recommend ffwd'ing to get to musical numbers only. Don't miss the one under the endcredits.

Rated 6.3 (4,957)

HBO Films & more, dir. Barber; 6-

Singin' in the Rain: Raining on a New Generation (2012), 8

50min | Documentary | 2012
21st century choreographers, dancers and film historians discuss the significance of SitR to their art form.
Director: Gary Leva
Stars: Zachary Woodlee, John DeLuca, Corbin Bleu, Michael Rooney, Charles Klapow, Paula Abdul, Rob Marshall, Rudy Behlmer, Adam Shankman, Baz Luhrmann, Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Harry Shum Jr., Sam Watson, Matthew Morrison, Usher Raymond.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2380175/

Thought I'd list all the interviewees (didn't check that it's a complete list). Although I don't recognize all their names, I recognized their credits, which is why I waited until I got to 2012 to watch this.

One of them made the excellent point that long takes are not used now for an important reason beyond fad: they don't get the extensive rehearsal time as they did in the golden era, so a (near) perfect long take is impossible now.

Glee (2009-15) was extra-represented (choreographer and 2 performers), and they did a tribute to Make 'Em Laugh in s2e7, excerpted here.

Usher did a remake of the title song's video (costume, set, singing, dancing and rain), shown on Movies Rock (2007); blurry full video excerpt here.

Per Paula Abdul: after making her Opposites Attract ('89) video, sent it to GK with a note that this was her tribute to him. He called her, and they had tea once a week for 2.5 years, supposedly until he died, which was in '96.

Great to see youngsters who appreciate GK & SitR.

Rated 6.8 (25)

Warner & more, dir. Leva; 8

Les Misérables (2012), 5-

PG-13 | 2h 38min | Drama, History, Musical | 25 December 2012
In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter. The decision changes their lives forever.
Director: Tom Hooper
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1707386/
borrowed dvd

48 songs in the Soundtracks, all Written by Herbert Kretzmer, Claude-Michel Schönberg, and Alain Boublil.

Great cast, great production. I just hate the musical.

It's not as if I hate the story. I rated non-musical Les Misérables (1998), 7 on 2015-05-06. I don't remember specifics and maybe I'd hate being dragged into the grime of the story today too. Watching the trailer, it feels like good cinema, which lets you keep a comfy distance from the grime.

I really dislike the music, and the songs are sung, not danced. This is not heightened reality, it's just an alternate reality where the spoken word is sung instead. And I find it incredibly annoying, borderline 4. Recall that I like opera, which also a stand there and sing medium, but not every opera is pleasing. This one doesn't rise to the level of trained opera singers, and is definitely not pleasing.

Rated 7.6 (282,306)

distr. Universal, dir. Hooper; 5-

Holiday High School Reunion (2012), 5

Not Rated | 1h 28min | Comedy, Drama, Musical | TV Movie 17 November 2012

When a woman learns of her high school reunion a week before Christmas, she's ecstatic to finally have her chance to win back the one "that got away".

Director: Marita Grabiak

Stars: Rachel Boston, Jonathan Bennett, Jon Prescott.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2475914/

Watched online, horrid print: blurry and 1/4th or less of the screen.

No songs in the Soundtracks, but one or two performed by the reunion of 3-4 members of glee club (they ban one member during the reunion). NO Way  is this a Musical. Barely deserves Music. 

If this is a 10 year reunion, then 28 year olds are extremely immature. The story is NOT worth watching, and the music does not compensate at all.

AVOID. 

Rated 5.0 (1,097)

distr. Lifetime, dir. Grabiak; 5

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), 5

R | 1h 44min | Drama, Music | 19 May 2013
A week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.
Writers/Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Stars: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2042568/
Watched on AmazonPrime.

19 songs in the Soundtracks, many performed by OI.

Slow, sad folk music, dreary surroundings, flopping with friends and acquaintances, pointless road trips, abandoned career, attempted return to merchant marine. No verbs necessary; the story drifts with the principal character.

Chalk up another "miss" for the Coens with me. One viewing was too much.

Rated 7.5 (121,666)

CBS Films, dir. Coen & Coen; 5

Lovestruck: The Musical (2013), 6-

1h 23min | Comedy, Fantasy, Musical | TV Movie 21 April 2013

A jaded woman who never fulfilled her dreams of a Broadway career pushes her daughter to have one. Daughter rebels and goes to Italy to get married. The mother drinks a potion that makes her young again and tries to sabotage the wedding.

Director: Sanaa Hamri

Stars: Jane Seymour, Sara Paxton, Chelsea Kane, Drew Seeley, Tom Wopat, Alexander DiPersia.

Michael Rooney ... choreographer

Danny Valle ... Assistant Choreographer

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2246673/

Watched online, ok print.

7 songs in the Soundtracks, most done as song and dance production numbers. The credits say JS sings, but I'm not convinced. The online print did not include endcredits.

The musical parts are fun, but not terribly well correlated with the story. 

The story is an eyeroll, just read the synopsis above. About half the time (or more) that JS & TP characters are onscreen, they're their younger selves.

Maybe just ffwd to the dance numbers.

Rated 6.4 (2,023)

Disney, dir. Hamri; 6-

I Used to Be Darker (2013), 5-

Not Rated | 1h 29min | Drama, Music | 19 January 2013
An IRISH runaway seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore and finds their marriage ending and her cousin in crisis. In the days that follow, the family struggles to let go of the past while searching for new things to hold onto.
Co-writer/Director: Matthew Porterfield
Stars: Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Ned Oldham.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2147728/
Watched on AmazonPrime

17 songs in the Soundtracks; several played by cast in rehearsal or performance.

Seemed really long, but surprised when it ended, because absolutely nothing was resolved. Definitely a pointless film from my perspective, except possibly to build resumes for newbies. I don't want to spend the time to list what was depicted. Nothing particularly vulgar or violent (except toward paintings and a guitar), just a slice of unpleasant, disintegrating life.

Maybe if you liked the music, which was from a couple of sub-genres that don't appeal to me.

AVOID.

Rated  5.6 (864)

indie, dir. Porterfield; 5-

My Week with Marilyn (2011), 6 {nm}

R | 1h 39min | Biography, Drama | 23 December 2011
Colin Clark, an employee of Sir Laurence Olivier, documents the tense interaction between Olivier and Marilyn Monroe during the production of The Prince and the Showgirl (1957).
Director: Simon Curtis
Stars: Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh.
Denise Faye ... choreographer: "Heatwave" and "That Old Black Magic"
Jane Gibson ... choreographer / movement coach: Michelle Williams
Audrey Hamm ... assistant choreographer

Kathleen Marshall ... choreographer: "Heatwave" and "That Old Black Magic"

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1655420/

disc just arrived

10 songs in the Soundtracks, 4 Performed by Michelle Williams as MM.

MW is amazingly brave to attempt this role. She does a decent job of capturing her vulnerability/fragility, and they've given her makeup to remind you of MM, but when she's recreating the acting in the fwtf, she doesn't sound like MM. The poster makes her look more like MM than most angles provide in the film.

The staging of the choreographed musical numbers wisely avoids trying to duplicate any moves or costumes from the antecedent films (There's No Business Like Show Business ('54) and Bus Stop ('56)), but still provides MM-esque movement and phrasing.

I watched The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), 7+ Color, fs, {nm} on July 28, 2018, and was surprised at how enjoyable it was; I think of it as a minor MM film, but she shines. This film, MWWM, makes me think about how consistent MM was in her performances. I'd be curious to know how different her persona was from her self; her early films indicate the answer "a lot". Perhaps that's part of why it took so much effort/time to get onto the set and get the lines right. (I'm speculating.)

You'll see MW again in The Greatest Showman ('17) as Mrs. Barnum.

The author of the books on which MWWM was based, and character played by ER, is Colin Clark, whose father was Sir Kenneth Clark, art historian of Civilisation (1969), TV.

Rated 7.0 (78,704)

Weinstein & more, dir. Curtis; 6

Puccini: Turandot (2012), 7

2h 4min | Musical | 24 November 2012
A princess avoiding marriage creates an obstructive 3-question riddle with a fatal penalty for failure. When a prince succeeds, her reaction, and the prince's response, cause senseless tragedy.
Director: Cameron Kirkpatrick

Conductor: Andrea Licata

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3791850/

Other performances in my notes (rated 7 or 8).

First performance at Milan, April 25, 1926

Time: legendary 

Place: Peking 

I like the visuals: lots of interesting movement; don't miss the dancing Temptress in Act III. Of course, the music is terrific. The performances are not stellar. And I watched it late at night when I feel the need to keep the volume down, so I'm not sure if the audio is all that good. It seems as though the mics were either too close or too far from the singers, and perhaps the audience wasn't well recorded; they didn't seem to give much appreciation except to Liu.

Cast:

PRINCESS TURANDOT Soprano : Susan Foster

THE EMPEROR OF CHINA (Altoum) Tenor : Benjamin Rasheed

TIMUR, exiled King of Tartary Bass : Jud Arthur

CALAF, his son (the “Unknown Prince”) Tenor : Rosario La Spina

LIÙ, a slave girl Soprano : Hyeseoung Kwon

PING, Grand Chancellor China Baritone : Andrew Moran

PANG, Supreme Lord of Provisions Tenor : Graeme Macfarlane

PONG, Supreme Lord of the Imperial Kitchen Tenor : David Corcoran

A HERALD (A Mandarin) Baritone : Shane Lowrencev

Rated (none)

Opera Australia, cond. Licata; 7

Pitch Perfect (2012), 6

PG-13 | 1h 52min | Comedy, Music, Romance | 5 October 2012
Beca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school's all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition.
Director: Jason Moore
Stars: Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp.
Aakomon Jones ... choreographer
Kyndra Reevey ... assistant choreographer

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1981677/

59 songs in the Soundtracks.

Very good singing, esp. harmonies, but the story and the acting feel more H.S. than college. But then again, some characters are freshmen.

Although choreographers were needed, it's not the level of dancing that interests me. But it's certainly more challenging for them, and more interesting for us, that the singers do non-trivial movement.

The IMDb ratings on the sequels drop a half point per film. We'll see. I want to see what happens in the next one.

No idea why the poster should be so desaturated; the film certainly is not.

Skipped the 2nd c.track, mostly because I just wanted to move on.

Rated 7.2 (252,433)

distr. Universal, dir. Moore; 6

Tea with Mussolini (1999), 7- {nm}

PG | 1h 57min | Drama, Comedy, War | 14 May 1999
An orphaned Italian boy is raised among a circle of British and American women living in Mussolini's Italy before and during the Second World War.
Co-writer/Director: Franco Zeffirelli (autobiography)
Stars: Cher, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith, Lily Tomlin.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120857/
disc arrived today

The film made it seem as though the boy (young Zeffirelli, named Luca for this story) only spent a year or two with the English ladies before being sent to school in Austria by his father. He returns as a late teen while they are in detention in Italy, and is part of the liberating party of Scottish army. This Wikipedia article talks about it a little, with the real names of his parents. Even the film accurately shows him being semi-orphaned, but his father cannot take him home to his wife.

IMDb trivia: "this was the first time actress Cher actually sang in a movie." It was very informal, flirting with a man: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Written by Jerome Kern, Otto A. Harbach. Well sung.

If anything, this film might have too many characters and too little depth of character. But it has plenty of material about conditions in Italy for "enemy" civilians (the elderly English women, and American Cher) before and during the war.

Visually pleasing, and terrific acting, of course: all 5 of the principal women have Oscars or nominations (for other films).

Rated  6.9 (10,220)

distr. indie (theatrical), MGM (vhs/dvd), dir. Zeffirelli; 7-

Step Up Revolution (2012), 6+

PG-13 | 1h 39min | Drama, Music, Romance | 27 July 2012
Emily arrives in Miami with aspirations to become a professional dancer. She sparks with Sean, the leader of a dance crew whose neighborhood is threatened by Emily's father's development plans.
Director: Scott Speer
Stars: Kathryn McCormick, Ryan Guzman, Cleopatra Coleman, Peter Gallagher.
Chuck Maldonado ... choreographer

Christopher Scott ... choreographer

Jamal Sims ... choreographer

Travis Wall ... choreographer

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1800741/

~47 songs in the Soundtracks. The only performance of music was dance.

KM has something different in the way she moves, perhaps because all the choreographers were male. By different, I don't necessarily mean better.

Lots of dance and all of it interesting and fun to watch. The storyline was ok, but not the reason to view this. As such, I can't elevate this to 7 (recommended), but the dancing is good enough that it's close.

DVD was "Movie Only", so I returned it to get the special features I was expecting.
Update: one of the nice features is the Mob Index, where you can play all 6 mob dance scenes in sequence.

Rated 6.5 (50,791)

Summit & more, dir. Speer; 6+

Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (2012), 7

3h | Comedy, Drama, Musical | TV Movie June 2012

Countess tries to reform her philandering husband with the aid of 3 servants just before 2 of them are to marry.

Director: François Roussillon

Conductor: Robin Ticciati

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4335196/

Time: 18th century 

Place: near Seville 

First performance at Vienna, May 1, 1786

Other performance watched: Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro (2006), 7 (Covent Garden), which includes my synopses of the 4 acts (condensing Simon's 100 Great Operas).

I identified the clothing as 1970s; featurette said 60s. Let's say '69.

I wonder if the day will ever come that this is considered quaint and unbelievable that a man would be so unfaithful, so entitled (feudal right to bed a servant!), and so abusive of his power (he had outlawed the feudal right, but reinstated it?). I think the elaborate plot to try to shame him (or make him jealous?) is supposed to be funny, but I caught more of the Countess lamenting the loss of love she used to get from the Count. (This is the scene where I have damage to the disc, lasting about 4min. <sigh>)

And why is there a subplot about Figaro's parentage? The older woman who wants to marry him is suddenly revealed to be his mother, and her employer is his father. Someday I might watch closely enough to get more details.

IL (Cherubino) is charming, especially when she's the boy pretending to be a girl. She does a lot of physical comedy, and of course sings well. All the singing is good. I just don't like the story, and it's too da** long, neither of which is unique to this production.

Cast:

COUNT ALMAVIVA Baritone :: Audun Iversen

FIGARO, his valet Baritone :: Vito Priante

COUNTESS ALMAVIVA Soprano :: Sally Matthews

SUSANNA, her maid and Figaro’s-fiancée Soprano :: Lydia Teuscher

DR. BARTOLO Bass :: Andrew Shore

MARCELLINA, his housekeeper Soprano :: Ann Murray

CHERUBINO, a page Soprano :: Isabel Leonard

DON BASILIO, a music master Tenor :: Alan Oke

ANTONIO, a gardener Bass :: Nicholas Folwell

BARBARINA, his daughter Soprano :: Sarah Shafer

DON CURZIO, counselor-at-law Tenor :: Colin Judson

Rated (none)

Glynebourne, cond. Ticciati; 7

A Late Quartet (2012), 6-

R | 1h 45min | Drama, Music | 10 September 2012
Members of a world-renowned string quartet struggle to stay together in the face of death, competing egos and insuppressible lust.
Co-writer/Director: Yaron Zilberman
Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken, Catherine Keener, Mark Ivanir, Imogen Poots.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226240/

Watched on AmazonPrime.

9 songs in the Soundtracks, at least 5 are classical.

I have prior Netflix rating of 7, which is only a guess, since Netflix only provides 1-5, not 1-10. Today it's a 6, and I'll stand by that.

It's a wonder that these 4 musicians have maintained a performing quartet for decades. They all seem to arrive at a boiling point together. CW has a health crisis: diagnosed with Parkinson's. PSH wants to play 1st violin sometimes, and resents MI leading them into the "perfection" trap where they have landed. CK tries to temper husband PSH's ambition, so they fight, and PSH beds an acquaintance from jogging. MI beds the daughter of PSH & CK. It's all a sticky mess, and the classical music doesn't compensate enough to suffer through the melodrama.

Avoid a repeat.

Rated 7.1 (12,832)

RKO & more, dir. Zilberman; 6-