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Archive for Music & Performing Arts

Movie Review – Joyful Noise (2012) {PG-13}

Posted on Jan 14, 2012 under 4 Star Rating, Comedy, Music & Performing Arts | No Comment

Alcon Entertainment, Farrell Paura Productions, Gospel Truth Pictures,

Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer, Jeremy Jordan, Kris Kristofferson, Jesse L. Martin, Courtney B. Vance, Dexter Darden

In a very small Georgia town, a choir is performing in a Praise music contest. Suddenly their director, Bernard Sparrow, takes ill. We learn that he was the beloved choir director, but as he has suddenly passed away, the pastor wants the choir to continue. The board chooses Vi Rose Hill (Queen Latifah) who is always at wits end with the major benefactor and rich lady of the congregation, Bernard’s wife, G.G> Sparrow (Dolly Parton). This sets of a battle between these two. Vi Rose has a very beautiful 16 year old daughter who is one of the best voices in the choir, Olivia Hill (Keke Palmer). G.G. has a young grandson, Randy (Jeremy Jordan) who has arrived to live with her with a reputation as a troubled teen, but he is also a good musician. As the choir prepares for the competition, a Romeo and Juliet love affair begins between Olivia and Randy which everyone wants to nip in the bud.

This new film is about gospel music, but it’s not really about pushing Christianity. In fact, these folks seem about as worldly as the rest of us, except that they really love to sing. Obviously there is a lot of conflict, and the film is full of colorful characters. It’s really funny, but the humor is very pg-13. This is really a fun movie, and it’s good fun. It’s down home Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres kind of humor, but there are some things that stand out as NOT an issue. Although the congregation is half black and half white, there is no real mention of race anywhere. The movie is color blind, and what color a person is has no meaning to the story. Kudos for that! Also, there is a lot of bickering and fighting, but it’s all done with love and caring. It’s standard family and friend type fights, but nobody goes over the line to meanness. There are also several side stories going on that adds a lot to the movie. But most of all, the music is really special! Not since Sister Act, has a movie about gospel singing contained so many great musical numbers. It’s one of the most outstanding features of the film. The performance at the national finals is well worth the price of admission by itself.

It’s a good-hearted movie that has a lot of warmth and humor, and good lessons. It’s not deep or thought provoking. It’s just good old fashioned entertainment. I think they did a wonderful job, and I hope people will take time out from their busy lives, and relax and enjoy this for a real different change of pace.

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** White Christmas (1954)

Posted on Dec 25, 2011 under 5 Star Rating, Christmas, Family & Kids, Music & Performing Arts, Romance | No Comment

Paramount Pictures

Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Dean Jagger, Mary Wickes, John Brascia, Anne Whitfield, George Chakiris

Corporal Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Private Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) are fighting in WWII in 1944 in Europe on the front lines. It’s Christmas Eve and they are putting on a show. A bomb drops and a wall caves and Phil saves Bob’s life, so as soon as the war is over, he uses that fact against him to urge him into working in show business together. Wallace and Davis turns into a multi-year Broadway hit. As the holidays arrive, they, as a favor to an old friend stop by a small club to see the Haynes Sisters (Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen) and before you know it they’re off on a vacation trip to Vermont. Unfortunately there is no White Christmas in Vermont, and it turns out that the lodge was owned (and in financial trouble) by their old Major General Waverly (Dean Jagger). So the boys decide to bring their whole TV show to Vermont for a live Christmas Eve broadcast to help out their old commanding officer.

This is one of the most beloved of all Christmas movies. As the very first film shot in VistaVision, it was a beautiful and colorful spectacle in 1954, but the song and dance format certainly hold up through the years. Great music, great scenery, and a wonderful cast. The song White Christmas was not written for this movie. Irving Berlin wrote it for Holiday Inn in 1942. But the film was so popular, that this film was made to use the song and the title. The story is that Irving Berlin thought the song would never make it and wanted to cut it from Holiday Inn. He felt the song “Mr. Lincoln” was sure to be a smash hit.

There are so many stories and legends about the movie that it has filled up books. But all that isn’t important in the least. This is just one that you switch on and enjoy on a Christmas Afternoon or Evening and just relax and get into the spirit. If this doesn’t do it, nothing will. One of the top 3 or 4 Christmas films of all times!!!

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** Scrooge (1970) (musical – Finney)

Posted on Dec 25, 2011 under 5 Star Rating, Christmas, Drama, Music & Performing Arts | No Comment

Waterbury Films, Cinema Center Films

Albert Finney, Alec Guinness, Edith Evans, Kenneth More, Paddy Stone, Michael Medwin, Mary Peach, David Collings, Richard Beaumont

Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserable old miser who hates Christmas. He is only concerned with money and has no heart when it comes to his business dealings. His deceased partner Jacob Marley comes to visit him on Christmas Eve and promises three ghosts will visit to save his soul. Scrooge fights his way through the three ghostly visits and sees a new side of human kindness and a Merry Christmas. There have been many versions of A Christmas Carol, but this was the first to do a large scale musical version of the film.

Albert Finney does a wonderful job as Scrooge. He’s young enough to play the young Scrooge well, but through the magic of make-up can turn into old Scrooge just admirably. So with all the versions of A Christmas Carol to choose from, why this one? Well, I thought hard about that, and certainly the musical does make it very different than most. There are a few things that are changed from the story, mostly things that did not need to be changed, but I guess that is poetic license. (For example, Scrooge’s girlfriend Belle was NOT Fezziwig’s daughter), but for the most part, it is pretty faithful to Dicken’s words. Most of the songs are not real classics. It’s odd that the most memorable song of the film is the “Thank You Very Much” song sung to the recently departed Ebenezer Scrooge from those who owed him money. 🙂

This is a very worthy version of arguably the best Christmas story ever written. Certainly my collection of “Christmas Carol” was not complete until I saw this one. I enjoyed it very much, and felt the music added a lot to the story. It was not silly or light-hearted, it was very faithful to the story. All in all, it’s another Christmas classic, and very well done, for sure!

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Rating: 4.0/5 (1 vote cast)

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Movie Review – Go For It! (2010) {PG-13}

Posted on Oct 03, 2011 under 2 Star Rating, Drama, Music & Performing Arts | No Comment

Go For It!, Sparkhope Entertainment

Aimee Garcia, Al Bandiero, Jossara Jinaro, Gina Rodriguez, Louie Alegria, Derrick Denicola, Andres Perez-Molina, Gustavo Mellado, Rene Rosado, David Hernandez

Carmen Salgado(Aimee Garcia) is a junior college student and grocery clerk with a bit of a bad attitude. That’s understandable when we visit her at home, as she lives in a small house with a lot of loud people. Carmen is being pushed by her parents to make a success of herself, but she loves to dance. There’s a high school teacher who sees something in her, and pushes her to apply to a special performance arts college in Los Angeles. Carmen’s best fried, Gina (Gina Rodriquez) is a bit of a trampy girl, but is in a relationship with an abusive hood who treats her pretty bad. Meanwhile Carmen meet gringo Jared (Derrick Denicola) who says he loves her, but wants to keep her under his thumb and wants her to move in with him. Carmen has to decide whether to trust herself, and choose to follow her dream, or take the easy path and do what everyone else wants her to do.

This is a familiar story, for sure. There have been so many stories about kids who dream to dance but are afraid to go for it. This one is a bit different because it’s a pretty much all Latino story with Latino actors in nearly every role. This gives us a close look at the life and problems of a Latino household and the trials it brings. Aimee Garcia is excellent as Carmen, and turns in a really good performance. My wife really loved the story as she’s a fan of dance, and films like Flashdance and Fame are her cup of tea, as well as the dancing reality shows on TV. However, I enjoyed the relationship issues and the family problems, but am not a big fan of dance shows. The benefit in this film is that dancing takes a back seat. It’s not about the school or the classes in dance. Carmen dances in the park, practicing mostly, which she drops out of when her new boyfriend takes up all her time. The movie is so much the same as all the other “I wanna be a dancer” films that it’s not very unique except for the culture part, so if you’re a big fan of hip hop dance, you’ll like it. Also if you want to see a good story of a Latino family in Chicago, that’s also a good reason to like it. But otherwise, I was not at all blown away from this film because it was so similar to what I’ve seen before. It does have a lot of heavy drama and sorrow, so it’s not a lighthearted dance flick. It’s a dark film about finding yourself and reaching for a goal amid all the trials and tribulations.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

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Classic Movie Review – My Fair Lady: Special Edition (1964) {G}

Posted on Sep 10, 2011 under 4 Star Rating, Comedy, Drama, Music & Performing Arts | No Comment

Warner Bros. Pictures

Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfred Hyde-White, Gladys Cooper, Jeremy Brett, Theodore Bikel, Mona Washbourne, Isobel Elsom, John Holland, Alan Napier, Marni Nixon

Eliza Doolittle(Audrey Hepburn) is a flower girl who sells violets in the streets of London. On a bet, Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), famous linguistic expert takes her in an attempt to pass her off as a Lady at a ball with the top royalty of Europe in just 6 weeks by teaching her to speak properly. In the process Henry, a confirmed bachelor comes to depend on her, and she learns that after pretending to be royalty, going back to the streets is hard. This is the classic movie adaptation of the world famous Broadway play. Just remastered and restored, with brilliant colors and a fabulous soundtrack.

Everyone is probably familiar with the story of My Fair Lady, but it’s really nice to revisit it, as it’s got much of the great stuff that made the movie musicals of the 50’s and 60’s so absolutely amazing. Great story, decent music (not the strongest score, but not half bad) and excellent performances by all the characters. Watching the initial hatred between Eliza and Henry turn into much, much more, much to Henry’s disgust is a fine evening. It’s the full musical, so it’s almost 3 hours long and includes an intermission, just as the original film did, it takes time, but if you get a chance to watch this on todays home theater equipment with brilliant colors and fabulous sound, it’s well worth a revisit. Years of watching this on small TV’s with mono sound has made us forget how beautiful these musicals were.

In my opinion, it’s not quite as good as Sound of Music, Oliver, Camelot, and some of the later musicals, but this is still a very strong story with decent music and well worth revisiting 1964 for a few hours!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog