Well, dear readers, by the time most of you are reading these here notes I shall be on a plane wending my way eastward, going from ninety-degree weather to nine degree weather. So, I shall keep these here notes short and fancy-free and also free-fancy.
In a nutshell, I watched the brand spanking new DVD of Shampoo, which I really like quite a bit. Wonderful character study with actors at the top of their game, and a terrific script.
Then I watched the film version of Chicago. I thought about not commenting, but many people have been asking for my opinion and now that I’ve seen it, I suppose I’ll give it. I know I may not be popular with the populace for a few of my views, but that, dear readers, is what makes horse racing. First, let me say I enjoyed it. That said – I was really irked during the first ten or fifteen minutes because I didn’t know quite how much aping was being done (I mean virtual aping) of the film of Cabaret. The opening number was so much like Wilkommen that I began to wonder where homage leaves off and cannibalization begins. I think Rob Marshall is a very talented man and I think he didn’t need to be quite so slavish visually to Mr. Fosse’s film of Cabaret. I also thought this “style” choice of having all the musical numbers be Renee Zellwegger’s “fantasies” was a bit trying after awhile and that they kept shoehorning thing to fit that concept. I mean, do most of her fantasies have to take place in the same theater? They all began to blend together after awhile, at least in my opinion (IMO, in Internet lingo). I thought the film belonged to and was owned by Miss Renee Zellwegger, who I found terrific in her acting, singing and dancing. Everyone seems to be putting her second to Catherine Zeta-Jones and this I do not understand at all. I liked Catherine Zeta-Jones, but her character is very underdeveloped as compared to Roxie. She’s second banana all the way in this film. I thought Richard Gere did a good job, too. I had to laugh because all the comments I’ve read have praised his “dancing”. What dancing? In All I Care About is Love, he does not one step of dancing. He moves, he crosses, he does some stuff with his arms, but absolutely no dancing. In the tap number, you really never see more than four seconds of him tapping at any given time – however, the taps on the soundtrack are continuous and I think that fools people into thinking they’re seeing more than they really are. I didn’t find the numbers overcut in that Moulin Rouge obnoxious way, so that was a pleasant surprise, given what I’d heard. I thought what they did to Mama Morton was not so good – the character in the film didn’t make much sense to me – Queen Latifah is fine, but the character is not as strong as in the stage show. Same with Mary Sunshine. In any case, my two favorite numbers were We Both Reached for the Gun and the one in which I thought Rob really came into his own as a director – Hot Honey Rag. That was the least cutty of all the numbers and I really liked it a lot. I detested when, directly after that number, they started doing that oh so au courant step printing to speed up the camera movement – it was as if someone said, “Oops, we haven’t done that yet.” I was pleased that they didn’t bastardize the show and did show respect for the source material. I know I have been nit-picky, but it’s how I felt. I really wanted to love it through and through, but I didn’t. I enjoyed it, and I’m happy it’s doing well, and I hope Rob will go on to make other films where he can find his own voice and visual style (if you saw the TV film of Annie he directed, you would hardly know it’s the same fellow – which leads me to believe the cameraman and the editor were very much guiding the way – that is not a slight, by the way (BTW, in Internet lingo).
Well, don’t hate me too much – we all have our own opinions about things and I do know that many of you dear readers truly love the film and I think that’s great. Let us click on the Unseemly Button below so I can wrap these here notes up in short order.
Well, I must take the day, I must vamoose to the airport, I must fly on Jet Blue, and I must check into my hotel and then meet some folks at Joe Allen. I think we shall forego the chat tonight and do one mid-week upon my return (or perhaps even “live” from New York on Tuesday night). Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, and I want to see some interesting posts when I check in after I arrive. If you can’t think of a good topic, post about Chicago – agree or disagree with what I’ve written and tell why. Love you all madly and see you later tonight.