Author Topic: Merry Music of May Marathon 2016  (Read 33594 times)

DarkeningHumour

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10453
  • When not sure if sarcasm look at username.
    • Pretentiously Yours
Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2016
« Reply #160 on: May 12, 2016, 10:27:52 AM »
They are quite different. Rochefort is the sun to Cherbourg's rain. Literally. It is a "normal" musical in that is is composed of musical numbers separated by regular spoken scenes. The music also tends to rhyme, which is something Demy did not feel was necessary in Cherbourg. Transitioning from one to the other in a few days made for quite the revolution in my conception of Demy.
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

https://pretensiouslyyours.wordpress.com/

Junior

  • Bert Macklin, FBI
  • Global Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 28709
  • What's the rumpus?
    • Benefits of a Classical Education
Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2016
« Reply #161 on: May 12, 2016, 10:29:30 AM »
As always, both Rochefort and Cherbourg are unassailable masterpieces.
Check out my blog of many topics

“I’m not a quitter, Kimmy! I watched Interstellar all the way to the end!”

MartinTeller

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17864
  • martinteller.wordpress.com
    • my movie blog
Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2016
« Reply #162 on: May 12, 2016, 10:37:45 AM »
They are quite different.

This this this. Don't let Cherbourg or Chambre en Ville chase you away from Demy. They're two of his worst, IMO. Cherbourg is a very different, more traditional musical. Ditto for Donkey Skin.

oldkid

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 19044
  • Hi there! Feed me worlds!
Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2016
« Reply #163 on: May 12, 2016, 02:09:46 PM »
Begin Again

John Carney is attempting to get the success he had with Once, but bigger.  Real stars this time, bigger budget and a bigger city.  Of course, New York.  How can it be a proper musical outside of New York?  Up the production on sound and music quality.  Keep the story simple, focus on the making of the music.  Gotta work, right?

Well, it should.   But there's one problem.  The music.  The music is the heart of any of this kind of film.  It needs to speak for itself, to push and pull our emotions, to stir us.  Once has that.  Most great musicals do, from Seven Brides to Fiddler to Mary Poppins.  The music in this film is... meh.  Over-produced, sapping out whatever wonder it might have had.  The very first scene (interestingly portrayed from three different perspectives) we see Knightley singing in a New York pub and Ruffalo hears great music.  The problem is, I didn't, in any of the iterations of the song.  I had no idea why she stood out from the other performers.  I didn't hear it in any of the later songs, although the guitar solo in Tell Me If you Want to Go Home was well built up and the context of Like a Fool really added to the song.  But it was all lackluster.

And then we have Adam Levine who seemed like he was wearing a mask with every line he said.  Why are you in love with him?  He's a facade, a shell!

Nice moments, it's great to see Ruffalo and Catherine Keener on screen, but I'm just happy to see them more than I'm impressed by their performances.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

MartinTeller

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17864
  • martinteller.wordpress.com
    • my movie blog
Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2016
« Reply #164 on: May 12, 2016, 02:20:21 PM »
Mostly agree, but "Lost Stars" got a ridiculous amount of play in our house. We seriously listened to that like 10 times in a row once. Now it's stuck in my head again.

I have higher hopes for Sing Street, especially after seeing Corndog's rating.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2016, 02:23:01 PM by MartinTeller »

Corndog

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17025
  • Oo-da-lolly, Oo-da-lolly, golly what a day!
    • Corndog Chats
Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2016
« Reply #165 on: May 12, 2016, 02:20:39 PM »
That's a fair assessment, with no points I can really refute, but I still really enjoy the film. I think the music definitely works a little more for me, but I would easily concede it pales in comparison to the emotion and music of Once. I also really like the scene where Knightley and Ruffalo go around town sharing music. I think Carney is still able to capture what the magic of music is to people, just, as you say, the actual music they produce falls below the standard set by Once and other musicals.

I will be interested to hear what you have to say about SING STREET. Having just seen it and loved it, I think it compares more favorably to ONCE than BEGIN AGAIN, though I wonder how the original music will hit you.
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."

Corndog

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17025
  • Oo-da-lolly, Oo-da-lolly, golly what a day!
    • Corndog Chats
Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2016
« Reply #166 on: May 12, 2016, 02:22:50 PM »
Mostly agree, but "Lost Stars" got a ridiculous amount of play in our house. We seriously listened to that like 10 times in a row once. Now it's stuck in my head again.

Yes, it's easily the best song in the film. I was happy when it got an Oscar nod for Best Original Song. Will be curious if John Carney can go 3 for 3 and something from SING STREET will get nominated. "Drive It Like You Stole It" would be my vote.
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36129
  • Marathon Man
Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2016
« Reply #167 on: May 12, 2016, 03:24:37 PM »
Lady Be Good (1941)
* *

As popular as they once were, I’ve come to the realization that by and large I do not like MGM’s musicals of the 40s and 50s. They’re too willing to bring in guest performers to do a little something special, something unconnected to the story. They also have too many mediocre ballads, often filmed with no imagination, just a close-up planted on the singer, cutting away to reactions when necessary. When you sit through a mediocre ballad it takes you about 20-30 seconds to realize this is just death on screen, and there’s another 4 minutes of it. These MGM musicals are a real drag when the best musicals are joyous and light on their feet.

None of the cast are bad, but the writing gives them nothing memorable and the film needs a serious edit down to a more reasonable length. The lone bright spot is Eleanor Powell, the best tap dancer in cinema history, and I can prove it. Here is the best part of the film, her first dance (over an hour in). It’s a duet with a trained dog and it’s as astonishing as anything I’ve seen Gene Kelly do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01oV5mVFQ10

oldkid

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 19044
  • Hi there! Feed me worlds!
Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2016
« Reply #168 on: May 12, 2016, 04:39:12 PM »
I also really like the scene where Knightley and Ruffalo go around town sharing music. I think Carney is still able to capture what the magic of music is to people, just, as you say, the actual music they produce falls below the standard set by Once and other musicals.


I absolutely agree.  But he had to pull in two of the genius artists of the 20th century to really connect with the music.  The whole scene I'm thinking, "Why did they give us these songs to let us know just how flat the rest of the music was?"
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

DarkeningHumour

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10453
  • When not sure if sarcasm look at username.
    • Pretentiously Yours
Re: Merry Music of May Marathon 2016
« Reply #169 on: May 12, 2016, 09:13:53 PM »
I feel bad for you 1SO, you've just gone through a string of unfortunate material it would seem.

They are quite different.

This this this. Don't let Cherbourg or Chambre en Ville chase you away from Demy. They're two of his worst, IMO. Cherbourg is a very different, more traditional musical. Ditto for Donkey Skin.

I like Une Chambre en Ville better than Cherbourg but it's still not my jam either.
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

https://pretensiouslyyours.wordpress.com/