Goddammit...
I am so pained to admit that I felt trapped by 'Dreamgirls'. My knowledge of Motown is pretty rudimentary, but my parents were pretty fanatical and some of my earlier memories is of them dancing to The Four Tops and The Temptations and more. Pretty vanilla stuff, I agree, but it works. The music in 'Dreamgirls' does not. And it gets off to such a promising start and then pretty much peters out long before the end.
It doesn't have the soul, but it also doesn't have the heart and I think I know why. No idea if it was in the play or not, but there needs to be a crucial scene near the beginning where Curtis sits the girls down and draws them in, each and every one, a mass seduction scene that is only alluded to in their first meeting. Some special and false at the same time. "I'm Easy". It's not and the movie is so busy moving on up that it forgets to lay down this essential foundation. So, I'm left with characters I don't know and never get to.
Except for Jennifer Hudson, whose amazing LEADING performance is almost as good as the hype. Is she a show-stopper? Absolutely. I would love to chalk up her hype to the fact that out of all our new crop of major movie musicals, she's clearly the crop's sole musical coup. "'I Am Telling You" has all the makings of forced horseshit (Condon never effectively integrates musical numbers into the real life of the film), but she knocks it out of the park. That much is both 'American Idol' AND acting, and she cannot be penalized in any way for utilizing the best of both worlds. This is her world and her show right now. The girl has charisma to spare and I can't fault her acting in any way.
I am actively forgetting Beyoncé's performance as we speak. She is beyond pale. Support across the board is terrific. Eddie Murphy is pretty spot-on. I'm a big fan of his work in 'The Nutty Professor' and as Eric has called attention to, there are shades of Sherman in his Buddy. Anika Noni Rose is underappreciated and really quite delightful as are Danny Glover and Keith Robinson. Jamie Foxx is curious; not quite lazy but not as effective as he could be, I found myself wishing he had found a few more shades of evil to lay down, and yet near the end I felt a degree of sympathy for him. I mean, Brother-Man did it on his own and this is what he gets? That bitch! Not what Condon is going for, I think.
Ultimately, this was a big, fat party that I felt like I had crashed a little too late in, and I'm recovering alcoholic vegan and they're just serving meat, cheese, and booze, the party tape sucks, and everything just thinks way too highly of themselves.
'Dreamgirls' comes very close to being a wonderful time but misses so clearly in my mind near the beginning that it never comes back. A real drag for me, because Bill Condon is a fantastic director at exploiting not only his actors' strengths but their weaknesses. Beyoncé will never be this good again. She's not anything special, but she services the film fine. Jennifer Hudson's performance is built around 'American Idol' theatrics and needs to be such. Eddie Murphy's callousness. And going back to his previous films, Renee Zellweger's carnal career-mongering, John Lithgow's hamminess, Brendan Fraser's quiet dopiness, and so on. Which is why 'Dreamgirls' seems like a perfect fit. Had he included the necessary plotting earlier, it may have worked better but all things considered I'm more meh than I'd like to admit right now.
Edited By Sabin on 1167543691
Dreamgirls or: How to Stop Discussing It and Talk - About Something Else
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Eric
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Oh, I trust almost everyone's opinions -- excepting maybe people like Armond White, who makes up his mind based off of the collective enthusiasm of the cinephile community and critical establishment and pretty much says the opposite -- I just don't always agree with them.
I don't doubt that many people here had a revelatory experience with this film. I'm just not among them.
I don't doubt that many people here had a revelatory experience with this film. I'm just not among them.
The Greatest Song Ever Filmed
Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls.
By Jody Rosen
Posted Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006, at 6:47 PM ET
Reading the early reviews of Dreamgirls, you could be forgiven for getting the impression that it's not really a movie, but a song, surrounded by 125 minutes of padding. You wouldn't exactly be wrong, either. Reviewers have lavished superlatives on Jennifer Hudson's showstopping performance of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," just like theater critics did when Jennifer Holliday sang the song in Dreamgirls' initial Broadway run nearly a quarter-century ago, and there's no denying that it is by far the film's most riveting scene—the one moment, in this musical about music, when a song really grips your emotions. (The costumes and art direction in Dreamgirls are fantastic and period-perfect, but the score's alleged Motown pastiches are laughably off.)
The centerpiece, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," doesn't quite feel like a pop song, even though Holliday's version topped the black singles chart back in 1982 and reached No. 22 on the pop charts. There's a bit too much Broadway in the whimpering little bridge section that arrives at about the 1:20 mark in Hudson's recording ("We're part of the same place, we're part of the same time"). And the song's length is clearly a product of staging imperatives. (Hudson spends the first half of the song clutching and tearing at Jamie Foxx). Real pop songs have less slack.
Still, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is an amazing piece of music, which will be blowing back listeners' ears long after Jennifer Hudson marches off with her inevitable Best Supporting Actress Oscar. The song arrives midway through the film—it was the first-act closer on Broadway—when Effie White (Hudson), the erstwhile lead singer of Detroit trio the Dreams, learns that she's being dumped both from the group and by her boyfriend, Curtis Taylor Jr. (Foxx). It is a squall of pain and defiance, delivered over swelling strings and gospel-flavored piano chords in series of crescendos: Just when you think Hudson is done, she rears back and delivers another, yet more stirring, skyward-striving chorus. While the pathos of the song is immense, it is dazzling simply as a piece of vocal athleticism. And Hudson has managed to claim the song as her own in spite of the hugely intimidating specter of Holliday's original. Reportedly, Hudson watched Holliday's torrid performance at the 1982 Tony Awards dozens of times—talk about overcoming the anxiety of influence.
The result is a cinematic diva moment for the ages: Even Judy Garland's most iconic on-screen ballad performances seem small compared with the last lingering shot of Hudson, the camera whirling overhead as she blasts out a final "You're gonna love me!" In fact, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is a kind of summary of the great American diva tradition, our native answer to the grand opera aria-belters of the old world. The term diva has gotten rather watered down in current pop culture usage, to the point where the title is given to any moderately famous actress or singer with an air of hauteur about her and a personal trainer in her employ. But, in the classical musical formulation, Paris Hilton is certainly no diva—and for that matter, neither is Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston. Old-fashioned divadom entails not just an imperious attitude and a big voice, but a theme—pain, particularly as supplied by callous men and cruel fate—and a task: to transcend that anguish through cathartic declamation. You know the divas of whom I speak: Maria Callas, Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday, Garland, Aretha Franklin, and today's Queen of Pain, Mary J. Blige. And now, perhaps, Jennifer Hudson.
The key figure is Aretha Franklin. She was the diva who brought the tolling piano chords, dramatically slow-boiling songs, and explosive vocal expressiveness of African-American gospel and applied them to the secular subject of romantic love. It's there in her greatest ballads: "Ain't No Way," "Oh Me, Oh My," "Sweet Bitter Love," even lesser, latter-day songs like "It Hurts Like Hell" and her killer cover version of Lionel Richie's "Truly." The emotional heft of these songs, and the power of Franklin's musical genius, is self-evident. But there is more here. Political coding has been the norm in African-American music dating back to slavery, and the political dimension is especially pronounced in Franklin's work, with its strong gospel overtones. You need look no further than her most famous song, "Respect," which, through the sheer power of her performance, Aretha turned from a plea for sexual gratification into a civil rights anthem. Of course, a feminist politics is implicit in all diva ballads, with their fervent demands for proper treatment by men—demands that carry special poignancy and moral force in the music of Franklin and her followers, given the historically heavy burden shouldered by black women. In a society that still hasn't solved the problems or purged the guilt of its racial legacy, the spectacle of a black woman stormily standing up for herself can feel less like pop song convention, and more like a call to conscience.
Which brings us back to Hudson and her big song. Not a few writers have noted how Effie White's story grades into Jennifer Hudson's. In Dreamgirls, Effie is demoted from lead singer duties in favor of the lighter-skinned, thinner, prettier, and slighter-voiced Deena Jones (played by Beyoncé), who incidentally marries the man who fathered Effie's daughter. Hudson was a favorite to win Season 3 of American Idol, when she was inexplicably voted off. Elton John decried the result as racist, and indeed, it was hard not to see Hudson's dismissal as a case of the big-boned black girl getting screwed over. So when Hudson tears into "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going," she is singing not just for Effie White, but for Jennifer Hudson, American Idol also-ran, and for all African-American women who don't quite look like Miss USA (or for that matter, Beyoncé Knowles)—not to mention those millions of black women raising children without a man in the house. Of course, the greatness of the song is the transcendence it offers, to those who know Effie's pain firsthand, and to everyone else. Hudson's voice booms, huge and bright, rippling with grief but bringing ecstasy. At the screening I saw, the audience gasped and applauded throughout the song, a first in my movie-going experience. "No, no, no, no," Hudson sings. Sitting in a darkened theater, you want to cry, "Yes, yes, yes."
Jody Rosen is Slate's music critic. He lives in New York City. He can be reached at [email]slatemusic@gmail.com.[/email]
Edited By flipp525 on 1167520402
Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls.
By Jody Rosen
Posted Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006, at 6:47 PM ET
Reading the early reviews of Dreamgirls, you could be forgiven for getting the impression that it's not really a movie, but a song, surrounded by 125 minutes of padding. You wouldn't exactly be wrong, either. Reviewers have lavished superlatives on Jennifer Hudson's showstopping performance of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," just like theater critics did when Jennifer Holliday sang the song in Dreamgirls' initial Broadway run nearly a quarter-century ago, and there's no denying that it is by far the film's most riveting scene—the one moment, in this musical about music, when a song really grips your emotions. (The costumes and art direction in Dreamgirls are fantastic and period-perfect, but the score's alleged Motown pastiches are laughably off.)
The centerpiece, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," doesn't quite feel like a pop song, even though Holliday's version topped the black singles chart back in 1982 and reached No. 22 on the pop charts. There's a bit too much Broadway in the whimpering little bridge section that arrives at about the 1:20 mark in Hudson's recording ("We're part of the same place, we're part of the same time"). And the song's length is clearly a product of staging imperatives. (Hudson spends the first half of the song clutching and tearing at Jamie Foxx). Real pop songs have less slack.
Still, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is an amazing piece of music, which will be blowing back listeners' ears long after Jennifer Hudson marches off with her inevitable Best Supporting Actress Oscar. The song arrives midway through the film—it was the first-act closer on Broadway—when Effie White (Hudson), the erstwhile lead singer of Detroit trio the Dreams, learns that she's being dumped both from the group and by her boyfriend, Curtis Taylor Jr. (Foxx). It is a squall of pain and defiance, delivered over swelling strings and gospel-flavored piano chords in series of crescendos: Just when you think Hudson is done, she rears back and delivers another, yet more stirring, skyward-striving chorus. While the pathos of the song is immense, it is dazzling simply as a piece of vocal athleticism. And Hudson has managed to claim the song as her own in spite of the hugely intimidating specter of Holliday's original. Reportedly, Hudson watched Holliday's torrid performance at the 1982 Tony Awards dozens of times—talk about overcoming the anxiety of influence.
The result is a cinematic diva moment for the ages: Even Judy Garland's most iconic on-screen ballad performances seem small compared with the last lingering shot of Hudson, the camera whirling overhead as she blasts out a final "You're gonna love me!" In fact, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is a kind of summary of the great American diva tradition, our native answer to the grand opera aria-belters of the old world. The term diva has gotten rather watered down in current pop culture usage, to the point where the title is given to any moderately famous actress or singer with an air of hauteur about her and a personal trainer in her employ. But, in the classical musical formulation, Paris Hilton is certainly no diva—and for that matter, neither is Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston. Old-fashioned divadom entails not just an imperious attitude and a big voice, but a theme—pain, particularly as supplied by callous men and cruel fate—and a task: to transcend that anguish through cathartic declamation. You know the divas of whom I speak: Maria Callas, Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday, Garland, Aretha Franklin, and today's Queen of Pain, Mary J. Blige. And now, perhaps, Jennifer Hudson.
The key figure is Aretha Franklin. She was the diva who brought the tolling piano chords, dramatically slow-boiling songs, and explosive vocal expressiveness of African-American gospel and applied them to the secular subject of romantic love. It's there in her greatest ballads: "Ain't No Way," "Oh Me, Oh My," "Sweet Bitter Love," even lesser, latter-day songs like "It Hurts Like Hell" and her killer cover version of Lionel Richie's "Truly." The emotional heft of these songs, and the power of Franklin's musical genius, is self-evident. But there is more here. Political coding has been the norm in African-American music dating back to slavery, and the political dimension is especially pronounced in Franklin's work, with its strong gospel overtones. You need look no further than her most famous song, "Respect," which, through the sheer power of her performance, Aretha turned from a plea for sexual gratification into a civil rights anthem. Of course, a feminist politics is implicit in all diva ballads, with their fervent demands for proper treatment by men—demands that carry special poignancy and moral force in the music of Franklin and her followers, given the historically heavy burden shouldered by black women. In a society that still hasn't solved the problems or purged the guilt of its racial legacy, the spectacle of a black woman stormily standing up for herself can feel less like pop song convention, and more like a call to conscience.
Which brings us back to Hudson and her big song. Not a few writers have noted how Effie White's story grades into Jennifer Hudson's. In Dreamgirls, Effie is demoted from lead singer duties in favor of the lighter-skinned, thinner, prettier, and slighter-voiced Deena Jones (played by Beyoncé), who incidentally marries the man who fathered Effie's daughter. Hudson was a favorite to win Season 3 of American Idol, when she was inexplicably voted off. Elton John decried the result as racist, and indeed, it was hard not to see Hudson's dismissal as a case of the big-boned black girl getting screwed over. So when Hudson tears into "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going," she is singing not just for Effie White, but for Jennifer Hudson, American Idol also-ran, and for all African-American women who don't quite look like Miss USA (or for that matter, Beyoncé Knowles)—not to mention those millions of black women raising children without a man in the house. Of course, the greatness of the song is the transcendence it offers, to those who know Effie's pain firsthand, and to everyone else. Hudson's voice booms, huge and bright, rippling with grief but bringing ecstasy. At the screening I saw, the audience gasped and applauded throughout the song, a first in my movie-going experience. "No, no, no, no," Hudson sings. Sitting in a darkened theater, you want to cry, "Yes, yes, yes."
Jody Rosen is Slate's music critic. He lives in New York City. He can be reached at [email]slatemusic@gmail.com.[/email]
Edited By flipp525 on 1167520402
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The prestigious Christian News And Media Agency weighs in:
Movie Reviews by Jackie K. Cooper: "DREAMGIRLS (PARAMOUNT PICTURES) - BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS
By Jackie K. Cooper
2006-12-30 -- Once in a while a movie comes along that gets everything right. The casting, the story, the emotions are on target. Such a movie is "Dreamgirls" and it has amazing songs to boot. A star-studded cast give their all to make this story, loosely based on Diana Ross and the Supremes, as mesmerizing as possible. It is one of the year’s best and possibly the very best. Don’t miss it!
The story tells of the rise of girls’ trio that is dominated by the powerful voice of Effie White (Jennifer Hudson). The girls known as the "Dreams" are taken under the wing of manager Curtis Taylor (Jamie Foxx) and begin singing backup for the legendary James Early (Eddie Murphy).
When the group becomes a hit on its own Curtis pushes Effie into the background and starts showcasing Deena (Beyonce’ Knowles). Eventually Effie is forced out of the group and falls on hard times. Her leaving is the basis for the show-stopping number "And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going." Hudson puts her heart and soul into selling this song and she is amazing in her power and range.
Murphy is also a stand out. This seems to be the role he was born to play and he makes the most of his scenes. His character is a talented man but he is also something of a wastrel. He romances the other member of the Dreams, Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose). She tries to protect him from himself and his bad habits.
Foxx and Beyonce’ are the "stars" of the film but they are relegated to the background thanks to the powerful performances of Hudson and Murphy. Still they make their mark. Foxx is one of the brightest actors in Hollywood today and Beyonce’ is one of the great beauties of our time.
Keith Robinson adds to the integrity of the film with his role as CC, Effie’s brother. Robinson takes a small part and makes it noticeable by using his quiet charm and soulful voice. Danny Glover has some good moments as Early’s first manager.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity.
Director Bill Condon has gathered together some of the most talented people in the business and uses them to bring this 1980’s Broadway show to glory on the big screen. He captures every nuance of the script and every motion of the musical numbers. He is the guiding hand that leads them all to be more amazing than expected.
Some of the numbers in "Dreamgirls" are so powerful and pleasing you will want to stand up and cheer. Jennifer Hudson and Murphy should reap rewards for their roles and Hudson should be the golden girl at the Academy Awards this year. She may sing about leaving but she will be around for years to come.
"Dreamgirls" is a dream of a musical. Make sure you get your tickets early for this soulful story of singing success.
I scored "Dreamgirls" a supreme 9 out of 10.
Movie Reviews by Jackie K. Cooper: "DREAMGIRLS (PARAMOUNT PICTURES) - BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS
By Jackie K. Cooper
2006-12-30 -- Once in a while a movie comes along that gets everything right. The casting, the story, the emotions are on target. Such a movie is "Dreamgirls" and it has amazing songs to boot. A star-studded cast give their all to make this story, loosely based on Diana Ross and the Supremes, as mesmerizing as possible. It is one of the year’s best and possibly the very best. Don’t miss it!
The story tells of the rise of girls’ trio that is dominated by the powerful voice of Effie White (Jennifer Hudson). The girls known as the "Dreams" are taken under the wing of manager Curtis Taylor (Jamie Foxx) and begin singing backup for the legendary James Early (Eddie Murphy).
When the group becomes a hit on its own Curtis pushes Effie into the background and starts showcasing Deena (Beyonce’ Knowles). Eventually Effie is forced out of the group and falls on hard times. Her leaving is the basis for the show-stopping number "And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going." Hudson puts her heart and soul into selling this song and she is amazing in her power and range.
Murphy is also a stand out. This seems to be the role he was born to play and he makes the most of his scenes. His character is a talented man but he is also something of a wastrel. He romances the other member of the Dreams, Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose). She tries to protect him from himself and his bad habits.
Foxx and Beyonce’ are the "stars" of the film but they are relegated to the background thanks to the powerful performances of Hudson and Murphy. Still they make their mark. Foxx is one of the brightest actors in Hollywood today and Beyonce’ is one of the great beauties of our time.
Keith Robinson adds to the integrity of the film with his role as CC, Effie’s brother. Robinson takes a small part and makes it noticeable by using his quiet charm and soulful voice. Danny Glover has some good moments as Early’s first manager.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity.
Director Bill Condon has gathered together some of the most talented people in the business and uses them to bring this 1980’s Broadway show to glory on the big screen. He captures every nuance of the script and every motion of the musical numbers. He is the guiding hand that leads them all to be more amazing than expected.
Some of the numbers in "Dreamgirls" are so powerful and pleasing you will want to stand up and cheer. Jennifer Hudson and Murphy should reap rewards for their roles and Hudson should be the golden girl at the Academy Awards this year. She may sing about leaving but she will be around for years to come.
"Dreamgirls" is a dream of a musical. Make sure you get your tickets early for this soulful story of singing success.
I scored "Dreamgirls" a supreme 9 out of 10.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Eric
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True, to an extent, but the source material's problem becomes the film's problem in that the film was made from the source material in the first place. Condon may have done as much as he could with the source material, but I'm questioning why he did anything with it in the first place. There are far better musicals out there, and ones that make arguements on behalf of the transformative, healing power of great pop without having the drawback of being filled with bad imitations of pop.flipp525 wrote:Well, as you say, that's the source material's problem, not this movie. ... Condon did as much as he could with the source material.
Eric wrote:Well over half the problem, though, is the source material. A whitewash of histories both societal as well as autobiographical (I'm just so sure poor lil' Diana Ross had no shred of career-minded ambition when she jumped in the sack with Berry Gordy. I'm just so sure!)
Well, as you say, that's the source material's problem, not this movie's. Whether it was the right thing to do or not, the character of Deena Jones was purposely softened so as not to be a complete carbon copy of Diana Ross for fear of, I'm presuming, litigation and backlash. If this was a straight-up autobiography, we would've seen Effie (a.k.a. Florence Ballard) devolving into drink and depression only to die at the age of 32 and Deena taking a Billie Holiday-type film role and getting an Oscar nod out of it. It's "loosely-based" on the story of the Supremes and should only be critiqued with that framework in mind. Condon did as much as he could with the source material.
Edited By flipp525 on 1167505053
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
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Eric
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I'm fixating on a maladroit cameo by John Lithgow. What does that tell you?
Without wanting to step on Damien's toes, I thought it wasn't good. As I said to my companion on the way out, I'm all about sparkle and mahogany, but Dreamgirls made me feel like ducking into the Neil Young documentary. (Not that I'm really stepping on toes, because I'm clearly in the minority, at least at this board. And Damien well knows my fickle, stridently terrible taste.)
Well over half the problem, though, is the source material. A whitewash of histories both societal as well as autobiographical (I'm just so sure poor lil' Diana Ross had no shred of career-minded ambition when she jumped in the sack with Berry Gordy. I'm just so sure!) with no real throughline except for, as Ed G. suggested, the simultaneity of diva worship and diva smackdown. And, the crippling blow, the only song that even makes an impression ("And I Am Telling You") is the only one that doesn't even try to sound vaguely Motown. I could ignore every other anachronism and debasement if there was anything in the show that even came close to competing with the best radio R&B from its original Broadway era (c. Prince) or today (i.e. Beyonce's newest album), much less "You Keep Me Hangin On."
The "real" performance I thought stuck out for me as being a total package was Eddie Murphy's, not that of Jennifer Hudson (who, I have to say it, underwhelmed me when she wasn't singing, and even a few times during). Murphy makes good on the Buddy Love persona by giving it the pathos of Sherman Klump. While perhaps not quite as affecting as that dual role, it's still the standout here.
I don't know what it says about me, but given the choice between two R&B musicals -- one with tasteful glitter and muted diva hysterics but no memorable songs and the other with a grimy Harlem fantasia and an arsenal of funky, uplifting tunes -- I'll go with the latter: The Wiz, even if Sidney Lumet can only just barely point the camera in the vicinity of the scene.
Without wanting to step on Damien's toes, I thought it wasn't good. As I said to my companion on the way out, I'm all about sparkle and mahogany, but Dreamgirls made me feel like ducking into the Neil Young documentary. (Not that I'm really stepping on toes, because I'm clearly in the minority, at least at this board. And Damien well knows my fickle, stridently terrible taste.)
Well over half the problem, though, is the source material. A whitewash of histories both societal as well as autobiographical (I'm just so sure poor lil' Diana Ross had no shred of career-minded ambition when she jumped in the sack with Berry Gordy. I'm just so sure!) with no real throughline except for, as Ed G. suggested, the simultaneity of diva worship and diva smackdown. And, the crippling blow, the only song that even makes an impression ("And I Am Telling You") is the only one that doesn't even try to sound vaguely Motown. I could ignore every other anachronism and debasement if there was anything in the show that even came close to competing with the best radio R&B from its original Broadway era (c. Prince) or today (i.e. Beyonce's newest album), much less "You Keep Me Hangin On."
The "real" performance I thought stuck out for me as being a total package was Eddie Murphy's, not that of Jennifer Hudson (who, I have to say it, underwhelmed me when she wasn't singing, and even a few times during). Murphy makes good on the Buddy Love persona by giving it the pathos of Sherman Klump. While perhaps not quite as affecting as that dual role, it's still the standout here.
I don't know what it says about me, but given the choice between two R&B musicals -- one with tasteful glitter and muted diva hysterics but no memorable songs and the other with a grimy Harlem fantasia and an arsenal of funky, uplifting tunes -- I'll go with the latter: The Wiz, even if Sidney Lumet can only just barely point the camera in the vicinity of the scene.
To break up all this internal strife, here is Jennifer Hudson's fantastic, goose bump-inducing performance of "Onie Night Only" from a recent appearance on Jay Leno. She is utterly charming and fun in her interview.
Edited By flipp525 on 1167503130
Edited By flipp525 on 1167503130
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Here's something I haven't heard is a few weeks...good news for 'Dreamgirls'.
From www.mcnblog.com
1. As previously reported, Dreamgirls was massive on 852 screens on Monday, with $8.7 million, about $100,000 of which came from added midnight shows around he country. It is the #3 Christmas Day opening ever, the #10 Christmas Day gross overall, and the single best day for any musical ever (Moulin Rouge had the previous best day ever with $5.68m on 2279 screens - Chicago’s best day was $5.17m on 2268). Expect a 30% drop on Tuesday.
From www.mcnblog.com
1. As previously reported, Dreamgirls was massive on 852 screens on Monday, with $8.7 million, about $100,000 of which came from added midnight shows around he country. It is the #3 Christmas Day opening ever, the #10 Christmas Day gross overall, and the single best day for any musical ever (Moulin Rouge had the previous best day ever with $5.68m on 2279 screens - Chicago’s best day was $5.17m on 2268). Expect a 30% drop on Tuesday.
"How's the despair?"
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OscarGuy
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I agree. I think Hudson is a lead in the show. Beyonce isn't bad. I never said she was. I think they are all excellent in the show, Rainbard, so don't take that as a slight against Knowles. I just prefer Hudson head and shoulders above the rest.
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
Actually, I think it was supposed to be Hal Ashby.Eric wrote:My favorite performance was John Lithgow's, but that's only because I thought he was doing the world's worst Alfred Hitchcock impersonation.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell