January 09, 2003
All that jazz
Every once and awhile, a movie comes along that is so good that you can’t get your mind off of it. I’m here to tell you folks that that movie is Chicago. It surpassed my very, very high expectations. It’s that good – I promise. This movie catapulted its way into my all time favorites list during the opening number. It’s that good. Forgot Moulin Rouge (which I did adore, save the Madonna number), Chicago has set the bar for the all new American movie musical, and make no mistake, that bar is extremely high – I doubt any at all will be able to compare. I’m telling you, it’s amazing.
So, as I mentioned in another post, I saw Chicago on stage back in February (I think) of 2000. I almost missed it because I was in T-town and it snowed 5 inches. I couldn’t get home on Friday. Thankfully, it had all melted by Saturday and I was able to make it. I loved it. It was edgy, provocative, intriguing and I couldn’t take my eyes off the stage. My favorite part was the music. So, like I said, I had very high expectations seeing it on the big screen. It surpassed those expectations. I’m no Roger Ebert, but I’m going to give you a run down, Amy D. style, on this movie.
I saw this with Grace. About 30 minutes or so into the flick, she leaned over and I said, “I LOVE this!!” I wholeheartedly agreed. I was hooked from the very beginning after Velma (Catherine Zeta-Jones) washed the blood off her hands and bounded on to the stage of the club. I was already grinning when I heard the familiar opening strains of “All that Jazz”. The bass and piano were thumping as she stepped on to stage. “C'mon babe, why don’t we paint the town.” Pause, pause. “And all that jazz.” I knew this was going to be an awesome movie.
I’ll spare you all the details of the rest of the movie and run down what I thought of the actors. Catherine was excellent; she has a great, belting voice and can dance like nobody’s business. I think she was perfect for the role. Renee Zellweger was spectacular as Roxie Hart. I thought she was a movie star before, now I think she’s going to become a mega wattage, full blown, superstar. She was so good. She’s convincing and her singing and dancing really did rival Catherine’s, if not surpass it in some cases. In fact, I’ll go ahead and say that her singing did surpass Catherine’s. Catherine had the upper edge in dancing. Richard Gere is not one of my favorite actors, but I came away impressed. His first song, “All I care about” had me a bit skeptical. In that number all the girls around him danced, so he didn’t have to. But he grew on me throughout the movie and did a good job, and even danced pretty well. My favorite number of his was, “Razzle Dazzle.” Oh, maybe not, I forgot how amazing, “We both reached for the gun” was. (See what I’m saying? Nary a second that wasn’t spectacular!) Now, Queen Latifah, threw down in her role as Mama, she was great. Unfortunately, her number with Catherine was left on the cutting room floor. I would have rather seen that than another Gere soft shoe, but alas, I’ll wait for the DVD. John C. Riley and his “Mr. Cellophane” gave one of the few poignant and quiet moments of the movie. He wasn’t in it much, but that one number was excellent.
What more can I say other than you must go see it on the big screen. Hands down, the best movie I’ve seen in years. If you love music (not just musicals) you’ll love this movie. The modern day audience will probably be pleased with the fact that most all of the music numbers take place in Roxie’s head so you don’t have to suspend reality. No one just bursts into song standing on the street. Anyway, it’s beautifully filmed, splashy, exciting, just downright awesome entertainment. I could go on and on, but you just have to see it for yourself! I’m going to see it again --- hopefully as soon as next week! And, I’ll be picking up the soundtrack on January 14! (Check out 3 of the songs -- you'll have to click on upcoming releases)
If and when you see it, (and I made it pretty clear that you absolutely have to, right?) throw a comment up here to let me know if you liked the movie, too.
Ames
So, as I mentioned in another post, I saw Chicago on stage back in February (I think) of 2000. I almost missed it because I was in T-town and it snowed 5 inches. I couldn’t get home on Friday. Thankfully, it had all melted by Saturday and I was able to make it. I loved it. It was edgy, provocative, intriguing and I couldn’t take my eyes off the stage. My favorite part was the music. So, like I said, I had very high expectations seeing it on the big screen. It surpassed those expectations. I’m no Roger Ebert, but I’m going to give you a run down, Amy D. style, on this movie.
I saw this with Grace. About 30 minutes or so into the flick, she leaned over and I said, “I LOVE this!!” I wholeheartedly agreed. I was hooked from the very beginning after Velma (Catherine Zeta-Jones) washed the blood off her hands and bounded on to the stage of the club. I was already grinning when I heard the familiar opening strains of “All that Jazz”. The bass and piano were thumping as she stepped on to stage. “C'mon babe, why don’t we paint the town.” Pause, pause. “And all that jazz.” I knew this was going to be an awesome movie.
I’ll spare you all the details of the rest of the movie and run down what I thought of the actors. Catherine was excellent; she has a great, belting voice and can dance like nobody’s business. I think she was perfect for the role. Renee Zellweger was spectacular as Roxie Hart. I thought she was a movie star before, now I think she’s going to become a mega wattage, full blown, superstar. She was so good. She’s convincing and her singing and dancing really did rival Catherine’s, if not surpass it in some cases. In fact, I’ll go ahead and say that her singing did surpass Catherine’s. Catherine had the upper edge in dancing. Richard Gere is not one of my favorite actors, but I came away impressed. His first song, “All I care about” had me a bit skeptical. In that number all the girls around him danced, so he didn’t have to. But he grew on me throughout the movie and did a good job, and even danced pretty well. My favorite number of his was, “Razzle Dazzle.” Oh, maybe not, I forgot how amazing, “We both reached for the gun” was. (See what I’m saying? Nary a second that wasn’t spectacular!) Now, Queen Latifah, threw down in her role as Mama, she was great. Unfortunately, her number with Catherine was left on the cutting room floor. I would have rather seen that than another Gere soft shoe, but alas, I’ll wait for the DVD. John C. Riley and his “Mr. Cellophane” gave one of the few poignant and quiet moments of the movie. He wasn’t in it much, but that one number was excellent.
What more can I say other than you must go see it on the big screen. Hands down, the best movie I’ve seen in years. If you love music (not just musicals) you’ll love this movie. The modern day audience will probably be pleased with the fact that most all of the music numbers take place in Roxie’s head so you don’t have to suspend reality. No one just bursts into song standing on the street. Anyway, it’s beautifully filmed, splashy, exciting, just downright awesome entertainment. I could go on and on, but you just have to see it for yourself! I’m going to see it again --- hopefully as soon as next week! And, I’ll be picking up the soundtrack on January 14! (Check out 3 of the songs -- you'll have to click on upcoming releases)
If and when you see it, (and I made it pretty clear that you absolutely have to, right?) throw a comment up here to let me know if you liked the movie, too.
Ames
Posted by Amy at 10:04:55 |
Grace wrote: