Fame
I think Im prolly the only person I know who is capable of thinking of going to the movies as somewhat of an obligation. Dont get me wrong, I love going. But sometimes it feels like something I hafta do, and the only one pressuring me is myself. I was thinking of punting Fame this week, but doing the quick scheduling in my head I wasnt sure if I'd get another chance to see it. Zomebieland and Whip It are out this week, and I intend to see them both as soon as I flippin' can--maybe even a double on Saturday. But there's a chance Lestat might be getting a sister really soon, so playing referee would cut into movie watching time. So off to the theater I went.
Result? Meh. I think the people behind this one thought "Hey, I wanna make a cheap remake" and "Musicals are hot right now" and sorta threw Fame together. I was not impressed. The whole movie felt like a _really_ long montage. The characters were pretty flat and didnt really develop too much. Half the time I had trouble keeping track of who was who. And they were trying to cram too much time into it (the movie goes from auditions to freshman year, soph year, etc). Now I havent seen the original or the musical or anything else, but I sure hope they're better than this was.
And the performance type scenes weren't that impressive either. A lot of them felt really forced. I was expecting to leave there completely stoked for dance class tomorrow, practically prancing the two blocks back home. Um, no. Instead of not being able to wait until dancing, I couldnt wait to get back here and watch HIMYM. I think I'll stick to DWTS (PS - Totally loving Louie and Chelsie!!) for my dance watching fix. Although, I did like how they'd mix up a dance with a serious conversation or with an acting monologue. Those combinations really worked. But the plain performance bits were dull.
Points for having Megan Mullaly in the flick, and bonus points for having her sing. But something was kinda off about her. It was like she was trying to be Tina Fey channelling Simon Cowell. Not that I was expecting, or even wanting, her to be Karen again but this character just didnt quite fit her that well. The other teachers, in particular Kelsey Grammar and Charles S. Dutton were pretty good, at least compared to everyone else. They were the only really believable characters in the whole flick, and it wasn't even about them. The kids were all sappy and cute, but again didnt really have any substance there.
I can kinda see why this movie got pushed to the dead end of September, but I think I woulda enjoyed it better as a summer flick. Or at least, there woulda been a higher probability of getting all the musical theater geeks together to go see it. That coulda been more fun. Yeah, so signing off now to get in another HIMYM episode before bed.
Result? Meh. I think the people behind this one thought "Hey, I wanna make a cheap remake" and "Musicals are hot right now" and sorta threw Fame together. I was not impressed. The whole movie felt like a _really_ long montage. The characters were pretty flat and didnt really develop too much. Half the time I had trouble keeping track of who was who. And they were trying to cram too much time into it (the movie goes from auditions to freshman year, soph year, etc). Now I havent seen the original or the musical or anything else, but I sure hope they're better than this was.
And the performance type scenes weren't that impressive either. A lot of them felt really forced. I was expecting to leave there completely stoked for dance class tomorrow, practically prancing the two blocks back home. Um, no. Instead of not being able to wait until dancing, I couldnt wait to get back here and watch HIMYM. I think I'll stick to DWTS (PS - Totally loving Louie and Chelsie!!) for my dance watching fix. Although, I did like how they'd mix up a dance with a serious conversation or with an acting monologue. Those combinations really worked. But the plain performance bits were dull.
Points for having Megan Mullaly in the flick, and bonus points for having her sing. But something was kinda off about her. It was like she was trying to be Tina Fey channelling Simon Cowell. Not that I was expecting, or even wanting, her to be Karen again but this character just didnt quite fit her that well. The other teachers, in particular Kelsey Grammar and Charles S. Dutton were pretty good, at least compared to everyone else. They were the only really believable characters in the whole flick, and it wasn't even about them. The kids were all sappy and cute, but again didnt really have any substance there.
I can kinda see why this movie got pushed to the dead end of September, but I think I woulda enjoyed it better as a summer flick. Or at least, there woulda been a higher probability of getting all the musical theater geeks together to go see it. That coulda been more fun. Yeah, so signing off now to get in another HIMYM episode before bed.