Entertainment To Me!

I just got done listening to my St. Valentine’s Day gift from hubby–the deluxe motion picture soundtrack for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street! I love soundtracks, and really did love the movie.

For several reasons, of course–Johnny Depp was spectacular, Helena Bonham Carter did the role of Mrs. Lovett great justice, and even Alan Rickman was totally evil and great. When you’ve got a barber who’s slitting throats and helping his friend make the bodies into meat pies–it’s hard to find someone worse than him. But Rickman’s Judge Turpin is most definitely worse.

The soundtrack is clear and I really enjoyed how the music didn’t get in the way of the story, which can be semi-told through the words, just by listening to the soundtrack, though you have no idea really of the awesomeness of the movie unless you watch it!

I alwaze love hearing actors/actresses who can suddenly sing, and I love when movie musicals don’t dub them over. Johnny Depp, Carter, and Rickman (as well as the other supporting cast) all sing well, and fill their parts well vocally.

Though Sweeney Todd: T.D.B.of F.S. is a horror/musical movie, the soundtrack isn’t scary, but lets one hear the hearts of the characters, and story.

My favorite part keeps being at the end of the song “My Friends” (sung by Todd and Lovett), where Depp calls out :

“At last, my arm is complete again!”

The soundtrack came in a nice box set with a photo book filled with lyrics and a note by Tim Burton, as well as a short biography of Stephen Sondheim.

So, the other day I was watching the 2004 disaster movie, The Day After Tomorrow, and I realized a couple of things.

While I do like Dennis Quaid–that movie was pretty bad. I don’t like Jake Gyllenhaal at all, but he was just as good in the film, I guess, as the others. The movie is one I enjoy because it’s got a cool theme, and entertains me.  The Entertainment factor comes from the fact that while the graphics are not that great–you’re dealing with end of the age as we know it themes here!!–I loved the concept of global warming making the ice caps melt suddenly, so rapidly, that everything would freeze over in the top half of the world, and create a new Ice Age.

Mainly I think I watch it thinking–man, it’d be cool to be the kids in that library! I love the cold, and think trying to survive would be awesome! But of course, if truth be told–it’s not THAT entertaining, because in real life, if something ever happened that fast–no one would’ve survived. Which brings me to another aspect of why the movie is bad…

Goofing That Badly…

If you look at this link, HERE, you’ll be able to see a great list of mistakes in the movie that are not really all that hidden. In fact, I love looking at messups, and finding glitches in movies. But these are doozys. I think when you’re dealing with a disaster movie, if you make such blatant errors of any sort of judgement–the film is bound to fail.

The Internet Movie Database is where the list comes from, and I had a ball reading the messups–most of which I was able to find myself. I mean–when you hear that it’s so freezing, the oil in a helicopter pipeline froze instantly, then someone opens the door of the helicopter, and does NOT freeze (or, rather, is not already frozen!!)–you wonder!

There were a slew of disaster movies that all came out around the same time–this one just failed to check its facts, methinks. I enjoy the movie every once in a while, cause I still think it’d be cool to base-camp in the NYC Library…but sadly, I think I’d end up dead–just cause of real life.

Last night I just watched the 2008 movie adaptation of the novel The Secret Life of Bees . I must read the novel of this story, now, and see how well the movie matched up with the book.

The Secret Life of Bees stars Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, and Sophie Okonedo. It takes place in S.C. in 1964, and centers around a young girl, Lily–wonderfully played by Dakota–who is struggling with crushed and cofused memories of her mother, and who is living with her good-for-nothing dad, who treats her less than lovingly. Her father always told her her Mother was a loser who left her, and takes very little  notice of the girl, except to berate and punish her. So one day, after witnessing her friend Rosaleen–played by Hudson–getting beaten by some white trash, she decides to go seek info on her Mom in a town in S.Carolina. She carries a picture of a black Virgin Mary, which her Mother left her, and which carries the name of the town on the back in S.C. that she heads to.

So Lily and Rosaleen take to the road, eventually ending up at a pink house in S.C., which is the home of May, June, and August Boatwright–played respectively by Sophie, Alicia, and Queen Latifah, who is awesome, heh. Queen L. is a master honey gatherer, and owns hives (hence the bee theme). She makes the best honey in town, and on each bottle is a picture of the black Virgin Mother, the same as Lily’s Mom carried with her.

Lily and Rosaleen stay with August and her sisters, bonding with them, learning from them, suffering with them, as tragedy strikes. Lily is convinced she is unlovable, and it’s all her fault. But things aren’t always what they seem.

The end of the movie is touching and great, and the story is wound together well, with all of the lead actresses shining, while not out-shining each other. I thought Alicia Keys did a great job, and I think Dakota Fanning is one of the most amazing actresses out there today, even running against the older gals. She has a great skill for one her age, and can play just about any part, I’m sure!

The Secret Life of Bees is a great movie to watch with gal pals, without being a “chick flick” type. It’s drama, but not gushy, or overdramatic. The underlaying theme of the times (blacks were just getting to vote, and still were segregated in the South like crazy-glue) is tastefully, yet powerfully done.

The movie also has a great theme about friendship and family, and even about the Blessed Mother (which, as a Catholic, I appreciated!).

I thought The Secret Life of Bees was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a LONG time, and certainly of 2008.

1. Mike Wazowski/ Billy Crystal
There are so many reasons to love this movie, and Billy Crystal’s Mike Wazowski is just one of them. The little green, one-eyed monster, with his short, sarcastic wit, makes for some of the greatest lines and moments in the film! One of my favorite scenes is where Mike is trying to disinfect his & Sulley’s home from “Boo”–the little human child–and she sneezes, so he freaks out, and sprays disinfectant on his eye. It’s a great scene, animated with great comedic timing.

2. James P. “Sulley” Sullivan/ John Goodman
Funny, kind, gentle-giant type. Perfect casting. When I first saw the previews for this movie, I can remember thinking I didn’t know what to think of a purple and teal-ish monster…but Sulley is a great character. You really feel in touch with him, and his position in the Monsters, Inc. world. And he plays opposite Mike/Billy Crystal perfectly.
Greatest scene? When he thinks Boo has gone through the trash compacter, hehe, and comes out as a little square…the face he makes behind the glass before he falls down (several times), alwaze makes me laugh like crazy!

3.Randall/Steve Buscemi
Is there anything Steve B. is in that I don’t love? I don’t think so, heh. But his character in this movie is a great one. The facial expressions fit the voice so well, and he is so shrewd and sneaky and greedy. Plus, I love his “chameleon” feature, which allows him to blend in to whatever background he’s against–nifty! One of those bad guys you love, most def. Classic pairing of actor to character.

4.Boo
Boo is one of the greatest features in the film, actually, I think. She’s also one of the most adorable cartoon/computer animated film kids I’ve ever seen, if not the. The googling sounds she makes, and the adorable expressions the animators gave her, added to her appeal. It just makes you feel so much more for the movie. I mean, when she sees Sulley practicing his scare, and freaks out, I really just want to hug her and tell her it’s ok!

5.”Put-That-Thing-Back-Where-It-Came-From-Or-So-Help-Me!”
Ok, I have to add this joke/scene as a personal fave. I mean, when they’re almost caught (Mike and Sulley), and they have to explain what they’re doing, and they come up with “a musical”, then Mike starts up sort-of singing this line, with Sulley going “bum bum bum” in the background, I alwaze crack up! It’s such a little part of the movie, but it’s such a grand part. Some people immediately remember that joke. Classic ridiculously funny!

6.Sulley’s fur, Mike’s expressions, graphics in general–
Overall, the movie has amazing ability to grab you, tell a story, use great color and graphics, and have you feeling, deeply, by the end. Very few regular movies can do that, let alone a computer animated cartoon type. So many things about Monsters, Inc. are amazing. The expressions they make the characters have, the amazing attention to detail; Sulley’s fur was a marvel of it’s time, the signs and colors of background and scene, etc. –all of these things and more make Monsters, Inc. one of my favorite movies!

Star Trek: The Motion Picture–
If you’ve watched this movie, then you don’t need me to elaborate much. This movie–and trust me, I am a HUGE Trekkie–just lacked, well, everything. The plot was weak and boring, the movie was the first ST movie, so I guess tried to capitalize on putting classic ST elements into a motion picture. But they lost so much of the aforementioned elements. Like, what was up with the costumes/uniforms of the entire crew, and basically everyone in the movie?! They were not only hideous, but very un-ST-crew-like. They were gone next movie, so the producers/writers/director obviously realized their mistake with that aspect. The music is great. But there is SO much drama to it! And God-forbid you watch the golden-oldie VHS version of this movie; the music becomes ridiculously loud for many points in the film.
But the worst aspect of this movie? The elongated scenes of boring terrible graphics–whether it be a fade-away scene of a bright planet, or the loooonnnng side of a starship, or the same exact scene of an electrical force/field over, and over, and over again–they are enough to make a person go crazy! It’ll show the crew, then cut away to this loooonnnng shot of whatever-it-is, then the crew, then the shot (perhaps slightly closer this time, to give the effect that they crew is getting nearer the phenomenon), then back and forth. All the while silence from the human/alien creatures around–just the loud, dramatic music!
This ST movie is most def on the “ok to miss” list.

Night Listener–
Robin Williams is a favorite actor of mine, really. But this movie is on my list of “no thank you”s, due mainly to it having a great desire to be thrilling, but failing miserably…As well as the story having homosexual undertones that seemed to not have been important to the overall story (not knocking the gay theme, just saying it had nothing to do with the rest of the movie, really).
Armistead Maupin, Terry Anderson, and Patrick Stettner wrote a story that seemed interesting enough, I’m sure, when it was read: night radio-talk show host gets a copy of a manuscript that appears to be written by a foster mother of a young boy, all about his story of being sexually abused for child pornography by his own parents, as he told her his traumatic tales…the boy is also terminally ill…the boy gets the phone number of the host, who is intensely touched by the story, and they strike up phone conversations–the man coming to deeply care for the boy’s wellbeing, and ending up talking even with the foster mother. When he tries to see the boy one day, for holiday–something comes up, and the woman and boy are no-where to be found…Robin Williams’ character, who is a gay man whose younger boyfriend has just moved out of his life–is suffering from a need to care for someone, to fill the void, it seems. Whatever…Anyway–the plot thickens as Gabriel (Williams) starts to suspect there may not actually BE a boy…
Turns out, after chasing this woman to a creepy over-protective little town, and finding out she’s supposedly blind–he is right. The woman–played by Toni Collette—is an over-compulsive liar, and suffering from some other psychosis where she needs to fill a void in her own life, and have people be sympathetic towards her. So she makes up a sick/troubled/traumatized boy–who is ALWAYS in the hospital.
The whole story had an ok premise, but Director Patrick Stettner didn’t do a very good job with the rest of the characters (other than Williams), really, and the movie borders on boring. As well as eerie, and ridiculous sometimes. Like the random pedophile scene towards the beginning of the movie that turns out, due to the whole thing being made up–didn’t need to be there.
Maybe it was to make the story believable, but just goes to show, once again, that Hollywood sometimes are weird morons.
This movie, though I talked a lot about it, was a terrible watch, and lacked any motivation. My only consolation is that I borrowed it, and didn’t actually have to spend money on it.

Wanted–
Now, I love Angelina Jolie, and I love Morgan Freeman, and I loved the previews for this movie. Then I saw it. and I was glad again that this was a movie I hadn’t actually rented/paid money to see. Basically, this movie was set up to be a great action adventure. But wow. It bombs. There is so much hype, that you see it expecting it to not be completely pointless, and are then disappointed.
There is such a degree of graphics and fakeness, that the movie gets lost. The whole ‘bending/curving’ the bullet thing is cool when you see it in the preview. And it’s cool when you see it the first 2 or 3 times in the movie. But it’s the signature move, and every main character does it. Probably 3 times or more.
The worst, most ridiculous bullet move is actually my favorite scene (go figure), where Angelina shoots a bullet, curves her shot, and makes the bullet go in a CIRCLE around the entire room, through several guys’ heads, killing them, then herself.
Oh! And another “twist” that’s ridiculous? The secret society apparently gets their “killing orders” from a loom. That’s right. A LOOM. As in, y’know–a machine spinning thread?! It does. And the assassins get a piece of cloth, and using a code from who knows where, they make numbers which corospond with letters, and spell out names of who the “Loom” assigns them to kill. God forbid it someday spells out “XPLLIVZ NNMMDELLSA”!!
This movie is ok, and had great potential. But I think it was hyped up to be much better than it turned out.

Over Thanxgiving holiday, lots of family and lots of food abounded. And lots of movie watching. Oldest sis and hubby came down to PA from Long Island, and as usual, at holiday time, we all–with our respective others/friends–went to see a movie in our local Cinemark theatre.

BOLT–Everyone else went to see the new comedy, “Four Christmases,”, while my husband and myself opted to see “Bolt,” the new computer animated movie starring the voice talents of John Travolta and singer/actress Miley Cyrus. Movie started at 5:35pm, and after credits, and all was said and done–was ended at about  7:25pm. Of course there were about 4 previews (all for computer animated coming attractions), and so on and so forth, but the movie was still long for a computer animated one. But all the time was used wonderfully!

I loved “Bolt”, and would most definitely see it again! In fact, it was one of the best, if not the, computer cartoon I’ve ever seen! I loved it!! While it wasn’t totally as funny as say, “Finding Nemo”–Disney did a great job with this one. John Travolta plays the little white dog who thinks he has superpowers, perfectly. And Miley Cyrus, while she’s not an outstanding character in the movie, added to its memorability with her addition of the ending song (which she and John T. sing together).

The secondary characters–the cat named Mittens and a fat hampster named Rhino–are great. The hampster made my husband laugh like crazy, and me too. Bolt is a beautiful dog, and the hampster is adorable as comedic relief. Mittens is really thin and odd looking, but she’s a cool cat, so it’s all good.

“Bolt” is beautiful, the animation is amazing, the characters are FUNNY (especially the first set of NY pigeons!!LOL), the backrounds are well done, and it is overall a great adventure for family, friends, and everyone of any age. Highly recommended!

HANCOCK–Will Smith is great, really and truly. I usually enjoy watching him. Even “I Am Legend”–which wasn’t the greatest movie, was made better by him. But when I finally sat down to watch “Hancock” this holiday season, on DVD, I was glad I hadn’t paid money to see it in the theatre. The preview people had seen a zillion times tells nothing of Charlize Theron’s pointless sister-superhero-type-character, or of the fact that the movie isn’t funny at all, it’s merely a drama about a drunk, and a guy who tries to be a good man in a crappy world. It was an alright movie, if you have time, and don’t bore easily. Don’t get me wrong, Will is still a great actor, but this movie wasn’t really worth the time. It had nothing extra special. And they took a great super hero theme and screwed it up pretty bad, making a drama. Oy vey.

TROPIC THUNDER (unrated version)–Ok, this movie, starring Jack Black, Ben Stiller, and Robert Downy Jr., was extremely funny. Made so by Matthew McConaughey and Tom Cruise sub-characters, especially! Tom Cruise has a scene where he is just swearing like crazy, and everyone is looking at him like he’s crazy, which his character is–and it’s worth cracking up over.

Jack Black isn’t as funny or prominent, but Ben Stiller and Robert Downy Jr. are great hysterics, and the character R.D. Jr. plays is impressive.

We watched the unrated version, which has tonz of cursing, and lots of perverted humor, which I could’ve done without, but other than that stuff, it would’ve been a GREAT comedy. So it’s good, but be careful if you’ve got kids around. It was fun to watch with the guys and hubby.

Our local Library here in Amarillo, TX (where I currently reside), has a great DVD/VHS collection. But better than that is the inter-Library Loan System , where you can order anything, and they will check tons of other Libraries to see if any of them have what you’re looking for; if so, it’ll get sent to your Library for you to pick up!

I usually use the ILLS quite often, usually ordering tons of DVDs/Books, at one shot. The only problem with this method is I never know how long it’ll take for my things to arrive. And often, I get a huge load of things at one time. Which wouldn’t be so bad, except the policy here in the great public Library system of Amarillo, TX, is that you can only keep your movies for 2 days!!

So Thursday, when I went to the Library to drop off some movies, a book, and pick up whatever was waiting for me, I wasn’t surprised to find 7 DVDs waiting…Thank God for internet renewals!

My collection of weekend movies is as follows:

PECKER, the 1998 John Waters odd-one-out movie. I have seen it before, but it’s been years, and since I’m on a Christina Ricci kick lately, I figured I’d re-watch it and see how it really was. Hopefully it doesn’t end up as one of my “movie misses!” Anyway, it stars that kid who was in T2:Judgement Day , so that’s interesting. Everything in it seems dysfunctional, as he runs around taking odd pictures that make him a near-overnight sensation, on his little camera.

Also on a Johnny Depp kick lately, and THE LIBERTINE one of his I’ve never seen, that’s also in my new “collection” of movies. Depp plays the 2nd Earl of Rochester, who writes a play, scandalizes the king, and dies from syphilis at around 33. Sounds like a dark drama–kind of like Johnny’s character in FROM HELL.

The newer film 21 from Robert Luketic, and starring Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, and Laurence Fishburne is a welcome one. I didn’t think it’d be in the Library systems so soon, but am glad it was, since I missed it in theatres. The movie, about a group of MIT students who engage in a spectacular card-counting scheme to break Vegas (based on a true story), seemed (of course, you can never tell with previews) to be right up my adventure-loving alley!

Another Christina Ricci great, also starring Samuel L Jackson, is BLACK SNAKE MOAN, which I saw almost all of not too long ago. I was intrigued by this dark drama about an abused girl, a seemingly crazy Southerner, and their seeking of salvation that seems just out of both of their reach. Plus, I believe Christina Ricci is amazing the way she can flow in and out of so many different types of dark characters. She has such an outstanding ability. Definitely one of my most favorite actresses…

UNLEASHED is a movie starring Jet Li, and Morgan Freeman (another favorite of mine), in a story that seems totally strange, but I am hoping is a worthwhile watch. The premis is that Jet Li is an awesome, pretty un-natural martial artist, trained and raised like a dog, to attack when, well, “unleashed.” Morgan Freeman is the blind man who finds Li’s character when he finally tries to break from his hellish “owner” (Bob Hoskins), and tries to help him on his path to freedom. Which of course is perilous, and his past haunts him.

The last movie on my list is MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND, 

  which I have seen countless times. I don’t know why I don’t own it yet…It is undoubtedly one of my all time faves. I love the Muppets, I love the R.L.Stevenson novel, I love Tim Curry–how can I go wrong?! This musical romp in search for treasure has an of-course-Muppet-twist    , headed by Gonzo and Rizzo following Jim Hawkins around the tale. They crack me up! The only downside is the mullet-wielding Kevin Bishop , who plays Jim Hawkins (and who is, I guess, not as unknown as I thought)…But overall, this movie is great, and Tim Curry singing adds to it being as such!

And finally, I received from my local Library the second part of the 3rd Season of one of the greater lost causes of TV Series–The 4400 . I discovered this show on the Sci-Fi shelf, and got instantly hooked. It has a GREAT theme song  

, and some really cool characters. Plus, there’s a guy in it with the name “Mahershalalhashbaz Ali“–how do you go wrong with that??! How do you even pronounce that?!! The show is about a group of (you guessed it) 4400 people who disappeared at various times over about a 60 year span, then are suddenly returned one day all at the same time with no memory of anything, and not having aged a day. Over time, of course there are sneaky government officials and schemes, but there are basically messages from the future that say The 4400 were sent back to save humanity. They’re infused with abilities, ranging from plagues to future visions to messing with electricity (no, they’re NOT X-men!). The show started out weak, in ‘04, but as it went on (at least I thought), it got better..then the USA Network dropped it after the 4th Season. Which would’ve been alright, except it leaves everything unanswered and the show in mid-story. Which sucks. I am NOT looking forward to being left hanging!

I understand that everyone has individual tastes, but after some recent rentals/library borrows/discoveries of movies that, in my humble opinion miss the mark for a good let’s-cozy-up-on-the-couch-with-a-blanket,-some-good-friends-and-a-huge-bag-of-extra-butter-popcorn-movie, I felt I had no choice but to share my opinions, and thereby perhaps preventing you from making the same mistake I did and, well, watching them.

They are not all new releases. But they all fell into that category when I watched them–the “How in the world did they actually find funding to make this crap?”/”What kind of people actually sit through this entire waste of time?” category.

Here are just a few…I am sure I shall have more to rant upon in the near future…

>:-)

1. Meet The Spartans–This was another one of those “spoof” movies that abounds today. It was supposed to be hysterical, and to make fun of all sorts of crazy infamous movies as well as stars. But by the time I actually got to see the mock-Brittney Spears shaving her head, and attempting to sing, and finally getting kicked over into the death pit in the movie–it was no longer funny, due to having been overdone a zillion times in every preview and advertisement for the movie. Talk about overkill! Oy vey…
Not to mention that the movie wasn’t very funny at all. It had a couple of chuckle scenes, but most of the acting wasn’t done with enough humor, the plots were completely detached, and the jokes were old, and in bad taste. The whole film has a homosexual undertone, thereby making most of the jokes along those lines, thereby killing the movie, really.

2. Soylent Green–Ok, I admit THIS was my husband’s doing. And this was also a movie I’d never even heard of before. More shocking (apparently), is that I’d missed that SNL skit where Phil H. makes fun of Charlton Heston’s character, screaming “Soylent Green is PEOPLE!”  My husband couldn’t believe I didn’t know the skit, or the movie. And thus spoiling the ending/punchline for me, I finally rented it, hearing it was a “classic.” Wow.  No.
I really think if this movie was re-made today, it could be, well, interesting–even if people did know the punchline. But at the time, it was obviously made with no budget, no plot, no creativity, and oh yeah, no idea what kind of genre picture they were trying to create. Most of the movie, if you can stay awake through it, has nothing to do with anything, and the ending of the “Soylent Green is PEOPLE!”, fame is ruined by climaxing music that leads to nothing. I mean, you expect something ala Sweeney Todd to happen–but no. Either that, or the one I watched skipped an entire scene. Personally, if I’d seen what Heston did in that movie, I wouldn’t have been able to logically come to the same conclusion, I mean–they don’t even show the people being made into the ridiculous pointless Soylent Green!
Not to mention, the movie is boring as sin…which, incidentally–isn’t.

3. Seed of Chucky–This one was my own fault. And I saw it coming, and expected no less. Hence why I didn’t actually spend any money on the film to see it, but borrowed it through our local library loan system.
I watched the Bride of Chucky not too long ago, and loved it mainly because I thought Jennifer Tilly did a great job as Tiffany, and her doll version was beautiful!!  I also find the Child’s Play movies in general to be a hoot. I mean, c’mon–it’s a doll. Albeit, a voodoo, murdering doll, but still…It’s a doll. Like, a stand-on-top-a-table-and-it-can’t-reach-you-doll! But anyway…I realized Bride of Chucky was getting a bit ridiculous–ok, more than “a bit”–but I had no idea how bad it could get. I mean, what kind of genre does the movie Seed of Chucky fall under? Certainly not horror, or even horror comedy. In fact, there isn’t any horror at all. A couple of deaths, sure, but they’re terrible, and look completely fake, and un-frightening. Besides, most of the movie is about family drama, and the dolls screwed up child that oddly enough, even though it’s voiced by a male, can’t seem to tell if it’s female or male or what. It even reverts to this Southern Belle, killer-wanna-be, ugly-as-sin version of its mother (I think), which lasts for about 5 minutes, and is neither scary nor funny. It was really sad. The earlier Chucky would roll over in his grave! The last movie version of himself is a total failure, wuss, and pathetically fatter.
Jennifer Tilly was also a complete disappointment in this movie. They played off of her actual name, and she plays an actual actress, and it all makes no sense. The doll and woman can’t co-exist, can they??! Plus, the doll version in this movie isn’t nearly as pretty/sexy/powerful as the last one. She’s a baby-boomer version, with way too much hair spray and no passion.
I could go on and on, but will save you any more distress. Ugh.

The other evening, while I was in the kitchen washing dishes, I suddenly heard a wonderful sound–the overture to one Rodgers & Hammerstein’s all time greatest achievements-The Sound of Music !
When I came rushing into the bedroom, my husband laughed at my humming along with the entire thing–but how could I not? I have the entire movie, songs & all, memorized.

Growing up in a musical family, we were taught early on to love the greats–My Fair Lady , Hello Dolly , Strike Up The Band , Singing in The Rain , White Christmas , Meet Me In St. Louis , Fiddler on the Roof , & The Sound of Music were just some amongst our long list of musical VHS’s that filled my family’s shelves!
I will eternally be grateful to them, for, as time went on, & I learned the greats such as Andrew Lloyd Webber, Bob Fosse, etc.–I learned you can never beat the classics.

Of course, musical movies aren’t always the same as their theatre counterparts (or in this case, the true story they stem from), but one thing can be said about most musicals–if they’re great ones–they’re fun, exciting to watch, & not only have you singing along, but watching again & again!

So here they are, in no particular order:

1. THE CINEMATOGRAPHY
This movie has some of the most stunning cinematography of all time–from the sweeping opening scene of the mountains & fields, to Maria’s lovely walk down the aisle of the huge Catholic Church towards the end (aren’t you sure that that aisle is at least a mile long?!). The colors & depth of The Sound of Music are surely due to William Reynolds’ film editing(hence why he won an Oscar for it), Ted D. McCord’s direction of photography (of course), & much of the movie being shot in Austria itself!

2. “16, GOING ON 17″

Come on, admit it. You all love this song, & sing along, no matter how sappy the entire scene with Liesl & Rolfe is, made especially so by the soft lighting, & the silly dancing (which in real life wouldn’t have made much sense without music, but in musicals, since there is always music when you need it–fits perfectly!)–jumping from bench to bench?! But it reminds us all of what it feels like to be in love, & is a beautiful scene, no matter what.

3. WIT
I love the wit & passed between the characters in this movie, especially Maria & the Captain, such as during the scene where Maria happily tells the Captain that yes, his children have been traipsing about the countryside dressed in nothing but drapes, & having a marvelous time! Classic.

4. THE BARONESS
Even though, as we’re watching the movie, we want her gone from Captain Von Trapp’s & the children’s life, a person can’t help but appreciate Eleanor Parker’s Baroness. She is sophisticated, & beautiful, & a perfect contrast to Maria in the movie. Eleanor pulls off the character with precision, adding just enough malice & jealousy to make her unlikable, but enough class to make her stunning.

5. “Climb Ev’ry Mountain”

This song just gets to me–in a good way! I am sure some may find the entire scene with the Mother Abbess singing to Maria boring, but the song is a great one. Hammerstein’s words are gripping, as is Rodgers’ musical “climb” towards a strong ending. The song in the movie, though sung by Peggy Wood, who played the Mother Abbess, was dubbed over by Margery McKay–I actually never knew this fact till recently! The voice & persona go so well with the Mother Abbess Peggy Wood portrays. And I love how the song flows; you can actually imagine the Mother Abbess breaking into it in real life. And that end note…wow!

6. SUNNY DISPOSITION
Ok, so this doesn’t actually count as a real reason, but as with most of the musical movies from the 50’s & 60’s (The Sound of Music was released in 1965), you cannot watch The Sound of Music & come away glum. It’s just not possible. Unless you have no heart. The movie just reeks of bright & color & happy! Even the unhappy parts don’t last long enough, or have a bad enough ending, to be memorable or make us gloomy. This movie must release good endorphins or something…

7. JULIE ANDREWS
My absolute most favorite thing about The Sound of Music is Julie Andrews! The movie would not have been without her. She has an amazing voice, & an amazing personality that shines through in everything she does–to this day (have you ever seen her in interview?!)–& she is to be commended. Her clear, angelic voice was at its great peak during this time it seemed (Mary Poppins was also a 60’s movie–’64), & always makes me want to sing along whenever I hear it. I think she is most definitely one of the greatest vocalists of our time.