I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
I dunno. I prefer the reincarnated broadway version to the movie, but then I was never a big fan of Minelli.
That being said, I can't think of any movie musical I prefer to the stage version.
If I were as desperately untalented as David Terrenoire, "Writer," I suppose I might get my kicks slumming for hours on Atrios's vanity site.
Minelli was simultaneously great and horribly miscast. still, it works.
I saw it on stage with the original cast. Most impressive -- especially Joel Grey in the role of a lifetime. The movie makes him even more vivid.
Seeing it now is a reminder of the fact that Liza used to be something other than the punch-line to a joke.
Isherwood regarded it with a kind of queasy dismay bordering on gobsmacked awe.
And it's Michael York at his most Michael York. I ran into him recently at the Los Angeles County Museum for a lecture given by the Count of Montebello. York and his wife Pat show up for the proverbial opening of an envelope.
But he still has charm.
"The Money Song" is my favorite.
yeah, me too. others in this instantly re-watchable category: big lebowski, fifth element, (smirk if you want) dude, where's my car & hedwig & the angry inch
My faves:
'Brazil'
'Z'
'How to Get Ahead in Advertising'
'Man Bites Dog'
'Maculine/Feminine'
(really, anything by Goddard)
'WR: Mysteries of the Organism'/'Sweet Movie'
(really, anything by Dusan Makavejev)
Check 'em out.
(Use Atrios' Amazon link!)
If I were as desperately untalented as David Terrenoire, "Writer," I suppose I might get my kicks slumming for hours on Atrios's vanity site.
Anonymous
Who needs talent.
I alternate my slumming with masturbation.
Sorry, that was 'Masculin/Feminin'
'Man Bites Dog'
That is a cult favorite.
I remember about ten years ago, some writer watching Apocalypse Now non stop for like two days. Pop in the tape, watch it, rewind, over and over.
He seemed to be going for some zen character insight. I don't know if it worked but it got him an article.
'Smoke Signals' and 'Skins' are worth definitely worth checking out.
And be sure to get a copy of The Business of Fancydancing
Oh yeah, 'Dead Man' with Johnny Depp is good, too.
David Terrenoire writes,
"My name is David Terrenoire and my submission was After The War. I've been writing seriously for ten years and have published mysteries in Ellery Queen, Hardboiled, Blue Murder, and others. I ghosted a thriller for former FBI profiler John Douglas last year and later this year a novel under my own name is scheduled to be released by St Martins. I'm also working on a new novel I hope to have finished this Fall.
After The War was my first story with a supernatural element. The setting is Donora, Pennsylvania, a steel town best remembered as the home of Stan Musial and air pollution so toxic that it killed nearly two dozen people in the late 40's. Today, Donora is a depressed and depressing place, with no industry and no jobs. I'm sure that, given a choice, a lot of the unemployed would happily give up their blue skies and green riverbanks for a steady paycheck. It was against this backdrop, and the horrors of WWII, that I set my story."
hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah.... HACK!
"Cin-eh-maah!"
"Cin-eeh-maaahhh!"
Genius.
"Dead Man" is amazing. Seconded.
OT: Anyone notice that The Great Altruistic Freedom Crusade in Iraq has claimed its 500th victim today?
shh fremlin, or i'll post mommy's articles
RE David Terrenoire's remainder-bin fiction:
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooo, SPOOKY!
go coach some p.e. classes, gene.
I love it when the stormtrooper sings "Tomorrow belongs to me."
Be careful of what you wish for....
Do you think Atrios is drawing parallels between then and now .....
Sure, pol, which is why I highly recommend 'Brazil'.
It's a must because it's so fucking relevant.
SEE FOR YOURSELF
INTERVIEWER:
"But the bombing campaign is now in its thirteenth year..."
HELPMANN
"Beginner's luck."
OT: Anyone notice that The Great Altruistic Freedom Crusade in Iraq has claimed its 500th victim today?
Old Hat
Hindustan times, I think it was claimed 504 last week.
Earl -
[Bill Schneider] But if you don't count the suicides, it's negligible![/Bill Schneider]
Cabaret
Star-80
All That Jazz
Lenny
Did Fosse make a bad movie?
Early on, after the invasion of Afghanistan, I recommended this movie to yours and several other's sites....
I'm not sure if your interest in the film was based upon my initial recommendation...At the time you were asking for them. But anyway...
This movie was made at the peak of the anti-war movement...
One of the key aspects of this film is:
Blind nationalism.
The most important 2 shots in the film are the opening and closing shots of the film.
The film opens with a reflection of the audience (you). Mild-mannered, unassuming people reflected in copper.
By the last shot the reflection has changed . The audience relfected (you) is composed entirely of brownshirts. A la, you the audience- have been transformed into the bully fascists, and the Cabaret, with all its freedom/decandence is surely doomed.
The film is full of layers and works on multiple levels:
It's a period piece.
It's pure narrative.
It's a musical.
The other movie I recommended at the time is John Huston'sThe Man Who Would Be King, starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine.
The other movie I recommended at the time is John Huston'sThe Man Who Would Be King, starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine.
great movie, but i'm sure kipling wouldn't agree with a word you say.
Another important film for these times:
JUDGMENT.
The two perfect movies:
Diva
Cry Baby
Rocky Horror is ok, but supposedly nowhere near as good as the stage. I've watched each many times, even though I generally hate most movies. Network was torture to watch.
Yeah, but here's why you do... it's Brecht. Not perhaps the first reason. But it's about what was happening then ... a dramatic representation of the real.
I don't have Cabaret on DVD, but I have the Matrix... they feel the same to me even though I'm more attuned to musicals. 
It's cultural anthropology my friends. It's the fun of cultural anthropology. Join the party. We are almost what we've always been for centuries. The same themes resonate even now. The desert of the real.
Totally irrelevant to the political landscape, but I have to put my two cents in for the often overlooked Without a Clue. Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, lots of jokes about the Victorian literary world and actors. Great take-it-easy flick.
hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah.... HACK!
Anon you must do something about that cough. Perhaps you've been gargling too much santorum?
Now go play with an outlet, there's a good muppet
I love it when the stormtrooper sings "Tomorrow belongs to me."
I haven't watched it lately but wasn't it a Hitler youth kid?
I had gotten it off netflix and went ahead and popped it in (I had been trying to make up my mind between it and Wall Street andtook this as a sign). I'm enjoying it; I don't think I've seen it in 15 years and I barely remembered it.
Incidentally, Tomorrow Belongs to Me belongs up there with the Bush theme songs, but I don't think it's ready to knock off my current top three (NIN, Head Lie a Hole; Tom T. Hall, The Monkey Who Became President; or Oingo Boingo, Nothing Bad Ever Happens to Me).
In the 'war' category, check out "A Midnight Clear".
Oh, and the ultimate George W. Bushography...
"The Producers".
(Much better than the play.)
"The future belongs to me!"
"If you could see her through my eyes/(she wouldn't look Jewish at all!)"
What good is sitting alone in your room? Well, you can watch Cabaret. Christopher Isherwood never looked or sounded so good.
Anonymous,
Why don't you just track down Atrios, Cosmicmic Grappler, et. al. and rape them and leave the rest of us in peace?
Please tell me everybody here has seen "Bob Roberts." Amazing how well it stands up over time. Tim Robbins as the conservative asswipe folk-singer running for office; Alan Rickman as his Ollie-Northesque sidekick. The music alone is a hoot; Robbins wouldn't release any of it because of the potential for misuse.
Trained from birth to recoil at Liza Minelli, but she's flat-out perfect in this movie. It's the last great movie musical.
Was just complaining recently that nobody knows how to film dancing anymore, and though one could trace the blame for that on Cabaret & Fosse's glaucoma-inducing quick edits, every excuse can be made for that because every one and everything in it works. "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" being the one song to take place outside the dark, creepy theater is bone-chilling. Oh, well. No wonder you keep going back to it. Mark of ineffable greatness.
I don't much like musicals, but Fosse is the one choreographer whose work I understand and enjoy. The 'Money' number is beautifully done. Liza is the quintessence of Sally. She's perfect and unforgettable. Because I saw Cabaret, I will always love Liza, no matter what they say about her.
Everyone must watch musicals. It is your cultural anthropological homework. Not just Cabaret. Have a look at The Music Man, South Pacific, and Oklahoma to start.... then watch The Matrix.
The big moments in Cabaret are when, early on, the MC mocks the Nazis (putting on the hitler moustache, etc...)... which is followed by the slow transition to mocking the jews, followed by the full nazi audience..
Cabaret? Ah - I see that trios is shamelessly pandering to the closeted trolls again.
Amazing. I was watching Cabarat not five minutes ago. I just got a copy of the '98 revivalsoundtrack and as far as I'm concerned, Alan Cumming owns the role of the Emcee.
Donna.
If you're gonna make us watch musicals, can we at least start with "Sweeney Todd"? Or "Sunday in the park with George"?
Or are we restricted to movie musicals?
some off the wallers:
with great embarrassment: Die Hard. a guilty pleasure if ever there was one. (and I'm with the Fifth Element fan above, too)
with lesser embarrassment: Patriot Games; the scene with the silent,night-vision satellite telecast of the terrorist camp wipeout nails many, many issues and foretells the future.
without hesitation: Manhattan Murder Mystery.
Cabaret
Star-80
All That Jazz
Lenny
Did Fosse make a bad movie?
Well, Sweet Charity wasn't all that great (though Sammy Davis, Jr. has a terrific cameo).
My favorite movies include (but are not limited to) This is Spinal Tap, Topsy-Turvy, Nashville, Quiz Show, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Young Frankenstein, Head, Raising Arizona, Manhattan and the MST3K version of Manos: The Hands of Fate...
The Broadway revival closed a couple of weeks ago. I was there. Wouldn't have missed it. Damn I'm sorry Studio 54 is dark....
"Life is a cabaret, old chum, and I love a cabaret...."
Haven't seen the movie in years. Maybe I can dig out my old pirated taped and check it out again next week......
I don't know if I'd call "Cabaret" a movie I could watch over and over again, but it is definitely one of the best film adaptations of a musical, the others being "West Side Story" and "Chicago". It truly is Liza Minnelli's shining moment,when she finally escaped her more talented mother's shadow and stood on her own.
As to those movies you can watch again and again, any time I start flipping channels and come across "The Godfather" or "Auntie Mame"(not to be confused with the film version of "Mame" starring Lucille Ball), I just gotta watch them to the end. They're that good.
Personally, my favorite musical is The Blues Brothers...or maybe This Is Spinal Tap. Probably says a lot about me, I suppose.
And Bob Roberts, as mentioned above, is an awesome movie. Frighteningly prescient. As far as recent political films go, I also dug Bullworth. Oh, would that a real-life politico just snap like that and tell *gasp* the truth.
Robert Jeffers,
I would definitely suggest ALL the Sondheim musicals before the others! But then Sondheim had Hammerstein as his mentor, so you might want to look at some of those too.
I just spent almost 4 hours watching "Once Upon a Time in America" (in German no less, damnmit) only to miss the last 10-15 minutes. Talking movies is kind of a touchy subject at the moment.
I love Auntie Mame, but "Live, live, live!" has gotten me in so much trouble.
all that jazz
year of living dangerously
little big man
beckett
The Blood of Heroes.
Best. Film. Ever.
And very appropriate for our times.
"Caberet," I always liked that film. Some of the other suggestions here -- "The Man Who Would Be King," "The Blues Brothers" -- all excellent.
Me? I like to laugh. My favorites include:
The Marx Brothers: "Duck Soup"
Charlie Chaplin: "Modern Times" and "The Great Dictator"
Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland: "Start the Revolution Without Me"
Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder: "The Producers"
An overlooked Mel Brooks film: "The Twelve Chairs"
Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy: "Our Relations" and "Blockheads"
Nearly all anime is worthless. An exception is "Princess Mononoke" if only to hear Billy Bob Thornton lose his battle to voice the Buhddist monk without an Arkansas accent.
I just spent almost 4 hours watching "Once Upon a Time in America"
Fabulous movie. Not as good as the Godfather (how many movies are?), but still very good.
Donna--
Agreed. Sondheim makes me appreciate the genius of Hammerstein in wholly new and original ways.
"Passion" is the other one I was trying to remember. Not Sondheim's best in all ways, but that beautiful line: "A love as pure as breath/as permanent as death/implacable as stone." That line haunts me.
At least I can quote (I hope) Sondheim correctly. Screwed up the Cabaret quote. But it's been a long time since I saw it....
I recommend "Grand Illusion" as required viewing for these times we find ourselves in. "All Quiet on the Western Front" is another one in the same vein. Both should be required viewing for chickenhawks.
Cabaret is awesome. I'm glad that people have mentioned Diva and Modern Times. As long as humans live, Modern Times and City Lights will be enjoyed by people of all ages and IQ's.
Other movies that aren't as great, but I always enjoy anyhow, are Treasure of Sierra Madre, Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, The African Queen and The Adventures of Robin Hood (the Erol Flynn version).
As for the movie with the greatest music (though not really the greatest musical) I'd go with Cabin in the Sky directed by Liza's father, Vincente.
Europa Europa was a brilliant telling of a true tale.
South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut is the best musical film since who knows when.
Pow Wow Highway is still relevant and doesn't hit you over the head as hard as some films.
Fire Walk With Me provides an awesome unsatisfactory explanation for the whole twin peaks phenomenon. A meta-explanation derived from the reactionary conservatism of the late bush years. Like the bushes, it never answers the questions you wanted answered. wow, bob, wow.
The great line in Passion is "Beauty is Power, Longing a Disease."
When it comes up on home video be sure to catch Camp, a very small indie about a summer camp where kids learn musical comedy. Believe it or not, this place really exists. The film is quite something. You haven't lived until you've seen a 15 year-old girl belt out "I'm Still Here." The cast is all young unknowns, but at the end there's a special appearance by God Himself -- Stephen Sondheim.
My favorite movie musicals: Singin' in the Rain, It's Always Fair Weather, Funny Face, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, Swing Time, On the Town, Give a Girl a Break, All That Jazz, The Young Girls of Rochefort, Jeanne and the Perfect Guy, The Pajama Game, Zero Patience, A Star is Born, The Wizard of Oz and Good News.
Oh yes, and Cabin in the Sky too.
I just saw The Producers yesterday and I thought it was great. Best show of this year's theatre subscription. Chicago kind of fell flat, though maybe it was just the people they cast for the Toronto production.
For movies, I also liked Brazil and The Big Lebowski. Movies I watch every single time they're on TV (even if it's the millionth time): Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, The Party (with Peter Sellers) and The Shawshank Redemption.
yeah, Bob Roberts is just too damn scary, especially the DVD with the Counterpunch folks commentary. does explain a lot though, especially at the very end, after talking about the CIA's involvement with running cocaine throughout the film and lack of the media coverage they casually toss in a bit about their involvement in Afganistan and the heroin poppy trade
another great but practically unknown film is Schlock, John Landis and Rick Baker's first feature film
Silleigh - YES! How could I forget to mention 'Bob Roberts'?! Brilliant.
Also quite pertinent in these times -
'The Manchurian Candidate'.
I couldn't help but think of that movie and the role played by Angela Lansbury while reading this incredibly spooky article:
Leafing through the CIA documents, Mr O'Neill was astonished to read plans for covert assassinations around the globe designed to remove opponents of the US Government. The plans had virtually no civilian checks and balances.
"What I was thinking is, 'I hope the President really reads this carefully', Mr O'Neill said. "It's kind of his job. You can't forfeit this much responsibility to unelected individuals. But I knew he wouldn't."
...
While Mr O'Neill's revelations are dismissed by White House officials as the revenge of a sacked cabinet officer, at least some of his tales and anecdotes have a ring of truth to them. Like the President describing his love of "comfort food" - homemade chicken noodle soup and sandwiches on freshly baked bread. When Mrs O'Neill politely asked what comfort food his mother, Barbara Bush, cooked, George Bush replied bluntly: "You got to be kiddin'. My mother never cooked. The woman had frostbite on her fingers. Everything [was] right out of the freezer."
For musicals, I like a lot of what's been mentioned, but also The Band Wagon, An American in Paris, Silk Stockings, and 42nd Street.
And dammit, I like Sweet Charity!
My father considers My Darling Clementine the perfect Western, and has been talking up A Simple Plan with me, although that one isn't the kind of movie I watch these days.
I like Inherit the Wind, and will probably go to the local used bookstore and buy a copy still shrink-wrapped to watch it this week and beyond.
I think that Gene Kelley showed his acting chops were as good as his movement abilities.
It's like my piano teacher used to tell me, a performer must make his/her work seem easy. He, Fred March and Spencer Tracy make up a "Three Actors trio" in a movie that probably needs a remake, if you could get Michael Caine, and perhaps Alec Baldwin doing the Gene Kelley/H. L. Mencken figure role.
Cabaret...Minelli's great, but the stage musical is *so* much better. The large subplot about a romance between two elderly people, ripped apart by anti-Semitism--was ripped out, as were some of the great songs: "Married," "So What?," "What would You Do?" "Pineapple Song". Sigh...
Want "relevent?"
Watch Paul Verhoven's "Starship Troopers."
It isn't very complimentary of the book, but damn, it feels like watching a war with bugs via Fox News!!
:-9
Nearly all anime is worthless. An exception is "Princess Mononoke" if only to hear Billy Bob Thornton lose his battle to voice the Buhddist monk without an Arkansas accent.
Arthur
Asshole. And the only one you like is dubbed.
Fucking asshole for that piece of idiocy.
Hasn't anyone seen the Divine classic Lust in the Dust?
Local Hero - Pure.
Fail Safe - Matthau as the first cinematic neocon, briliant, underrated.
Day of the Jackal - shortest 2.5 hours on record
Young Frankenstein - "Poo tmmm anngh ma Ritz!"
Being There - nuff said
Jaws - "That's the USS Indianapolis, Chief"
Willy Wonka
Geez. Isolation, tortured minds, terrifying confrontations, groupthink, malevolent creatures, and candy. I think I need a shrink.
Being There - nuff said
Except the ending ruined being There. The point was illusion or abstraction. What others read into that blank slate of Gardner.
Bob Roberts is indeed a delight, but the political film most apropos for these times is Bulworth.
Two Albert Brooks films I forgot to mention: Lost in America, the most honest movie about the 1980s, and Real Life, which eerily anticipated the unreality of today's reality TV shows.
Anything by the great comedy writer/director Preston Sturges: The Lady Eve; The Great McGinty; The Palm Beach Story; Sullivan's Travels; Hail the Conquering Hero; The Miracle of Morgan's Creek.
That's because you are a queerboy.
"Life is like 'Cabaret': long, dull, and full of Nazis." -Howard the Duck
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