All-time top twenty musicals

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djross
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All-time top twenty musicals

Post by djross »

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Last edited by djross on Thu Jul 20, 2023 9:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

paulofilmo
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Re: All-time top twenty musicals

Post by paulofilmo »

[If you'd wipe all the existentialist drama from my brain and just left me with '30s Fred Astaire and '50s Bollywood, I'm sure I'd be a much more delightful person.]

Since watching the 4th Season of The Sopranos I've probably watched this once a week.



If you haven't seen much Bollywood, give Madhumati (1958) and Pure Heart (1972) a go.

djross wrote:they can approach a kind of sublimity.


I thought Hedwig was perfect in its own frame. YMMV.

Stewball
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Re: All-time top twenty musicals

Post by Stewball »

I use a wider definition of "musical", which is simply a movie that makes good use of music.

Showboat
South Pacific
West Side Story
The Music Man
The Sound of Music
My Fair Lady
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Graduate
Paint Your Wagon
Jesus Christ Superstar
American Graffiti
Fiddler on the Roof
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
All That Jazz
Hair
The Blues Brothers
Little Shop of Horrors
Footloose (both versions)
Flashdance
Streets of Fire
Crossroads ('86)
Rainman
The Lion King
Pulp Fiction
Evita
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Fantasia 2000
O Brother Where Art Thou
The Phantom of the Opera
Chicago
School of Rock
Across the Universe
Happy Feet
Black Snake Moan
Mamma Mia
Tangled
Pirate Radio
The Princess and the Frog
Sucker Punch
Burlesque

mattorama12
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Re: All-time top twenty musicals

Post by mattorama12 »

Stewball wrote:I use a wider definition of "musical", which is simply a movie that makes good use of music.
...
Pulp Fiction


This is why you're so treasured on the forums.

Stewball
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Re: All-time top twenty musicals

Post by Stewball »

mattorama12 wrote:
Stewball wrote:I use a wider definition of "musical", which is simply a movie that makes good use of music.
...
Pulp Fiction


This is why you're so treasured on the forums.


Awwwwwwwww shucks :oops: ....I think.

And lest anyone forget the music that was used:

Misirlou
Jungle Boogie
Strawberry Letter #23
Bustin' Surfboards
Let's Stay Together
Son Of A Preacher Man
Bullwinkle Part II
Waitin' In School
Lonesome Town
Ace Of Spades
Rumble
Since I First Met You
Teenagers In Love
You Never Can Tell
Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon
If Love Is A Red Dress (Hang Me In Rags)
Flowers On The Wall
Out Of Limits
Surf Rider
Comanche
Ole, Ole

Stewball
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Re: All-time top twenty musicals

Post by Stewball »

zopz wrote:The musical fare I most appreciate is a bit different I guess:

Allegro non Troppo (1977)
Lisztomania (1975)
The Devils of Loudun (1969) (opera filmed for German television)
Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
Forbidden Zone (1980)
Denis & Denis: The Movie (1985)
Night Dreams (1981)
Cafe Flesh (1982)


Yeah, a rather limited time frame there. (?) But Lisztomania (which I never saw) reminded me that I left a few good ones out that involved classical music:

Amadeus
Immortal Beloved
Moonstruck
Impromptu
The Red Violin
The Godfather

MacSwell
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Re: All-time top twenty musicals

Post by MacSwell »

Tend to avoid musicals, but here's a list of ones I've enjoyed (I've excluded Disney, otherwise they'd dominate the list).

Singin' in the Rain
The Blues Brothers
Bugsy Malone
Easter Parade
Grease
Little Shop of Horrors
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
Stormy Weather
Oliver!
Cry-Baby
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Phantom of the Paradise


This Is Spinal Tap is maybe a bit dubious as a musical, but it would top the list if included.

lisa-
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Re: All-time top twenty musicals

Post by lisa- »

1. dancer in the dark (von trier)
2. umbrellas of cherbourg (demy)
3. all that jazz (fosse)
4. moulin rouge! (luhrmann. absurdly underrated)
5. a room in town (demy)
6. singin' in the rain (donen)
7. young girls of rochefort (demy)
8. west side story (wise)
9. cabaret (fosse)
10. jesus christ superstar (edwards, morris. 2000, not 1973. also absurdly underrated)

i didn't add nashville because that isn't really a musical, imo. there's at least one that i really want to see, "the hole" by ming-liang tsai.

mattorama12
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Re: All-time top twenty musicals

Post by mattorama12 »

djross wrote:This is a genre that has clearly both gone into decline and become unfashionable


It occurred to me that your timing was ironic. I'm certainly no expert on the genre, but it seems to me that 2016 was one the best years for musicals in my personal memory. With La La Land making a splash at the box office and the awards circuit, I wonder if we'll witness a bit of a revival. What made the year so interesting for musicals for me, though, was the breadth of the offerings.

La La Land was a great modern take on the classic musicals of the studio era. It didn't work for me as well as it did for many people, but it was definitely exciting to see a contemporary musical that was so full of the color and zest that made the old ones great.

Sing Street was a fantastic musical that follows in the steps of other musicals about bands. And it might just be my favorite of its type.

My favorite musical of the year, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, didn't get quite the popular attention of the others, but was at least a critical hit. I thought the actual songs were even more funny than the songs in Spinal Tap.

Finally, Moana was Disney's best musical since the Disney Renaissance era (The Little Mermaid through Hercules).

I can't recall the last time there were four or more musicals in a single year that I enjoyed so much. Hopefully it's the beginning of a trend and not just a blip on the radar.

paulofilmo
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Re: All-time top twenty musicals

Post by paulofilmo »

i'm surprised by how common musical numbers are in tv cartoons. bojack could do with more songs.

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