Beauty and the Beast (3-D)

First Hit:  Although sweet enough, this film is why I generally don’t like musicals.

Those that have read me for years know I’m particular about and generally not a fan of musicals. The songs have got to work, not take me out of the flow and feeling of the film, and make sense. Songs that are difficult to understand or take too much thought, or fail to help the film’s flow, are not worth singing or having in the film. This movie fails to meet my tolerance levels from the get go and therefore it was hard for me to sit through it.

In the prologue, prior to being introduced to the oddity of Beauty (aka Belle - Emma Watson) and the townsfolk, the film sets up the reason why we have the Beast (Dan Stevens). He’s full of himself and because he doesn’t care about anyone else, a spell is put on him by the Enchantress (“Agatha” - Hattie Moran) that damns him and others around him to a life of non-humanness unless he is loved by another. The Enchantress gives him until the last petal of a rose, encased in a glass cover, falls to find someone to love him. When the last petal falls, he dies and the others are doomed to a life as inanimate objects.

After the brief prologue, we segue back into the local town we have Belle prancing and walking through town with the townsfolk singing out how odd she is because she reads books. Because we’ve no other background, except knowing that her dad Maurice (Kevin Kline) is a tinkerer, lives with his daughter and her mother is long gone; were just suppose to believe she's odd. It was hard for me to believe this. The film story just wants us to believe this "oddity" story.

Belle is being wooed by Gaston (Luke Evans) who is all brawn (self-labeled) and no brains. Belle sees through Gaston and spurns him at every pass. Gaston’s man Friday LeFou (Gosh Gad), is one of the best parts of this film with fanfare, flair, and a jousting way, he quips through this role only to backtrack on them later.

One of the difficulties of listening to the songs was that Watson’s singing was overly processed and, at times, sounded like it was through a vocoder and unnatural. I’m not sure if this was done for effect or because Watson doesn’t have the kind of singing voice that worked for the character. This use of processing singing voices cropped up in multiple places throughout this film.

Although many of the characters were cute, Lumiere (Ewan McGregor), Maestro Cadenza (Stanley Tucci), Cogsworth (Ian McKellen), Mrs. Potts (Emma Thompson), Madame de Gerderobe (Audra McDonald), Chip (Nathan Mack) and Plumette (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), I only found an occasional enjoyment watching their interaction with each other and with Beauty or the Beast.

For the most part, within fifteen seconds after a song started I wanted it to end as these songs were taking me out of story.

Watson was good and believable as Belle, although I really didn’t like what was done to her voice when singing. Her slight English accent and obvious intelligence was helpful in making this film seem enchanting. Kline was even keeled, believable and strong as Belle’s father. His character felt grounded. Stevens was OK as the Beast although the CG Beast was what the audience mostly experienced. Only in the beginning and end did we have Stevens as the Prince. Evans was good as the swashbuckling Gaston. Gad was the best part of this film. He was funny and was obviously committed to his role. The remaining of the actors were basically CG objects for most of the film which makes reviewing their work difficult. Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos were responsible for the screenplay. Given it is an established story, their modifications were OK. Bill Condon had a clear vision of what he wanted and for the most part it was executed well, however it just isn’t my cup of tea.

Overall:  My wife loved the film, and I was occasionally amused and mostly bored because the songs took away from the actual story.

La La Land

First Hit:  It will touch your heart with joy and sorrow because of its exquisite acting and beautiful stylistic presentation.

From the very beginning, the audience knows they are going for a ride. The partially obscured black and white “CinemaScope” logo morphing to a unobstructed full color logo gave only a hint of the amazing film to follow. The opening scene with the camera panning numerous cars and drivers stuck on a LA Freeway on ramp, with each driver listening to a different radio station, all of a sudden transforming to a big-time dance number with people using both the cars and lane dividers as props was genius and sets the tone that this film will be a musical and will be different in the ways it integrates the musical dance sequences with the acting.

We are then introduced to Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) through sequences of the work they do and the things they are interested in. She is an aspiring actress who supports herself as a barista in a coffee house located on the Warner Brothers movie lot. He’s a jazz pianist in small club, wishes to own his own jazz club playing traditional jazz improvisation.

They meet after he honks at her in the opening traffic jam, after she walks into the club he’s playing in (just after he gets fired), and again when he walks into her place of work. By the time they walk through the Warner Bros lot, the audience has a strong sense of their path and them as a couple you care about.

During the film, we are treated to a wonderful, hopeful story that segued into well-conceived dance, song, and piano scenes by Mia and Sebastian. There are two things that struck me about these scenes:  1) The dance sequences were shot full bodied and all-encompassing instead of a series of composed edits and cuts showing feet, facial expressions, and a whirl of colors and bodies. This is how musical dance sequences were shot early on by the very best (Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly) of this genre. And 2); They did their own work. They did their own singing, dancing, and for Gosling, piano playing. They were strong, real and imperfectly perfect, just like all of us.

In my book, this just why these talented two are top box office draws and are two of our best. However, a lot of the credit for this amazing film belongs to the clear direction and vision of director Damien Chazelle who showed us his abilities in “Whiplash”, another outstanding film. Lastly, I loved the old time ending by using "The End" at the close of the film, it perfectly bookended the opening,

Gosling is absolutely riveting and sublime. His extraordinary talent is so obvious in every scene he’s in. He is a excellent pianist, his suave smooth dance movements are a joy to watch and his acting is top notch. He may be nominated for an award for this turn. Stone is wonderful and clearly made for this part. Her hopeful joy, moments of moving sadness and the ability to move from a dramatic scene into a dance scene were exceptional. J. K. Simmons as Bill, in his very brief scenes, was very good. John Legend as Keith, a musical group leader, was strong and a joy to see. Chazelle wrote and directed this film. Because I was emotionally moved throughout the film, I can say he was very successful in delivering his vision. He and his film is worth an award nomination.

Overall:  Although I normally don’t like musicals, I laughed, cried and my heart was touched throughout this fantastic film.

Into The Woods

First Hit:  Outside a few funny bits, I was mostly bored.

I know better than to go to musicals. They are a genre of films I find, for the most part, distasteful.

There have been a few where the music is more clearly a part of the film and its dialogue works. Here many of the lyrics seem to be developed just to create amusement all while the singer is singing the song seriously.

I kept hoping for the film to end and it just wouldn’t. Crisping it up to 90 minutes might have helped but the major issue I saw was that the filmmakers tried to take three fairy tales, create an additional fourth and then encompass the first three into an interesting story. It didn't work for me.

Anna Kendrick (as Cinderella) and Meryl Streep (as the Witch) can clearly sing. The songs failed them. Emily Blunt as the Baker’s wife can also sing well. James Corden as the Baker was expressive. I found that the singing of Lilla Crawford (Little Red Riding Hood) and Daniel Huttlestone (as Jack in the Beanstock fame) to be too much. There was simply too much singing from them. It caused me to dislike their characters. Johnny Depp (as the Big Bad Wolf) was wasteful and uninspired. And although Chris Pine was pretty much tongue-in-cheek the entire time, he was amusing. James Lapine wrote the screenplay and it failed in most all aspects. Rob Marshall directed this in a darkened unclear way.

Overall:  This was truly a forgetful film.

Get on Up

First Hit:  The music was great, dancing even better, historically somewhat interesting, and confusing in how it was put together.

I recall listening to James Brown (played by Chadwick Boseman) in the early 1960s thinking, this guy’s doing his own thing and it is very soulful.

Not soulful like the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, or The Platters. Brown’s music was in a word “Funky”. He is and was the creator of the funk sound. He mixed musical rhythms together that may have made a classical musical teacher cringe, but in the end the sound was powerful, interesting and in the soulful groove of us all.

His music reached across races – James Brown made such an impact in music that is felt today and will forever be felt. The film gave perspective of where he came from, how he was raised, and his belief that he knew what he wanted his music to sound like. One of the most interesting scenes is during a rehearsal when he told everyone that their musical instrument was a drum – and that the beat he wanted would work if they did what he said.

The film also gave a glimpse as to his beliefs of our government and race. He demanded respect from his musicians and was a task master. He didn’t trust many people. The music came through loud and clear and the camera work on some of the dancing was very good. However the crisscross movement of time to review his past and present life was confusing at times because the relation to time was not well marked. There were times I had to think as to what time in his life we were seeing.

Boseman was really good as Brown and he seemed to get a lot of the dancing footwork down which may not have been easy. Nelsan Ellis played his best friend and bandmate Bobby Byrd. Ellis was really strong and he made Boseman’s character better. He provide a deeper understanding of Brown. Dan Aykroyd played his manager and business partner Ben Bart. As Bart, Ackroyd was fantastic. His seriousness and sarcasm was perfect. Viola Davis as Susie Brown (mother) was very strong and provided both warmth, remorse and depth to the film. Jez and John-Henry Butterworth wrote the screenplay which required research and a willingness to dig into the positives and darker side of his life. Tate Taylor directed this film and may have made it more complicated to view than necessary.

Overall:  The music was outstanding – I enjoyed taking a trip down memory lane.

Jersey Boys

Hit:  Music was memorable and most everything else wasn’t.

Jersey Boys is the story of the “Four Seasons” a group that started in the 1950's and lasted through much of the 1960's before they imploded.

This film is supposed to provide the biographical history of this Jersey based group while providing entertainment. On the musical entertainment end – I really enjoyed the film as anyone, who was around they threw out hit after hit, would have.

The worst parts of the film were incorrect historical references: The first reference to Topo Gigio as an act on the Ed Sullivan show was many years too early. There are also wording references that were not used until the 1980's or 1990's. One segment that felt a bit creepy to me was his singing “My Eyes Adored You” to his daughter. Knowing the song, these two lines alone make it a bit weird: “though I never laid a hand on you…” “playin’ make-believe you're married to me….”

Another aspect that didn’t work was that I never got the sense that they loved the music. I know they must have, but there was nothing in the film that provided that depth of character. What drove them to create the group, as an alternative to being thugs?  

Because this is what the film suggests, I wondered where the story was that had me "get" this. To be in the music business and go through all the ups and downs, you've really got to love music. Yes, they made a great and unique sound for that era - but why did they want to be musicians?

Other parts that were missing had to do with how did Valli's home life fall apart? We didn’t really see the failings of the marriage but were told what they were. In film “show don’t tell” are by words.

Piazza played Tommy DeVito who was the ringleader of the group and of the illegal activities. Piazza did a great job of being arrogant, ignorant, slimy and controlling. Although I didn’t like the character – I wasn’t meant to. John Lloyd Young played Frankie Valli. Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice wrote a week script because it skated around the deeper aspects of the people and story. Clint Eastwood did a poor job of taking this story and making it watch worthy. I did think he did a great job of presenting the music and it appears that was the only thing he was interested in.

You will have to be old enough or fond of old music to sit through this film.