***
OK, yes Quinn, I know you already posted something about Dreamgirls. But I know you wanted to add to it since you had a slight change in opinion the 2nd time you saw it. So...I await your comments! But for me....hmm, where to begin?
SINGING - I gotta hand it to them on this point. Extremely entertaining!! I never liked Beyonce's [the pop singer] singing-screaming style, like I said in my other comment post. But I really liked how she sounded in the film as she's channeling Diana Ross - the soft, supple style. And my point is made by Deena's big new number, Listen. Good song. But she's sing-screaming it! I thought that Deena was supposed to be an average singer. Oh, that's right - this was the song that I'm sure someone stipulated had to be added to feature Beyon...uh, I mean the Deena character. I give props to Anika Noni Rose, who plays trio singer Lorell. I read that a big song of her character was cut from the film - too bad, I love her voice, i.e. in the fighting scene right before THE SONG. And speaking of THE SONG, yes, Hudson (playing trio member Effie) sings the s--- out of it. She's got PIPES. And speaking of Hudson...
ACTING - Very good. I say Hudson's "got it" as far as acting, i.e. Whitney Houston can act, Madonna cannot. But I offer that Anika Noni Rose is a better actress. The Tony-winner has great comedic timing too. Hudson is a 2-note actress: great singer/performer and great bitchiness/sassiness. That's pretty much her character. But consider the scene when Jamie Foxx's character is dumping her - when she's not singing or being sassy - she's got this generic, dramatic!, actor-y look on her face. Eddie Murphy is fantastic. Oh, and he's a spectacular performer on his songs too. Beyonce...well....she's not bad. She got shafted on her scenes when something dramatic was about to happen or something dramatic just happened - you felt like there was supposed to be more to the scene. Or maybe those scenes ended up on the cutting room floor for some reason...I'm just saying! But I did like her in the scene near the end where she's leaving. But I'm afraid she's a Madonna, not a Whitney. As for Foxx, I won't even bother going there - what a letdown. Ugh!
STORY - Cliched! And too pat. What is up with these 10 second scenes resolving huge life issues... like the father who didn't know he had a child? Or the 2 friends who patch-up years of not speaking and professional and emotional strife? Or the death of a lover? And the fall of the "bad" guy. Does anyone even fully understand what happened with Foxx's character? Lame-o!
I venture that it does not deserve to be nominated for Best Pic. Off the top of my head, I think I'd have at least 5 other films I'd rank ahead of it. I rate it a robust *** for the sheer entertainment.
P.S. Loved the costumes and styles. It was like eye porn - I couldn't get enough and eagerly wanted to see the next thing.
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Welcome to the Fab Film Forum!! :)
Now that we've got that nice title out of the way - this is our silly blog to indulge ourselves and pretend that someone cares about what we think. We are film fans who usually have nothing better to do than blog about movies and the people who make them. Well, no, actually its been a quite busy summer so we're trying are darndest to keep this up! The stuff's in our heads - we need to get it out to make room for more. Go ahead and comment, People!
Warmly,
Babs, Linda and Muriel
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2 comments:
Poor Beyonce...from salon.com:
With Jennifer Hudson grabbing a lot of the spotlight for her role as Effie in "Dreamgirls," there was at least the consolation for Beyoncé Knowles that her song "Listen" -- one of several new original songs added to the movie version of the musical -- was considered a strong Oscar contender. But alas...an obscure new Oscar rule stipulates that a nominated song can have only three names attached to it for credit. Beyoncé shares songwriting duties with Henry Krieger, Anne Preven and Scott Cutler on "Listen," and the Oscar music branch has decided only those three will be qualified for the award if the song is nominated.
Hey, don't bash the Whitney. Sure, the Bodyguard was pure Diana Ross / Ryan O'Neal throwaway 1970s script. And most of her early songs were generic, bombastic pieces of you know what. My point is that she has IT, the ability to do great acting work if she had a great director. AND, most importantly, to me she never looked like she was trying to Act (like Madonna and Beyonce). I thought Whitney was really good in the Preacher's Wife (directed by Ms. Penny "whatever happend to her..hey she's a film vault post candidate" Marshall). But now she's hit the bottomless pit of her acting career: AGE 40, where she'll run into Michelle Pfeiffer, sadly maybe Julianne Moore??, even Meryl had a rough 40's period. But yes, gotta love the forthcoming 2007 comeback - Diane, I'd like to order a "Mel Gibson atonement special" this year, but could I substitute anti-semite with crackhead junkie?
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