Negative Space: musical
- The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
- Wild outfits, ping-pong balls, ABBA, and not a single kangaroo in sight. Priscilla involves three drag queens from Sydney driving a huge bus across some great Australian desert to a three-week gig at a tourist trap. Beautiful views of the desert. Wonderful costuming. The DVD is presented in both letterbox (2.35:1) and pan & scan, with English or French dialog and English and Spanish subtitles. The case slides out the bottom instead of opening up, and the DVD is not as easy to remove as it should be. Currently out of print, unfortunately. Hopefully it’ll come back with an Anamorphic transfer and commentary?
- Almost Elvis
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Elvis has become our Hercules: a hero on the way to becoming a god. When I hear, in “Almost Elvis,” that “Elvis is a name for something that we have in us, or we don’t,” it is hard not to think about the similar statements for other gods and divinities.
- Amadeus
- A man who loves music swears on oath to God to remain celibate if he could create great music... and God sends Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to taunt the man. A great movie, a good DVD flawed by requiring laser-disc style flipping. The acting and music were superb.
- The Blues Brothers
- The Blues Brothers is a brilliant comedy slash musical with great blues music. Director John Landis set out to include musical numbers--all with blues--covering all the possible musical number ‘types’ that had been used in movies up to that time. The DVD includes longer footage from some of the performances, as well as previously deleted scenes. This is a “collector’s edition”, not a “director’s cut”, and at least one of the scenes that is restored is also ridiculed by the director in the very interesting and detailed “making of” feature. This DVD is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) with English, Spanish, and French dialog and subtitles. For some reason, the DVD has disabled the ability to mark your place and come back to it later.
- Cabaret
- This is the musical that beat the crap out of “The Godfather” in 1972. The music takes place on the stage of the Kit Kat Klub, where MC Joel Grey reigns over a motley collection of strippers, transvestites, vaudeville acts, and, of course, Liza Minelli. Grey, Minelli, and director Bob Fosse made a great movie about the twilight beauty of Germany’s nightclub decade. “Mi cabaret, au cabaret, tu cabaret!”
- Going My Way/Holiday Inn
- This is a double feature with Holiday Inn. This is a very sweet movie, with a real tear-jerker (but happy) ending. “Holiday Inn”, on the other hand, is a showpiece for Crosby’s singing, Astair’s dancing, and Berlin’s holiday music.
- Hair
- A fun musical set in the sixties, during the Vietnam War. A young man comes to New York City from Oklahoma to be drafted. On arrival, he meets up with some vagrant hippies with great musical taste.
- Jesus Christ Superstar
- Wonderful set design, but less wonderful writing and dialogue. The soundtrack does not, in my opinion, live up to the Broadway soundtrack.
- The Music Man
- One of the most well-known of American musicals, I recommend seeing it sometime just because of that. Also, if you were ever a fan of “Happy Days”, you’ll see Ron Howard in a much earlier role.
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- Oh, it’s nicer than Betty Munro had! With an audience participation track, outtakes, interviews, and deleted musical scenes, this DVD promises to be the best Rocky Horror ever.
- The Sound of Music
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This was a marvelous musical, and I have never seen it in its entirety: three hours was too much for television. The DVD is one of Fox’s first attempts at making a good DVD. Except for a few missteps (some major) this was a great job!
- A Star is Born
- Probably Judy Garland’s best movie, released in 1954 with James Mason, directed by George Cukor (of “Philadelphia Story”) and produced by none other than her husband. Production values are high, acting is top-notch, and the singing is Judy Garland. The DVD has a few nice extras also.
- The Wizard of Oz
- This is a wonderful transfer of the 1939 classic musical. If you missed the 1998 re-release to the theaters, you’ve almost certainly never seen this movie this good. And the disk itself is chock full of wonderful extras. MGM’s “The Wizard of Oz” DVD is a great buy.
More Information
- The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert•
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Wild outfits, ping-pong balls, ABBA, and not a single kangaroo in sight. Priscilla involves three drag queens from Sydney driving a huge bus across some great Australian desert to a three-week gig at a tourist trap. Beautiful views of the desert. Wonderful costuming.
- The Blues Brothers•
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The Blues Brothers is a brilliant comedy slash musical with great blues music. Director John Landis set out to include musical numbers covering all the possible musical number types. The DVD includes longer footage from some of the performances, as well as previously deleted scenes. This is a collector’s edition, not a director’s cut, and at least one of the scenes that is restored is also ridiculed by the director in the making of feature.
