Music in Their Heads
It is naturally assumed that the order of quality (i.e., the editorial estimation of same) in Entertainment Weekly's 25 Greatest Musicals rundown is indicated by numerical sequence. And so #1 is The Wizard of Oz -- agreed, fine with me. And yet the lowest ranking (#25) is given to Once, one of the great genre-redefining musicals of all time? A movie with more straight-from-the-street soul and real-deal emotion in its left earlobe than Chicago (which EW has ranked seventeenth) has in its entire splashy-glitzy body?
John Travolta in Grease, which (believe it or not) came out 30 years ago.
And Robert Wise 's West Side Story ('61), which inexplicably won a Best Picture Oscar for having lacquered, stodgified and suppressed the New York spirit of one of the most electric-profound Broadway stage musicals of all time, ranks as the second greatest? Did the EW editors and writers really hash this list out? Because anyone who says with a straight face that West Side Story is the second greatest musical of all time has a serious internal problem.
Singin' in The Rain, Cabaret...fine, deserved. Wait, Mary Poppins is ranked fifth? I don't dislike it as far as Disney musicals go -- the bright. slap-happy mood of it, the mix of animation and live action, etc. -- but what about the Dick Van Dyke curse (i.e., any film that toplined Van Dyke during his brief star status reign in the mid to late '60s loses more esteem with each passing decade)? And what about those revoltingly cute kids? It should been ranked...I don't know, 15th or something.
Grease is ranked fourteenth. I remember vividly how I felt after first seeing it in '78, coming out into the bright light of West 55th Street and ragging on it with a lady I was seeing at the time. We both felt the insipid gloss and plasticity factor trumped the Travolta-Newton John charisma element. And then it became hugely popular, of course, and then a massively successful Broadway musical, and so EW, obliged to kowtow to the commercially powerful cult of old-school rock nostalgia, has to pay tribute.
Bjork in Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark
Hairspray, which boasts a vaguely similar musical attitude, is right behind Grease at #15. What can anyone who truly loves musicals say? Standards are sinking, cracks are appearing in the foundation beams, the world is slowly going to hell and EW is leading the charge...tah-rah, tah-rah.
EW has further determined that Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark, easily the equal of Bob Fosse's Cabaret in terms of presenting a musical in startling new terms, doesn't rank at all among their top 25. How very deep of them. Dancer had a story and a scheme that gave a new sense of realism to the idea of breaking into song (i.e., the singing and dancing is happening inside the head of a dreamer who can't deal with life and is therefore a kind of neurotic escape). And then Von Trier delivered on the escape-from-life idea by dramatizing (and musicalizing) the darkest imaginable result.
[HE reader "btwnproductions" has acccurately pointed out that Herbert Ross's Pennies From Heaven used the same idea back in '81 or thereabouts.]
And speaking of tragic musicals, where is Henry King's Carousel? It's not that great a film -- Gordon MacRae's performance as Billy Bigelow almost single-handedly sinks it -- but the basic idea behind the material (i.e., an attempt by an angry and bitter ghost to express the love and kindness he was unable to summon when mortal) is quite devastating, and the final ten or twelve minutes is an emotional grand slam.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 20, 2008 at 5:41 AM
comment #1
David Ehrlich says ...
west side story is an absolute masterpiece of set design and kinetic energy, jeff. what you see as suffocated and snuffed out i see as immaculate - that first number is one of the great sequences in film. period.
that being said, my favorite musical of all time is DANCER IN THE DARK, and by a rather wide margin. among its innumerable virtues... can anyone get a better performance out of first-time actress than lars von trier?
Posted by David Ehrlich at July 20, 2008 7:20 AM
comment #2
btwnproductions says ...
PENNIES FROM HEAVEN had much the same concept that DANCER IN THE DARK had.
GIGI, for all its surface attractiveness, gives me the creeps. And the maligned Berkeley musicals have more going for them other than just the production numbers.
IT'S ALWAYS FAIR WEATHER is one of my favorite old school musicals. And THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG beats anything that the US was churning out at that time. An more interesting list might be 25 movie musicals not based on Broadway shows, which would open up the field more.
Posted by btwnproductions at July 20, 2008 7:23 AM
comment #3
K. Bowen says ...
I'm grateful The Band Wagon is as high as it is. But what is EW's boner for South Park? HIgher than An American in Paris, for instance?
Posted by K. Bowen at July 20, 2008 7:36 AM
comment #4
K. Bowen says ...
And last year, who had Hairspray ahead of Once? DId things suddenly change over the last six months?
One thing I'll say about Grease - it's infinitely singable. That's the number one bothersome thing about Dreamgirls - it's impossible for non-singers to properly sing the songs, which defeats the point of a musical.
Posted by K. Bowen at July 20, 2008 7:44 AM
comment #5
Howlingman says ...
When was the last time EW had anything relevant to say about anything, ever? Are they still publishing a magazine?
Posted by Howlingman at July 20, 2008 7:46 AM
comment #6
David Ehrlich says ...
what howlingman said.
Posted by David Ehrlich at July 20, 2008 7:47 AM
comment #7
hepwa says ...
"Once" is not a musical, it's a movie about musicians. I think there's a pretty big difference. And "Entertainment Weekly" has become nothing more than a list-making machine (with dubious compilations).
Posted by hepwa at July 20, 2008 8:01 AM
comment #8
Josh Massey says ...
I can forgive them for having Once so low because they had South Park so high. But where was All That Jazz, my favorite musical of all time?
And if they're going to consider animated films, there are definitely a few more that should be in there.
Posted by Josh Massey at July 20, 2008 8:02 AM
comment #9
Rod32303 says ...
I think hepwa has a huge point. The brilliant "Once" is not a musical like "West Side Story" or "Grease" is a musical - characters do not express plot or advnace the story line and give information through song or dance. You do not have to suspend belief in a film like "Once" like you do in "Evita" where the music comes out of nowhere (no live band or orchestra playing anywhere) and folk start jumping and singing. Alan Parker's "Fame" is closer to "Once" as far as story structure goes, and the same is true of Fosse's "All That Jazz," Steve Kloves's "The Fabulous Baker Boys," Taylor Hackford's "Ray, " etc. If EW did THE 25 BEST MOVIES ABOUT MUSICIANS, "Once" would be in the top two.
Posted by Rod32303 at July 20, 2008 8:28 AM
comment #10
EOTW says ...
lists (especially this one) are meaningless.
Posted by EOTW at July 20, 2008 8:30 AM
comment #11
hillcoat31 says ...
This is a rather "safe" list. No Dancer in the Dark, no Rocky Horror Picture show, no Hedwig and the Angry Inch (debatable, but I would include it on the low end of a top 25 musicals list). Sigh...this is why I hate EW lists.
Posted by hillcoat31 at July 20, 2008 9:11 AM
comment #12
westegg says ...
I haven't seen the list, but if it mentions LOVE ME TONIGHT or THE SMILING LIEUTENANT than I'd be impressed.
:D
Posted by westegg at July 20, 2008 9:33 AM
comment #13
The Winchester says ...
I agree that Howlingman puts it best.
But I disagree with the point that Once is about musicians. The lyrics are all expressing the inner thoughts of the characters singing them (for the most part), it's not like we stopped the movie to wax on about a car we're gonna fix up.
(I tell you I ain't braggin', have you ever seen a dragon, Gene Rayburn!)
Posted by The Winchester at July 20, 2008 9:45 AM
comment #14
Mgmax says ...
Oh my God, I cannot believe that Hairspray is number 14, HELLLOOOOOO, what about Strictly Ballroom, what are you thinking Miss Thing?
Posted by Mgmax at July 20, 2008 9:55 AM
comment #15
Mgmax says ...
I'd be impressed if it mentioned DER KONGRESS TANZT or VOLGA VOLGA.
Actually, that reminds me, everyone should see East Side Story, the wonderful documentary about Soviet bloc musicals (fun for the campiness, interesting for the tales of constant tension between regarding musicals as a decadent bourgeois form and trying to make something The People would actually WANT to watch).
Posted by Mgmax at July 20, 2008 9:58 AM
comment #16
K. Bowen says ...
It's generally an OK list.
Posted by K. Bowen at July 20, 2008 10:08 AM
comment #17
erniesouchak says ...
If it weren't for its limited visual artistry, I'd put "South Park" at #1 -- a great, great, GREAT musical. I agree that more animated musicals should be in the list.
Posted by erniesouchak at July 20, 2008 10:18 AM
comment #18
CinemaPhreek says ...
ONCE fan here as well, but it's not a musical in the generally accepted view. And if they could not include ROCKY HORROR, arguably the most successful musical since SOUND OF MUSIC, then they have no business making the list in the first place.
Posted by CinemaPhreek at July 20, 2008 10:29 AM
comment #19
Scott Feinberg says ...
where the HELL is All That Jazz?
Posted by Scott Feinberg at July 20, 2008 11:09 AM
comment #20
swordandpen says ...
All That Jazz is also my favorite musical by far.
Posted by swordandpen at July 20, 2008 12:17 PM
comment #21
breadlymoore says ...
"one of the great genre-redefining musicals of all time?"
Sorry, mate. A year later, and nobody remembers it.
Posted by breadlymoore at July 20, 2008 12:19 PM
comment #22
Mgmax says ...
The 5 Best Musicals Not On Their Safe, Boring List:
1. Follow the Fleet-- the undersung gem of the Astaire-Rogers films, a bunch of great Irving Berlin songs triumphing over a less buoyant comedic plot than, say, Top Hat or Gay Divorcee
2. The Gang's All Here-- get the new DVD and see Busby Berkeley's trippiest numbers ever in stunning Technicolor
3. How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying-- smartly satirical 60s time capsule
4. Champagne Charlie-- wonderfully high-spirited British showbiz bio of a music hall legend
5. The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T-- 30 years ahead of its time sinister kids musical
Posted by Mgmax at July 20, 2008 12:22 PM
comment #23
Count Thread says ...
I hate getting sucked into the latest dumb list, but. . .
Any list that makes room to include Chicago and Hairspray and *NOT* Moulin Rouge is wrong.
Period, full stop, wrong.
Posted by Count Thread at July 20, 2008 1:12 PM
comment #24
Josh Massey says ...
"Sorry, mate. A year later, and nobody remembers it."
The sold out, ecstatic crowd I saw at April's Hansard/Irglova concert in Atlanta would disagree with you.
Posted by Josh Massey at July 20, 2008 1:31 PM
comment #25
Legowombat says ...
'Carousel' is a hard film for anyone to champion in this day and age, due to the fact that it seems to advocate spousal abuse as proof of affection.
Never having seen it, I watched it recently and found it one of the most deeply offensive movies I've ever seen. The big emotional climax you're speaking of is Billy's one chance being wasted hurting his child, and then Julie basically saying he people only hit you because they love you so much.
It's basically the Crystals 'He Hit Me (and It Felt Like A Kiss)' with a little more subtley, but it makes for repellent viewing when Julie Jordan is one of the most willfully-ignorant, moronic characters in film history, who makes one idiotic decision after another and seems to revel in her sense of matyrdom, and hasn't learnt anything by the end of the movie.
'What's the use of wondering?' indeed.
Posted by Legowombat at July 20, 2008 2:00 PM
comment #26
broadstreetbully says ...
Anyone with anything negative to say about Mary Poppins is gonna have fightin' words with me.
Childhood favorite, and I still consider it the peak of Disney, along with Pinocchio and Fantasia. The scene with Mr. Banks walking through Gothic London at sunset towards his impending firing from the bank, with the choral "Feed the Birds" playing in the background is movie perfection.
Posted by broadstreetbully at July 20, 2008 2:08 PM
comment #27
breadlymoore says ...
"The sold out, ecstatic crowd I saw at April's Hansard/Irglova concert in Atlanta would disagree with you."
My point exactly.
Posted by breadlymoore at July 20, 2008 2:09 PM
comment #28
Rich S. says ...
No Nightmare Before Christmas? No Guys and Dolls? And (of course) no All that Jazz? No thanks.
Posted by Rich S. at July 20, 2008 2:12 PM
comment #29
D.Z. says ...
"Grease is ranked fourteenth. I remember vividly how I felt after first seeing it in '78, coming out into the bright light of West 55th Street and ragging on it with a lady I was seeing at the time. We both felt the insipid gloss and plasticity factor trumped the Travolta-Newton John charisma element. And then it became hugely popular, of course, and then a massively successful Broadway musical, and so EW, obliged to kowtow to the commercially powerful cult of old-school rock nostalgia, has to pay tribute."
Someone once got offended when I said RHPS was better than Grease, but I'll still stand by it. Travolta's falsetto is hideous, even by 70s crooner standards. [And then people wonder why his career briefly went downhill in the 80s.] Also, the song-and-dance numbers are sugar-coated and spoon-fed to you, while the story is as bland as a sitcom
As for Westside Story, I liked it, but it's not something you take seriously nowadays.
Posted by D.Z. at July 20, 2008 2:48 PM
comment #30
JChasse says ...
You offended someone, DZ? No way!
Posted by JChasse at July 20, 2008 3:33 PM
comment #31
dixiedugan says ...
DZ, I'll buy your next ticket to see RHPS, and I'll bring the toast too.
Lame ass list. I've only seen a bit of Hairspray on one of the movie channels and I almost threw up my fine fried chicken dinner. Waste of film.
Posted by dixiedugan at July 20, 2008 3:51 PM
comment #32
Mgmax says ...
Hey, Legowombat, I'm with you on R&H's Carousel, but if you have the DVD that includes Fritz Lang's early 30s film of Liliom (the play it's based on), watch that. Lang and his star, Charles Boyer, do a much better job of portraying the Billy character as a self-loathing, low-self-esteem type who dimly understands that he abuses her because he hates himself. It's actually rather moving, or at least it makes some sense now.
The only thing I can say for the R&H version is that I guess it was a musical for all those wives and kids whose fathers died in WWII, telling them he's up in heaven thinking good thoughts, no matter what a louse he really was.
Posted by Mgmax at July 20, 2008 5:52 PM
comment #33
Mgmax says ...
As for Westside Story, I liked it, but it's not something you take seriously nowadays.
There was a great skit on John Leguizamo's shortlived TV show where a modern street gang meets up with the Sharks or the Jets, in their crisply pressed colored windbreakers, doing dance moves and talking in movie Brooklynese.
Posted by Mgmax at July 20, 2008 5:55 PM
comment #34
D.Z. says ...
Mgmax: There was also a good SNL spoof of the movie, but I can't find it anywhere.
Posted by D.Z. at July 20, 2008 6:44 PM
comment #35
Hallick says ...
"Sorry, mate. A year later, and nobody remembers it."
Don't be sorry, love. A year later, and I'm still WATCHING it, again and again....
Posted by Hallick at July 20, 2008 6:50 PM
comment #36
yopla says ...
Please Americans when you do this kind of top thing, could you put "best of all time.... in ENGLISH LANGUAGE".
Because excuse me to be offended here by this classification. We, french, had "The Young Girls Of Rochefort " and "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (both from Jacques Demy) for example and it could be easily in this top 25.
oh, I forgot to say that in this top 25, it miss Victor/Victoria too.
Posted by yopla at July 20, 2008 8:20 PM
comment #37
scs says ...
Spot on, Jeff. Even as these "greatest" lists go, this one is stupider than most. Of course Singin in the Rain and Cabaret are greater than the rotting on the screen West Side Story. And where are Pennies from Heaven and Nashville and It's Always Fair Weather and more of the terrific Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musicals on a list that includes "family freindly" turkeys like The Sound of Music, Grease, and Mary Poppins? (I'm only a little surprised that EW didn't have Hello Dolly! on the list.) And where, except for A Hard Day's Night, are the rock musicals (Purple Rain, Help, etc., not to mention docs like Woodstock and The Last Waltz?) And one could go on . . . but I guess the point of these lists is to create argument and controvery.
Posted by scs at July 21, 2008 8:10 AM
comment #38
DavidF says ...
The list doesn't really make sense, as with most of these lists.
As others have pointed out, Once isn't REALLY a musical unless you're also going to include stuff like The Commitments. And if you have a Hard Day's Night you might as well have Yellow Submarine (can't agree with Purple Rain, but see the point).
My own list would include two Jewison films (Fiddler, JCSS) and Rocky Horror but, whatever. I also like Hedwig but acknowledge it could be too edgy for these folks. Anyway, those films aren't lessened by EW missing them.
I also find Grease okay but silly - like Dirty Dancing, it's mostly beloved by girls who first saw it during their early puberty years (no offence!). Could be worse, they could have had Grease2 on the list...
Posted by DavidF at July 21, 2008 9:16 AM
comment #39
janee
says ...
Si vous etes interesses par le dossier, ou desirez en savoir plus, contactez-moi par mail, et je vous mettrai en contact.
Best regards,Jane, CEO of high availability software
Posted by janee
at May 17, 2011 7:11 AM