Chicago (The Movie): C or D?

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Has there been a thread on this one yet (apologies if so)? What did people think?

― Joe (Joe), Sunday, 5 January 2003 23:30 (twenty-three years ago)

how can it be good, it stars richard gere, who has never made a good film.

― anthony easton (anthony), Monday, 6 January 2003 02:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Not bad at all. The cross cutting between the "real" world and the "stage" was a bit annoying, and I think it is probably a lot better on the stage, without the constant underlining that the editing provides. I think it was fun, but forgettable. And that's perfectly alright.

And aren't you forgetting Days of Heaven?

― ryan, Monday, 6 January 2003 03:19 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm with Anthony on this one: I Fear the Gere.

Especially him singing, eurgh. Otherwise I am a big geek for musicals and I probably would see this one.

― Nicole (Nicole), Monday, 6 January 2003 03:27 (twenty-three years ago)

he was NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT good in that.

― anthony easton (anthony), Monday, 6 January 2003 04:01 (twenty-three years ago)

Gere doesn't seem bad in Chicago (emphasis intentional, because the whole film is so razzle-dazzled that you never get a chance to honestly assess his performance). But then razzle-dazzling to distract people's attention from disagreeable truths is this movie's overriding theme -- don't see it if you don't want this shoved down your throat for 2 hours.

― j.lu (j.lu), Monday, 6 January 2003 19:22 (twenty-three years ago)

My cousin's friend overdubbed Gere's tap dancing.

― Aaron W, Monday, 6 January 2003 19:39 (twenty-three years ago)

Is your cousin's friend a dancer, or did he/she have to spend several hours chomping on ice cubes in a sound booth?

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 6 January 2003 19:40 (twenty-three years ago)

hehehe... yeah, he's a dancer. My cousin's in 42nd Street so he knows all the dancer-type people in New Yawk. He did say that it's not that big a deal since most tap dancing has to be overdubbed and why not have a dancer do it instead of a movie star at a million dollars a week. I guess it does get me a couple steps closer to 6 Degrees of Gere though.

― Aaron W, Monday, 6 January 2003 19:49 (twenty-three years ago)

Otherwise I am a big geek for musicals

The litmus test has to be whether you saw Newsies in the theater on first (and only) release.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 6 January 2003 20:38 (twenty-three years ago)

It's not out here yet (I don't know if it will be at all), but I will drive to see it if I must. The actors would have to be horrendously awful for me to NOT like it, it's my kind of story.

― Maria (Maria), Monday, 6 January 2003 22:19 (twenty-three years ago)

three weeks pass...

OK random question that just popped into my head: why Catherine Zeta-Jones? Bebe Newerth (sp?) is not just a stage actress, she's a fairly well known film/tv actress so why not cast her?

― Ally (mlescaut), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 07:36 (twenty-three years ago)

I really liked it, more than the stage version (thoughthe songs/dialogue cross cutting thing was annoying I got used to it). The film is shorter than the stage version, and the design is pretty good (nods to stage but opens it out in an interesting fashion).

CZJ was also a musical actress - did two years in 42nd Street over here and certainly in the film it shows.

― Pete (Pete), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 11:03 (twenty-three years ago)

Richard Gere's vocal style is similart to Neil Diamond's. Not quite as bombastic, though.

― Arthur (Arthur), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 15:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Does he turn on his heart light?

And Ned, I did go and see Newsies, that's the sad part.

― Nicole (Nicole), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 15:09 (twenty-three years ago)

*boggles* Erm, and your thoughts?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 15:32 (twenty-three years ago)

John C. Reilly sings -- that more than makes up for Gere.

― Andy K (Andy K), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 15:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Mr Cellophane is a grebt song too. Pity that really gets chopped up, but he does do that adorable little shoe shuffle...

― Pete (Pete), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 16:26 (twenty-three years ago)

It was silly, can't quite figure out where all the cult worship of it comes from. Not terrible, but not exactly Meet Me in St. Louis.

― Nicole (Nicole), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 16:29 (twenty-three years ago)

My point wasn't the inferiority of Catherine Zeta Jones but merely puzzlement over not using the actress most famous for the role.

― Ally (mlescaut), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 18:56 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm gonna see it tomorrow, I didn't really like the stage version, due to the weak and generally unlikeable characters.

― jel -- (jel), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 19:06 (twenty-three years ago)

I enjoyed it. I saw it with my mom and two of her lady friends. Good company for seeing a movie like that. After the show, they did roxette-like kicks going down the aisle and as soon as we got outside they all started dancing and bursting into song with All that Jazz. Imagine these three early 50-somethings with Shirley McLaine smiles (or however one spells her name). So I thought it was good fun. I liked the final CZJ/RZ number. But my favorite scene was the ventriliquist/press number. That was very well done.

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 19:20 (twenty-three years ago)

I may yet overcome the Richard Gere factor, I can't decide if this is good idea or not.

― Nicole (Nicole), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 23:24 (twenty-three years ago)

I think it suffers from the absence of a Michael Yorke style actor like, say, Michael Yorke.

― Lara (Lara), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 23:27 (twenty-three years ago)

I can say this without having seen it.

― Lara (Lara), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 23:27 (twenty-three years ago)

two weeks pass...

You should ABSOLUTELY overcome the Richard Gere factor; this movie is fantastic. It's almost like a successful version of "Moulin Rouge" crossed with "Natural Born Killers".

The cross-cutting that everyone else is complaining about was one of my favorite parts of the film; flipping between what was really happining and Roxie's demented filter on events heightened the storytelling experience for me (and helped emphasize the central theme of people being more into the glitz than the reality).

Mya kicks ASS in this movie.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 14 February 2003 00:18 (twenty-three years ago)

The cross-cutting does make that point effectively, and I think the reason I was dissapointed with it is because I wanted the film to collapse reality and the stage into the same thing, rather than using the editing to keep them strictly separate. But I can't deny that the film does what it sets out to do very well.

― ryan, Friday, 14 February 2003 00:28 (twenty-three years ago)

I had no idea Mya was in this. I'm there.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 14 February 2003 00:32 (twenty-three years ago)

The cross cutting initially annoyed, and then actually became a good thing. It also sells the soundtrack pretty well becuae only there do you hear them done proper. It shifts the narrative from being story - song - story - song - story, to more of a flow.

Still I can't believe I have left it to Dan Perry - of all people - to state his love for this film until I got round to it. It brilliant that it gets compared to Moulin Rouge because it is almost the complete opposite in its idea of staging. By concentrating on the story (the fatal flaw of Moulin Rouge) it actual emphasises how good the songs are (the fatal flaw of Moulin Rouge). The actors actual inhabit their roles (the fatal flaw of Moulin Rouge) and also appear to be able to really sing and dance (the fatal flaw of Moulin Rouge).

I really liked it.

I don't really care for Moulin Rouge.

― Pete (Pete), Friday, 14 February 2003 00:34 (twenty-three years ago)

Okay, Dan and Pete have just lost me. I am seeing Chicago tomorrow but I doubt very much I will like it as much as Moulin Rouge.

― Nicole (Nicole), Friday, 14 February 2003 02:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Maybe I just don't like Chicago as a concept. Maybe it should been called Des Moines. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 14 February 2003 02:18 (twenty-three years ago)

CZJ is frightening too.

― Nicole (Nicole), Friday, 14 February 2003 02:21 (twenty-three years ago)

two weeks pass...

I was disappointed by the songs all being performed on a stage, especially as it was all filmed from the orchestra pit/behind like a real stage musical. Richard Gere was rubbish and Nicole was right to fear. I want a Rene&egrav; puppet. That song was the best.

― Graham (graham), Tuesday, 4 March 2003 18:48 (twenty-three years ago)

Also, too many trumpets! The amount of [non-ironic] brass in the arrangements was too much.

― Graham (graham), Tuesday, 4 March 2003 18:49 (twenty-three years ago)

I want to know what Nicole thought! CZJ was scary in the best possible way; she was "I am going to hurt you when we have sex" scary.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 4 March 2003 19:05 (twenty-three years ago)

One other thing I've remembered, the bandleader introductions in between seemed totally redundant, and broke the flow of the transitions.

― Graham (graham), Tuesday, 4 March 2003 19:17 (twenty-three years ago)

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