The MoFo Musicals Countdown - Preliminary Thread

I agree, that list was mostly in the confines of pure noir. And it was also good because it brought a lot of attention to noirs that I, and probably a lot of people, had never heard of. So that's a plus. But I'm just saying there are positives about not being stringent about genre lines too. And the end result isn't anarchy. It's just a slightly different list.

OK, I can see what you're saying and it's a valid point. Just a difference of opinion, that's all.

Excellent list! I thought I would bump it.

I love musicals. But I hated La La Land.

I watched three Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals today:

Carefree 1938 8/10 This was fun and entertaining.
Shall We Dance 1937 7/10 Enjoyable with a few laughs and some nice singing and dancing.
The Gay Divorcee 1934 7/10 Some good singing and dancing, although the story isn't as good in this one.

I think I had previously seen all three years ago, but didn't remember that well. Anyone else watch any musicals today?

Two musicals that I really liked and would recommend, despite the bad reviews they got:

It's hard for me to say how good or bad Cats was because it had SO much bad press that I went to see it as a bad movie. And I felt a little disappointed.
And then everything was thrown totally on its ear when I went to see The Rise Of Skywalker right after and wished I was back in Cats.

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I rewatched Curly Top (1935) today. I think this is my favourite Shirley Temple film. She's wonderful and delightful here and the rest of the cast are good too. I enjoyed the songs, especially Animal Crackers in My Soup and When I Grow Up. This is a really cute and fun musical. 9/10 is my rating. I hope it makes the countdown. If you haven't seen this enjoyable classic musical, check out Curly Top.

@Thursday Next, just to make sure I understand the eligibility rules, movies about jazz musicians do not count because they are not singers?

I rewatched this last night. It's strength is it's 18 Irving Berlin songs, not all are done as full numbers. My favorites were the opening number with a happy Fred Astaire walking down a New York Street circa 1912. Fred is shopping for his lady friend and dance partner played by Ann Miller. The song he festively sings is Happy Easter...I loved the part where he's in a ladies hat store warmly greeting the hat models. The highlight comes next with a musical dance number Drum Crazy.

Judy Garland plays the new dance partner to replace Fred's previous partner who left him for the glitter of the stage lights, leaving Fred pining for her. Nobody sings like Judy and she has a number of songs as you would expect, most are light and upbeat.

I loved this, though what keeps it from being a 5/5 is that I didn't really sense the romantic chemistry between Astaire and Garland. Originally this was to have been a Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse pairing, but Gene broke an ankle and Cyd tore a ligament in her knee.

Perhaps you should nominate it in the group watch thread.

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IMDb
Letterboxd

Gene Kelly's famously elegant roller skating routine in It's Always Fair Weather (1955)...

And while they are ineligible for the countdown as they are documentaries and not features, the more casual Musical fan who wants to learn more and develop a watchlist may want to check out That's Entertainment! (1974), MGM's compilation of some of its finest Musical moments. It was so popular that it was followed by three sequels: That's Entertainment Part II (1976), That's Dancing! (1985), and That's Entertainment III (1994).



The clips may not always clue you in to which narratives you might connect to, but it does give a flavor of each title and the most famous songs and scenes from the MGM vault.

Yeah, these won't count for this countdown. Starting to think a biopic countdown could be a thing in the future though.

Top Secret! is eligible.

Would you like some recommendations for Musicals that are similar in tone to Dancer in the Dark (one of my all-time favorites) and Repo: The Genetic Opera?

For the Von Trier I'd suggest Pennies from Heaven (1981), All That Jazz (1979), The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001), The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), Romance & Cigarettes (2005), Moulin Rouge! (2001), and Cabaret (1972). And for Repo check out The Phantom of the Paradise (1974), The Lure (2015), The Saddest Music in the World (2003), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).

Upon realizing that RRR is indeed a musical:



If you haven't seen it yet, please do so.

Here's a couple of beloved ones

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One that I probably could've mentioned in this list was Anna and the Apocalypse. Even though I don't think they took full advantage of the concept, I thought it was a unique approach to the tired zombie genre.

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