The MoFo Top 100 Musicals Countdown

Sorry about the display issue on mobile, should be fixed by Monday.

SEEN 00/06
BALLOT 00/25

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I highly recommend watching at least To Be or Not to Be.







7. The Smiling Lieutenant
25. Commentary! The Musical

My #1 is still in contention.

My #25 choice may well win that. I thought it'd be a one pointer, but someone else must've seen it qualified after I did and added it. The only time I've ever tried to play the 1 pointer game and I failed.

So far I've seen 2 of them. The Meaning of Life, which I didn't even like when I saw it during the 6 months I found MP funny and Amadeus, which I've only seen once back in the 80's but remember thinking was very good. Probably not long after it was released on video.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

Amadeus was #24 on the MoFo Top 100 of the 1980s as well as #50 on the MoFo Top 100 Refresh.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Nothing yet for me. My list is pretty basic so I'm pretty sure it will take a while for anything from my ballot to hit.

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Guesses for the next day's movies are always welcome

94. An American Tail (1986)
93. Summer Holiday (1963)

Any hints?

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I probably liked Walk the Line fine enough(a guess), but it quickly slipped from my memory.

I've not seen The Smiling Lieutenant.

I think I've seen bits of tick ... tick ... Boom! while my wife watched it, but not enough to fairly rate it. I'm not big on Larson in general, though. Amadeus is another one I haven't seen in a long, long time--I rate it highly and it was on my short list, but I ultimately decided between not having seen it in forever (I won't be consistent on this, fair warning) and it not being "musical" enough, I left it off my list. Genre borders are porous, however, so happy enough to see it here.

I haven't seen The Smiling Lieutenant. I didn't love Walk the Line. Biopics in general are a tough sell for me (though there are good ones!) and, to be honest, I'm always a little puzzled by biopics that don't show off the reason the movie exists in the first place--in this case, Johnny Cash's singing. I get that you like to have the actors do it all, and to be fair, Phoenix does as good a job as he can... but he's not Cash. No vote from me, but cheers to its supporters.

Nice I had Amadeus at #15. It is a great MUSICAL.

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

I haven't seen either Smiling Lieutenant or Walk the Line. I love Johnny Cash, but I tend to shy away from musical biopic. Having not seen it, I cannot comment on its status as 'being a musical'.


Seen 3 out of 6
List 0 out of 25



For tomorrow I'm gonna guess...


96. Hair
95. Frozen

Yes, your reply was kind of "on the fence" as to whether or not TV versions of musicals were eligible, but another MoFo, (who I won't name), but someone who has been here a long time, has hosted one of these countdowns, and seems to know the rules, messaged me telling me that TV movies were not eligible.

So I trusted this person's reply and removed all the musicals from my list that would have been ineligible.

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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

I like The Smiling Lieutenant, and it has some good songs, but I don't consider it a favorite musical, so it was never considered for my list.


Walk the Line is a great movie with top-notch performances, and I love Johnny Cash, so I considered this movie for my list, but there was just no room for it.

I hadn't heard of The Smiling Lieutenant till now. But I like Maurice Chevalier and look forward to watching this one.

Walk the Line is a fine film, with the two leads doing stellar work. I didn't include either film on my list.

So far:
#25. Neptune's Daughter (one-pointer)

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"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

3/3 for Seen one and not the other.

96. The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - Never even heard of this one. It sounds very happy.

95. Walk the Line (2005) - Been a while since I've seen this, but I remember liking it one hell of a lot. I recently upgraded to a better version for my movie collection, but still haven't watched it again because of a general aversion to musical biopics. By the way - are there actual songs sung in this movie, or are they just snippets of songs? You know, when you stretch the definition, just about any movie can be considered a musical. I accept what we get because it's a consensus though. Anyway, I like Johnny Cash, I like Joaquin Phoenix and I like James Mangold - none are perfect, but all have moments that are amazing.

Seen 3/6

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Amadeus was on my ballot at number seventeen, accounting for nine of its thirty-seven points. Miloš Forman assembles all the requisite aesthetic trappings of a grand historical costume biopic, but the universal pull of the story is a laughing imp who happens to be a genius resented by a seething mediocrity cursed with the knowledge of his own failings, anchored by F. Murray Abraham's magnificent performance. If you've somehow never watched Amadeus because you fear it is going to be a stuffy chore about an idealized historical figure you are missing out on a heck of a flick that is funny and caustic and wonderful.

HOLDEN’S BALLOT
17. Amadeus (#97)

Was that me who messaged you? I honestly don't remember if I messaged you and said TV movies weren't allowed, but if I did and I got that wrong I apologize.