The MoFo Top 100 Musicals Countdown

Looks like everything in my top 10 will make the list. That's not too surprising.

My number 4 was My Fair Lady. A three hour musical is not something I generally feel like sitting down to watch but Audrey makes almost anything watchable and when it was all said and done it didn't feel like a three hour movie. The highlight of the film is the scene at the racetrack which had me rolling.

I had Beauty and the Beast at number 2. It's the perfect Disney musical for me and Belle is my fav Disney "princess". There's a little fire in her. I first saw this at a time when I was too cool to watch an animated, musical, love story so I kept my enjoyment of it hidden. It's funny, dark (at times), the songs are some of Disneys best, Gaston is truly primeval ("Thank you, Belle") and I remember being blown away by the animation from the very start. It was an incredible leap from what Disney had been producing at the time. It's possible that I've seen this more than any other movie, ever.

And Grease was my number 3. From start to finish it's quite possibly the most fun movie on my ballot. Both leads are great, the big dance off middle is fabulous and the ending...SANDY!?! The snapping of the umpires mask still makes me laugh every time I see it, probably because I wish I could have done that a few times in my life. Usually there's a song or two that I feel doesn't work or slows the movie down but I don't get any of that from the songs in Grease.


1. Yes
2. Beauty and the Beast (1991) # 12
3. Grease (1978) #9
4. My Fair Lady (1964) # 10
5. Yes
6. Chicago (2002) #21
7. Aladdin (1993) #22
8. Moulin Rouge #30
9. South Park #27
11. Pink Floyd The Wall #41
12. The Music Man #29
13. Nope - A little surprised that it didn't make it.
14. Top Hat #58
15. 42nd Street #76
16. The Band Wagon #80
17. I've seen it mentioned but sadly nope.
18. No
19. The Rocky Horror Picture Show #14
20. Yes
21. Meet Me in St. Louis #33
24. Hair #47
25. The Forbidden Zone (one pointer)

As far as the Rotten Tomatoes score, it has been split the following way:

• 88 entries have a "Fresh" score (above 60%).
• 11 of those are what they call "Certified Fresh" (a score above 75%).
• Only 3 entries have a "Rotten" score (below 60%)
• There's one entry with no RT score, for not having enough reviews listed (The Burden at #83)

All this means that, with the exception of those three (3) "Rotten" films, all the others have had a primarily favorable reception among critics.

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Seen Grease, don't remember it. Should probably rewatch it.

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"Well, at least your intentions behind the UTTERLY DEVASTATING FAULTS IN YOUR LOGIC are good." - Captain Steel

If you were alive and aware in 1978 you know Grease was a full-on phenomenon. Seemingly everybody over the age of six had the album. Five of the singles charted: Frankie Valli’s title track and the duet “You’re the One That I Want” both went to #1, “Hopelessly Devoted to You” hit #3, “Summer Nights” #5, and "Greased Lightning" #47 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music was absolutely everywhere, to the point where it took over popular culture for a bit. On the heels of 1977’s Saturday Night Fever, Travolta had a second cultural moment in a row. Olivia Newton-John went from a best-selling musical artist to a movie star, overnight. Even the retro novelty act Sha Na Na, who appeared in a cameo in Grease as the band at the dance off, had a variety show on the air. Between "Happy Days" and Grease, the 1950s and early '60s were back! Why?!? I dunno?



I have seen Grease dozens of times, thanks to it being on cable seemingly non-stop. Probably seen Grease 2 nearly as much, and that one has a C-O-O-L rider and Michelle Pfeiffer! But I didn’t make room for either on my ballot. Instead, I went with another from that era that, while not an objectively top-flight production, has imprinted deeply upon me all the same. "Come take my hand...."



Xanadu (1980) is a cheesy ball of neon nonsense that, for some reason, I have found myself drawn to since I was ten. The tale of a frustrated artist who is inspired by the physical embodiment one of Zeus’ nine Muses to build a rollerdisco is beyond absurd. Rollerdisco as a minor fad was already done before the prints of this flick were even dry. That they dragged living legend Gene Kelly into the proceedings in an attempt class up the joint and legitimize it all is a tad desperate. And shoehorning in an animated sequence by Don Bluth to give it a Disneyesque moment for the kids, I guess? I am sure Universal hoped this hodgepodge would appeal to a broad audience, but of course it appealed to just about no one. It was an infamous flop, save for its soundtrack that had hits for Olivia Newton-John and the Electric Light Orchestra. Legend even has it that a double-bill of Xanadu and another infamous disco flop Can’t Stop the Music at a second-run Los Angeles dollar theater is what spawned the Golden Raspberry Awards. For the record, Xanadu was nominated for six of those initial Razzie Awards but only “won” Worst Director for Robert Greenwald (who actually had some impressive names in his category, including Brian De Palma for Dressed to Kill, John Avildsen for The Formula, William Friedkin for Cruising, and even Stanley Kubrick for The Shining).

But in spite of all of that, or maybe even because of it, Xanadu slowly but surely became a cult movie. Some enjoyed it through a so-bad-it’s-good prism, others just plain liked it. I am in that latter camp. Part of it is I have a thing for Olivia. No apologies or regrets there! And I love the music, especially the songs “Magic”, “The Fall”, “Don’t Walk Away”, and “Suddenly”. I know Xanadu is ridiculous, but it has a strain of earnestness and fun underneath the neon and studio pandering that is, ultimately, charming. At least to this fella.

I had the place where nobody dared to go and the love that we came to know - they called it Xanadu - at number sixteen, ten of my precious points sacrificed to the gods of Mount Olympus by way of a mural on the Venice Beach Boardwalk.


HOLDEN’S BALLOT
2. La La Land (#13)
3. Pennies from Heaven (#56)
4. Dancer in the Dark (#20)
5. A Hard Day’s Night (#23)
6. The Blues Brothers (#19)
7. That Thing You Do! (#31)
8. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (#11)
10. The Commitments (#107)
11. This is Spın̈al Tap (#55)
12. Hearts Beat Loud (#101)
13. A Star is Born (#43)
14. Hair (#47)
15. Sing Street (#40)
16. Xanadu (#DNP)
17. Amadeus (#97)
18. Once (#25)
21. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (#69)
22. Little Shop of Horrors (#18)
24. My Fair Lady (#10)
25. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (#74)

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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

Funny thing about Xanadu is that every time I watch it I remind myself, "This is legitimately terrible and you should never watch it again, not even when that creeping urge or doubt comes prowlin' around, it is simply bad, do not do it."
Very clear statement to myself.
Which I completely ignore about once every 8-10 years.