(no subject)

[green_queen]

Three movies in two days:

White Christmas

Surprisingly, actually having a white Christmas is not much of a priority at all in this movie. Instead, it's about Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye as former soldiers and current musical writers hooking up with some singing sisters and going to Vermont where they try to get some business into their former general's snowless hotel by putting on a show and getting his old troops together. Which is probably a better plot than looking forward to a white Christmas anyway. Crosby and Kaye are okay together, but they lack the spark of Bing&Bob; speaking of lacking spark, Crosby and Rosemary Clooney, the romantic lead, have about as much chemistry as water and oil - Vera-Ellen, as Clooney's sister, is the real stand-out of the movie. She throws herself around the stage like it's going out of style, which at that point it kind of was, and her numbers stand out. Overall the movie is pretty much average, too sentimental but with some good gags and a couple of terrific, funny numbers.

Also, Sister Mary Lazarus is in this movie! In a very similar role, 35 years earlier.

3 out of 5

I Sell the Dead

I can honestly say I think this is the best movie Dom's done since LotR. It has quite a low score on IMDb, but I don't really know why, I thought it was a very enjoyable supernatural romp. Dom does a terrific job, and the various undead are terrifically rendered. The misty settings really work for the movie, and the comedy is broad and funny. Dom and Larry Fessenden make a good team. It's a bit predictable at times, but it's very enjoyable; I could've done without the comic book-style still frames, though. It was one too many framing devices.

3.5 out of 5

Repo! The Genetic Opera

Currently, the top user comments calls this a "cult wannabe", and I think that's pretty much entirely accurate: it's a goth-emo style cult wannabe, and I imagine any one of the three female characters in this movie could adorn the bedroom of any goth-wannabe 'misunderstood' teenage girl, but I thought overall the film was just trying too hard. The lack of consistency in the singing and the overacting from most of the cast drove me mad, and it didn't have the sense of fun that make movies like Rocky Horror so endearing and enduring. Tony Head did a good job, as did Sarah Brightman, whose character is probably the most visually memorable. Also, Paris Hilton's face falls off. That's kind of fun. There's some gleeful gore that is okay, and visually the film is pretty, even if it comes off as kind of an Evanescence music-video version of Blade Runner, but it's so hard to enjoy when the lyrics are dodgy and everything keeps shifting. Also, the brothers are INFURIATING and terrible, and most of the characters' motivations are ridiculous.

2 out of 5

Green Queen

Comments

[kilted.livejournal.com]

I don't know, I really love Repo! It -is- sort of intentionally ridiculous, but I still love it. And I think the dodgy-ness of the lyrics is because they were trying to make it an opera and sing everything. Plus, the world it takes place in is pretty weird, so that doesn't help much. The whole movie started out as a shorter stage play thing done by the guys who play the grave robber and the MC of the opera. It's all really over the top and everything, but I can't help but love it. Plus, it was the first thing my best friend and I ever watched together so it holds a special place in my heart, I suppose.
(and damn it if the songs don't get stuck in my head sometimes)

[piratesorka.livejournal.com]

Where did you see I Sell the Dead? Is it out on video now? I must see!

Loved the kid, you gotta love his impromptu "singing"

[entwashian.livejournal.com]

Also, Sister Mary Lazarus is in this movie! In a very similar role, 35 years earlier.

If I wasn't such a mean old biddy, I'd break right down & cry.

[overthemoo.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Thought I was the only one that didn't get Repo! It's just, simply said, not that good. The story is weak, and you can't make something big out of something... not big.

Okay, it past 3am. Excuse my lack of intelligent vocabulary. heh

I noticed someone above say the lyrics are dodgy because of the attempt to make it an opera. I can't agree with that being the reasoning behind it. Not in general anyhow - maybe it is the case for these guys who composed the music because they didn't know any better. If you can't fill in blank spots with better lyrics, then don't make your show an opera. There are plenty of shows that are operas [or practically are] that do it right and some are even a bit kooky. Sweeney Todd has been called an opera many times. And I find Next to Normal be one as well in a modern sense. And these two, plus many others, have most certainly succeeded.

And now I'm babbling. Also a factor of being up late. Sorry!