Is it me or is 'Chicago' equivalent to shit-stained celluloid?

[DS1]

Holy Christ! Roommate popped it in the DVD player (my XBOX I should put a lock on it) around 9:30 this morning, at first I thought he'd put NPR on the radio, but the seque didn't stop, it got worse!!!!

These people can sing? Gawd! Are they trying to sound like shitty old 20's recordings on purpose?

IT WON'T STOP!!!

*thank god for a set of Sony MDRs and gigs upon gigs of music to help drown it out*

[ldf]

1. excellent movie

and i am not big on musicals.

went to see it in the ziegfield theatre here in nyc, first time i paid $10 for a movie.

well worth the price.

[brainshrub]

2. Yes. It was crap.

I can't beleive that the movie made as much as it did.

Plus, the message was very negative: "Becoming famous and wealthy will justify everything you do."

[forgethell]

3. It wasn't crap,

that's giving it too high a praise. I couldn't finish the movie, because these people all revolted me. I need at least one person that I give a shit about in a film or novel, or I just won't waste my time.

[Bertha Venation]

4. haven't seen it yet

but even w/ negative opinions flying, I'm going to. Queen Latifah... rrrowwrrrrr!

[Skittles]

8. she does make quite an impression

I'm a Queen Latifah fan too - a lovely gal, a great actress.

[supernova]

12. Queen Latifah rules!

I loved her!

[welshTerrier2]

5. i hate musicals but ...

my SO brought it home from the local video store last week ...

after about 10 minutes of "i can't believe you brought home a f*$#king musical", i said "you watch it, if i don't like it, i'll go hang out on DU" ...

well, Chicago is really something special ... i could have done with a little less length but the way it was filmed made it a most unusual experience ... it was amazingly creative ...

and zellwegger, or whatever her name is, was incredible ...

i still hate musicals but this one was very well done ...

[enough]

6. Pretty good description

I recently rented it against my better judgment on the strength of the "serious" middle-brow hype it got on NPR, local newspaper, etc.

Never even finished watching it. Some of the numbers are indistinguishable from each other.

The over-all mood is nauseating.

[Skittles]

7. I thought it was gross

especially the anorexic dancers with their ribs showing. Someone needs to take Renee to a buffet PRONTO.

[DevGrrrl]

9. I liked it.

[jpgray]

10. It looked like utter crap in every preview--Miramax's Oscar lovechild

I think this year's Miramax Oscar whore is Cold Mountain, another movie I have zero desire to see.

[supernova]

11. I loved it! The history of "Chicago"

It's a satirical look at the way we the public make heroes/heroines out of criminals (umm John Dillinger, Al Capone, and in our time say ..Squeaky From and Charles Manson.)

If these sleazy people are famous and wealthy it's only because we place that importance on them in the first place. Look, crime fascinates the general public: OJ, Kobe, anyone?

Chicago started out as a play written by a Chicago newpaper woman Maureen Dallas Watkins who had to attend many of these trials. They were referred to as "sob sister" stories in newsspeak.

There really were at one time 6 women on Death Row in Chicago during the 20s. Some familiar details of the real trials wound up in "Chicago" the play. To read more about newswoman and playwright Mareen Dallas Watkins and the history of the trials that inspired Chicago (not as far fetched as you think) read this link: http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Maurine-Dallas-Watkins

interesting factoid: The play was made into a silent film Chicago, in 1927, produced by Cecil B. DeMille, featuring former Mack Sennett bathing beauty Phyllis Haver as Roxie Hart

I would love to see that film! I hope it's still around.

The other thing this piece does so well is turn traditional storytelling on its head. Instead of the traditional hero/villan angst, you get the villan as hero. Perverse? Yes. Does it get it's point across? Yes. And yes I think Bob Fosse's black/cherry red choreography serves the story well. Anybody else would have been tempted to soften the story up to make it more acceptable. After all, what's more distasteful than watching people on Death Row? But to get at the truth of the piece you have to take it to extremes. And MD-W understood that, so did Fosse and Candor and Ebb.

Edit: I've seen both the stage production and the movie. I have to say the stage production packs a bigger wallop, but you get an idea with the movie.

edit: spelling and some editing to more complete the thought.

[oxymoron]

13. Agreed.

I actually saw the original production with Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera, and Jerry Orbach and was very leery of the film version. Overall, I thought the film did a great job of capturing the essence of the piece. Yes it is dark and I thought the Zeta-Jones perfomance was lackluster, but Zellweiger and Queen Latifah were great. The cinematography and editing was extremely well done. Overall it's a very good film.

[Kat45]

14. It's not just you. That movie was sooooooooooo boring!

I'm glad I saw it on DVD: I didn't pay theater prices and I had the freedom to talk to my friend through songs that lasted forever. (He found it boring as well.)