Cult Flops - The Producers (2005)

Universal/Columbia, 2005

Starring Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, and Will Farrell

Directed by Susan Stroman

Music and Lyrics by Mel Brooks

This week, we're looking at two more recent remakes of older musical and semi-musical films. Mel Brooks' original film version of The Producers did well enough at the box off in 1967 but got mixed reviews. Critics at the time didn't always get the black comedy about two producers who try to put on a flop musical that turns into a huge hit. The 2001 stage version, on the other hand, was wildly popular with critics and audiences alike. Everyone praised Susan Stroman's inventive choreography and direction and the pitch-perfect performances of Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick as the title characters. Needless to say, all three were carried over to the film version...but what works on stage doesn't always work on screen, as we're about to discover. Let's begin in Times Square in 1959 as theatergoers emerge from producer Max Bialystock's (Lane) latest flop musical and find out just how much a smash stage show can go off the rails onscreen...

The Story: Max is still mourning the demise of his latest theatrical venture when his meek accountant Leo Bloom (Broderick) points out that you can make more money off of a flop than a hit. Intrigued, Max hits on the idea of staging the worst musical possible and reaping the rewards when it tanks. Leo resists it first, until he realizes how tired he is of his bland, boring life at the accounting firm. 

They first seek out Franz Liberkind (Farrell), the Nazi-obsessed author of the ridiculous musical Springtime for Hitler, even taking an oath in order to get the rights to his show. Transvestite director Roger Di Bris (Gary Beach) and his effeminate partner Carmen Ghia (Roger Bart) object to the darker tones in the show, insisting on keeping everything light, even if the Germans win the war. Gorgeous Swedish blond Ulla (Thurman) turns up on their doorstep, and both men are smitten enough to hire her as their secretary and promise her a role on the show. 

The two men do their level best to make sure everything is a disaster, including Max getting dozens of little old ladies to finance it, but...against all good taste and better judgement, Springtime for Hitler winds up as a smash success. Leo's ready to turn them in, until Franz turns up with a gun because everyone laughed at his play and Ulla suggests they take the money and run. Max thinks he's left holding the bag, but you can't break up Broadway's most unlikely and closest producing team, even when they're in jail.

The Song and Dance: It's the movie people who are the revelations here. Who knew Thurman, who is usually associated with action and drama roles, could sing and shake her hips like a champ? And that split she does at the end of "If You Got It, Flaunt It" is incredible. Farrell has way too much fun as the Hitler-adoring Franz, with his pigeons and crazy vows. Makes me wish they both did more musicals. Of the stage folks, only Beach as the mincing director has any idea of how to play the role to the camera. There's some sensational costumes in brilliant colors reminiscent of the Technicolor of 50's MGM musicals, too. And frankly, I do appreciate that the musical drops some dated aspects of the original film, eliminating the character of the hippie who originally played Hitler and giving Ulla more authority and more to do. 

The Numbers: We open with the brief "Opening Night" as two usherettes (Bryn Dowling and Meg Gillentine) wonders how the audiences will react to Max Bialystock's latest show. The theatergoers come out shortly after and give their assessment - it's "The Worst Show In Town." "We Can Do It," Max insists to Leo in his office, though Leo isn't as sure. Leo changes his tune around his "Unhappy" coworkers after he fantasizes about how "I Want to Be a Producer," complete with chorus girls in skimpy beaded dresses prancing in the office. 

Franz teaches Max and Leo the Fuhrer's favorite song, "Der Guten Tag Hop-Clop," before he insists on their vows. Roger, Carmen, and their extremely stereotypical stage team think a musical should be much lighter. "Keep It Gay!" Roger proclaims. Ulla auditions for Max and Leo at their office with "If You've Got It, Flaunt It"...and while the duo haven't started casting yet, they aren't exactly objecting to the show. Max gets the money for the show from a chorus line of old ladies tapping on their walkers (including Andrea Martin and stage star Debra Monk) who say "Along Came Bialy." Leo and Ulla are more interested in falling in love, dancing around their now very white office while singing about "That Face."

They can't find a better Hitler than Franz after he floors everyone with his rendition of "Haben Sie Gehurt Das Deutsche Band?" Roger and Carmen claim "You Never Say Good Luck On Opening Night" backstage, but Max disagrees. "Springtime for Hitler" and "Heil Myself" are the big chorus numbers, and they are a riot of color, sequins, and every possible German and World War II stereotype, up to and including Roger taking over as a decidedly not-butch Hitler. 

One of the two new songs added for the film version is "You'll Find Your Happiness In Rio," which shows Ulla and Leo doing just that as Max reads the postcard from them in prison. He feels "Betrayed" as he rants in a soliloquy of the type that were popular in 40's and 50's musicals, relating pretty much the entire show up to that point. Leo returns at the trial, claiming no one thought he was special "Till Him." The duo are still doing their same "sell everyone 100 percent of the show" schtick in prison as Max directs their big jailbird musical "Prisoner of Love." It becomes their first stage hit after they're paroled. Mel Brooks himself claims "There's Nothing Like a Show On Broadway" (the other new song) over the credits before telling the audience "Goodbye!" and that it's time to go home.

Trivia: The Producers opened in April 2001 and was a sensation, running six years and earning 12 Tony Awards, the most of any show to date. It also did well on London's West End, running three years. In fact, at press time, a revival is playing at London's Garrick Theatre. 

Three songs from the stage show, "The King of Broadway," "In Old Bavaria," and "Where Did We Go Right?" were filmed, but cut for time. All three are in an extended cut, and "King of Broadway" and "In Old Bavaria" are included as extras on the DVD.

What I Don't Like: Frankly, it feels like Thurman and Farrell are in an entirely different film from everyone else. Lane and Broderick are used to scaling their performances to the balcony, not to the camera. Everyone else is playing everything way too broadly, shouting when something slightly more sly and subtle would have done better. Likewise, Stroman's direction and choreography is scaled to theater audiences. Despite the filming in real locations, this feels like the filmed play it is. Good as most of the numbers are, they also push the running time a little too long. This is over 2 hours, way too long for a wacky black backstage comedy. Some of the other numbers or the shtick in the middle could have been trimmed with no one the wiser. There's also the simple fact that...a musical about a "gay" Hitler isn't nearly as shocking as it would have been in 1967, nor are the many rather ridiculous gay, theater, and Jewish stereotypes. 

The Big Finale: Good performances from Ferrell and Thurman aren't enough to put this in the "hit" column for anyone but the biggest fans of the leads, Brooks, or modern Broadway shows. 

Home Media: Easily found on disc and streaming, with the DVD often being found for under $10. 

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Amazon Prime

Family Fun Saturday - Geppetto

ABC/Disney, 2000

Starring Drew Carey, Julie Louis-Dreyfus, Brett Spiner, and Seth Adkins

Directed by Tom Moore

Music and Lyrics by Steven Schwartz

We're staying with TV films this weekend, but skipping ahead a decade and a half to the turn of the new millennium. ABC had successfully relaunched its Wonderful World of Disney in 1997 with Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. After it's 1999 version of Annie was also a hit, Disney stuck closer to home for its next big show. Drew Carey's self-titled sitcom was right in the middle of its almost 10-year run on ABC in 2000. Between his sitcom and his stint hosting the improv show Who's Line Is It Anyway, Carey was one of the most popular comedians on TV as the calendar changed to the 2000's. Louis-Dreyfus was almost as popular, coming off the run of the phenomenally beloved Seinfeld. Disney threw them both into their next TV musical, switching Pinocchio to focus on his woodcarver father and the Blue Fairy. Does this work, or should it be swallowed by a whale? Let's begin with the title character (Carey) as all of the children in town rush to his store to buy new toys, and find out...

The Story: Geppetto is tired of seeing children with scolding parents, thinking that he'd be the perfect father. He gets a chance to learn how hard it is to be a parent when the Blue Fairy (Louis-Dreyfus) makes his puppet Pinocchio (Adkins) come to life. Pinocchio is lively and funny, but he's also a bundle of questions when he should be sleeping, wanders off downtown, and isn't interested in woodcarving like his father. Geppetto sends his new son to school, only for him to come home admitting he got into a fight after imitating the other boys. Geppetto is furious with his son and with the Blue Fairy, who points out that no child or parent is perfect. 

By the time he's willing to listen, Pinocchio has run away with Stromboli (Spiner) and his puppet show. When Geppetto goes to see the show, Stromboli tells him his son went to see the world. What Pinocchio really did was board a carriage to Pleasure Island. Geppetto goes after him, encountering an inept magician (Wayne Brady) and a town filled with perfect, obedient children made by Professor Bunoragazzo (Rene Auberjononis). He and Stromboli arrive at Pleasure Island almost at the same time, but they're both thrown out for being adults. When Pinocchio and the other boys at the Island turn into donkeys, Geppetto follows him in a boat. He's swallowed by a whale, only to be reunited with a repentant Pinocchio. It then that they finally realize that being a parent means loving your child even when they're at their worst, and that the best any parent can do is help their child grow.

The Song and Dance: It's the song and dance, along with a relatively lavish production for a TV musical in 2000, that are the stand-outs. Some of the songs in Steven Schwartz's score aren't bad. I especially like "Satisfaction Guaranteed" for Professor Bunoragazzo and the townspeople and Geppetto and the Blue Fairy's counterpoint duet "Just Because It's Magic." Wayne Brady is hilarious in his sequence with Carey as the lousy magician, and Spiner makes for a funny and scary Stromboli. At the very least, this is better than the  live-action remake that focused on Pinocchio in 2022. 

The Numbers: We open with Carey singing "Once Upon a Time" as the traditional Disney Storybook opens. The first big chorus number is "Toys," as the kids in the town beg for Geppetto's wares, and Geppetto wishes he had a child of his own. "Empty Heart" is his lonely lament that he's never been blessed with a son. He's thrilled to be "Geppetto and Son," until Pinocchio constantly wanders off while he introduces him to the townspeople. The Blue Fairy tries to explain that "Just Because It's Magic" doesn't mean it guarantees a happy ending. We hear "I've Got No Strings" from the original film as Pinocchio dances with Stromboli's puppets. Stromboli's more likely to cheer himself in "Bravo Stromboli!" 

Lezamo the magician reprises "Toys" with Geppetto, reminding him that he's beloved by other children. Professor Bunoragazzo, his son (Christopher Marquette), and the townspeople of Idylla insist that they can deliver a perfect child "Satisfaction Guaranteed" in a huge chorus number, but Geppetto finds those so-called "perfect" children more creepy than delightful. Usher Raymond (aka Usher) is the "Pleasure Island" ringleader who encourages the boys there to break away from their parents' rules and do whatever they want. Geppetto reprises "Geppetto and Son" when Pinocchio finds him in the whale. He tells Stromboli he'll give him his business or anything he wants. He doesn't need anything "Since I Gave My Heart Away." This is also heard over the credits, performed by singer Sonya Issacs.

What I Don't Like: First and foremost, Carey and Louis-Dreyfus are too modern and goofy to work as a resident of fairy-tale Italy in the late 1800's and a magical fairy. Carey fully admitted he was miscast and that making this wasn't a happy affair. You don't buy him as a concerned father who just wants his son to listen. And...frankly, Geppetto's story isn't all that interesting. Some of the sequences, like the creepy "Satisfaction Guaranteed" town, have their moments, but it doesn't add up to much of a whole. You really wish they'd just done a live-action remake of Pinocchio 22 years early and focused on the character who actually does the growing up and makes the journey. 

The Big Finale: While it is better than the 2022 Pinocchio remake, considering how bad that was, that's not saying much. Unless you're a huge fan of Carey, Brady, or Louis-Dreyfus, you're better off just watching the original animated film on DVD or Disney Plus again.

Home Media: Disney is all too aware of the negative reception this one got. At press time, this is DVD only.

DVD

This Christmas

Sony (Columbia)/Screen Gems, 2007

Starring Loretta Devine, Delroy Lindo, Idris Alba Jr., and Regina King

Directed by Preston A. Whitmore II

Music and Lyrics by various

Let's jump back thirteen years from a community-focused Christmas to a family-oriented one. Most Christmas musicals are big and bold. This one reminds us that there's music in smaller holidays, too. I also don't know of too many holiday musicals that focus on the African-American Christmas experience, like this one does. How well does the tangled tale of one family's troubled Christmas Eve and Day hold up over a decade and a half later? Let's begin as a singer performs a slinky "Santa Baby" and the Whitfield family begins to gather for Christmas and find out...

The Story: Shirley "Ma'Dere" Winfield (Divine) is looking forward to seeing her six children and their families and significant others. She's happy with her boyfriend Joe Black (Lindo) after her husband walked out, but her oldest son Quentin (Alba) doesn't like that he replaced their father. Her oldest daughter Lisa (King) is a housewife with two children whose unfaithful husband Malcolm (Laz Alonso) barely has time for her. Kelli (Sharon Leal) is a college grad living in New York, while youngest daughter Melanie (Lauren London) is a college student who brings her boyfriend Devan (Keith Robinson) home for the holidays. Youngest son Baby (Chris Brown) still lives at home. He loves photography, but he also loves to sing, which he hides from his mother. 

Musician Quentin is having his own problems with bookies Mo (David Banner) and Dude (Ronnie Warner), who want $25,000 yesterday. Kelli is happier with Gerald (Mekhi Phifer), the handsome guy she meets at a local nightclub. After middle brother Claude (Columbus Short) is arrested for pulling a gun at a nightclub, his very white wife Sandi (Jessica Stroup) turns up nervous and pregnant. There's also their mother's long-standing dry cleaner business that they all own shares in. Malcolm and Lisa want to pressure the others to sell, but it's their mother's business. Over the course of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, faith will be tested, new bonds will be created, and the Whitfield family will learn the importance of family, teamwork, connection, and sticking up for yourself and others.

The Song and Dance: I like how low-key this is. As I mentioned earlier, most Christmas musicals tend to be big, bold, and brassy. The focus on one family and their relationships makes this rare among holiday musicals, and almost refreshing just for that. It's sweet and thoughtful with just enough sass to keep it from diving into overly syrupy Hallmark movie territory. Brown's adorable as the youngest member of the family who worries that his talent may upset his mother, Divine is radiant as the family's anchor and matriarch, and Alba as the most tortured of the brothers. 

The Numbers: We open with Lina's sexy performance of "Santa Baby" at the bar where musician Quentin works. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" provides the backdrop for Baby taking photos while his mother and Kelli wonder where the others are. Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up Part 1" provides the backdrop for Quentin's arrival via Greyhound as the rest of the family dances. "Merry Christmas Baby" by Charles Brown underscores Malcolm and Lisa discussing Quentin and why their mother doesn't allow them to play music. Quentin plays "The Christmas Song" on a piano in the garage late at night. 

A rap group at the nightclub performs "Go Getter" as they arrive. Baby performs "Try a Little Tenderness," to the shock of his siblings who had no idea he could sing. TLC's version of "Sleigh Ride" underscores the scene where the men buy a Christmas tree. Aretha Franklin's "I Ain't Never Loved a Man (The Way I Loved You)" likewise provides the backdrop for an angry Lisa to drive her husband's beloved truck into the Los Angeles River. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Me" by Stevie Wonder has Quentin leaving clothes for Joe. The church choir raises the roof with a gorgeous "O Holy Night," after which Baby sings the title R&B standard for his mother. The movie ends with the entire cast reprise their group dance routine to "Got to Give It Up."

What I Don't Like: If you're expecting a bigger, bolder, or more action-packed show, this is not going to be for you. This is basically a holiday family soap opera with a couple of goons thrown in. It also goes on for way, way too long. Most of the melodrama in the middle could have been trimmed. Some members of the family are heard from more than others. London in particular as the youngest daughter has the least to do other than talk about her night spent with Gerard. And what's with the random dance-off at the middle and end of the movie? They're funny, but they also have nothing to do with anything. 

The Big Finale: If you're looking for a quieter Christmas movie to watch with your grown children by a roaring fire, you can do far worse than this look at one family's tumultuous holiday season.

Home Media: The discs are pricey, but it's easily found anywhere on streaming, including for free with commercials on Pluto TV.

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Pluto TV On Demand

Cult Flops - Glitter

Columbia/20th Century Fox, 2001

Starring Mariah Carey, Max Beesley, Terrance Howard, and Eric Benet

Directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall

Music and Lyrics by Mariah Carey and others

This week, we dive into the recent past with two vehicles for major pop and R&B stars that are among the most reviled films of the early 21st century. By 1997, Mariah Carey was one of the most beloved singers on the planet. Most of her albums had gone platinum, her singles were among the most recognizable of the 90's, and she even had one of the biggest Christmas songs of the late 20th century in "All I Want for Christmas Is You." 

By 1997, Carey and her handlers felt she was ready for Hollywood. She wrote the songs for the movie before the project even got a green light. It didn't really get moving until 2000...and then proceeded to have so many problems with filming and editing, Carey had a mental breakdown. It's release was ultimately moved to 2001, two weeks after the attacks on September 11th, which didn't exactly help its chances. Across-the-board awful reviews did the rest. Is the movie really that bad, or does this diva deserve a chance at redemption? Let's begin with young Billie Frank (Isobel Gomes) and her mother Lilllian (Valarie Pettiford) as she calls her onstage to sing with her in a dive bar in the 70's and find out...

The Story: In 1983, years after being put in a foster care home, she and her best friends Louise (Da Brat) and Roxanne (Tia Texada) are spotted dancing in a local club by DJ and producer Julian "Dice" Black (Beesley). He's incensed that she's allowed her voice to be used by another singer. She just thinks it's work. He wants to be her producer, but she already has a contract with big-time producer Timothy Walker (Howard). She finally gets Timothy to let her go if Dice pays him $100,000.

Dice does sign her up with a major label, and they have a huge hit in the song "Loverboy," but their relationship is starting to unravel. He insists on controlling her image, and even throws out her two best friends when they get fed up with him. Billie learns he never paid Timothy that $100,000 either when he turns up and threatens her. She's had enough and walks out...but they can't forget each other. They even end up writing the same song. Alas, he's killed by Timothy before he can reconcile with her, leaving her reminding everyone at her concert that we should never take those we love for granted.

The Song and Dance: Honestly, Carey wasn't really that bad. At the least, knowing she was going through a divorce, a mental breakdown, and discovering she's bipolar at the time this was being filmed does explain a lot about her performance. Howard is the only other cast member who makes even a remote impression as the slick producer who never really let Billie - or her voice - go. There's some pretty spectacular costumes for Billie too, no matter how much Dice derides many of them as inappropriate.

The Numbers: We open with young Billie joining her mother in that dive bar for "Lillie's Blues." "Twister" introduces us to adult Billie and is the song they initially sing for Timothy as back-up singers. "If We" and "All My Life" take us to the nightclub where Billie meets Dice, with Sylk (Padma Lakshimi) seemingly performing the latter. Billie does a version of "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" for Dice, but her confetti-strewn video for "Loverboy" proves far more difficult. She wants to "Lead the Way" with her career at a big music awards show. Rafael (Benet) who is also interested in Billie, performs "We Could Have Been" for her. "Want You" is the song Billie writes with Rafael. "Never Too Far" is Dice and Billie's songs written at the same time with the same music and lyrics. She tries to reprise "Loverboy" at a concert, but breaks down and sings "Never Too Far" instead.

What I Don't Like: Hoooo boy. No wonder this became one of the most notorious flops of the early 2000's. Carey and Billie both deserved far better than this. No matter what the movie wants us to believe, Dice is a major jerk who tries to control not only Billie's career, but Billie herself. He treats her badly, even making a shady deal behind her back. Her dumping him near the end feels somewhat realistic and justified....but then she wants him back, to the point where they somehow manage to write identical songs? That's hard to swallow, even for a musical. The lighting is dreadful, with too many scenes lost in darkness, and the off-and-on editing is worse. None of the songs are remotely close to Carey's best (and weren't hits in real life). I honestly had no idea it was set in 1983, either. The costumes, the sets...they're all pure early 2000's. The music, even the 80's music, doesn't really sound like that era, either. 

The Big Finale: Though this has apparently begun to pick up a slightly better reputation of late, frankly, some mildly decent performances aren't enough to save this off-the-rails vanity project. Even the most devoted fans of Carey will want to stick to the soundtrack and avoid this mess.

Home Media: It was such a flop, it's not even easy to find today. The DVD is way out of print,  the Blu-Ray is available but not much cheaper, and it's not currently streaming. The only place you can currently find it online is in illegal streams on YouTube.

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YouTube

Animation Celebration Saturday - The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning

Disney, 2008

Voices of Jodi Benson, Samuel E. Wright, Jim Cummings, and Sally Field

Directed by Peggy Holmes

Music and Lyrics by various

By 2008, Disney's series of direct-to-home-media "sequels" had entertained children for fourteen years..but they made a lot of other people less than happy. Most critics complained that the stories were rehashes, the animation was way under Disney's standards, and they were cheapening the brand. Indeed, this would be the last of those films made, and the last direct-to-home-media animated film that wasn't a Disney Fairies movie. The second Little Mermaid  had done well enough to warrant this "prequel." Is it an improvement on Return to the Sea, or should it be silenced? Let's begin with a younger King Neptune (Cummings), his wife Athena (Lorelei Hill Butters), and their daughters and the merfolk of Atlantica and find out...

The Story: After Athena is killed when a pirate ship crashes into the lagoon, Neptune banishes all music from Atlantica. Ten years later, his daughters live by a strict routine, kept up by the governess Marina Del Rey (Field). Marina really wants to take over the job of attache from Sebastian the Crab (Wright), Neptune's right-hand crustacean. Ariel is frustrated and bored with her father's rules and ends up following sweet little Flounder (Parker Goris) to an underground club, where Sebastian and fish and crustaceans have a band.

Delighted, Ariel brings her sisters to the club to let them enjoy music for the first time in their lives. Unfortunately, Marina catches them and spills the beans to Neptune. He destroys the club, arrests Sebastian and the band, and locks the sisters in the castle. Ariel runs away and frees the band, but she decides to go back after she finds a music box that belonged to her mother. She hopes to remind her father how much fun and happiness music brings, but Marina isn't about to give up her position with the king now and sends electric eels to kill Ariel and her friends.

The Animation: While this is a major step-up from Return to the Sea, it's still not at the level of the original Little Mermaid or what they were doing for the big screen in 2008. The colors are vibrant, the characters have fairly mobile expressions - even on the fish and crustaceans - and the backgrounds are far more detailed than in most of the direct-to-home-media movies.  

The Song and Dance: This actually wound up being rather sweet. At least it isn't a full-on rehash of Little Mermaid this time. My favorite character was by far Benjamin (Jeff Bennett), the gentle and lovable manatee who worked with Marina. He was drawn more like a character from Studio Ghilbi, with his big, soft body and tiny eyes, and was such a gentle dear, he almost seemed to come from another movie entirely. I also like that we finally get to know Ariel's sisters somewhat, or at least that they're a bit less interchangeable than they are in the other two films. Sebastian and especially Flounder have some great moments, notably when he's helping Ariel find the music box and Flounder saves everyone from the eels. 

The Numbers: We open with "Athena's Song (Endless Sky)" as Athena sings and plays with her husband and daughters in the lagoon. "Just One Mistake" is Marina's song. She initially sings it in the hope that Sebastian will drop his guard, and she'll be able to take over. Later, she reprises it after he's arrested and she's hired, to her delight. The standard "Jump In the Line" is the bouncy number for Sebastian and the band at the club. It's reprised by Ariel and the band after they flee the castle. Ariel performs the gentle ballad "I Remember" when she finds the music box and tries to recall all the things she did with her mother as a child. We also hear another Calypso standard, "Man Smart, Woman Smarter." 

What I Don't Like: Though better than Return to the Sea, this still isn't all that great. Not only does the story not align with what we see in The Little Mermaid, it doesn't make much sense. Neptune bans music just because his wife was killed by a pirate ship? His banning his daughters from the surface would make more sense. Field's Marina is more annoying than a real threat; Benjamin being a total sweetheart, too much to be hanging around with her, doesn't help there. The music is once again bland, including two Calypso interpolations that could have been done with original music.

The Big Finale: Mainly worth checking out for major fans of this franchise and little girls who can't get enough Little Mermaid and can handle some of the scarier or sadder moments, especially early-on. 

Home Media: Easily found anywhere, including on individual DVD, packaged with Return to the Sea, and on Disney Plus with a subscription.

DVD

DVD - Little Mermaid II and Ariel's Beginning 2-Movie Collection

Blu-Ray - Little Mermaid II and Ariel's Beginning 2-Movie Collection

Disney Plus

Walk the Line

20th Century Fox, 2005

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Reece Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Robert Patrick

Directed by James Mangold

Music and Lyrics by Johnny Cash and others

Having explored classic rock legends last month, this week, we're going to dive into the country scene with three of the most beloved performers in country music. This one goes back to Cash and Carter appearing on the TV show Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman in 1993. Enamored with film, Cash wanted to get his life story onscreen. Even after a series of interviews in 1997, it wasn't until 2001 when they had a script ready and were able to sell it to Fox. It was a huge hit in 2005, but how does it look now, after many similar music biographies have come and gone? Let's start with Cash (Phoenix) and his legendary concert at Folsom State Prison and find out...

The Story: Johnny grows up in rural Arkansas with his mother Carrie (Shelby Lynne), his abusive father Ray (Patrick), and his sisters and his brother Jack (Lucas Till). After Jack dies in a saw mill accident while Johnny goes fishing, Ray blames his youngest son for his death. Tired of the abuse, Johnny enlists in the Air Force in 1950. He's not much of a pilot, but he does write the song "Folsom Prison Blues" while in West Germany. 

After he gets back to the US, he marries his girlfriend Vivian (Goodwin) and gets a job as a door to door salesman after they move to Memphis, Tennessee. He proves to be far more successful when he forms a gospel band, the Tennessee Two, and auditions for Sun Records. They take him after he plays "Folsom Prison Blues." The song is such a success, they send the Two out on tour with legends like Elvis Prestley (Tyler Hilton) and Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Payne), giving Johnny his first taste of celebrity.

It also introduces him to June Carter (Witherspoon), a pretty, perky fellow country singer touring with her family. He falls for her right away, but she's a lot warier of him. He starts heavily abusing drugs and alcohol, and Vivian is all too aware of why Johnny keeps insisting on touring with June. He even ends up in prison for six months after a trip to Mexico to pick up more drugs. Vivian's had enough and divorces him, and even June's fed up. Johnny buys a home in Tennessee to be near June, but she's not sure she's ready to put on that "Ring of Fire." Even after Johnny records his famous Folsom Prison album, she keeps turning him down...until he tells her onstage that he can't make music without her.

The Song and Dance: Exemplary performances highlight this tale of rise and redemption through one of the greatest romances in country music. Phoenix and Witherspoon put in pitch-perfect performances as the troubled "Man In Black" and the smart lady who loves him and his music, especially when showing his dark side and drug addiction. That they did their own singing - and very well - adds layers to the authenticity. Patrick is the only one who gets near them as Cash's disapproving father, who never forgave Johnny for the loss of his favored son. Pitch-perfect costumes and sets and James Mangold's dynamic direction beautifully depict the rural Southeast and Nashville in the 50's and 60's. 

The Numbers: Our first song is appropriately, Johnny's first song. He first conceives "Folsom Prison Blues" while stationed in West Germany. It's not until that audition for Sun records that we hear the full version. He's attracted to Sun Records after hearing a band play "Don't Leave Me This Way." Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Payne) shows off his piano dexterity with his "Lewis Boogie" at the tour concert. June fakes laryngitis so Johnny gets a chance to sing "Cry Cry Cry" and impress the audience. Johnny's thrilled when none other than Roy Orbison (Johnathan Rice) sings "You're My Baby."  June finally gets onstage with her perky "Jukebox Blues."

Johnny successfully gives the new rock sound a shot with "Rock n' Roll Ruby," which really gets all those girls in the audience moving...but even he can't compare to a young Elvis Prestley (Tyler Hilton) tearing up the stage with "That's All Right." After Johnny's "Home of the Blues," he insists that June join him for "Time's a Waistin'." June protests at first - she recorded it with her ex-husband - but they have so much fun together, soon, even she's into the charming song.  The title song provides the backdrop for a montage depicting Johnny's success, his feelings about June, and his buying a house for his family. 

June pours her own frustrations with Johnny and her failed relationships into the traditional folk song "Wildwood Flower" at their concert. She joins Johnny for the uptempo Bob Dylan ballad "It Ain't Me, Babe." Johnny's drug habits finally catch up with him when he passes out while performing "Folsom Prison Blues" at Las Vegas. Inspired by her problems with Johnny and their relationship, June writes the classic ballad "Ring of Fire." Realizing that many of his fans are prisoners, Johnny records his classic live album at the real Folsom Prison, dressed all in black and singing "Cocaine Blues." The movie ends with him singing her "Ring of Fire," and insisting that they perform "Jackson" together.

Trivia: Witherspoon won Best Actress at the Oscars. Phoenix was nominated for Best Actor and won a Golden Globe.

What I Don't Like: There's a reason this would later be parodied by Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. This is about as typical of a rise and fall biography as you can get, though the focus on Johnny and June's romance does give it an interesting wrinkle. Most of the other characters aren't around long enough for you to know them like the leads; Goodwin's role as Johnny's first wife, who wants him to focus on family above else, is slightly underwritten. 

The Big Finale: If you're a fan of classic country or rock music, Cash and/or Carter, or either of the stars, you owe it to yourself to check out this searing look at how "The Man In Black" met and got together with the true love of his life.

Home Media: Easily available on all formats. I reviewed the extended version, which has an extra 16 minutes of footage. 

DVD

Blu-Ray

Amazon Prime - Extended Cut

Sunday School Musical

The Asylum/Faith Films, 2008

Starring Chris Chatman, Candise Lakota, Krystle Connor, and Robert Acinapura

Directed by Rachel Lee Goldberg

Music and Lyrics by various

Even TV movies got direct-to-home-media versions in the 90's and 2000's. The High School Musical films were such a phenomenon in the mid-late 2000's, imitations were probably inevitable. The Asylum usually specialized in Z-grade horror mockbusters (including the infamous Sharknado film franchise), but they branched out into Christian musicals with the creation of their Faith Films imprint. Does this teen religious musical come off better than their campy horror films, or should it be dropped from the roster? Let's begin at a regional church choir competition as two very different teen choirs compete and see...

The Story: Zachary (Chatman) is devastated when his mother (Millena Gay) insists on moving in with her sister Janet (Rae Silva) after she loses her job. She's already transferred him to a new school and new church, to his horror. Both his choir and the one he moved to are going to the church choir finals, but the one he moved to is terrible. Savannah (Lakota) and Miles (Acinapura) lead a group that sings traditional numbers without a hint of harmony or passion. Savannah has her own problems. She's a pastor's daughter who is getting over her mother's death a few months before. She and Zachary become friends after they're paired in cooking class. 

Zachary keeps insisting he doesn't want anything to do with the choir at first, until he finally encourages them to sing in harmony and find more up-to-date material. Not only is his old friend Aundrea (Connor) now jealous, she accuses him of going against his old church. Even worse, his old church is closing down and doesn't have the funds to send them to the finals. Even as his old church snubs him, Zachary still finds a way for everyone to get to the finals...by bringing the two groups together.

The Song and Dance: Some not-bad numbers are pretty much all there are to recommend this. There's a few songs where the kids are clearly enjoying themselves. And at the least, the story isn't as disjointed as the last independent teen Christian musical I reviewed, It's Christmas Again.

The Numbers: Zachary starts things off with his brief rap solo "Beginnings" as he heads to the Hawthorn Community Choir. Hawthorn's fairly dynamic version of "This Light of Mine" couldn't be a greater contrast to Crossroads Christian Choir's dull and badly sung "Come Thou Font." Zach, Audrea, and their friend from the choir do a short rap imitation of Crossroads after the regional competition. Zach has a very, very brief dance routine on the roof where he expresses his anger over the move. He and Aundrea argue over the move to the R&B ballad "In My Shoes." Zachary laments his being caught between two words in "Cross That Bridge." 

Crossroads' boring "All Over Me" in rehearsal doesn't exactly make Zachary feel better about being forced to erase their boards as a punishment. Zachary reminds the choir that the best way of improving is just to do a "Vocal Thing" and enjoy themselves. Miles and Savannah claim "You're Not the Boss" when Miles protests Zachary joining the choir and changing their sound. Crossroads performs a far more impressive "Vision" for church on Sunday. The two groups finally come together as Audrea and Zachary realize they're much "Better With You." At the contest, the Church of the Gospel Youth Club (which has won for three years in a row) does a charming performance of "Praise." Crossroads and Hawthorn can't compete, but they still perform a dynamic "His Eye On the Sparrow" 

What I Don't Like: First of all, none of the kids are remotely likable. Aundrea jumps on Zachary over the move and acts like it was his idea and he's going to be a million miles away. Considering they see each other pretty frequently, he's barely across town. As Savannah points out, Miles is a whiny brat who tries to boss everyone around when he isn't nearly as talented of a pianist or singer as he thinks. Miles accuses Savannah of being the perfect pastor's daughter, but she's not much better than him, blowing up at her father for no reason at all. Zachary is no prize either, given he constantly blows off his studies for choir and rags his mother for a move that doesn't turn out to be that far.

Other than the "Eye On the Sparrow" finale and the kids really getting into that odd "Vocal Thing," nothing here works. The story is a cliche we've seen a billion times before, including in the real High School Musical movies. The new songs were so-so, the sets and cinematography obviously cheap and z-grade. It didn't feel all that religious, either, beyond a few references to God and Savannah's father being a pastor. It could have been set in any two high schools and done any kind of competition without missing a beat. When the kids aren't acting badly to each other, they're just acting the flat script badly period. Not to mention, the finale with who wins is an unrealistic and ridiculous cop-out. 

The Big Finale: Unless you're really, really desperate for a religious musical to show your teens this Holy Week, you can easily skip this.

Home Media: Like most Asylum films, it's easily found on DVD and streaming. It can currently be found for free with commercials at several streaming sites, including The Roku Channel.

DVD

The Roku Channel

Cult Flops - The Fighting Temptations

Paramount, 2003

Starring Cuba Gooding Jr, Beyonce Knowles, Mike Epps, and LaTanya Richardson

Directed by Johnathan Lynn

Music and Lyrics by various

Let's celebrate Holy Week with two movies about unlikely church choirs taking part in major competitions. We'll start with the one that has the bigger-name cast. Beyonce Knowles was an up-and-coming singer who had just left her group Destiny's Child the year before. Gooding Jr had been a popular character actor and comedian in movies like Jerry Maguire (which he won an Oscar for) since the early 90's. How well do they work in this tale of a young man who returns to his Georgia hometown and takes over the church choir? Let's begin with two kids sitting on the church steps in 1980, just as the choir's number begins, and find out...

The Story: Ad executive Darrin Hill (Gooding) never planned on returning to his hometown of Monte Carlo, Georgia. He and his mother Mary Ann (Faith Evans) were run out of town by Paulina Lewis-Pritchett (Richardson), a self-righteous and obnoxious biddy who disapproved of Mary Ann singing R&B on the side. Darrin's Aunt Sally (Ann Nesby), who never stopped believing in him, left him the church choir, with the stipulation that he gets them into the Gospel Explosion contest. If he wins, he will inherit Aunt Sally's stock in the company. 

Trouble is, Darrin is an unrelenting and unrepentant liar. He lied his way into the ad job, which he lost due to his lies right before a detective served him the invitation to Aunt Sally's funeral. After he learns that the once-powerful choir has been reduced to a few members, he fibs that anyone who joins will get half the prize money. It takes him longer to convince his childhood friend Lilly (Knowles), who had a child out of wedlock and is now a singer at a local bar. He convinces her to sing lead.

Paulina quits after Lilly joins, but she's not done making trouble. After she claims the deadline to audition for the Gospel Explosion has passed, Darrin convinces the audition judge and town's prison Warden to let them perform for his prisoners. They go over so well, not only do they get in, but three prisoners join the group. A frustrated Paulina reveals his past, which leads the others to turn against him. He returns to New York...but realizes when he gets his job back that it's meaningless, and he's nothing without his new friends, Lilly, and the choir that has come to mean so much to him.

The Song and Dance: Frankly, the song and dance are the only reasons to see this. Digging through the soppy plot reveals some terrific numbers, including Beyonce's nicely intimate "Fever" at the club. This was likely intentional, given MTV had a hand in making this one. Beyonce shines as the talented singer who is reluctant to return to the church after she was pushed away. Nice location shooting in the real small-town Georgia is the only other thing of interest here. 

The Numbers: We open with Aunt Sally leading the choir through a literally foot-stomping "I'm Getting Ready" and "The Stone" in 1980. Mary Ann performs "Heaven Knows" in a flashback as Darrin recalls his life with his mother on the road. Real-life gospel singer Shirley Caesar really gets into a dynamic "The Church Is In Mourning" with her own choir at Aunt Sally's funeral. Lilly does even better by a sexy, intimate "Fever" at a smoky local club that is by far the best thing in the film. 

The choir's first attempt at "Amazing Grace" is...less than stellar, especially due to a leaky roof. It couldn't be a greater contrast to Lilly's slinky "Everything I Do" with Bilal. The montage of locals auditioning for the choir ranges from a not-great "Amazing Grace" to two teens doing "God's Turning the World Upside Down"and someone doing a really horrible "Isn't She Lovely." He's impressed enough with the O'Jays' barbershop quartet rendition of "Loves Me Like a Rock" to convince the head barber to join. He starts them in on "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" before he realizes they need a lead singer. "Swing Low" gets a far more effective reprise at the prison after Lilly joins the choir. 

The newly-hired prisoner singers show what they can do with "Down By the Riverside." T-Bone does his own rap version, "To Da River." The church really shows what they can do for their church audience with "Rain Down." The first number at the Choral Explosion is Mary Mary's "Brighter Days." The Blind Boys of Alabama really get into "I'm a Soldier In the Army of Love." The Baptist Choir's big finale is "Turn My Life Around." We end with everyone - even Paulina - back at the church with "Come Back Home."

What I Don't Like: This is cliched to the max. We've seen basically the same story on this blog in the first Sister Act film and the later Joyful Noise. Gooding Jr's perpetual liar is more annoying than cute or funny. He and Beyonce have no chemistry, making her suddenly falling for him in the second half a lot less believable. Frankly, you begin to wish his constant fibbing had gotten him into trouble long before this. The movie just goes on and on and takes what should have been a light-hearted romp much too seriously. Paulina's attempts to discredit Darrin in the second half borders on comic-book camp at times and probably could have been trimmed with no one the wiser. 

The Big Finale: In the end, this is too shallow and disjointed to be recommended to anyone besides major fans of Beyonce, the other singers in the cast, or gospel and R&B. 

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming. 

DVD

Amazon Prime

Animation Celebration Saturday - The Magic Pudding

20th Century Fox, 2000

Voices of John Cleese, Geoffrey Rush, Hugo Weaving, and Sam Neill

Directed by Karl Zwicky

Music and Lyrics by various

Let's head down under this weekend and learn about a movie I only just heard of this week. Apparently, this is based on a beloved Australian children's book from 1918. The author's family resisted international adaptions, holding out for an Australian company. They finally sold it to Energee Entertainment, which was then a leading independent Australian animation studio. How does this uniquely Aussie story look on this side of the pond? Let's begin with ship captain Bill Barnacle (Weaving) and his crew as they navigate a storm in the Arctic and find out...

The Story: Barnacle and his crew mates Sam Sawnoff the penguin (Neill) and Buncle the wombat (Jack Thompson) are stranded in the Arctic after their shop breaks up there. Buncle's desperate cry for food makes the Magic Pudding (Cleese) appear from the sky. His name is Albert, and despite being rather rude, he can also last forever. Buncle tries to steal it, but he falls off the ice and is believed to be lost. Sam and Bill decide to become Albert's protectors. 

Ten years later, Bunyip Bluegum the koala (Rush) sets off in search of his missing parents. He runs across Bill and Sam after stopping two thieves from stealing Albert. Bunyip encounters a frightened bandicoot who says that a frog on a log is the only creature who isn't too frightened to tell him where his parents are. He and his new friends follow Albert to figure out the frog's clues. 

As it turns out, Barnacle is alive...and he's not only still hungry, he's forcing other animals to bring him food. His nephew Watkin (Greg Carroll) and Patrick O'Possum (Dave Gibson) have been sent to steal the pudding, but Albert keeps eluding them. They get so desperate, they open a dam over the very town where Bunyip, Albert, and the other two are heading. It takes saving the town for the residents to finally bring Albert and the pudding protectors to Barnacle's lair and rescue not only Bunyip's parents, but a whole host of slaves as well.

The Animation: Much better than I expected from an independent Australian animated feature. Some of the backdrops are downright gorgeous, particularly where the frog on a log is and in the town. Everything moves really well, and as far as I can tell, they look like the characters in the book, especially Bunyip and Sam.

The Song and Dance: I give them credit for a great voice cast, too. Rush is an adorable Bunyip, while Cleese is hilarious as the occasionally nasty pudding and Weaving and Neill are hilarious as the remaining pudding protectors. That animation really is lovely - see the number where Bunyip imagines his mother (Toni Collette) singing to him. Thompson makes a terrific villain, too, and even the thieves get some occasionally funny gags. 

The Numbers: Our first number isn't until 10 minutes in, but it comes from Rush. Bunyip begins his journey by proclaiming "It's a Wonderful Day." Weaving, Cleese, and Neill introduce him to "Albert, the Magic Pudding" after he runs across them. "The Puddin' Owners' Song" is their number after they bring Bunyip in on their fellowship. "My Heart Beats" is the ballad Bunyip imagines his mother Meg singing at the frog pond. "It's Worse Than Weevils," say the pudding owners to the thieves. They all band together to "Save the Town" and use the pudding to fill bags and keep the waters from rising. "In the Underground Tonight" is the other big chorus number as Thompson and his mooks celebrate capturing Albert.

What I Don't Like: First of all, research online indicates that this doesn't have a whole lot to do with the book. It wasn't indicated how Bill and Sam came across the Magic Pudding. They just have it when Bunyip first encounters them. Bunyip did leave his uncle, but it wasn't to find his parents. The book ends with a basset hound helping them defend Albert in court against the thieves. There was no Buncle, mooks, or flooded town. 

Second, this is a pretty strange story. It feels like they threw the original book in with bits and pieces of other animated films of the late 90's-early 2000's. Colette's ballad is too modern and out of place with the songs that have lyrics taken directly from the book. 

The Big Finale: The lovely animation and great voice cast alone makes this worth checking out at least once for elementary school-age kids and their parents.

Home Media: Not on disc in North America, but it can be found for free with commercials on streaming.

The Roku Channel

Amazon Prime

Pluto TV On Demand

Cult Flops - From Justin to Kelly

20th Century Fox, 2003

Starring Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, Katherine Bailess, and Anika Noni Rose

Directed by Robert Iscove

Music and Lyrics by various

Our next spring break musical is one of the most notorious of the past 20 years. American Idol is a talent show that focuses on finding the next great singing star. The US version began in 2002 and with its ability to let the audience vote on their favorites, was an instant sensation. Clarkson and Guarini were the first winner and runner up, and they became overnight celebrities, singing and giving interviews pretty much everywhere on TV and the internet. 

They were among the most recognizable faces on the planet by the time Fox released this in June 2003. Fox wanted to strike while the iron was hot and insisted this be filmed and released in two and a half months. Audiences in 2003 saw it for the rush job it was, and it wound up being one of the biggest flops of the year. Is it really that horrible, or were audiences and critics right? Let's begin in a Texas bar as Kelly Taylor (Clarkson) sings for the few barflies there and find out...

The Story: Kelly's girlfriends Alexa (Bailess) and Kaya (Rose) talk her into spending spring break in Miami, Florida, despite Kelly considering spring break rituals to be degrading. On their first day, she runs into Justin Bell (Guardini), a party planner who owns a local business with his buddies Brandon (Greg Siff) and Eddie (Brian Dietzen). They fall in love at first sight, but have a hard time finding each other at first. Even after they finally meet again, Alexa decides she wants Justin for herself and does everything she can to split up the pair, Meanwhile, geeky Eddie spends his vacation searching for his Internet girlfriend, Brandon dodges a cop (Theresa San-Nicholas) who keeps giving him tickets for all his dubious money-making schemes, and Kaya pursues the handsome waiter Carlos (Jason Yribar).

The Song and Dance: Well, there is some pretty scenery in Florida. The cinematography isn't bad for the short filming time they had. Rose by far stands out as Kelly's nicer buddy, to the point where you can understand why she'd move on to the infinitely better Dreamgirls and The Princess and the Frog a few years later. 

The Numbers: We open with Kelly singing "I Won't Stand In Line" to unimpressed bar patrons in Texas. The first chorus number is "The Luv (Bounce)," as the girls arrive on the beach and encounter Justin for the first time and some truly awful dancing. "Brandon's Rap" is his attempt to explain to Eddie how to find girls, and how he plans on getting a few himself. Tap master Savion Glover does a brief but nifty routine to the instrumental "Boom Boom Boom." Justin and Kelly pick up with the duet "Forever Part of Me" as they search for each other in the crowd at the party. 

Kaya and Carlos claim "It's Meant to Be" when they have fun together dancing at a salsa club. Justin and Kelly have a second ballad, "Timeless," as he takes her boating in the back bays. Alexa gets her own dance routine with the boys, claiming that all she needs to do is "Wish Upon a Star" to get what she wants. Fed up with their men, Kaya and Kelly go to a party in wild, colorful outfits. After all, falling in love is "Madness." Kelly wishes Justin would give her love "Anytime" after Alexa explains why she went after him. They reprise it when Alexa finally brings them back together. The film ends with the entire cast singing and dancing to "That's the Way I Like It" at one last party.

Trivia: Clarkson and Guardini realized from the start how bad the script was. Clarkson wanted out, but the film was part of their contracts with American Idol. 

There was supposed to have been a soundtrack, but it was canceled when the film became a notorious flop. 

The DVD features two additional musical numbers, "Brighter Star" and "From Me to You."

What I Don't Like: Good grief. Not a single other thing works. Rose is the only one who shows an ounce of charisma. Clarkson later became a decent host on TV and Guardini has since done stage work (including on Broadway), but they can't act and have all the chemistry of two wet noodles here. The choreography is useless, the dialogue is ridiculous, the original music dull, and the plot silly piffle. They never did figure out what to do with Clarkson's character. One minute, she's a staunch feminist who calls spring break and whipped cream bikini contests degrading. The next, she's falling into Justin's arms and chasing every guy around. 

The side plots exist to pad the run time, not because they're fun to watch or work with the main story. Carlos had every right to be angry after Kaya caused him to lose his job and shouldn't have apologized. Eddie is an obnoxious and dated geek stereotype and is so unfunny, you stop caring whether he finds his girlfriend or not after the first few minutes. The running gag with Brandon and the cop is literally and figuratively run into the ground. 

Alexa's desire to win Justin for herself comes out of nowhere. She, Kaya, and Kelly are buddy-buddy for the first ten-fifteen minutes of the movie, and then suddenly, she decides she wants Justin. Her explanation as to why later on is so flat-out stupid, I can't believe Kelly bought it. Not to mention, it explains things about Kelly that we don't see. The movie keeps going on about how funny and wonderful Kelly in particular is, but all of the lead characters are so grating and annoying, I wouldn't want to be in their presence for five minutes, let alone an entire two-week spring break.

The Big Finale: This is one bad movie that lives up to the hype and then some. I wouldn't touch this with a hundred-foot pole unless you're a really huge fan of Clarkson, Guardini, American Idol, or remember the brief time in 2002-2003 when they were two of the biggest music stars on the planet. 

Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Cult Flops - I'm Not There

The Weinstein Company, 2007

Starring Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, and Marcus Carl Franklin

Directed by Todd Haymes

Music and Lyrics by Bob Dylan and others

Better Man isn't the first film biography in the past twenty years to experiment with the format. Likewise, A Complete Unknown is far from the first time a director tried to get into Bob Dylan's head. After his success with the romantic drama Far from Heaven, Haynes went experimental with this look at Dylan's many personas. Six actors play Dylan in time periods ranging from the early 20th century to the mid-70's, filmed in styles and genres ranging from documentary to western. How well does this come off today? Let's begin with folk-rock star Jude Quinn (Blanchett) on an operating table after a motorcycle accident and find out...

The Story: Actually, there's six stories, representing six different periods in Dylan's life. Eleven-year-old black youth Woody Guthrie (Franklin) travels on the rails, performing his blues protest songs for unimpressed hobos. He's taken in by a couple after he nearly drowns, but a call from a corrections officer sends him off again. He eventually ends up in a hospital to connect with his idol, the real Woody Guthrie. 19-year-old Arthur Rimbaud (Ben Whishaw) is our first black-and-white segment. He's being questioned, though it's never clear why or by whom. 

Jack Rollins (Bale) was a legend among folk artists in Grenwich Village during the early 60's, but disappeared by the middle of the decade after making insulting remarks at an awards ceremony. He's discovered a decade later in California, now a born-again Christian priest known as Father John. Actor Robbie Clark (Ledger) plays Rollins in a film biopic, but his sexism and stardom strains his relationship with his wife Claire (Charlotte Gainesbourg). 

Quinn is castigated for using electric instruments at a folk concert. He agrees with Rollins that folk has hit a wall and doesn't seem to be living up to its own lofty ideals. The snooty interviewer in England (Bruce Greenwood) who reveals that his past isn't as wild as he claims doesn't help his descent into drug addiction. Legendary outlaw Billy the Kid (Richard Gere) tries to keep the town he's now living in from being demolished for a highway by none other than the man who supposedly killed him, Pat Garret (Greenwood)...but his attempt to confront him ends with him on the road again.

The Song and Dance: No wonder Blanchett was nominated for a host of acting awards, including an Oscar for Supporting Actress. She's mesmerizing as the increasingly erratic genius in her segments, giving him a measure of tender vulnerability and even gentleness under the rage. Franklin also does well as the cheeky African-American boy who ignores criticism to perform his way and is determined to meet his idol. Haynes's work here is equally amazing. The quick editing takes us seamlessly from Woody's late 50's all the way back around, jumping from time period to time period as we learn how one period relates to the next.

The Numbers: We open with "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again," performed by Dylan himself over black-and-white images of the ordinary people Dylan sang to in the 60's the ends with Woody jumping on the train. Woody sings "When My Ship Comes In" the white couple who rescues him from drowning. He does even better with the old black gentleman (Richie Havens) who performs "Tombstone Blues" with him. 

Fellow folkie Alice Fabian (Julianne Moore) recalls her first meeting with Rollins and how he was the voice of his generation as we see him singing "The Times They are A'Changin" at a student protest. "Trouble In Mind" gives us Woody being attacked by hobos trying to steal his guitar, while "Visions of Johanna" give us how Robbie and Claire ended their relationship as the Vietnam War ended. "I Want You" depicts the happier start of their relationship. 

A rollicking "Maggie's Farm" performed by Stephen Malkmus at a folk festival is nearly drowned out by the boos of a shocked crowd. He also gets "Ballad of a Thin Man" in a whimsical montage that depicts the interviewer searching for the truth about Quinn, ending at a Black Panther meeting as they too are influenced by Quinn's music and Quinn stumbling around onstage when the crowd boos him. "One More Cup of Coffee" has Billy riding through town, admiring children in costume. "Goin' to Acapulco," sung by a white-faced man in the town, has a distinctly Mexican flavor. 

The Monkees' "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" gives us the voices of another group of artists who struggled for artistic integrity over the party where Quinn admits he couldn't handle the European tour. Quinn and Rollins all question that "Trouble In Mind" as Rollins explains his religious conversion and Quinn hangs out with poet Alan Ginsburg (David Cross). Dylan's gospel period is represented by "Pressin' On," as Robbie and Claire do just that in their marriage; Claire and the people of Billy's town are the "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands." "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol" gets Billy out on a train and lets Robbie take his girls on a trip. The movie finishes with footage of the real Dylan playing his harmonica for a sold-out crowd.

Trivia: The grungy Billy the Kid segment was inspired by the violent "hippie westerns" of the late 60's like Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, which Bob Dylan did music for. The stark black and white Quinn story took its look from Fellini's 8 1/2 and the Neo-Realist movement of the 60's. Robbie's segment got its inspiration from the films of Jean-Luc Goddard. 

This would be Heath Ledger's last movie released in theaters before his untimely death in 2008. 

What I Don't Like: I think it's abundantly clear that this is not your typical musical biography. Those looking for something more linear or upbeat will want to go elsewhere. Gere and Ledger are defeated by material that's less interesting than Blanchett and Franklin's segments. Whishaw is seen the least and barely has anything to do besides toss out a few quotes. And...yeah, at times, once again particularly in Gere and Ledger's segments, you wonder if there's actually a point to any of this. You don't really learn much more about Dylan than you did coming in, which, given how enigmatic the real Dylan continues to be to this day, is likely what they were going for.

The Big Finale: I'm going to say your enjoyment of this one will depend on your fondness for Dylan and willingness to try something different in your musical bios. If you're a fan of his who wants to see the before and after of A Complete Unknown and are willing to go off the beaten path, there's a lot to enjoy in this unique experiment.

Home Media: It's on DVD, but it can be far more easily found on streaming, including Tubi for free with commercials.

DVD

Amazon Prime

Tubi

Animation Celebration Saturday - The Hunchback of Notre Dame II

Disney, 2002

Voices of Tom Hulce, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Michael McKean, and Haley Joel Osment

Directed by Bradley Raymond

Music and Lyrics by various

Here's another movie from that period between 1994 and 2008 where Disney made direct-to-home-media sequels for every single animated film it ever did. Critics took shots at them even then, but they were wildly popular with kids who couldn't get enough of their favorite Disney characters. Nowadays, while a few of them are mildly well-regarded, they mostly look like the chintzy cash-grabs they are. Where does Hunchback II fall in the pack? Let's begin back in Paris six years later as the citizens prepare for "Le Jour d'Amour," the Day of Love, and find out...

The Story: Quasimodo (Hulce) is glad to take care of his friends Esmerelda (Demi Moore) and Phobeus' (Kevin Kline) energetic son Zephyr (Osment), but he's still often alone with his bells. He's especially proud of the largest and most elaborate bell, La Fidelitie, which is gold and studded with gems inside. He'll ring it to begin the Festival of Love.

Zephyr is especially excited when a circus comes to town. Quasimodo is more interested in Madellaine (Hewitt), the beautiful assistant for magician Sarousch (McKean). Madellaine is frightened by Quasimodo at first, but then he shows her around Paris and she sees him taking care of Zephyr and realizes how sweet he is. Meanwhile, Phobeous has been searching for the thieves who have stolen valuables from people all over the city. Zephyr and Quasimodo don't want to believe it when he learns that Madellaine and the circus are involved in the thefts, until Quasimodo realizes that the bell is gone. When Zephyr goes after the thieves, Madellaine has the chance to prove her worth and show that real love requires looking far deeper into a person than what's on the surface.

The Animation: Talk about cheap. It looks like one of Disney's animated TV shows of the time. Most of the characters are off-model. The colors are lovely, but the backgrounds lack the sumptuous details that went into the original. They move stiffly, too, and lack the expression of the original film. 

The Song and Dance: I'm surprised they managed to get such a great cast for this. Not only is most of the original cast back, but they added then-hot child and teen stars Osment and Hewitt and comedian McKean. McKean's making the most of his limited material as the greedy magician who is more interested in making people's valuables disappear than making them happy. Madellaine and Quasimodo's relationship is surprisingly sweet, even when you can see where it's going from a mile away. And while the music isn't great, I do kind of like Quasi's "Ordinary Miracle." 

The Numbers: We open with "Le Jour D'Amour" as Clopin and the cast explains about the festival and its importance. Quasimodo tells Madellaine his feelings about how "An Ordinary Miracle" can change someone's life. "I'd Stick With You" is Quasimoto's buddy song with Zephyr, letting Madellaine see how cute their friendship is. "Fa La La Fallen In Love" turns into a huge chorus number in the rain as the gargoyles gush over Quasimodo's new girlfriend and half of Paris dances around the two in the rain. The movie ends with Hewitt's self-penned ballad "I'm Gonna Love You" over the credits. 

What I Don't Like: This screams "watered-down rehash" at the top of its lungs. Madellaine is neither well-drawn, nor all that interesting despite her troubled past. She looks as bland as she is. The gargoyles don't fit in any better here than they did in the original. Their material is still a little too vaudeville for medieval France. The dialogue is often clumsy, the animation is barely Saturday-morning level, and other than the lovely "Ordinary Miracle," the songs are totally unmemorable, especially Hewitt's too-sugary end title ballad.

The Big Finale: Unless you're a really huge fan of Hunchback of Notre Dame, you can easily pass on this one.

Home Media: Easily found on all formats. It's on Disney Plus with a subscription.

DVD

Blu-Ray - The Hunchback of Notre Dame/The Hunchback of Notre Dame II Special Edition

Disney Plus

Animation Celebration Saturday - Scooby Doo and the Goblin King

Warner Bros, 2008

Voices of Casey Kasem, Frank Welker, Hayden Panettiere, and Wayne Knight

Directed by Joe Sichta

Music and Lyrics by Thomas Chase Jones

We kick off the Halloween season with the first attempt at a musical Scooby Doo story, and one of their two direct-to-home-media movies to revolve around the holiday. Truth be told, this is kind of an odd story for them in several respects. The monsters and magic are real, not just people in magic and special effects, and Shaggy and Scooby are the ones who don't believe in it. Just how unique is this strange fantasy adventure? Let's start on the horror-themed roller coaster at the Coolsville Halloween Carnival and find out...

The Story: Scooby (Welker) and Shaggy (Kasem) sabotage the Amazing Krudsky's (Knight) act when he won't let Scooby into the show, revealing him to be a fraud. The kids get thrown out of the carnival, and Krudsky swears revenge. He thinks he gets his chance when Fairy Princess Willow (Panettiere) tells him about the powerful Goblin Sceptor that belongs to her father the Goblin King (Tim Curry). Krudsky manages to capture her and absorb her magic.

Scooby and Shaggy are trick-or-treating when they encounter Mr. Gibbles' (Wallace Shawn) Real Magic Shoppe. They learn just how real it is when Krudsky appears, steals the magic equipment, and turns Gibbles into a rabbit. Gibbles sends them to the Spirit World disguised as monsters. The cowardly duo discover just how real magic is when the Grand Witch (Lauren Bacall), a talking Jack O'Lantern (Jay Leno), and a town filled with fairies all join them to rescue the Goblin King and stop Krudsky from taking over the world.

The Animation: Honestly not bad for the Scooby Doo direct-to-home-media movies. There's some wonderful details at the Halloween carnival and in the Spirit World, from the opening horror roller coaster to the fairies' town. The characters move well enough, and the fantastical ones, like Fairy Princess Willow, the Goblin King, and the Grand Witch, have genuinely nifty designs.

The Song and Dance: If you love 80's fantasy adventures like Labyrinth or Shaggy and Scooby's antics, you'll get a real kick out of this one. It also somewhat resembles the 80's Scooby show The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo, with its very real monsters and focus on Scooby and Shaggy. There's an impressive voice cast for one of the Scooby movies, too, with Knight the stand-out as the fake magician who gets way in over his head when he goes looking for real power. (And at the very least, the members of Mystery Inc themselves don't actually sing  here.) 

The Numbers: Mr. Gibbles asks "Who's at the Door?" when Shaggy and Scooby turn up in his shop. He proves that yes, magic is real as the enchanted equipment in his store comes to life. The monsters of the Spirit World sing about how a "Bump In the Night" can scare off most humans. The Goblin King's henchman Glob (Jim Belushi) does the "Goblin Oogie Boogie" with the residents of his master's palace as Shaggy and Scooby try to infiltrate his castle.

What I Don't Like: This is one of the least-typical Scooby Doo movies. If you're looking for something closer to the show, with Mystery Inc chasing criminals in masks, you'll want to go elsewhere. Daphne, Fred, and Velma are barely seen in the beginning and the end. Shaggy and Scooby in particular seem a bit out of character here. They're usually the ones who believe every monster is real. 

The Big Finale: Fantasy fans, fans of the cast, and those who love Shaggy and Scooby's antics will likely get the most out of this Hanna-Barbara Halloween fairy tale.

Home Media: Like all the Scooby Doo films, this is easily found on DVD and streaming. 

DVD

Amazon Prime

Musicals On TV - Daydream Believers: The Monkees Story

VH-1/Rhino Films, 2000

Starring Aaron Lohr, Jeff Geddis, George Stanchev, and L.B Fisher

Directed by Neil Fearnley

Music and Lyrics by various

The Wonders were far from the first or last fictional music group to blur the lines between fantasy and reality. The Monkees began in 1966 as four very different young men who were brought together by director Bob Rafelson and producer Bert Schneider to appear in a TV show that would appeal to young and hip teens, with music catering to them. The show they made may have been inspired by the Beatles and A Hard Day's Night, but it ended up with a wacky style all its own. Though the music used in the show was even more popular for a few years, its creation - and the young men who made it - had a rougher go of things. We learn just how difficult as we start with a modern young man coming up with the idea of using a TV show with a lovable rock band that sounds very familiar...

The Story: Producer and director Van Foreman (Colin Ferguson) comes to NBC in 1965 with a revolutionary new idea for a sitcom about a diverse rock group who live together and have wacky adventures. Mike Nesmith (Geddis), a fiercely independent country singer from Texas trying to support his pregnant wife Phyllis (Polly Shannon), learns about the auditions from the ad Foreman posts in Variety. Peter Tork (Fisher), a folk singer from Connecticut working as a dish washer, hears about it from a friend. Former child star Micky Dolenz (Lohr) and British former stage star Davy Jones (Stanchev) are encouraged to audition by their agents, despite Jones having no prior experience with instruments or rock. 

Foreman and NBC hire Don Kirshner (Wallace Langham) to handle the albums they'll put out in promotion of the show. After a few hiccups, the show and the album are smash hits beyond anyone's wildest dreams, but trouble looms. The music press heavily criticizes the band only handling the singing on their first album, something that frustrates and angers musicians Mike and Peter. Matters come to a head when Kirshner ignores orders to put out a song Mike wrote as a single and uses one of the songs from his stable of songwriters instead. 

After a tense confrontation that ends with Mike putting his hand in a hotel wall, Kirshner is fired, and the guys are finally able to make their own album, Headquarters. It's a big hit...until the much more progressive and slick St. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is released. Their tour in 1967 is a hit, too, but their opening act Jimi Hendrix doesn't go over as well with their young audience. The show ends after the second season. Van wants to move the guys into movies with the help of up-and-coming star Jack Nicholson (Matthew Schmelzle), but their movie Head is a weird and bitter bomb. Peter's tired of the guys not wanting to record as a band and is ready to quit, but Mike and Davy are reminded of what's really important after an accident nearly costs Mike his wife. 

The Song and Dance: At the very least, they found four guys who honestly do a decent job playing the Monkees. Geddis and Fisher in particular look like Nesmith and Tork and do excellently as the two musicians who, despite their very different preferences and performing styles, manage to work together to make their songs heard. Geddis nails the intense sequence where Mike and the others confront Kirshner at the hotel. Langham even makes a great smarmy Kirshner. 

In fact, my favorite thing here, other than Rhino surprisingly choosing some relatively obscure material to highlight, is how well they pull off the entire plot with the music. It's apparently pretty close to what actually happened, and it's handled beautifully. The brief recreations of Mike and Davy's audition interviews are pretty spot-on too, up to and including their being in black and white, as is the sequence from the episode "Fairy Tale" with Peter as a peasant and Mike in drag as a persnickety princess. 

The Numbers: Our first actual number is "Last Train to Clarksville," performed in front of an actual train in the Monkees' first live performance. Micky in particular really gets into the song, playing to the screaming girls in the audience and having a whale of a time. "Hey Hey, We're the Monkees" gives us a nice recreation of the original first-season opening credits montage. We get a brief instrumental bit as the Monkees try to learn how to play as a band, with Mike pushing too hard and the guys arguing over the rehearsal. Things go far better at their first concert in Hawaii, where Davy sings the slow version of "I Wanna Be Free" to all those screaming fans. 

"I'm a Believer" takes us into early '67, as the Monkees become more confident as a live band and on the show and "Believer" becomes their biggest hit ever. The live version of "I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" provides the backdrop for the Monkees escaping their fans in and around a hotel before their first big gig. Micky even comes out to the audience to sing his heart out, ignoring someone's attempt to throw a cape over him. The Knack's "All In the All and All" is heard in the background during the party that introduces the Monkees to the Beatles. The Monkees have a great time recording the now-rare "All of Your Toys" for Headquarters (which it would eventually be passed over for). Davy and Peter aren't as happy recording Davy's best-known hit "Daydream Believer," but their video for it on the show is a far more pleasant affair. Other than them all wearing white when they were in different clothes on the show, this is also recreated accurately.

Trivia: There's quite a few historical and character inaccuracies, starting with Phyllis Nesmith had already given birth to their first child Christian over a year before The Monkees began and would have another during its production. Mike rode a motorcycle to the studio; he couldn't afford a car at the time. Micky and Davy never saw the ad and had their own private auditions. Peter's friend who told him about the audition was Stephen Stills, of Crosby, Stills, and Nash fame (who looked nothing like the guy who tells Peter in the movie). 

Van is a composite of the real Monkees creators director Bob Rafelson and producer Bert Schneider. The Monkees' hairstyles are also inaccurate for the time. Micky had his hair straight for the first season and wavy but not as curly during the early second. Davy's hair looks like it did in the later first season episodes of late '66-early '67. 

"All of Your Toys" was indeed the first song the Monkees recorded after their revolt, but Kirshner rejected it for not having a Screen Gems (Columbia Pictures) trademark; it was rejected for Headquarters as well. It wouldn't make it on an album until the 1987 release of cut and unused Monkees songs Missing Links. 

What I Don't Like: At times, it becomes all-too obvious that this was a made-for-cable movie filmed in Toronto. Many of the locations look nothing like LA or London. The dialogue is often clunky and stilted, especially near the end, where we get a lot of sloppy speeches from Mike and Peter on artistic integrity and Davy having to "cut the strings" and stop being a puppet. Davy's frustration and homesickness is mostly manufactured (he'd been on his own since he was 14), but his feeling out-of-place in the group wasn't. Lohr was such an adorable Micky and so perfectly captured his endless energy that I really wish he had more to do. Micky isn't seen or heard from as often as the other three, despite having just as much going on at the time as them. 

My biggest gripe is the too-pat ending. It barely touches on Peter's frustration over them not recording as a band and leaving the group. The whole thing at the beach and with Mike and Davy at the hospital is overly sentimental and smacks of a cop-out. In truth, there was no easy ending to the Monkee's story in the 60's. Peter left in 1969. The other three continued on, with Mike finally calling it quits to form his own band later that year. Davy and Micky did one more album as a duo, then Davy quit. (Micky Dolenz claims to be the only member who never quit any version of the Monkees.) There would be successful revivals in 1986 on MTV and Nickelodeon, in 1997, and in 2016 after Jones' death. In fact, I wonder if this might have made a better miniseries. There's really too much story here for a hour and a half cable movie. 

The Big Finale: If you're already a big Monkees fan like me, you probably know everything that's covered here. For casual viewers or fans just discovering their music, use this as a springboard to learning more about the band, their music, and their fight for artistic integrity. 

Home Media: The DVD is out of print and pricey, Streaming is far and away your best bet. Amazon Prime and Tubi both currently have it for free with commercials.

DVD

Tubi

Amazon Prime

Animation Celebration Saturday - The Fox and the Hound 2

Disney, 2006

Voices of Patrick Swayze, Reba McEntire, Jonah Bobo, and Harrison Fahn

Directed by Jim Kammerud

Music and Lyrics by various

Even Fox and the Hound got a sequel during the late 90's and 2000's, when Disney was obsessed with giving every movie in its back catalog a direct-to-home-media follow-up. Critics complained that they were cheapening the brand, but they were consistent money-makers. This one came out during the tail-end of that era, when the quality had started to improve slightly. Was it enough to help this tale of Tod and Copper's adventures with a country band at the local carnival? Let's begin with Tod and Copper playing together on a summer's day, chasing crickets, and find out...

The Story: Tod and Copper are excited when the fair comes to town, especially with a group of dogs known as the Singing Strays. Copper gets a chance to join the group after diva dog Dixie (McEntire) refuses to go on. He's such a hit, head dog Cash (Swayze) fires her and hires Copper on the spot after Tod lies and says he's a stray. Tod's so disappointed when his friend spends the whole day with Cash and the Strays, including the fireworks, he tells Dixie Copper has an owner. 

Dixie thinks this is a way to get back with the band, but Tod's attempt to bring Copper's owner Amos Slade (Jeff Bennet) to the performance ends up driving off the Grand Ol' Opry talent scout (Stephen Root) who was supposed to come see them sing. After Tod ends up with the scout's hat, he gets Copper to use his tracking skills and bring Dixie and Cash back together...and make them understand that their relationship and love of singing is more important than any fame.

The Animation: Lovely, warm fall colors almost make up for a distinct lack of detail. In fact, in some ways, this looks a bit better than the rough animation from the original. They were just starting to phase out the Xerox process when they made the 1981 movie. This came long after that had been retired, and it doesn't look half-bad for one of these cheap transfers. The characters look decent and move pretty well, though you do miss the lovely woodsy backgrounds of the original.

The Song and Dance: This wound up being a lot more fun than I expected. As I mentioned last week, The Fox and the Hound was never my favorite Disney movie to begin with, and this does correct some of my problems with that film. Dixie, Cash,  and the Singing Strays are far more interesting characters in the side plot than the two birds chasing a caterpillar in the first film. The country music fits the rural milieu better than Pearl Bailey and her languid ballads did, too. Frankly, the music always did seem a bit out of place in the first film. Tod and Copper have slightly more to do, especially Copper, and Bobo and Fahn are adorable. Swayze and McEntire are the stand-outs as the two dogs who get so caught up in chasing fame, they forget that their true loves are performing and each other.

The Numbers: We open with "Friends for Life," performed by country group One Flew South as Tod and Copper romp and play with the cricket in the beginning. Copper breaks into "We're In Harmony" and becomes an instant sensation. Swayze and the chorus sing about him being a "Hound Dude" at the fair. Frustrated Dixie tells Tod how she's been constantly told "Good Doggie, No Bone!" and that life as a musical act is no bed of dog bones. Trisha Yearwood sings the dark "Blue Beyond" as Dixie realizes all the trouble she's caused and Tod realizes he's ready to make up with Copper. "We're In Harmony" is heard twice in the ending, when Dixie and Cash get together and the group shows the talent scout how good they are, and in the finale as Tod and Copper hear them over the radio. The movie ends with Lucas Grabeel singing "You Know I Will" over the credits.

Trivia: This would be the last Disney film to feature the blue and white castle logo they'd used for over twenty years.

What I Don't Like: At times, it's a lot more apparent that this is a direct-to-DVD sequel to a movie that wasn't all that great to begin with. While it is nice to see Tod and Copper having fun before their break-up, you barely see Amos Slade or the Widow Tweed, Slade's older dog Chief has maybe two lines, and Big Mama and her two bird friends are gone all together. It's hard to see how this upbeat little romp fits into the original dour, dark story. It feels more like a stand-alone movie than any kind of sequel. 

The country music may suit the setting, but it still isn't all that great. Dixie and Cash can be unbearably self-centered, especially Dixie, and their quest for fame seems petty and cliched. The remaining three strays aren't nearly as fleshed out, though Vicki Lawrence has her moments as the eldest member Granny Rose. 

The Big Finale: I consider this to be less of a sequel and more of a stand-alone story that happens to feature Tod and Copper. If you have country fans or younger kids who will enjoy the music and Tod and Copper's antics, this is mildly worth checking out once for the cast and decent numbers. 

Home Media: Easily found on disc packaged with the original and on Disney Plus with a subscription.

DVD

Blu-Ray - The Fox and the Hound/The Fox and the Hound 2

Disney Plus