Sunday, January 03, 2021

D.M.S.R.

Is there major irony about the Prom - the Footloose of the 21st century - which is a musical about a small town against LGBTQ anything?

Yes, the anti-gay folks twirl, pirouette, jazz hands and scoop their voices to make them that much more Broadway. 

That's not a compliment. 

Perhaps it's the writing of shows over the last few years (read: decades) but the songs and voices can be interchanged by anyone and into any show. It's all so generic and boring. 

And it seems no one marginalizes anything more than Ryan Murphy. Think Glee or his 178 different American Horror Stories - all starring Sarah Paulson. This might be the first thing he's done that doesn't have Paulson - which might be a shame. 

I was underwhelmed by Meryl Streep. I know, right? She had her moments, so I'm not sure it was her as much as it was the material. James Corden was exactly what you expect.  Is it weird I've seen like two movie musicals in six years and both had Streep and Corden?  I think the question is rhetorical. 

Nicole Kidman wasn't bad - at least I don't think. Best of the bunch, maybe.  The woman who played the main girl - Emma - wasn't pretty good, though a little too 'the sun'll come out tomorrow-ish'. 

And the Prom proves that Keegan-Michael Key is in everything. Ironically, his was one of the few songs I didn't mind and wasn't so forced. Andrew Rannells proves he has a style. Singular. But he makes it work. Even Tracey Ullman's character could have been played by anyone. Was June Squibb not available? 

Don't get me wrong - I knew what I was getting into from the beginning. Well, I assumed I knew. I wasn't incorrect.   .......and like so many musicals, a song fixes any injustice and everyone is happy in the end.  I mean, except in Shoah: the Musical !!*

Still this is 120 minutes I'll never ever get back. 


At least the Prom has Mary Kay Place.  She makes everything better.  I mean, not the Prom, but most things. 




*not a real thing.......I hope. I should have Gooooogled that. 



I am randomly picking 15 as my movie goal for 2021. Knowing that most of our theaters are still closed, I'll be a bit liberal on what is and isn't a movie this upcoming year. I suspect that most will still be streaming bound, but this is the new world we live in. Christopher Nolan is just gonna have to deal with it. 


2021 Movie Count / Goal: 01 of 15



Song by: Prince & the Revolution

4 comments:

James Dwight Williamson said...

They say James Corden came to the US for Broadway, love his attitude. Struggled with Into the Woods, love his show. Hope he finds happiness. The Prom is like the Thomas Wolfe quote I believe , You Can’t Go Home Again. Obviously these girls never had a home!

GregM said...

I've been a Mary Kay Place fan since "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman". I even had her album, "Live from the Capri Lounge, It's Loretta Haggers, Loretta Haggers" Have you seen her in "Diane", a film that came and went quickly in 2018? Highly recommend it.


Raybeard said...

Although not tongue-out-panting to see this, I must own to a modicum of curiosity [Can it really be THAT bad?]. It's the cast more than anything else. S'pose I will catch it in some form eventually but shan't be chasing it.

uptonking said...

I think Ryan Murphy has jumped the shark... or ate it. I can't tell. Hated this. The songs were all cribbed from better songs. The voices were so studio enhanced, who the hell cares who was singing? I liked it when Nicoles botox filled face flexed a little... it made her seem almost human. Actually, she was under-utilized. I am rather fond of her, but not her botox. Everything felt like Glee leftovers. Hated the two male leads. Blech and Blech II. Mary Kay Place actually has played both sides of the gay conundrum. Saw her as a mother who couldn't cope with a gay kid and now as a grandma who is fine with it. Why is everybody in Ryan Murphy crap so damn wealthy, privileged, etc.? Does Ryan not know what the simple folk do? Eat? Sleep in? Wear? Live-in? From what I have seen, Ryan's idea of poor people are those who live in the bad part of the suburbs and don't have maid service. So, I guess I am tired of Ryan Murphy crap. I tried to watch The Politician - but when the now-poor white kid ends up playing piano man in a bar where a bunch of nicely scrubbed 'kids' hang out and hang on said piano man's every word and then he starts singing a f'ng Billy Joel song to his high school frenemies, who just so happen to be sitting in the audience? I was out. Done. B.S. thy name is Ryan Murphy.