Q&A: Best Musicals, Pick of Ensemble Litter, Jamie Lee Curtis, Etc...
Sunday, June 11, 2017 at 12:13PM
NATHANIEL R in Colorology, Gosford Park, Groundhog Day, Italy, Jamie Lee Curtis, La Dolce Vita, Q&A

I promised a round of reader questions a couple of weeks back and here's the first round of answers. Ready? Let's go.

JAMES FROM AMES: Thoughts on the four musicals up for the Tony this year (editors note: TONIGHT)? What's your favorite musical from this century? 

Alas, I cannot answer part one of this question as I've only seen one of them (Groundhog Day) which I thought was very well staged with a sensational lead performance by Andy Karl but the best score nomination feels... let's say "generous". But we have reviewed a few of the nominated productions right here. Funds have been terribly tight this year so not much theater. The other part of the question is (slightly) easier to answer. The best new musicals of the new century... don't make me pick just one. My top 12 in alpha order since I couldn't decide which to jettison. I wish they could all be movies... or most of them, that is. If they already have a film adaptation they're marked with an asterisk.

The list and questions about Gosford Park, color vs black and white cinema, and more after the jump...

Outside the list are Grey Gardens, Kinky Boots, American Psycho, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and a few others. And yes 2004 was an incredible year on Broadway. I should note that I dont see everything so of the shows I'm less familiar with, I really regret never seeing The Scottsboro Boys, In the Heights, Next to Normal, and Spring Awakening  which all have devout fanbases.

MAREKO: Just rewatched True Lies. Jamie Lee Curtis was so slyly awesome and fun in that. How would you rank her (best) performances?

Jamie Lee Curtis with Murphy & Ackroyd in Trading Places

Thank heavens that the Golden Globes exist and that they've nominated her when she was worthy. I think she deserved an Oscar nomination for Freaky Friday (2003) so that's my #1 for her. She is also sensational in both A Fish Called Wanda  (2nd fav) and True Lies  (3rd favorite). It's really hard for gifted comic actresses to be appreciated in their time, though, sadly as awards tend to be for "Best Drama" even when they aren't so named. I'd name those three as far and away her three best star turns though I have a soft spot for Perfect (1985) solely from the time capsule perspective. Of the Curtis performances I haven't seen the one I've heard about most often in connection with "she's awesome!" is Trading Places (1983). Have any of you seen that?

DAVE S: More questions inspired by "Mamma Mia 2" - what other movie musicals would you try to sequel-ize? What Abba songs are left that you'd want to hear in this new one? Should they have chosen a different musical artist so they didn't have to work with a partially depleted catalog?

I keep hearing about "depleted catalogue" with ABBA but trust that ABBA's catalogue is huge and awesome (why does no one remember how massive their hits catalogue is?) and there's plenty to work that they didn't use in the first movie. That said I loathe Mamma Mia and am dreading Mamma Mia 2. That musical has already and will continue to tarnish the ABBA legacy as the greatest pop band ever, reducing it to bad karaoke kitsch.

P.S. I prefer movies to be standalone glories so I'm good with nothing being sequelized. Unless someone has a way of resurrecting Judy Garland and then, whatever it is, I'm in...

TYLER: What is your favorite Italian film?

NATHANIEL: For the longest time I would've said La Dolce Vita (1960) without a moment's hesitation but now I have to hesitate having recently seen Seven Beauties (1977) which proved to be every bit the masterpiece I'd heard rumored and more, I may have to rethink.  

/3RTFUL: Are you divided? You appreciate golden era Hollywood cinema which mainly resides in black and white. But contemporary color cinema is less vivid and saturated like you like when you're watching newly minted color imagery. How does that work? Being a lover of color yet nostalgic for the era drenched in black and white?

NATHANIEL: I don't feel this is a dichotomy. I am probably not as nostalgic for black and white as it may appear on the blog. I assume the idea that I'm nostalgic for that era comes from my fascination with the studio system's star-factory prowess. That era has the most movie stars, thus more than its share of coverage on the blog but really I'm enthused about all decades of movies. The only reason I don't talk about silents, for example, is that too few of you seem to care... though we should probably talk about 70s cinema more. So there you go. Whether a movie is in black or white or color, I don't care. I only ask that it commit to what it is. I prefer my black and whites to be dramatically lit with blinding whites and inky blacks and I prefer color films to be super colorful. To me it's the same thing. I hope that makes sense.

You're correct that I loathe the current mainstream aesthetic where color is viewed as so frivolous that they drain as much as they can and would clearly rather be black and white. It's literally the most boring aesthetic I've lived through in all of my (cough *40sdgi^7ausgy)kiuasygu#%asjgh*) years. I'm not sure who to blame -- Clint Eastwood? DC superheroes up until Wonder Woman? but this aesthetic has been dulling the cinema down for about 10 years now and trust that I eagerly await the opportunity to dance naked on its grave.

KERMIT: Gosford Park is that rare beast - a true ensemble where it seems that everyone I meet has a different MVP! What are your thoughts on the film and who gives your favourite performance? (I would have been happy with a 2001 Best Supporting Actress category entirely dominated by this film - my winner? Kristin Scott Thomas.)

At the time I was firmly in the "The Oscars got it right!" camp with Dame Helen Mirren being my favorite in that picture and Dame Maggie Smith as runner up. I think Maggie Smith's comic glory in that movie may have dimmed retroactively since she deployed that aristocratic hauteur as high comedy more emphatically and more often on multiple seasons of Downton Abbey. But it really really is a rich cast and any personal favorite seems arguable. We should all rewatch it and discuss for a firmer answer!

Is everyone in?

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