Ten Times 2024 Movies Should Have Leaned Harder into "Movie Musical" Genre

by Nathaniel R

I’m back! Well, not quite but working towards it. We're going to do an 80s theme in early November, okay? But let’s start with a question and a list to prove that I have actually been watching movies (and am alive) though I’ve rarely been writing and miss it terribly.

Has it been a good, bad, or ugly year for the always threatened Movie Musical genre? 

 The greatest of all movie genres is always threatened with extinction but it's also resilient and still with us almost a century after its debut.  The year isn't over so the initial bolded question is premature. Mean Girls was a dud early in the year and the highly anticipated Joker Folie A Deux is currently flopping which serves it right for sidelining Lady Gaga (of all people) and being so uncomfortable about calling itself a musical. But we've still got one famous stage adaptation (Wicked), two experiments (The End, Emilia Perez),  one animated adventure (Moana ), and three musician biopics (A Complete Unknown, Maria, and A Better Man) arriving before year's end so there's still hope.

Here are ten movies from 2024 that could have been musicals with a few tweaks or even more insanity from their auteurs. Consider...

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What Qualifies as a Comedy for the Golden Globes?

By Abe Friedtanzer

It was announced this week that the forthcoming Promising Young Woman (my favorite film of 2020)  will be campaigned at the Golden Globes in the comedy/musical races. There’s definitely a case to be made for its classification as a comedy, even though it’s very dark. I agree that it’s the right choice though surely some will argue. Similarly, The Flight Attendant, which just earned a season two renewal from HBO Max, is likely to be considered a comedy for the TV categories, an interesting choice given the fact that it’s really a thriller. This isn’t the first time there’s at least been room for debate about what actually counts as a comedy with the HFPA and other groups…

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Deadpool 2 Opens Big, Book Club Counterprograms.

Weekend Box Office (May 18th-20th)
W I D E 800+ screens	L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide
Deadpool 2	Disobedience
1.🔺Deadpool 2 $125 *NEW*	1.🔺 RBG $1.2 on 375 screens (cum. $3.8)  REVIEW
2. Avengers Infinity War $28.6 (cum. $595) REVIEW	2.🔺 Disobedience $498k on 247 screens (cum. $1.8) REVIEW
3.🔺Book Club $12.5 *NEW* REVIEW	3.🔺 Pope Francis - A Man of His Word $480k on 346 screens *NEW*
4. Life of the Party  $7.7 (cum. $31)	4.🔺  2001: A Space Odyssey $200k on 4 screens RE-RELEASE
5. Breaking In $6.4 (cum. $28.7) REVIEW	5.The Rider $169 on 90 screens (cum. $1.1) REVIEW

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Josh Brolin Nicks Role of Cable in "Deadpool 2"

by Daniel Crooke

After ages of anticipation, Marvel Cinematic Universe fans’ long international nightmare is over: Deadpool 2 has finally cast the coveted role of Cable, the central villain for the sequel.

In one of the more noteworthy examples of franchise double duty since Swedish soap star Maud Adams seduced audiences in two separate James Bond outings (Octopussy and Live and Let Die, for those keeping score at home) Josh Brolin – Thanos, Destroyer of Realms, himself – has landed his second role as a Marvel baddie in the upcoming sequel to the surprise 2015 superhero hit. Beating out Michael Shannon and David Harbour to clinch the part, Brolin now has the distinction of not only playing the MCU’s preeminent bad guy, but the antihero’s enemy in the Deadpool offshoot as well; while they share a foundational mythology, the Deadpool films belong to Marvel Entertainment and not the Disney-owned Marvel Studios. 

As Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds put it…

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Mt Linkmore

THR Shin Godzilla wins really big at the Japanese Oscars while massive anime hit Your Name takes 3 prizes. A film called Her Love Boils Bathwater (????) took both of the actress awards. Gimme.
TFE ... ICYMI Shin Godzilla came in at #18 at the US box office in terms of foreign film success last year (just behind critical darlings The Handmaiden and Elle)
Two Dollar Cinema had a fun blog-a-thon called 'Mt Rushmore of Movies' in which bloggers could just any fourpart tribute - I only hear about blog-a-thons after the fact but I'm happy some people are still doing 'em. Entries include: four characters with great beards, best movie cameos, movies where romantic leads don't end up together, and more

Much more film & TV news, videos, and linkage as well as Barry Jenkins & Damien Chazelle's friendship after the jump because this is a super long post. It's impossible to keep up as of late!

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