Great stuff, Keith. I noticed this morning that Dreamgirls was the #3 movie last weekend, and was only on on 852 screens. Night At the Museum and Pursuit of Happyness were on 3800 and 2800 screens, respectively, and were the #1 and #2 movies. The rest of the list were on a minimum of 2 thousand screens. So a movie like Dreamgirls can do really well without a lot of marketing (just great press) and good placement.
I am interested to see how Dreamgirls does on DVD. If it does as well as "Ray", then I think we've found our Black movie distribution method. George Lucas may be right. THeaters might be for blockbusters and franchises,and home video may be for film and interesting stories. On Wed, 03 Jan 2007 09:31:18 -0500, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Saw this last week (for the wife, you know!) For my money, the best > movie about Blacks in the music biz is still Robert Townsend's "The Five > Heartbeats", but "Dreamgirls" is a fun flick. Very good, entertaining > movie. Kinda light and fluffy like a marshmellow, but that's okay. The > following is my review, published at the website "Playahata". Go to > www.playahata.com, click on "Movie Reviews" at the top, and look for > the movie in the alphabetized list. Be warned: the site itself can be > kinda raw in language at times, but it's not too bad. (Hey, I'm sure > Shakespeare had to drop some hip-hip reviews before he got his big break > too!) > > You can also find my reviews of "Stranger than Fiction" and "Crank" > (awful, awful movie!) at the site. > > > Dreamgirls Category: Drama, Musical/Performing Arts and Adaptation > Rating: PG-13 for language, some sexuality and drug content. > Run Time: 2 hr 05 min. > > Starring: Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, > Jennifer Hudson > Directed by Bill Condon > Produced by Patricia Whitcher, Laurence Mark > Written by: Bill Condon (screenplay), Tom Eyen (source) > Distributed by Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks SKG > Release Date: December 25th, 2006 > Synopsis: Effie White, Deena Jones, and Lorrell Robinson - three friends > from Chicago - are a promising singing trio called The Dreamettes. > Accompanied by their songwriter C.C. White (Effie's brother), they > travel to New York to compete in a talent show at the Apollo Theatre. > Although the girls lose this first bid for fame, their talent attracts > an ambitious manager by the name of Curtis Taylor, Jr., who uses > unscrupulous tactics to move the girls from backup singers of superstar > James "Thunder" Early to superstars of their own. Curtis reshapes the > group to "crossover" from R & B to the lucrative pop music scene. Lead > singer Effie gets replaced by the more attractive Deena and is > eventually dropped from the trio. The group evolves into a more > sophisticated group, The Dreams, with a lighter sound and chic look. > They successfully attract a "whiter" audience and The Dreams rise to > international stardom. The money, fame, and adulation, howev er, doesn't > bring them happiness. > TsarBernard (a.k.a. Keith Johnson) Says Overall: A > Reviewing “Dreamgirls” is almost a waste of time. With a stellar cast > and kickin’ soundtrack, it would succeed whether critics hated or loved > it. People expect it to be good, period. And they’d be right. This is a > fun, moving, toe-tapping, hand-clapping, gorgeously produced film. > The movie kicks into high gear from the very first scene. We meet “The > Dreamettes”, a group of eager young singers competing in a music contest > at a Detroit theatre reminiscent of The Apollo. Though amateurs, they > wow the audience. Through the machinations of car dealer and would-be > music mogul Curtis Taylor (Jamie Foxx in a none-too-secret Barry Gordy > impersonation), the Dreamettes lose the competition, but are “saved” by > Taylor. He gets them hired singing backup for James “Thunder” Early, > (Eddie Murphy) a James Brown type who’s hot in the R&B world. Everyone’s > excited about the opportunity but Effie, who doesn’t trust Taylor. She > relents, however, and soon gives in to Taylor’s charms. > You know the rest of the story: Taylor guides the Dreamettes to a > successful career with Early, in time changing their style to one less > soulful, but more palatable to the sought-after white audience. The > Dreamettes ultimately become a group in their own right–the Dreams–and > go on to pop glory. Along the way there’s backstage trysts, > manipulations, and backstabbing a-plenty, most significantly, the > replacement of Effie as lead singer by Deena (Beyonce Knowles). Early > deems Effie’s more stereotypically Black figure, features, and voice a > hindrance to his goal of crossover success. Instead he backs slim, > light-skinned, prettier (at least, to Early) Deena. Early knows Deena’s > voice isn’t that great, but as he tells her later, it’s her very > blandness that he likes, as it makes her a blank canvass that he can > paint as he wants. > What follows is an enjoyable if predictable flick. Overall this is a > class act. Musical numbers are mostly good. Production values are high > across the board, be it the look of ‘60s era clubs, or the changing > clothing and hair styles worn by the actors across the years. The actors > are all good. Danny Glover makes the most of a limited supporting role > as Early’s first manager. Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose shines in a > smaller role that could have been lost behind Knowles and Hudson. Jamie > Foxx is fine as the schemer who’ll sacrifice anyone to further his > dreams. Beyonce Knowles, arguably the most promoted star of the film, > acquits herself well. Knowles’ true acting ability is still in question, > but as the movie has as much singing and posing as real acting, she’s > more than capable of handling the demands. > The two standouts are just as you’ve heard. Eddie Murphy takes what > could have been a camp repeat of his Saturday Night Live James Brown > impersonation and gives it true heart and soul. His Early is funny, > roguish, arrogant, and ultimately rather sympathetic. While the role may > not be quite the Oscar caliber performance some suggest, it’s still > amazing. Hopefully this will open new acting doors for him. > Jennifer Hudson is a treasure. For someone whose main claim to fame was > being kicked off “American Idol”, she’s amazing. Her Effie is at times > strong, sassy, tough, and vulnerable. Hudson says more with expression > and body language than many seasoned actresses with pages of dialogue. > An eye roll conveys exasperation and suspicion; a slight twitch of the > lips telegraphs sadness and longing; head raised high trumpets defiance > and resolve. Oh yeah: the girl can sing too. From R&B songs, to jazzier > tunes, to the famous “You’re Gonna Love Me”, she nails the songs > perfectly. > There are a few nits I could pick. Some of the musical numbers could be > a little longer. The camera’s a little hyper in early scenes in an > attempt to further energize the performances. The balancing of singing > and dialogue is a little uneven in the first half, which often feels > simply like a musical transplanted to film, a string of songs connected > by some dialogue. The second half has a better balance, and the film’s > better for it. It’s here that the actors’ dramatic abilities get to > shine and the movie goes from good great. (This is probably just my > preference of more dialogue, and won’t even be noticed by most people). > Perhaps most interesting about “Dreamgirls” is the irony of the casting > itself. Will Eddie Murphy’s performance grant him new life as an actor, > just as Thunder Early tries to stay relevant in a changing musical > world? Will Jennifer Hudson–whose vocal and acting talents surpass > Knowles’–enjoy the career she obviously deserves? Or will the more > mainstream-appealing Knowles’ looks and charm see her become the > mega-star of screen as well as stage, just like Deena? > Only time will tell, of course. Nothing’s certain. What is certain is > that “Dreamgirls” will please just about everyone. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > -- Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/
