Howdy, I am the Crappy Music Man. I know you all are tried of critics (except for That Guy With The...uh...I forget). They review old (or new) movies and games. But what about MUSIC. This is a review of Vanessa Hudgen's Sneakernight. I want to add that there is an advertisement for That Guy With The Glasses in the video. Hope you enjoy.
More Music Video Reviews: http://www.youtube.com/user/CrappyMusicMan
(Inspired by SpikesGirl1's SNL-themed blog posts.)
I like to watch Saturday Night Live.
Or rather, let me rephrase that…
I STILL like to watch Saturday Night Live.
Whenever the subject of the famed American sketch comedy show is brought up, there’s something of a consensus among those I’ve spoken with about it. That the show was great back in the 70s and early 90s, but since then it’s lost it’s spark.
I would have to agree for the most part. Especially in these most recent seasons, a lot of SNL’s sketches haven’t been particularly funny, relying on gimmickry, expecting people to get numerous pop culture references, and just plain sub-par writing. This isn’t to say they’re all bad. For every eye-rolling sketch relying entirely on puns about how “Sofa King” sounds like “So Fucking”, (That was seriously a sketch.) there’ve been quite a few really funny ones. But since there hasn’t been another timeless sketch, no new Festrunk Brothers, Matt Foley, or anything with Phil Hartman in it, their reputation still remains.
So the sketches are a mixed bag. Some good, but a lot of lame ones. So what keeps me tuning back in over and over? The Musical Guests.
Yes, generally SNL pretty much tends to pick out the lowest common denominator in terms of good music to have on their show, but quite often I find myself surprised at the number of completely awesome guests that have appeared during the show.
I’d like to share now with you, 5 (I couldn’t come up with 10, much less find links for 10.) of my all time favorite SNL performances, if I may. You’ll notice I had to do a lot of scrounging around to find videos of all these performances. You can thank NBC for being a bunch of litigious jerkfaces.
But let’s get to the performances already:
5. “Too Much Too Young” by The Specials
I must have been 16 when I first saw this re-run of an old episode of SNL, with these Ska legends as the musical guest, and immediately I was hooked. It stuck with me since then, even though I never really found out who The Specials really were until years later.
What made it for me? Well it was a catchy song, of course, but like every live performance footage I’ve seen of The Specials, they REALLY got into the performance. Terry Hall and the rest of the band are dancing around the stage, looking like they’re having an absolutely delightful time, displaying the kind of infectious energy that since then I haven’t really seen from any other live televised performance. (Until I saw Gogol Bordello perform on Letterman.)
I dunno what prompted the folks at SNL to pick out The Specials to guest alongside Strother Martin, since The Specials were only big over in Britain, and “Too Much Too Young” wasn’t a hit in America.
The televisions show Buffy The Vampire Slayer (aired in March 10th, 1997 and ended in May 20th, 2003) is a fan-favourite. To say it is a "cult-classic" like I usually do would be an understatement. Because this is not a small or large group of specific people that love this show, it appears there are thousands, maybe millions who flock to watch the whole chronicle. Now, I'd usually talk about such things like cast and characters, but I think many people are familiar with them by now that I don't need to do that. Besides, since I am only doing an Episode Review and not the entire show itself, I think it is best to just talk about the episode in question.
Everybody will be singing/shouting this memorable quote/line from...you guessed it, Pete's Dragon (made in 1977). Believe me, I am one of these people who absolutely loves this musical family movie with a passion! But I will delve into the reasons later...
Now, to get past the technical stuff, Pete's Dragon is a Walt Disney movie based off a story (of course!) about an orphan boy named Pete (played by Sean Marshall...who is known for ONLY this movie by the way) and his dragon (gee, wonder how they figure out the name for this?) named Elliott. It is like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (which was made later in 1988) using excellent style to make live-action characters interact with animated ones. Which, by the way, was a new concept back in the day.
With an all-star cast of Helen Reddy, Shelley Winters, Mickey Rooney, Red Buttons, Tim Dale and Jeff Conaway, it is easy to see that it was taken in high regard back in 1977 and this film had the best actors doing...what exactly? Make fools of them, of course! Though I do have to say one thing, a big hand for the supporting actors that played the townspeople of Passamaquoddy (a small fishing community/town). Quite possibly the most professional stunt-men and comedic actors reside in this town (just look at the entrance of Pete into the town and the pub dancing scene)! Not to mention their personalities, like Miss Taylor (the strict teacher who can't tell a dragon from a wagon) and The Mayor (an important man where things seem to go wrong every time he steps out of the Town Hall). This town is full of un-imaginitive (aside from Nora and Lampie) people that go about their daily lives where nothing interesting happens...that is until Pete arrives and also the main vagabound (villain) Doctor Terminus returns to town.
Hello every one. Inspired by The Nostalgia Critic, I've decided I want to start my own reviews of movies. But I didn't want to take nostalgic movies since that is obviously taken. So I've spent the last few weeks trying to think of my own unique movies I could review. And thats when I remembered "hey, I'm an actor!". So I've decided to review musical films! If you have any musicals you would like me to review, lemme know. Films can be old ones, new ones, Disney films, even movies that aren't originally based on a musical but they made one anyways (Across the Universe). So, lets get this underway and start sending me requests! You may send as many as you like. And spread the news to your friends. There's a new critic on the web.
Btw, if someone can help me come up with a good name for my reviews, it would be much appreciated. Thank you :-)
If you're interested in ABBA, a singing Pierce Brosnan and a gay Colin Firth, this is definitely your movie. But let's not rush ahead.
In 1999, Mamma mia!, a musical composed from the songs by ABBA became a major hit. It arranges the songs so they fit in an entirely fictional plot: a woman slept with three men in a month, and got pregnant. Twenty years later daughter wants to know who her father is, and invites all three men to her wedding. They don't know each other and the relationship of the others with the mother, the mother doesn't even know they are there, and she thinks her daughter doesn't know anything about the situation at all. At first, I thought the plot was inspired by (blatantly stolen from) the french movie Une chance sur deux (english title Half a chance), where Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo are both the fathers of Vanessa Paradis. Turns out I was wrong. Mamma mia! remade (shamelessly and obviously took the entire plot without changes of) Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell, a movie starring Gina Lollobrigida. Sorry, did I say no changes at all? Oh my, there is a major difference: Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbelltakes place in Italy, while Mamma mia! is in Greece. This changes everything, really.
But enough of that: the plot is secondary. And we're talking about the movie here, not the original stage musical. While not getting excited from the idea of the whole thing, I actually wanted to see this movie after I saw the trailer. It' fast, it's fun, the songs are great, the actors are well-known, what else could you possibly want? Well, that's it. You want credibility. Let me explain. 99 percent of musicals are about making a musical. Think about your favourite musical! Whether it be Singing in the rain, Chorus line, or High School Musical (may god have mercy on your soul), they are all about making a musical production of some sort. There's a reason to that: they have to make you believe these people burst out singing avery five minutes. And this is harder if your movie has a plot other than that. It's so hard, Mamma mia! fails at this task.
Now don't get me wrong. I don't need a legitimate argument for every damn song in the movie. I want the movie to suck me into its universe so I don't care if there is no actual reason for the characters to sing. Think about Sweeney Todd. People usually don't want to sing a duet with the man whom they're going to kill within seconds. I don't know about you, but I did this only two or three times out of many. Anyway, in Sweeney Todd you didn't care, because you had a great director who could make you forget this problem. In Mamma mia!,the first two songs are so annoying, so out of place, that later in the movie, I found myself quoting the one and only Nostalgia Critic, asking the actors when they were asked a question: "I don't know, why don'r you sing about it?" And that's never a good sign in a musical.
The movie tries to put hings right, but every song I could genuinely enjoy was followed by an annoying one. I really tried, but the direction just kicked me in the nards. Not only Wolfman has them.
In other aspects, it doesn't do bad: the actors are at least decent (when Meryl Streep makes her first appearance, and gives a quizzical look to her daughter, is priceless: they should teach that in acting schools), the songs are sung well, the scenery is beautiful, the plot twists are predictable but enjoyable, and Colin Firth is gay. I know that's why you even started to read this. So, here's your enjoyment: Colin Firth plays a gay man. Satisfied? Well then.
I really don't know if I should recommend this movie. I would really like to see it on stage, where the director has an easier task. If you really love ABBA, you'll enjoy this movie, no matter what. If you are easily distracted by out-of-place songs, wait for it on DVD, or wtach it in theatre. I don't like to give scores to movies, so I won't. Instead, I have a question (not of the day, don't sue me, Riz):
Have you seen Mamma mia! on stage? If you have, I would really like to hear (well, read) your opinion. Don't be shy, comments are more than welcome! (If I would say "The power is yours!" you would beat me to death with a blunt object, so I won't do that.)
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