And the Musicals keep rolling in….

….......and in and in and in and in, from every side.
Well according to Ain't It Cool News and Hollywood Reporter MGM are planning a remake of FAME.
Is there nothing original out there, or are the studios far too conservative to take the risk on something original? I mean already we have Sweeney Todd, Hairspray, Nine and now this news. I was not going to bother doing a post about the state of movie musicals, but this news just really upset me, like when I listen to Shakira sing (she sounds like Miss Piggy with a cold)

The last crop of musicals have all failed in making its audience passionate. "Phantom of the Opera", "Rent" and "The Producers", even "Dreamgirls" all lacked that something that makes your heart soar to those heights that musicals are supposed to take you. Even “Chicago”, for all it’s kudos, played it safe. What needs to happen is for some originality to go into the making of these films, some edginess. When you go to the theatre to see these live productions, even though some are bad, the performers are there in front of you adding excitement and immediacy. This is taken away on celluloid so something else has to be added, a fire needs to be lit.


So, Hollywood, you need to fully round the characters and make us care about them no matter how cartoonish they may seem. Make the film exciting to hear and to look at, with “Moulin Rogue” there was always some scrumptious detail lurking in every scene. Music flows, so the film needs to as well, any drifts or lulls in the story telling will show up that much more in a musical. And finally if you must remake a musical give it something new, a new angle or a new look to generate interest to an audience that did not grow up watching people spontaneously burst into song. Please do not just copy the Broadway show and add new songs in the hopes of getting that best song Oscar, that is lazy and transparent.
Just put some effort in and just be smart!!!