Monday, October 8, 2007

Chicago and Red Dawn

Those are the titles of the two movies Kat and I watched this weekend, and both are worth telling you about. First I'll talk about Chicago:

The thing that will surprise you most is the story is based around actual events that happened in the 20's. A reporter who interviewed the killers wrote a play which was turned into a musical in 1976 by Bob Fosse, one of the greatest choreographers of all time. That being said, the dancing in this film is INCREDIBLE, as is the singing. Probably part of why it won the Best Picture award for 2002. You find a let down here that you may have in the wanna-be director Joel Schumacher's Phantom of the Opera that came out in 05. Here's a warning, though: One of Fosse's signiature style's was a cynical view of sexuality. In other words, he put it in to satirize the sexuality so common in musicals and theatre. Now, that being said, if you want to watch the film you're going to find brilliant performances by Renee Zellwegger, Catherine Zeta Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, and my personal favorite song: Mister Cellophane by John C. Reilly which I thought stole the show. It was very moving. The film satirizes the criminal justice system and exposes the need for "no-talent celebrities" like Paris, Britney, and Lindsay to be constantly one-uping each other in order to keep the spotlight on themselves. Again, the film is risque but beautiful.


The second film, Red Dawn, was made in..... 1984 and features the infamous 80's stars: Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey, and Lea Thompson. It's about the Soviet invasion of America resulting in World War III, and about a band of teenagers, named the Wolverines after their high school mascot, lead a resistance against the Soviet forces from the mountains. The film has not only some great action sequences but also exposes the psychological trauma kids go through when thrust into violent terrifying situations. Look for strong performances from both Swayze and Sheen here.

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