Musical

Galavant – Pilot

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Galavant – Pilot
  • IMDb: link

Galavant - Pilot

Written and produced by Dan Fogelman, Galavant‘s eight-episode run began last night with the show’s “Pilot.” A musical-comedy concerning the medieval adventures of the famous knight (Joshua Sasse) from who the show earns it’s name the pilot begins in epic song telling the story of our hero racing to stop the evil King Richard (Timothy Omundson) from marrying Galavant’s true love only to discover Madalena (Mallory Jansen) prefers her new wealthier suitor thus quickly undercutting the basic fairy tale themes with some dark humor informing the audience anything is possible in this semi-self-aware musical land.

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Into the Woods

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Into the Woods
  • IMDb: link

Into the WoodsBased on the stage musical of the same name by Stephen Sondheim, Into the Woods offers a fairy tale adventure featuring a host of well-known characters whose stories all begin to intertwine over three days in the mysterious woods filling the space between their various homes. The story begins when the Baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) learn their inability to have children was caused by a curse put on his family by an evil Witch (Meryl Streep). The Witch, however, offers the couple a way to break the curse if they can gather an odd assortment of items before the blue moon in three days time. And that, as you might expect, is where the other characters come in.

To gather the cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, and the slipper as pure as gold the Baker and his wife will come into contact with Jack (Daniel Huttlestone) and his mother (Tracey Ullman), Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy), Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), and a pair of princes seeking true love (Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen).

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Jersey Boys

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Jersey Boys
  • IMDb: link

Jersey BoysFrom the big musical numbers, to the characters stopping at times to directly address the audience and the staging of much of the action, Jersey Boys feels every bit the adapted stage jukebox musical which spawned it. Fans of The Four Seasons are likely to enjoy themselves, although 134-minutes of Frankie Valli‘s recreated high-pitched crooning in stereo surround started to wear on me before the credits rolled.

Choosing to go mostly without bigger names to sell the film, John Lloyd Young steps in to play the role of Valli which won him a Tony Award for his performance on Broadway. Vincent Piazza, Erich Bergen, and Michael Lomenda round out the group in this mostly by-the-numbers look at the rise and fall of the 60s group who produced a number of hits including “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” Walk Like A Man,” and “Rag Doll.”

A tale of a bunch of Jersey guys who made good, Jersey Boys is your typical modern musical which feels more like a greatest hits of Frankie Valli’s life and music than the true story behind the band.

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Re-Released on Home Video: Rock Star

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Rock Star
  • IMDB: link

Rock StarBased loosely on the real life of Tim “Ripper” Owens, a Judas Priest tribute band member who was chosen to replace the real band’s lead singer, 2001’s Rock Star centers around a similar journey for Chris Cole (Mark Wahlberg). Shortly after being kicked off the tribute band he started, the Steel Dragon obsessed singer gets a chance to live his dream by replacing the Dragons’s lead singer (Jason Flemyng).

The script is hardly original as the dream life of sex, drugs, and rock and roll eventually destroys Cole’s relationship with his girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston) and makes the singer stop to reexamine what is truly important in his life. That said, the Steel Dragon world, complete wit over-the-top antics and odd characters such as the tour’s road manager (Timothy Spall) and a public relations manager (Dagmara Dominczyk) packing more than just a love of the music, provides some entertaining moments.

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Everything is Awesome

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The LEGO Movie
  • IMDB: link

The LEGO MovieWith a mix of stop-motion and CGI effects (some purposely cheesy enough to show you the string holding figures in frame) The LEGO Movie delivers an energetic and enjoyable story with a nice message for kids. A cynical person would note that the film is basically a 100-minute commercial to sell the various (mostly over-priced) specialized sets and figures that make up the LEGO franchise. However, the movie (for the most part) puts the story and characters first while also promoting the basic message of the building blocks that allow you to build anything you can imagine.

Beginning with an awkward opening scene involving a wizard (Morgan Freeman), the film’s villain Lord Business (Will Ferrell), and a prophecy about “The Special,” the movie gets off to a bit of a shaky start (although it does eventually backtrack to put the events into context). Jumping years in the future we’re introduced to our hero, unremarkable construction worker Emmet Brickowoski (Chris Pratt), who finds the mythical Piece of Resistance which can prevent Business’ plans of destruction.

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