Vichy officials: "Resistance to German Occupation Is a Dead End for French Nationalists" http://t.co/QvDQDCNSTh
— billmon (@billmon1) December 3, 2013
This is why, whenever I hear ‘Third Way‘, I think of a bout of food poisoning where you can’t decide which end to hang over the commode first:
… On the same day that Bill de Blasio won in New York City, a referendum to raise taxes on high-income Coloradans to fund public education and universal pre-K failed in a landslide. This is the type of state that Democrats captured in 2008 to realign the national electoral map, and they did so through offering a vision of pragmatic progressive government, not fantasy-based blue-state populism. Before Democrats follow Sen. Warren and Mayor-elect de Blasio over the populist cliff, they should consider Colorado as the true 2013 Election Day harbinger of American liberalism.
… because the home turf of ‘Focus on the Family‘ is the real future of American politics, if you’re a couple of milquetoast grifters like Jon Cowan and Jim Kessler.
Apart from keeping a cold eye on our ‘friends’ sucking the Wingnut Wurlitzer teats, what’s on the agenda this evening?
nastybrutishntall
We’re more focused on the cannabis family here in CO, these days. It’s what brings the hippies and the Libertarians (who make up a high percentage of the
medicine dispensersdrug-dealers) together in peace and harmony. Just don’t mention taxes, dude. Buzzkill!Marc
“Hating Wall Street is a surefire loser,” says Wall Street in the Wall Street Journal.
Warren and de Blasio should wear this shit like a badge of honor. Four words: I. Welcome. Their. Hatred.
ranchandsyrup
There’s a presumption that local issues/elections = national issues/elections. That’s just ignant.
But it was the best they could come up with. Pretending to form a 3rd party is hard work, even with the media enabling. sadface for them.
Ash Can
This is called “fear.” Cry, RWers, cry.
Suffern ACE
I do like that the MoTU have decided that de Blasio is the end of civilization in New York City. Heck, not even the MoTU. Reading Edroso’s blog about the flip out has been fun. He isn’t even mayor yet and already he’s to blame for a crime wave!
Omnes Omnibus
What part of anything Warren has tried to do isn’t “pragmatic progressive government?”
burnspbesq
Senator Warren’s progressive/populist cred means jack shit if she can’t get legislation passed and signed.
Suffern ACE
Also, too. “Economic Populism” also underlies the “Keep your money. Cut those taxes and revenues will go up! Prosperity for all” line that the tinkle downers have been selling to the middle class for 30 years.
NotMax
Occupied trying to picture precisely where the teats on a Wurlitzer would be.
Steeplejack (tablet)
Is it Tuesday for anyone else, or is it just me?
srv
A lovely flight from DFW to SFO.
Rent car has Sirius and they were playing some “best of” of Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me and PJ O’Rourke responded to some panel commentary with something akin to: “I like that on the supposedly ‘liberal’ NPR, I get to play the moderate conservative”
BGinCHI
Well then I assume all of the banksters will move to CO then, right?
Idiots.
Crashman06
I just found out that my position’s being eliminated in a corporate restructuring. My last day will be early January. This sucks.
Suffern ACE
@burnspbesq: But even talking about it is the problem. There should be no talk about it.
Omnes Omnibus
@burnspbesq: Not remotely true. Legislation is not an all or nothing thing. Having Warren involved in crafting a piece of legislation makes is going to make it, at least at the margins, a more progressive piece of legislation. I don’t see her (and I doubt that she sees herself) as a progressive savior who will fix everything. I see her as someone who will help move our politics in a more healthy direction – and that is good enough.
Anne Laurie
@Steeplejack (tablet): Thanks. I’m having the kind of day that feels like a Monday, obs!
ranchandsyrup
@nastybrutishntall: High percentage indeed. I saw what you did there.
BGinCHI
@Anne Laurie: Tuesday doesn’t really have a feel. If we were on a stakeout we could continue this conversation at length.
Mike E
I think you need a funnel, also. Too.
NotMax
Just took what looks and smells like an absolutely smashing New York strip roast from the oven.
Delectable enough merely sitting in the pan and resting to make me want to propose marriage to myself.
Villago Delenda Est
@Ash Can:
Exactly.
They are afraid.
They should be.
Suffern ACE
I like how some commenters just assume that this was written by McMegan…. Tired of stagnant wages? You’re just looking at your economic situation wrong. You got that raise when you started streaming Netflix.
Davis X. Machina
Does that mean rents will go down? Generally speaking, the end of civilization has that effect on rents…
Hal
Boy, Newsmax really doesn’t like The Butler do they? I guess when you insult Saint Ronaldo the Magnificent wingnuttia goes nuts.
SiubhanDuinne
@Crashman06: I’m sorry to hear that. This is a great place for sympathy, suggestions, leads, and big congratulations when an even better position comes along for you! Keep us posted, and good luck to you.
scav
Don’t catch sight of yourselves in the mirror boys, your makeup is slipping. Tis the season for rattling tin cans for handouts and gifts. ALEC is looking for cash and cover in their stocking.
jeffreyw
Thread needs moar puppeh!
SiubhanDuinne
@Hal: I love the way Newsmax poses questions: “Should Obamacare be repealed or replaced?”
Hmmm, I dunno. “Should Newsmax be barfed upon or shat upon?”
MikeJ
@Suffern ACE:
I think that’s a pretty scathing insult. Since most major publication websites will filter out your comment if you say something accurate like “dumbfuck”, just use an equivalent like “McMegan.”
imonlylurking
Winter storm warning. Blech.
ranchandsyrup
@scav: Have been rejoicing about that news (cautiously). My fave part is that ALEC tried to woo back some members that ditched them in Operation Prodical Son (sic).
SiubhanDuinne
@jeffreyw:
Holy crap but that is some cute puppeh there!
David Hunt
@Omnes Omnibus:
Since Warren proposes policies that benefit The Little People at the cost of the Big Money Boys, anything that is related to her is automatically not pragmatic and will result in chaos and economic ruin.
StringOnAStick
@Crashman06: Sorry to hear about your job loss; I hope your time between jobs is short and something better can be attained quickly.
Speaking as a CO resident, and not a “rich” one, the proposed change in how to tax for schools would have raised our annual tax bill by about $900 according to the voters guide the state sent out (these guides are non-partisan and trustworthy). We’re pro-schools, have no kids, and voted for it; we are well-off enough suck it up and pay, but I wouldn’t call us “rich” by any stretch of the imagination. The change would have increased taxes on nearly every income category, and folks in the less than $40k/year group saw that $250 increase and had second thoughts, period, even though the biggest increases were on those making over $250k.
The whole thing was an attempt to fix years of gross underfunding at all levels, including the near abandonment of higher ed; CO has some of the worst funding levels in the US of k-college. The good news is that our legislature is majority Democratic (barely, but functional) and they sponsors have said they are going to try to pass parts of the plan in a piecemeal fashion. That’s certainly better than nothing, and the Wall Street Journal guys can take their “learn your lesson” crap and shove it.
shelly
It isn’t a case of ‘hating’ Wall Street. It’s wishing to the great god above that they would act with some basic level of human decency.
Bill Arnold
@Suffern ACE:
MomSense
@jeffreyw:
OH MY!! I love all your photos but this one made me tear up. The puppy is sweet but the way he is being cradled with such care and love–beautiful.
ruemara
@Crashman06: sorry, I know how it feels. No reason to wait, consider yourself an attractive, ready to leave, sexy future employee of a better company. Best of luck.
Hal
So a massive landslide victory by DeBlasio ( who’s marriage makes some people hurl, and his wife used to be a lesbian btw) built on a populist message is negated because people in CO voted down a tax increase?
MomSense
@Crashman06:
Shit! Ok, please keep us posted so we know how we can help. You are going to find a better job.
@ruemara:
Rooting for you, too! You deserve a job where you are appreciated for your talent!
lamh36
Ok, where is Doug J? Cause this Jezebel post has his name written all over it.
The Best Movie Musicals of All Time, Ranked
IDK, I’m partial to The Wiz. Nobody who lived in are was raised in any African American home will have NOT seen The Wiz when they were a child.
I also love movie musicals.
So for me off the top of my head…
Cats (as a poor Black child from the ghetto, I was able to see the traveling show at the Saenger theatre in NOLA…funniest thing hearing a bunch of kids from the projects extolling the virtues of The Rum Tum Tugger or The Old Gumbie Cat)
Dreamgirls…I saw the travelling cast of this one in DFW. Loved it, knew every song, and the vocals from the travelling cast were phenomonal.
The Wiz…BEST MUSICAL SOUNDTRACK EVER…lol. “You Can Win”…”Ease on Down the Road” , “(I’m a) Mean Ole Lion” – Lion, “Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News”, Everybody Rejoice (Brand New Day)” and of course “Home”…
What say you BJ?
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
I saw “The Wiz” when I was a kid in its original release. (Yes, I’m white, but I’m old.) I remember the music being great, but the movie itself … meh.
I can’t believe they listed “Annie” in their top 10, because that’s the first movie I remember seeing and thinking, This was a waste of my money. And I was, like, 12 years old!
ETA: They also have what I’m pretty sure is the first movie I remember seeing — “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” Gene Wilder’s best performance, hands down.
Shakezula
They really are desperate to assure themselves that if they just keep shouting we’ll all settle down and eat our nice shit sammiches.
ranchandsyrup
@lamh36: I likes South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut. Then again, I don’t like musicals.
Linda Featheringill
@Crashman06:
#13
Bad news about the position elimination! And this is a bad time of year to try to drum up a new job.
Lotsa luck. Maybe the next job will be a better one.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Ooh, ooh, Mr. Kotter! Ooh, I know!
Mnemosyne
@ranchandsyrup:
Actually, that’s a pretty faithful parody of the classic 90s Disney animated musicals. The opening number is just like “Belle” from Beauty and the Beast, Satan gets the “I want” song, etc. Apparently Trey Parker is a sincere fan of musicals, which is why he ended up doing Book of Mormon.
Crashman
@SiubhanDuinne: @StringOnAStick: @ruemara:
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I’ve been there for six years and was my second full time job out of grad school so its disheartening. That said, I’ve been frustrated and feeling stuck there for a while, so maybe it’ll work out. It’s just scary to face with a six month old at home, bills to pay, and my experience in a dying industry.
lamh36
@Mnemosyne: No only that, but I hated Moulin Rouge when it came out.
Plus they missed alot of classic movie musicals by putting in more “pop” musical.
7 Brides for 7 Brothers…Grease…Jesus Christ Superstar…
And like they said, don’t get me started on the Disney musicals alone…they deserve their own list! The ONLY reason I would like to see the new Tom Hanks joint is because it’s about the making of Mary Poppins. I FREAKIN’ LOVE MARY POPPINS!
I know all the words to “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” (and yes it took me awhile to spell that one…thx the google)
Villago Delenda Est
@Hal:
The Butler commits the second most heinous crime in American Politics: the failure to properly deify the shitty grade Z movie star.
The most heinous crime of course is presidentin’ while belonging to the Democratic Party, and being blah.
lamh36
@Mnemosyne: love the original Willy Wonka. The Johnny Depp remake was an abomination…and I like Johnny Depp
As for The Wiz, I think the error was in NOT using the original Dorothy, Stephanie Mills and instead using the show as a vehicle for is jump-off Diana Ross
MomSense
@lamh36:
I don’t like that top 20 list at all!!!
Not to get into the list but I do remember discussing musicals with my Mom at the grocery store. My Mom is an accomplished musician. We were walking down the laundry detergent aisle when she said that she couldn’t stand Barbara Streisand’s voice and couldn’t think of one vocal performance she liked. Then she qualified it by saying that she did sound ok in one song – Wind Beneath My Wings. So I had to tell her that Bette Midler sang that song and she said “see I can’t think of one good Barbara Streisand song”.
Villago Delenda Est
@lamh36:
Exqueeze me?
The Sound of Music?
Barf, wretch, gag me with Richard Cohen’s spoon.
On the other hand, West Side Story is boffo plus, and props to including The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Let’s do the Time Warp again!)
les
@burnspbesq:
The Stupid, it burns.
Woodrowfan
but, all of their friends at the latest NPR fundraiser down at the museum think Senator Warren has gone too far. Surely that’s a good sampling of the American people!
Roxy
@lamh36:
My favorite song and dance scene from Mary Poppins is Step in Time. Love, love the chimney sweepers dancing on the roof tops.
lamh36
@MomSense: LOL.
Lovely the Fabulous Miss M! “Wind Beneath My Wings” is awesome but PALES in comparison to “The Rose”…love that one.
As for Barbara, aww man, not even “Don’t Rain On My Parade”
Roxy
From the list, my favorite muscial is Singin in the Rain. The music and dancing was great, the dialogue was funny.
Woodrowfan
@StringOnAStick: thanks, that makes it easier to understand.
NotMax
@MomSenseDeep down, bet she really didn’t dislike Second-hand Rose.
(Feel the same way she does, only towards Bernadette Peters. I can acknowledge the talent, but her voice sets every internal organ on edge.)
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
Where the hell is “Chicago” on that list? That won the freakin’ Academy Award! Honorable mention, my ass.
lamh36
@Villago Delenda Est: Oooh, I LOVE The Sound of Music!!!!!!!
Having said that, the movie could have ended with the talent show. I could care less about the family getting away into the mountains..
But hey, we could do a seperate list for Julie Andrews alone…
Victor/Victoria, Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, Thoroughly Modern Millie
MomSense
@lamh36:
I freaking love Mary Poppins, too!! I love everything Julie Andrews. And I do love some of the Disney musicals. Beauty and the Beast was tremendous. How great is the lyric “I’m especially good at expectorating”!!
When I was still teaching ballet, I would reward my little ones by singing their favorite Belle, Little Mermaid and other Disney songs for them just like the characters. They loved that. I still get notes/fb messages and such from those girls (now young women) about how they loved my singing to them.
Obviously musical taste is subjective but I think we can all agree that music enriches our lives. For me, it is like oxygen.
ranchandsyrup
@Mnemosyne: Yeah I classify it as a musical although it prolly doesn’t belong there.
Splitting Image
@lamh36:
No Busby Berkeley on the list? Fail. No “State Fair”? No “Top Hat”? Wow. Basically no musicals from the golden age of musicals, except for the Wizard of Oz. It’s like a list of horror movies that omitted the word “Hitchcock”.
It’s probably not that bad a list if we’re restricting the discussion to the last 50 years, but even then, Grease and Hair are notable omissions.
MomSense
@Villago Delenda Est:
Are you by chance a fan of Flight of the Conchords? They do the best spoof/tribute to West Side Story I’ve ever seen. If you can find that episode I recommend you watch. So funny.
Woodrowfan
@Roxy: Little known fact: The UK almost declared war on the US over Dick Van Dyke’s “cockney” accent. War was averted when the US agreed not to ever object to the “American” accents on Dr. Who…
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
Fun fact: Julie Andrews originated the role of Eliza in My Fair Lady on Broadway, and a lot of people thought she got robbed when they gave Audrey Hepburn the role instead, particularly since most of Hepburn’s songs were dubbed by Marni Nixon. Andrews got the lead in Mary Poppins instead and won the Oscar for it.
Villago Delenda Est
@Woodrowfan:
As good a place as any to start the culling.
Ash Can
@Mnemosyne: It’s funny how different people react to different things. A few years ago, the husband, son, and I sat down and watched Willy Wonka on video. Bottle Rocket was about 7 at the time. Husband had seen it several times, including when he was young, and liked it. Son and I were both watching it for the first time — and he and I both hated it. I agree that Gene Wilder was very good in it. But his good acting alone couldn’t save the flick. What made him so good in the movie, I thought, was complex and nuanced enough that kids probably wouldn’t get it. On top of that, to me, the story was plodding and disjointed, the plot poorly developed, the message heavy-handed, and the characters boring and/or flat-out unlikeable. Bottle Rocket likewise was liking it less and less as it went on, and we finally had to start fast-forwarding through it because it got too scary and unpleasant for him. To this day, neither he nor I want to see it again.
ETA: I should add that I did like the music in it. But that wasn’t enough to save it either.
? Martin
Glad to see West Side Story made the top. Really no competition there, IMO.
NotMax
@lamh36
The route they took in the movie would have taken them right into Berchtesgaden, which would have made for a quite different finale.
As for the list: not even close.
Mnemosyne
And, okay, folks, I will do another plug for my employer (please keep my paychecks coming!) and recommend that musical lovers go see Frozen. It’s an honest-to-God throwback to the classic musical animated films of the 1990s like Beauty and the Beast, and it’s damn good.
Woodrowfan
@Villago Delenda Est: poison totebags??
Mnemosyne
@Ash Can:
I still like it (but, then, I always liked horror movies, even as a little kid), but I do fast-forward to Gene Wilder’s first appearance. Most of the songs, um, don’t really hold up, to say the least.
ETA: The plot is actually very faithful to the Roald Dahl book, as is most of the tone, so you can probably blame that part on him.
Betty Cracker
@Crashman06: That sucks. I hate that companies so often do this around the end of the year, not that it’s ever a good time to get laid off. Happy fucking holidays, you know? Hope you have a good severance package and find something better soon!
Splitting Image
Ginger Rogers singing “We’re in the Money” in pig latin.
And scantily-clad ladies. Lots of ’em.
Suffern ACE
@Mnemosyne: I did like that Snowman singing about how cool it would be to go to the beach in July.
BillinGlendaleCA
@lamh36: I didn’t see the Sound of Music until about 15 years after it came out, after spending 2 weeks in Salzburg.
Woodrowfan
@Crashman06: I’m sorry. Been there, done that. It sucks… I found a better job, but it took awhile…
Mnemosyne
@Suffern ACE:
In your theater, did the audience fill in the “missing” word of the song? Apparently they did in some places.
Crashman
@Betty Cracker: Thanks. I can’t believe I actually thought they were better than this.
Chyron HR
@lamh36:
Movie musicals? What a weird distinction, especially since movies that were originally stage musicals count.
The best musical of all time was Chess, and fuck all y’all for disagreeing.
lamh36
@Mnemosyne: they absolutely missed the mark by not having Chicago!!!
“Cell Block Tango”…was HOT, HOT, HOT!!!
Betty Cracker
@lamh36: I love “The Sound of Music” too, and I’m not usually a huge fan of musicals. I once visited Salzburg, Austria and saw the house that served as the Von Trapp family digs in the movie (might have been their actual house; I’m not sure). Someone told me they closed the gazebo where they had filmed the “16-Going-On-17” scene because a tourist tried to reenact the dancing, fell and broke her hip.
I’m also happy to hear “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” made the cut. That’s another musical that stands the test of time.
Villago Delenda Est
@lamh36:
I absolutely love Victor/Victoria, not just because of Julie Andrews, who I generally like in everything, but the rest of the cast consists of blinding stars…Robert Preston, James Garner, the incredible Leslie Ann Warren, and Alex Karras. The “cockroach” scene cracks me up every time I watch it.
MomSense
@lamh36: @NotMax:
I think her voice just irritated my Mom’s ears. I agree about Bernadette Peters. Holy hell, Bernadette grates on me, too. Overacting much?
BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: Only if they went down the mountain on the other side.
Amir Khalid
@lamh36:
Jezebel’s top 20 movie musicals list is very contentious, I see. There’s bound to be a lot to argue with in any such list. Like, where’s Les Misérables, with Anne Hathaway’s Fantine just one of so many unforgettable performances? Why exclude Disney cartoons, which kept movie musicals alive when almost no one else was making them? Where’s Bollywood? Where are Mamma Mia and Chicago?
MattR
@lamh36: Interesting list to browse through. Some unexpected inclusions and omissions. I was surprised not to see Grease on the list, but I probably overrate it a bit since my aunt was the original Frenchy on Broadway.
I agreed with those who commented at Jezebel that Fame doesn’t really qualify as a musical. It is a movie with musical performances. The Music Man was our 6th grade play so that always has a soft spot in my heart. And I stand with those who liked the Gene Wilder Wonka movie, though at this point I can’t remember if I had read the book before seeing the movie. Was glad to see Rocky Horror get a mention and agree with Martin that West Side Story is tough to beat.
JustRuss
@Mnemosyne:
Wow does that make me feel fucking old.
lamh36
@Mnemosyne: I kid you not. I truly do love Mary Poppins. I think it’s the first “movie musical” I saw as a kid.
So when I saw the preview for the new Tom Hanks movie, I heard “Mary Poppins”, I heard the songs, and I swear, I turned to my sister and said “We are SO gonna see that!”.
Saving Mr. Banks Official Trailer
Roxy
@Woodrowfan:
Too funny.
Amir Khalid
@Villago Delenda Est:
Ah, The Sound Of Music. Christopher Plummer hates it, you know; he still calls it The Sound Of Mucus.
Villago Delenda Est
@Woodrowfan:
I’m thinking the curse You-Know-Who put on the Gaunt family heirloom ring he turned into a horcrux.
Put that on every last totebag.
MikeJ
@Chyron HR:
I have played in tourneys myself and I was press for K-K in NY, but I’ve never seen it. I know the hit song of course, but nothing else about it.
Ash Can
@Amir Khalid: That made me LOL.
Cassidy
@Amir Khalid: Can’t stand Les Mis. The songs just aren’t good or interesting to listen to.
Roxy
@Villago Delenda Est:
This was a great movie/musical. For me Leslie Warren stole the whole movie. Yes the cockroach scene was hilarious. Especially when you see it from the outside looking in.
MomSense
@Mnemosyne:
Based on your rec, I am going to go see it–at the theater even.
NotMax
@lamh36
Never saw it in a theater. Tried watching it once, but ran out of insulin after about 20 minutes and gave up.
Not to disparage your liking of it in any way, I just don’t share the love.
Guys and Dolls the movie is listed, but Oklahoma! isn’t?
Brando sings. The horror, the horror.
Amir Khalid
@Cassidy:
That’s your opinion, and I respect that.
Fort Geek
I’m feeling pretty proud of myself right now. Put new brakes on my car, finally replacing the 32-year-old original rotors and 5-year-old pads.
Amazingly, it only took two consecutive days. I ran out of daylight last night–and my body usually rebels by developing week-long knee or foot pain that makes walking or moving an agony.
The difference between the old brakes and the new is amazing. She’s feeling more like a sports car again :)
Roxy
I saw Cats and the only song and scene I liked from this was Memories. During intermission they had some of the cast stay out on the stage. The audience was allowed to go on the stage. This was my favorite part of the whole play. I was able to walk on the stage and check out the props.
lamh36
@Amir Khalid: I remember reading an article or something about the fact that he hated it.
Still though when I saw it as a teenager (some…35 years after it came out in the theatres), Christopher Plummer REALLY rang my bell if ya know what I mean…lol.
BTW, anyone planning to watch the NBC “remake” with Carrie Underwood? I’ll pass, but I suspect it will do well since Country music fans are soooo loyal.
Villago Delenda Est
@Roxy:
That’s precisely where I lose it.
Roxy
@lamh36:
I do too love Mary Poppins. It came out when we lived in Oregon. The five of us kids must have seen it over 5 times. At the time if you collected so many bottle caps you could see the movie. My parents loved the idea that we were captivated by this movie and was cheap to send five kids to see.
lamh36
Also too, how do you have a list of musicals movies and NOT find one with Fred Astaire.
And in the Christmas spirit, I love the White Christmas musical…don’t hate me…I watch it every year it comes on…lol.
And it’s not even for the title song…I actually love alot of the performances too…
Vera Allen & Rosemary Clooney – Sisters
Danny Kay and Vera Allen – The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing..
White Christmas Choreography
Yatsuno
@lamh36: Emma Thompson as PJ Travers. Yes please!
MikeJ
@NotMax:
I’d like to see G&D remade with the original track list. The movie producers upon noticing they had Frank in the role of Nathan Detroit and Brando as Sky cut most of Sky’s songs and added some for Nathan. This was a wise move. I’d just like to see it the way it was originally written.
Litlebritdiftrnt
I have not read any of the other comments but just wanted to pop in and tell you guys that BCBSNC is up hot and heavy with TV ads about ACA and the subsidies available to people to buy insurance. This is what some people here were predicting, once the web site was fixed the insurers (we only have one choice here in NC BCBS) would be up with ads touting the hell out of the ACA. I can confirm that you were right. They are flooding our tv channels with ads.
Lurking Buffoon
@Crashman06: I feel your pain. No really, I was laid off for more or less the same reason a few months back. And that former employer then turned around and started bullshitting to the Dept. of Labor to weasel out of paying my UI. At this rate I may be dead of old age before I actually receive any unemployment insurance.
As for everyone else with musicals, everyone knows the greatest musical of all time is Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LRIypcaIX4
No seriously, it’s a musical. They have a few song and dance numbers.
EriktheRed
@scav:
There definitely needs to be a front-page post on this.
Josie
@ruemara:
I love this. I just sent it to my oldest son who is desperately seeking employment in another city. He was fired, ostensibly for missing too many sick days, in actuality for speaking up too many times about mistreatment and underpayment of employees. We are in Texas, a “right to work” state.
NotMax
Directed Guys and Dolls once. The actress playing Adelaide could speak the word ‘peck’ perfectly well, but was for some reason absolutely incapable of singing it. “I love you, a bushel and a beck” was the closest she ever got.
Solution was to make up some business for the chorines to do while they sang only the words “a bushel and a peck” as loudly as they could along with her.
Suffern ACE
South Pacific? Where is South Pacific?
MattR
@Lurking Buffoon: Wow. Just wow. I am not going to sit through the whole thing, but I am glad I now know it exists (and have seen the trailer).
Good luck with the job fight and the job hunt.
Suffern ACE
@NotMax: G&D was the high school musical I was in. I had no idea until I saw it on Broadway in the revival 3 years ago that Adelaide wasn’t a nightclub singer.
WereBear
Indeed! She was lovely, but none of the songs made sense for a 30-something.
Petorado
The WSJ failed to mention that one the same day DeBlasio was elected, rural voters in Colorado denied a bid for secession based on opposition to gun legislation, gays, and renewable energy. So by their line of reasoning, if Colorado is the harbinger of liberalism they say it is, the rest of the nation is ready for more restrictions on military-grade firearms in civilian hands, more rights for gays, and increased support for renewable energy. Yay!
NotMax
@MattR
There is a supernatural theory that Judas was the first vampire, and the supposed especial aversion of vampires to crosses of silver stems from his cursed payment.
MomSense
Just realized, no love for The King and I.
Shall we dance on a bright cloud of music shall we fly?
WereBear
Okay, one more musical on a very short list:
Team America: World Police
I laughed so hard I hurt the next day.
Bob In Portland
Egalitarianism just doesn’t play well outside of NYC. What time is the foxhunt?
Villago Delenda Est
@Bob In Portland:
One of the Koch brothers told a reporter that his main problem with Obama is that Obama is “an egalitarian”.
This is why a tumbrel ride is so appropriate for these two assholes.
Suffern ACE
Nothing against the “remake” of the sound of music (the stage production! Not the movie!) live on the TV, but if they claim its the “original” (not the Movie!) are they going to skip the commercial breaks? Not many stage musicals have commercial breaks.
JPL
@Villago Delenda Est: What would God say. This being the xmas season, someone should notify Bill O’Reilly.
shelly
I wonder if Fox News’ latest insistence to have round-the-clock Obamacare bashing will backfire on them. Even if their audience agrees with it, they’re gonna have to get tired of the same stuff rehashed 24/7.
handsmile
Is today Movie Musical Appreciation Day or something?
Here is the Guardian list of “Top 10 Musicals”:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/dec/03/top-10-movie-musicals
A list no doubt as contentious – or myopic – as that assembled by the cineastes of Jezebel (though I do love that “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” made the Guardian’s cut.)
In truth, there are no more than a half dozen or so movie musicals that I can watch without screaming (and almost all those were first encountered in child or teenhood). Those responsible for “Moulin Rouge,” fifteen minutes of which I saw recently, really should be indicted by the International Criminal Court.
NotMax
For no reason other than happened to find the video, those who liked Ms. Warren’s over the top number in Victor, Victoria might also get a kick (so to speak) out of Ann Reinking in Movie Movie.
Omnes Omnibus
@handsmile:
I just kept rooting for Nicole Kidman’s character to hurry up and die – just so the movie could end.
SiubhanDuinne
@Yatsuno: Emma is why I’m going to see it!
JPL
@shelly: Mike Rogers on MTP seemed to suggest that 85 percent have inferior and more expensive insurance because the fifteen percent who were not able to purchase insurance. They have their talking points and folks will believe them cuz……………………………….
shelly
Sweet Jesus, they left out ‘Gigi’ ? Are you kidding me??
PsiFighter37
The Third Way guys can bite me. Remind me, how are they any different than the (praise Pope Frank they’re finally gone) the DLC?
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
Summoned to jury duty for the first time in 45 years. Kind of jazzed.
Woodrowfan
What about “1776” ??
FOR GOD’S SAKE JOHN, SIT DOWN!
SiubhanDuinne
@MomSense: I love The King and I — I think it may be R&H’s best musical, although I’m pretty fond of them across the board. Will never forget seeing the movie at age about 13, when it first released — I drooled over that glorious satin dress Deborah Kerr wore in that scene. Still do, if truth be known. Brilliant costume design and art direction, quite apart from the wonderful music and acting.
I think I’ve told the story in these parts about Yul Brynner as actor (playing opposite the woman who was, much later, my voice teacher in college). It’s kind of long, but if anyone’s interested, I’m game.
gogol's wife
@Hal:
How is it insulting him to have Alan Rickman play him? He never could have dreamed of being as good an actor as Rickman! (I haven’t seen the movie, so I’m just kidding you.)
PIGL
@shelly: Speak for yourself. I wish that their entire estates be confiscated to leave their posterity in destitution, and that they put on a slow boat to their choice of, Somalia, North Korea or Wazeristan with travel documents set to expire within 72 hrs. And they should earn their passage by cleaning the heads.
Omnes Omnibus
@shelly: At least they included Hedwig. Skipping Gigi is a major mistake, though. It is one of the only musicals that I will watch repeatedly.
handsmile
@Omnes Omnibus:
I can only hope that it was a painful as well as protracted death and that bubonic plague soon despatched the rest of the cast. Not even the gloriously talented Jim Broadbent could compel me to watch more of this crime against truth and beauty.
Mnemosyne
@MomSense:
Thank you for contributing to my paycheck (and possible future bonus) ;-)
It’s not a perfect movie, but you’ll have the songs stuck in your head for days afterwards, especially “Let It Go.”
@Woodrowfan:
My husband makes me watch that every 4th of July. It almost got ugly this year because I had somehow managed to mess up the DVD and I had to buy it from Amazon streaming.
Lurking Buffoon
@MattR: Thanks, I probably need all the luck I can get!
And don’t forget, terrible movies have their own charm. Sometimes the fact that they know they’re making a terrible movie helps, provided they don’t go in with the attitude of, “Well it’s terrible so let’s half-ass it!”
gogol's wife
@lamh36:
I say that list is ridiculous! Not a single Astaire/Rogers? Footlight Parade? Don’t get me started.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
If you’ve ever seen the pre-musical movie, it’s now kind of eerie to hear Rex Harrison in the male lead doing Yul Brynner’s king years before Brynner did the musical.
So, what’s the story?
Steeplejack
@Anne Laurie:
I’m just glad my inner time line hadn’t deteriorated again. That timey-wimey thing.
gogol's wife
@Splitting Image:
Right. Should have read the whole thread first, but I was apoplectic.
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
@burnspbesq:
You know congress doesn’t do shit, right?
In sixteen years (IIRC) Paul had one introduced bill signed into law.
gogol's wife
@Splitting Image:
That film is also notable for the brilliant comic performances of Warren William and Guy Kibbee (as well as all the scantily-clad gals like Ginger and Joan)
Eric U.
it would be really nice if the 1% would realize that everyone being better off would make them better off. And this includes ways that money can’t buy, like lower crime.
Josie
@SiubhanDuinne: I loved Yul Brynner. Tell the story, please.
MomSense
@SiubhanDuinne:
Sooo game for that story.
I played Eliza and watched the movie a gazillion times to prepare. The whole movie was dreamy.
@Mnemosyne:
I’m really looking forward to it! I sometimes fantasize about just dropping everything and going to LA to be a voice actor. I miss the theater!
Mnemosyne
@MikeJ:
The “original” soundtrack album has Sinatra singing the Sky Masterson part. He was PISSED that Brando got it instead.
According to IMDb, the producer wanted Gene Kelly to play Sky Masterson, but MGM refused to lend him. That would have been interesting.
@Yatsuno:
Ahem. “PL” Travers.
Emma Thompson did an interview with one of the BBC Radio movie podcasts and she said she almost felt guilty talking to Richard Sherman about making the movie, because he started to cry remembering how mean PL Travers was to him and his brother (they co-wrote all of the songs).
lamh36
@SiubhanDuinne: I confess that I found Yul Brynner extremely hot in The Ten Commandments, I was rooting for the Pharoah…is that bad.
My love of Yul Brynner can almost certainly be laid at the hands of “The King and I”…
Etc, etc, etc!!!
Cassidy
@Amir Khalid: Don’t get me wrong, the songs require a great deal of skill and talent to sing and I respect the actors who can do it. I just don’t like the songs themselves. Kind of how I feel about Pink Floyd and Rush.
ETA: No Sweeney Todd on the list.
gogol's wife
@lamh36:
Now somebody’s going to come along and post that nude portrait of Yul . . . .
MomSense
@NotMax:
My stepdad was friends with Noel Harrison. He sang to me when I was about 12 or 13–such an engaging person and really handsome.
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
I have indeed seen it. Rex Harrison and Irene Dunne. I happen to be a big fan of both of those actors, so even though they were a very far cry from Brynner and Kerr, it’s a movie worth watching.
So, the story:
When I was a music student at the University of South Florida, I studied voice for four years with a woman named Annamary Dickey. She had been an opera singer as well as a Broadway performer. Originated a role in one of the least-known works by Rodgers & Hammerstein (Allegro), but she was also an early replacement for Geetrude Lawrence as Mrs. Anna in The King and I.
She used to tell a story about her first performance opposite Yul Brynner, when she took a step back (as choreographed) but accidentally stepped on her hoop and fell flat on her arse (not choreographed). Brynner’s King extended an elegant hand, helped her back to her feet, and the scene continued as written.
But offstage, Brynner was fuming, swearing, stamping around, and being just generally foul. Annamary felt terrible; she thought Brynner was mad at her for tripping and screwing up the scene. But no, it turns out that he was furious with himself for dropping character. “The King of Siam,” he later explained to her, “would never have helped an Englishwoman up. He would have snapped his fingers for a servant.” He was mad that it didn’t immediately occur to him to summon a servant.
I’ve always loved that story as a tiny insight into the professionalism of one of the world’s really wonderful actors.
Roxy
@Suffern ACE: OMG you are so right. Wash that Man Right out Of My Hair, Bali Hai, Bloody Mary, You Got to Be Carefully Taught, Some Enchanted Evening, 101 Pounds of Fun (Ray Walston was fabulous in this). Our high school drama department produced this musical. I had blast working backstage.
fuckwit
The huge logical error here is skating to where the puck is– or has been– rather than to where the puck is going to be.
Will Colorado be ready for Occupy Wall Street populism by 2014? Maybe not, and if that’s their point, so be it. Maybe not even by 2016. But the whole point of Warren and DeBlasio– and Occupy and Worker Centers and blogs and MoveOn and OFA and DFA and running a 50-state strategy– is to GET THE MESSAGE OUT AND CHANGE THE NARRATIVE. Over time, you do, and even Colorado says, “fuck this Wall Street bullshit, we need to tax the rich so they are paying a fair price for the privilege of being rich in the richest country in the world.”.
Colorado has legalized recreational marijuana. “Not even the liberal” California has done that… yet.
It has taken the right wing 40 years to destroy the middle class in this country. We’re not going to fix it in 2013, or 2014, or 2016, or probably even 2018 or 2020. It will take a generation to undo this damage. We have to start now, and try now, and keep trying, otherwise it will never ever happen.
That means, running and supporting progressive candidates like Warren and DeBlasio and Franken and Brown and the like, over and over again, relentlessly, and watching them possibly lose and lose and lose… and keep fighting anyway… until they win. Which they will.
What I hate most about Third Way bullshit is the fatalism and the horrible assuption of helplessness. As if all that matters is winning, and if you don’t win RIGHT THIS SECOND there is no point in trying. No, what matters is doing the right thing, and fighting hard, and losing over and over again… and EVENTUALLY winning.
Lest you think this is pollyanna, then fuck you: the right wing fought relentlessly like beasts throughout their time in the wilderness in the 1960s and 1970s, kept fighting throughout their ascendancy in the 1980s, and eventually took over all 3 branches of government by the 2000s. Grover Norquist took the long view and won.
Liberals can take the long view and win too, and already have. Somehow I think that, back in the day, if there were Third Way losers running away in terror the first time they got firehosed, there’d still be segregated schools and busses and lunch counters as the norm today.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
And so forth!!
Mnemosyne
@Cassidy:
Meh. The movie version of “Sweeney Todd” wasn’t that great (though, as usual, Alan Rickman was great in it).
Villago Delenda Est
@lamh36:
Anne Baxter’s endless pining for Charlton Heston (“Moses, Moses, MOSES!”) kinda made you scratch your head, didn’t it?
MomSense
@Omnes Omnibus:
“Sank heaven for leetle girrls”
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
Just don’t watch Holiday Inn, no matter how much you like Fred Astaire. Since the blackface scene made me start spouting obscenities on Christmas Eve, I don’t want to be responsible for your heart attack.
Cassidy
@Mnemosyne: It wasn’t amazing, but I firmly believe it’s because Tim Burton insists on casting Helen Bonham Carter in every single movie he makes. Sasha Cohen made the movie worth watching, to me.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mnemosyne:
Alan Rickman is the standard by which the phone directory should be read.
schrodinger's cat
Another vote for Chicago, and I too could not make it past the first half hour of Moulin Rouge. No love for Kiss of the spiderwoman?
@SiubhanDuinne: Do tell, I is all ears.
Amir Khalid
@lamh36:
Did you know that The King and I has never been erformed or screened in Thailand? Anna Owens’ tall tale is considered insulting to the royal family — in particular, to the memory of the real king played by Brynner — in a country where lèse majesté is an actual criminal offense.
Incidentally, the woman went by “Anna Leonowens”. But when Jodie Foster played her in Anna and The King, which was shot here with a mostly Malaysian cast, she visited the husband’s grave in Penang. The headstone reads “THOMAS LEON OWENS”.
Mnemosyne
@Cassidy:
Actually, I thought Helena was pretty good, especially in the “By the Sea” number. But the production design was bo-ring, and Johnny Depp was seriously one-note.
Villago Delenda Est
@Lurking Buffoon:
Say what you will about Ed Wood’s directorial talents, but he never, ever “half-assed” anything.
Origuy
How about Show Boat? When I was at UIUC, William Warfield was a professor of voice. He played Joe in the movie, which was Paul Robeson’s role on Broadway. I heard him sing “Old Man River” a few times there.
Plus it had Ava Gardner!
schrodinger's cat
Open thread needs kitteh.
Cassidy
@Mnemosyne: I didn’t like her, but I haven’t liked her since Fight Club.
Villago Delenda Est
@PsiFighter37:
The overwhelming majority of the board of directors of that outfit is investment bankster scum, who should all be sentenced to cleaning out bathrooms in low income areas for the rest of their miserable lives, so that they can actually make a tangible contribution to society.
Mnemosyne
@Amir Khalid:
She was also probably half-Indian, though the records have been lost (or destroyed). Weird fun fact — Boris Karloff was a relative of hers.
fuckwit
@NotMax: Could be worse. What if you set the Moustache of Mangled Metaphors on the task? I’m sure he could come up with an even more diseased one.
handsmile
@Cassidy:
Well, she is his partner so in the interest of domestic tranquility…..If you were a filmmaker, I imagine Mrs. Cassidy might just be ready for her close-up.
Also too in the interest of film pedantry, I don’t believe Carter (Helena) appeared in any Burton film prior to 2001. The pneumatic Lisa Marie was his previous muse.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Nice story.
Although from what I’ve read, fuming, swearing, stamping around, and being just generally foul was Brynner’s factory default setting.
Richard Fox
Favorite musicals? Why that’s easy. Gold Diggers of 1935 and 42nd Street. The songs are superb and haunting, the stars are characters that stay with you. And the choreography… Genius. And all brought to you in glorious black and white. You can’t go wrong.
SiubhanDuinne
@schrodinger’s cat:
See my #159. It’s not actually a big narrative with a beginning, a middle, and an end — but it is a little glimpse into the creative/interpretative mind, which is something that never ceases to fascinate me.
schrodinger's cat
@Cassidy: What about, A room with a view?
lamh36
@Mnemosyne: Ha. yeah. Alot of those old Hollywood movies I used to like def makes me a bit more queasy as an aware adult.
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
Maybe he was always trying to improve his craft.
MomSense
@SiubhanDuinne:
That is a great story.
jenn
@Crashman06: That stinks, sorry to hear it! Though, I have to say, my last jobless period was one of the biggest blessings of my life. Not because I didn’t love the job, but because it gave me the opportunity to spend concentrated time with my family – particularly my grandmother. Within a year or so of my moving on to a new job, she’d had to move into an Alzheimers facility. Anyway, I hope you, too, can find some silver linings, and good luck on the job hunt!
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
You kinda have to search for the small rays of “not too embarrassing” where you can in old movies. Christmas in Connecticut (with Barbara Stanwyck and Sydney Greenstreet) isn’t too bad — yes, all of the black men in the film are waiters, but they all come across as normal middle-class working guys, which is better than the horrors you get in Preston Sturges’s films.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Know not if you’ve ever witnessed it, but the stories of people infirm and/or in their dotage, some of whom can barely hobble to the wings, stepping onto a stage to perform and having 30, 40, or 50 years instantaneously drop away are not without a basis in fact.
Amazing transformation I’ve been pleasured to see several times.
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax: I have seen that happen, yes; would love to hear some of your own anecdotes or experiences.
EDIT: For a fictional, but quite realistic, example, see the recent Dustin Hoffman-directed film Quartet.
SiubhanDuinne
@MomSense: Thanks, yes, I agree. It’s been close to 45 years since I first heard Annamary relate that story, but I’ve never forgotten it.
schrodinger's cat
@SiubhanDuinne: That’s a great story, thanks for sharing.
Violet
@SiubhanDuinne: That is a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing it.
gogol's wife
@SiubhanDuinne:
Great story! Have you heard him sing Russian gypsy songs? He’s great at that too. I used to have a CD of it from Russia, but in my idiocy I lent it to a student who trashed it. (It got beer spilled on it in his room)
Cassidy
@schrodinger’s cat: Haven’t seen it. My 80’s movie collection is almost completely made up of action and horror with a sprinkle of Brat Pack movies.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Won’t bore with multiple anecdotes, just the most recent.
Unfortunately her name escapes me, but she was a Big Name in hula and Hawaiian music in the 20s and 30s.
A revue to raise funds for the theater program of of a local high school used to be done here annually.
This wonderful woman, who at the time was in her mid-nineties, was called from the audience every night as a ‘special surprise’ during one year’s show, and had to be carefully, slowly helped up the three steps to the stage by a pair of stagehands .
Once the music started, she launched into one of her signature tunes, “The Cockeyed Mayor of Kaunakakai” singing, mugging and hula-ing as if time did not exist, including a comic high kick (!) which apparently had also been one of her things during her heyday.
Cassidy
@handsmile: In the interest of pedantry, she’s been in more of his movies than she hasn’t been.
Edit: Got distracted and miscounted. She hasn’t been in 8 of his movies and been in 7. My statement will be true shortly.
LanceThruster
“Damn Yankees” & the Leslie Caron movie with the song “Hi-lili Hi-lo”
Anne Laurie
@Amir Khalid:
To be fair, the man chose to combine his middle and last names before he married her. (And as someone who uses ‘three’ names I can’t blame him for that — I spent a good chunk of my 20s trying to find a method of eliminating the space in my first name that people wouldn’t misinterpret, only to accept that the space is there for a reason.)
IIRC even modern Thais are quite ready to change their names for reasons that seem frivolous to database-dependent Westerners, so I suspect reconfiguring one’s name would’ve made perfect sense to them!
Smiling Mortician
WTF? No mention of Fiddler on the Roof? This is a shanda.
NotMax
@Smiling Mortician
Another idea for a SYFY movie, too.
“A mad scientist crosses a shark and a panda…”
SiubhanDuinne
@LanceThruster:
Lili.
jnfr
In my part of Colorado, we’re smoking what we grew ourselves. And we don’t hold with Wall Street fatcats messing with our working people. No, we do not.
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
I don’t know who that woman is, but I’m in love with her.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Calls to mind the stories about the 1970s revival of No, No, Nanette on Broadway.
Was said the director and producers could not find an actress who could perform tap in the style of the early century to their satisfaction, so lured Ruby Keeler out of a thirty year retirement. She went on to do evenings and matinees for two years, while in her sixties.
And for you youngsters, being in one’s sixties then was a lot older than it is now.
SiubhanDuinne
@gogol’s wife: No! Will have to investigate.
I can’t recall now whether I saw him first in King and I or Anastasia — IIRC, they were released around the same time, and I remember seeing them both with my grandmother at the Lake Theatre in Oak Park, Illinois :-) — but I remember just being head over ears in love with him, for most of the same reasons that I am head over ears in love with opera singer Dmitri Hvorostovsky now, nearly 60 years later. Those Siberian cheekbones! Those cruel, compelling eyes!
/melt
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax: That’s a great story!!
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Brain cell belatedly fired with the name.
Jennie Napua Woodd (obituary)
JoyfulA
@scav: Coca-Cola quit Alec because I asked it to. Well, maybe it was a coincidence, but I called the company as a loyal consumer who didn’t want to have to stop drinking Diet Coke, and about a week later, Coke quit Alec.
Maybe it’s time for me to call some more Alec members.
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax: Must confess I never heard of her, but what a cool old broad (said with the greatest possible respect).
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
And must confess my memory seems to have been faulty, and she was in her late eighties when I saw her, not her mid-nineties.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@NotMax:
If she worked on the 50s version of “Mutiny on the Bounty,” I’ll bet Marlon Brando made a pass at her.
NotMax
@Mnemosyne (iPhone)
The Brando film was 1962.
Still, she was breathing…
/pushing to get thread to .5 Tbogg unit
Cervantes
“The best movie musicals” and no one mentions Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? For shame!
(Ian Fleming, Roald Dahl, the Sherman Brothers)
Matt McIrvin
@Eric U.:
I’m not sure it’s actually true… provided you like pushing people around. Rich people in impoverished countries live like kings! Sure, there’s crime and instability, but they can have armies of servants at their beck and call.