The Profound Effect of Musicals on my Life

Well, I didn't expect to post this around the same time I was rewarded Expressionist of The Year but I think that makes this more honest.   This was originally going to be a review of RENT on Fox  but it grew to be more than that.  Because of this number....







I've mentioned before that RENT is one of my favorite musicals and that is my favorite song from the musical because there was a time, (two actually) in my life when I found asking that question.  I know that most of you know me for my love of Disney and ponies but I don't know think that suicide survivor is the right term because that refers to the loved ones that lost someone.  Yeah, there were two times in my life when things got so bad that I wanted to end it all.  The first time was during high school and because of my seizures and I was having upwards of 30+ seizures a day and my school told me that they wouldn't let attend if I was not in a wheelchair and that is where this song comes in.  I'm gonna quote the lyrics here.

Will I lose my dignity?
Will someone care?
Will I wake from this nightmare?

Now, the second question I did know the answer to but I did feel as though my dignity had been stripped away from me and I felt less.  Not just as a person or a man but overall, I just felt less and I felt as though the nightmare would never end.  I know it's petty and maybe even a little selfish to have those thoughts because there are people that deal with things worse than what I went through on a daily basis but yeah, I almost let the nightmare win.  But I just found strength in musicals and characters that made me stronger such as Elphaba,  

Yeah, that's something that might help you to understand a bit about me.  One of the biggest things I've often struggled with my self-confidence and the feeling that I'm not good enough.  I often wish I could be as strong as someone like Elphie and own who she is but I often find myself  relating to characters in musicals that think they aren't good enough such as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors,  Aladdin (mainly because of Proud of Your Boy) or Evan Hansen.   I want to hone in on that last one for a moment, Dear Evan Hansen is a musical that came out long after both my attempts at ending it all but it is a musical that I wish that had been around when I was in high school because I was Evan Hansen.  Evan is a young man that struggles with social anxiety and the fear that no-one truly loves him and that he's not enough.   I remember watching the performance of Waving Through a Window, the year that Evan Hansen took home the Tony for Best New Musical and just crying because it took me back to those moments especially my high school days.





I was watching this with intensity and crying because as that number went on, I related almost too much to Evan and even more when I learned what the musical was about.  If you noticed the cast on Evan's arm, that is because like me, Evan also attempted to end it all and in his case it was because it felt invisible.  Learning the truth was hard but also why I became such a fan of Dear Evan Hansen because of it's message that no-one is alone (Yeah, okay Into The Woods also has that message but it's really at the core of what Evan Hansen is about)  I had this personal saying that combines two of my favorite musical characters. 

I wish I could be Elphaba but I know I'm Evan Hansen 

Let me explain this saying, Elphaba is to me one of the strongest characters in any musical that even with everything that she goes through, she becomes resilient and owns who she is.  Evan Hansen is a character that is scared, nervous and does not think he is that strong.   That is how I viewed myself for the longest time but because of loved ones and friends like you guys have become stronger and will always be strong.   Let's go back to that song from RENT and answer those questions.


I did not lose my dignity
Someone did care
I did wake from that nightmare


Now, I did mention that were two times but I'm gonna save the other time for another post as it'll be brought up if I ever decide to look at cyber-bullying again.  I'm gonna end this with the powerful song from Dear Evan Hansen and if you need to  reach out and grab my hand, just listen to this song. 

Halloween Comics Special Pt. 2: Little Shop of Horrors

Hello & welcome to Pt. 2 of my Halloween comics special.  Last time, we took a look at the comic adaption of The Rocky Horror Picture Show from Caliber Comics and overall,  I liked it.   Today,  we are looking at a comic adaption from DC Comics.  I can't exactly recall how I learned about this comic but I think I saw it listed on a site talking about the strangest comic adaptions of movies. Comic Book Resources published an article about this particular adaption and weren't too kind towards it.   My thoughts, it's... okay.

Cover

The first thing you'll notice about this comic is that DC did not get the likeness rights for Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Steve Martin, or Vincent Gardenia. Admittedly, Mushnik and Audrey look the closest to their film counterparts but not by much.    Ah, this stuff happens. Having said all that, I love this cover as it evokes the feeling of what Little Shop is.  It's a better cover for this story than the last DVD release. 

I'll stand by that.   It's very reminiscent of the first Little Shop of Horrors poster that I remember seeing. 

It's just so eerie and fun at the same time.



Staff


Adapted by Michael Fleisher


The adaption was handled rather well and unlike the Rocky Horror comic that we looked at,  this comic adaption does not adapt the songs fully.   They show up as lines of dialogue or thoughts of the characters but I think that works.  This is something that we will touch upon in the plot section but this comic is too short.


Gene Colan & Dave Hunt - Art


The art is nothing special in this comic.  It's fine but that's it really.




The Plot


Being an adaption of Little Shop of Horrors,  that is the story that you'll get but it's paced way too fast as the story is greatly condensed as a lot of the big moments are cut down to one-two pages at best. An example of this is Orin's death, which yes wasn't a big part in the movie but it goes by really fast in the comic. 

Maybe, that isn't exactly the case but it goes by so fast that it might as well be.   Oh, and here's an example of what was mentioned with the song lyrics.

As we get Audrey's opening line from Somewhere That's Green here about her dating a semi-sadist. I guess I should talk about Audrey Two,  Audrey Two looks great.

It's a good comic take on this character and while this issue's pacing is off a smidge,  it does take a bit of time in showing Audrey Two getting bigger.  Something else pretty cool I should bring up is something the Little Shop Wiki first brought to my attention is that while this comic includes the ending from the theatrical cut of the movie, but that was not the ending that was originally drawn. 

The original ending of the film (which included Audrey's and Seymour's deaths and Audrey II's takeover of the world) was drawn, but the final few pages were revised before the book was published to mirror the new happy ending that was shot for the theatrical cut. This probably explains why the interior copyright date is 1986, but the front cover boasts a 1987 release.

 



Personally, I prefer the theatrical ending but I've come to accept the original ending.  So, I wouldn't have been mad if this included that ending but I understand why they had to change the ending.   Okay, there is one last thing I want to bring up.   Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon only show up on one page of this comic.  If you don't remember who those three are, well here ya go.

Where do they show up, towards the end filming a commercial inside Mushnik's.   

On the one hand,  I get the issue here as they are harder characters to work into a comic book medium but they are important to the story. They relay the parable of what happens to the audience.  Lest we forget. 

Subsequent to the events you have just witnessed 

They are there to warn the audience and yes, this is more the ending that this comic did not go with but I still think it is worth bringing this up because these three are key to the story because they comment on the story.  Not exactly in a narrator way but highlight what should be taken away from the story.  I'm of the opinion, that this cameo felt meaningless and the way, this comic was going, it would have been better if they were left out.



That's probably my biggest complaint with this adaption, it's not bad and I do enjoy it for what it is.  Part of me wants to go in harder on this because of my love for the movie but then I understand that this was written as a tie-in to the movie and the team working on it probably didn't have a lot of resources accessible to make this a great comic adaption. 



My Final Thoughts

It's not bad and like I said, it's a decent adaption of Little Shop.  I do think that The Rocky Horror comic that we looked at is the better adaption but that shows a difference between the two as that came out after the movie and the team working on that comic had more access to make it look and feel like the movie.   This one felt like the movie in parts but I don't know that it ever looked like the movie, if that makes sense.   Even with this being 64 pages, this comic felt rushed and I wonder if maybe some other company could attempt adapting this movie into a more faithful adaption that is a miniseries of maybe 3-4 issues.  Again, it's not bad but I think it could have been better.   Peace!

Halloween Comics Special Pt. 1: The Rocky Horror Picture Show: The Comic Book Compilation

Hello and welcome to Pt. 1 of a special Halloween event that I've wanted to do for years.   I love musicals and I also enjoy comic books.   What happens, when you have a comic that is an adaption of a beloved musical.   Well, in these next two reviews, we are about to find out.  For the past two years, I've looked at things relating to Rocky Horror. Whether it be the various covers of Time Warp or Creature and I tearing into the awful TV remake.   This year, however, I'll be taking a look at something I've wanted to cover for quite a while now. 

This was originally a comic miniseries that was released in 1991 broken up into three issues and in 2015, the three issues were collected into a trade and released that way.    Really, the big thing that sets this apart from just being a comic adaption is the word, compilation.   As if offers so many things that a Rocky Horror fan could want from something such as this from an audience participation guide, song lyrics and a profile on Richard O'Brien.    Which reading that and learning that he was inspired by Marvel comics that he grew up with,  that really puts this comic book adaption into perspective.  Speaking of, who brought us this comic.  It came from Caliber Comics.  

Caliber Comics seems to be a small publisher that focuses on creator-owned titles.  They were founded in 89 and they seem as though they were a good fit for an adaption of RHPS as they seem to have quite a few horror comics under their name.

Cover

The cover is admittedly nothing special as it is just screenshots from the movie and normally, that would be a complaint but I am willing to overlook as someone that picks this up, is more than likely a fan of Rocky Horror and they may not not care about the cover and instead want it because it's Rocky Horror.   

Staff

Haven't done this in a while but I think it's key to touch on here.

Writer - Kevin VanHook 

VanHook did a good job of adapting this beloved movie into a comic and keeping the spirit of Rocky Horror alive.   It may have been condensed a hair but it still felt like Rocky Horror.   And the art was also in line with what one would expect from Rocky Horror and  I think publisher Gary Reed touches on this well in the opening of the trade.

Kevin was very conscious in applying a photo-realism to the story as we understood that Rocky fans wanted the comic series to look like the film.   They didn't want dramatic different looking characters or stylized artwork, they wanted what the characters they loved to be familiar.   

I'll touch on this more but I think that was a wise choice as the original Rocky Horror movie does have a style that would lend itself well to a comic adaption.

The movie is very stylized already with an elaborate look that already feels like a bit of an over-the-top live-action cartoon in some areas.  And that most likely comes from O'Brien's love of B movies and so trying to make the art more stylized than the movie wouldn't make a whole lot of sense.




Carol VanHook - Color



Kevin's wife handled the coloring and that was a bit of a mixed bag in my opinion.   On some pages, the coloring is really good.  Like in the Rose Tint my World sequence. 

The art and coloring work to evoke the feeling of Rocky Horror but at other times,  the coloring seems a bit runny, if that makes sense. 

It's not bad and it seems to be trying to not only evoke the movie but just like how the movie took inspiration from B movies that Richard O'Brien loved,  the coloring also seems to be taking its cue from old horror comics.

Which again works rather well most of the time but at points, it seems like the coloring is just trying to catch up with the story.

The Plot


It's Rocky Horror and if you like Rocky Horror, you might get some enjoyment out of this.  Now, this is something I would normally complain about as the comic does include the musical numbers from the movie in the adaption.  And that is a tricky line to walk as adapting a musical into a non-auditory medium can always be a bit of a risk and including lyrics in something like this can go one of two ways but I think that there would have been more backlash if the songs had not been included as they are probably the most iconic part of the movie.

So,  including the songs was a bit of a must for adapting Rocky Horror. 


My Final Thoughts


It's cool.   You won't be getting anything big out of this but if you want to see how Rocky Horror is adapted as a comic, this is a good adaption.  And it's a better and more faithful take on this than the Fox remake.  And not just because they were able to include my favorite line of Frank's. 

A mental mindfuck can be nice.  

Of course, it helps that this comic is rated Mature.   Again, I'm not being as hard on something like this as others may be with a comic adaption of a musical because for what the team set out to do, adapting Rocky Horror, that is no easy feat but I think they pulled it off admirably.  It's better than the remake, that's for sure.   Join me next time for Pt. 2 of this comic event as we look at an adaption of one of my favorite musicals of all time.

Here We Come A Carolling: White Christmas

Hello & welcome to the finale of  Here We Come A Carolling.  My look at Christmas musicals.   Now, there are many more that I could look at and I may do that next year.   But today,  I am looking at what is perhaps the most iconic Christmas musical of all time, White Christmas.  And well, like a lot of the other musicals that I've looked at, I"m going to keep it simple as this musical is so good, that I don't want to spoil too much.  I don't care how old it is, it's one of the greatest musicals ever made.   And to paraphrase a quote from Stan Lee.  "Every musical is someone's first"    I won't skip over the plot completely but I'll just hit upon some key points.


The Plot



Something that I often forget about this movie is that it's a romantic comedy but the difference is that it's a good one compared to the modern romantic comedies that are put out nowadays.    The other thing that I've noticed is that my family really gravitates towards this movie and I think part of that comes from the military aspect of this movie as we see the movie open during a war in 1944.  We can how figure out, what war it is.   And  the movie flashes to ten years later as we follow Wallace and Davis (Crosby & Kaye)  as the movie flashes to ten years later, and you get a sense of their contraddire and more so, what they would do for their General.   This is perhaps, best displayed in the number, "What Can You Do with a General?"   While, this movie is great and has a lot of great moments,  I think  the song,"White Christmas"  has come to overshadow anything from this movie.   Which in a roundabout way makes sense as the song came first.   But once, you see the General, you understand the affection that Crosby and Kaye's characters have for him. As he is a good man.   


Now,  that's  just one aspect.  I also brought up the romantic comedy angle and that is also on full display after we meet The Haynes Sisters.   From Phil and Judy hooking up and scheming to get Bob and Betty together.  With the former falling for each other along the way.  There are even things such as misunderstanding that pop up.  But perhaps,  the key thing that is always brought up in regards to Bob and Betty's relationship is the idea of a knight on white horse coming into save the day.   It's mentioned twice in the movie and at the end is visualized as the gift that Betty puts in Bob's sack.   That knight on the white horse is the visual representation of their love. 

On the surface, putting the show may seem like the big story of the movie but if you dive deeper, you'll find the smaller things like the aforementioned knight build up to more important things.  Yes, the show is important and it is the best way that Wallace and Davis know how to show how much they care for the General.   This is a musical that is filled with great little moments and this may be a movie that is over 63 years old at this point but it's just one that is so good, that you need to let the experience wash over you and watch it for yourself.  In many regards,  White Christmas is the epitome of what I would call a feel good musical.    With that outta the way, let's move onto characters and thankfully, that won't take us too long.



Characters


Bob Wallace & Phil Davis played by Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye

I'm grouping the two together as Wallace and Davis would not work without one another and that is true of Crosby and Kaye.  They just play off each other so well in this movie, that for the entire time I watch the movie, I believe that they were an old Hollywood act.  Interestingly,  the first choice to Phil Davis was Fred Astaire, who starred in Holiday Inn with Crosby but he backed out of this movie after reading the script.  That does make for an interesting what could have been but at the same time, I am so happy with what we got as these two just play off each other so well. 


Betty and Judy Haynes played by  Rosemary Clooney & Vera-Ellen

Once again,  I'm putting The Haynes Sisters together as one would not work without the other here.  As Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen play it to where,  you can't help believe them as sisters. They have their ups and downs.  And mistakes are made such as Judy and Phil's phony engagement but in the end, you understand that they will always be there for one another.



Supporting Characters



General Waverly played by Dean Jagger

As I said up top in the plot section, General Waverly is shown to be a good man. He is very stoic and strong minded.  And you get the sense of respect that his men have for him during the number, "The Old Man".  And the symmetry of the movie using that song in the beginning and ending of the movie is a nice touch as it reinforces how much his men love him. 


Emma  played by Mary Wickes

Emma's an okay character that really only adds comic relief but she is a character that really didn't do a whole lot for me in the movie.


Susan Waverly played by Anne Whitfield

Susan as a character is at best, inoffensive.  She really doesn't add much to the overall movie other than being the General's granddaughter.   And that's fine as she's barely in the movie and there are points, I even forget she was part of the movie.  She's just a character that happens to be around.   




Let's move onto music. 



Music

Overture


This is one of the best overtures from a movie as it does a great job of getting you excited for the movie.




White Christmas



And of course, we open with this now classic number penned by Irving Berlin.  There is something beautiful about listening to Bing Crosby sing it as it just puts you in the Christmas spirit.   There's not much else that I can say about this number.


The Old Man




We've talked about this number at great length throughout this review and hearing it in the beginning of the movie, you get the sense that these men will stand by the General no matter what he does.   And you can't help but smile as you listen to this number.



Heat Wave/Let Me Sing and I'm Happy/Blue Skies



This medley is nothing more than a montage of showing the success that Wallace and Davis have obtained over the years and in that regard, it's a great number as it gets the point across without dragging it on.



Sisters


What an introduction to The Haynes Sisters.   In many regards, I think the best word to describe this number is vivacious.   Yes, it's an act but you know what The Haynes Sisters are doing with this number. 



The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing 



This dance number is just astonishing.   Easily, one of the movie's best moments as you can't help but look on at this gorgeous dance number.   The song is alright but the dancing is spectacular.



Sisters (Reprise)


This is one of the funniest moments in the movie, if not the funniest.  And from everything I've read, Danny Kaye could barely keep a straight face during this number.  And can you blame him.  This number is just so funny.



Snow


Interestingly, this song was originally written for another musical called "Call Me Madam" and was called "Free" but it was later dropped out of in-town tryouts and the lyrics were rewritten for this movie to fit a Christmas movie more than what it was originally.   And well, as a person that hates Snow,  I like this number quite a bit.    And the reprise is just as fun.  A small little joyous number.



Minstirel Number



This is probably my favorite number from the movie as it is just so fun and I love the Mr. Bones section. Yeah, it's corny but that's my type of humor.   Some might say that it's wrong to use this terminology and it's wrong at them looking back at days like this but you have to recall, when the movie came out. 



Mandy


Technically, Mandy is part of the Minstrel Number but the playlist had it seperate and it's another great number that really makes you feel like you are watching an old vaudeville show.     




Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep) 


This one has become a bit of a staple in my family.  And it is perhaps one of the best numbers in this musical but that's kinda silly to say as there are so many good numbers in this musical.   But one of the big reasons, this number works so well is that it gets to the heart of being thankful for what you have.  And that is a great sentiment for this time of year.



Choreography


I hate this number, it's my least favorite bit from the movie as this is the one number in the movie, where it feels like they just stop the movie straight for a musical number.   And it just doesn't feel like it gels with any of the other numbers in this movie. 


Abraham


This is a better dance number and I think I forget about this one as it's an instrumental piece but it is quite a sight to behold as you watch.



Love,  You Didn't Do Right By Me



This number is fascinating as it serves two purposes in the movie.  On the surface, it is just an number that Betty is singing in a club but as you listen to it in the context of her relationship with Bob, you come to the realization that this song conveys her feelings about their relationship.




What Can You do with a General?




We looked at this number thoroughly in the plot section as I brought up the admiration that Wallace and Davis have for the General and that comes back here as you can really hear how much the General means to Bob in this number. And to think, this is a song that wasn't originally written for this movie. It was originally written for an unproduced musical called Stars on My Shoulders.



The Old Man (Reprise)



Again, we talked about this in the plot and the beautiful symmetry of bringing this song back at the end of the movie.   As it furthers the point of how General Waverly's men care for him and would stand by him, no matter what.




Gee, I Wish I Was Back in The Army



This is probably my second least favorite number in the movie. It's not bad but I feel like it drags out the ending a bit.  It, at best just feels like a filler song. 




White Christmas (Finale) 



And we now come to the finale of this movie as we hear the title song.  And there's not much left that can be said about this number as it is just so joyous and happy.  And this is the best version of this song in my mind.   So, I'll leave you with it.



My Final Thoughts




This movie is a classic but you didn't need me to tell you that.   This is one of the greatest musicals ever made.  The fact that it's a Christmas movie is just a nice bonus.   There is nothing left I can say but Merry Christmas. 

The Nutcracker (1993)

Hello & welcome back to our Christmas musical celebration here. Today, we are doing something a bit different.  Let me ask you,  conjure up an image of a Christmas time ballet and what comes to mind?  You most likely answered The Nutcracker and you'd be right.  Alright, one more question,  think of a Macaulay Culkin Christmas movie and what do you think of?

You most likely thought of Home Alone, right?  Well, three years after this movie was released, Culkin would star in a filmed production of The Nutcracker released by Warner Brothers Family Entertainment.   And now unlike some other oddball adaptions based on The Nutcracker....

(You would not believe how weird that one gets), this is more just a straightforward production of the famed ballet featuring Culkin at the height of his popularity in the titular role.  Having said that,  I will still briefly lookover the plot.



Narration


Narrator - Kevin Kline


Kline provides narration for this movie and I'm two minds about this as this is a ballet and the dance should tell the story but the same time, this is aimed at a younger audience.   Now, there is something else that needs to be brought up in regards to the narration.  You see, Culkin had a bit of a showbiz dad and his dad did not want the narration in the movie as he thought it would take away from his son being in the movie.

Narration recorded by Kevin Kline was a last-minute addition that was heavily protested by Macaulay Culkin's father, Kit Culkin, who vowed that his son would do no publicity for the movie until the narration was dropped. Reluctantly, producer Arnon Milchan dropped the narration to appease the Culkins. Kit Culkin then returned with a list of other demands which so incensed Milchan that he reinstated Kline's narration, losing the use of the Culkins' publicity.

Yeah,  that isn't too shocking if you much about how Culkin grew up. 




The Plot




This 1993  film adaption of The Nutcracker is based on George Balanchine's staging of The Ghostbusters in which the characters of The Nutcracker/Prince and Marie (Clara in the original) are played by children.  So, the dancing isn't as rigorous as other productions of The Nutcracker.   


Now, the plot here is what you would expect from a production of The Nutcracker but there are just some odd decisions here and there.   Such as The Rat King having multiple heads.

And something else that was kind of odd was that after this big battle, Marie faints and her bed flies her to the other land.   And this is perhaps one of the big issues with this version of The Nutcracker as The Rat King is taken out so early and that, when they meet up with The Sugar Plum Fairy, it becomes nothing more than a dance party after The Prince tells The Sugar Plum Fairy, what happened and afterwards living candies perform.   So, that does make it feel a little slow. Though, I do like how it ends with Marie and The Prince flying off in a sleigh.

You may have noticed that I'm not going much in-depth here, even though I am covering certain aspects of the film.  And that's in part because this production of The Nutcracker is rather simplistic.





Cast


The large group of the dancers came from The New York City Ballet.  This was Culkin's only onscreen ballet role.  And I'm not going to go into much detail here once again as the dancers put on a decent performance, save for Culkin. Who,I must agree with other reviewers that it felt as though,he was just a guest star.




Music



Once again,   I am using a a YouTube playlist as that is the easiest way to find all the music here.   And unlike our other reviews,  I won't be covering all the music.  That is the one huge aspect that everyone knows from The Nutcracker.     The music here was brought to life by the New York City Music Orchestra and Conductor, David Zinman.




The music here is given the respect that it deserves and is not dumbed down or watered down for the younger audience watching this movie.   And it works as a way to introduce children to a piece of classical music. 




My Final Thoughts

This movie,when it came out didn't receive get very good reviews. It was mixed at best and I can understand that as while the music wasn't watered down,  you could see that with the material. Even still, I think that this works as a perfectly serviceable introduction to The Nutcracker.  It may not be the best adaption but I think it is fun for young kids and if nothing else,  the music is always great.   Peace!  

Monstrous Musicals: The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do The Time Warp Again

Moviefan12: This is a special cross-over that warranted the return of Monstrous Musicals.  The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a musical that means a whole deal lot to a huge group of people.  So, when it was announced that Fox would be airing a remake, many fans had concerns and well, I feel that those concerns were justified.   And while I appreciate the original RHPS for what it is,  I know that there are fans on this site that enjoy it much more than I do.   And that's why I've brought in, The Creature to help me tackle this beast.   Creature, I don't know about you but I think we may be tackling something worse than The Haunted Mansion from last year.   

Creature:Much, Much Worse. I had extremely low expectations from this film right from the beginning, but I was not expecting the end result this awful.

Moviefan12: I'm not sure, where to start.  The fact that this thing was so sanitized to the point of scrubbing out anything sexual from Rocky Horror.  And I know some people had issue with changing Frank's gender.

And well, this is a controversial topic to be sure and I don't want to fault Laverne Cox as she seemed to be giving it her all in the role and the film did try to go halfway with Frank's gender but the issue remains that changing Frank-N-Furter's gender is such a touchy subject.   In the original, Brad had quite sexual awakening after what happened with Brad. They could have done something like that with Janet in the remake but while they changed the gender, they seemed to keep other things about the character the same and and while changing of the gender could have played a bigger part in the role of this new take on Frank, it seems like the team behind was afraid to commit to any big new ideas.   Wait a sec, who directed this?

Kenny Ortega, the man behind Hocus Pocus, High School Musical, and Descendants.   That seems like a poor fit.   For those wondering why I'm foregoing the usual plot section here, it's simply because if you've seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show from the '70s, you've seen a better version of this movie.   As aside from a movie theater wraparound that is meant to be a wink and nod to the fans that attend midnight screenings of the movie, it is beat for beat, the same movie just without some of the more mature content.

Oh, and that is one other thing, the Usherette is a character that was not in the original film but I believe that she is part of the stage production.   And speaking of nods to the original, hi Tim Curry.

Creature: Picking Kenny Ortega to direct this was easily the worst choice ever made. He literally just took the original movie and just dumbed it down a god awful made for TV movie with the budget of a mediocre High School play.



The addition of the Usherette was pretty useless. She did serve a purpose in the original musical to sing ”Science Fiction/Double Feature” to help introduce the plot, but since she didn’t appear in the original film, her addition is unnecessary and felt out of place.





And Tim Curry…poor Tim Curry. I’ve never felt more heartbroken in my life than watching Tim Curry playing the Criminologist as he sits in his Wheel Chair slowly dying on camera and slowly reads his lines. It’s really a very sad site to see in this movie.



Moviefan12:  That brings us to the characters.   Creature, as you are the bigger RHPS fan,  would you care to start and perhaps, we should start with this film's take on the most iconic character from this movie, Dr. Frank-N-Furter.  



Characters



Dr. Frank-N-Furter played  by Laverne Cox

Creature: I thought she did quite an awful job as Frank-N-Furter. In almost every scene she was in, she was trying to constantly have Tim Curry’s accent which ended up being sounding half-assed. Not only that, but she had absolutely no enthusiasm in the role. She looked like she was bored (much like everyone else in this movie) and just didn’t want to be a part of any of this. I don’t really mind that they would pick someone of a different gender to play Frank (I’ve seen it done at Midnight Screenings), but you really should at least put some effort into it.


Moviefan12:  I'll actually disagree somewhat and say that I think Cox did the best that she could with the script and material given to her as she seemed to be the only one that was trying to breathe life into this doldrum.  I will concede that she was trying to copy Curry a bit too much but I do find that a bit understandable as when people think of Frank, they usually think of how Tim Curry played Frank-N-Furter.  And that is perhaps the biggest detriment to her take on this classic character.


Moviefan12:  Let's now move onto our leads, Brad & Janet.


Brad & Janet played by Ryan McCartan & Victoria Justice

Moviefan12:  Brad & Janet in the original  had a dweeby naive charm to them as they were exposed to this new erotic world for the first time as they were for all intents & purposes, a pure & innocent couple that before arriving at the Frankenstein Place would have never interacted with the kind of Riff Raff (heh) that makes up people that party with Frank.   In the remake, you don't get a sense of that at all because it feels like Brad & Janet in the 2016 version are in on the joke of what is going on and as though they are playing more to the audience.   Their entire performance can be summed as 

And yes I do get it and that takes away from the experience because Brad and Janet are meant to be audience surrogates that are just as surprised by the weird things that they see as is the audience.   Granted,   that is harder to do as the original movie is over 40 years old but they could have attempted to put some effort into this and not lean so heavily on the joke.    





Creature: The fact that Brad & Janet are in on it from the beginning really hinders their performance. Bostwick & Sarandon’s performances were definitely more genuine while they were going through the strange events at Frank’s castle, but when they know what’ll happen (like these two do) it’s not as engaging. 


Riff Raff played by Reeve Carney 

Moviefan12:   And here we have our Hot Topic brand Riff Raff and from the moment that he is introduced everything is just wrong.  I know that you shouldn't judge based on introductions but the introduction here to Riff Raff is Time Warp and I know everyone and their brother has compared this to the Glee version of the song.  And look Glee's RHPS  tribute episode wasn't much better than this but they weren't trying to remake a classic movie.   Here,  it feels  like an off brand American Idol number and that brings us to Riff Raff, Reeve Carney  plays this role like he won it from a reality show competition and didn't have any prior acting experience.  But that's not the case,   what are some of his other credentials? It seems the only other big thing to his name is a Taylor Swift video. Oh and he was Spider-Man in Turn Off The Dark.  

I think that may have been the more dignified role.  







Creature: Riff Raff was a mess. He was very poorly acted, he didn’t fit the part at all, and really felt like an out of place actor thrown in the movie just to be a walking Hot Topic commercial. I bet if you ask him nicely, he’ll pass out some Hot Cash coupons.

Magenta played by Christina Milan 

  














Moviefan12:   Christina Milian  as Magenta was there.  She's not bad but there is nothing  to write home about regarding her performance.   It's  okay but I put part of the blame on Reeve Carney as  Riff Raff and Magenta need to be able to play off one another but Milian was given nothing and I mean nothing  to work with. 




Creature: Well…Magenta showed up. That’s at least something I can say about her role in this. Her character was rendered useless considering she couldn’t work well with Riff Raff (especially considering how well the original actors get along so well in real life).


Columbia played  by  Annaleigh Ashford

Moviefan12:  I do like the biker chick look for Columbia  as that gives you a hint of her love with Eddie and I do appreciate that Ashford didn't try to duplicate Little Nell's performance but honestly, when Brad & Janet first met her, I thought she was on quaaludes and that feeling never went away.  I felt like she fell asleep during the movie.  Oh wait no, sorry that was me.     And they gave her one of the worst jokes in the movie.

"I hope it's not Meatloaf again"

Once again, I need to break this out.

Creature: Columbia was so boring in this film. She had no life to her performance at all and just acted like she was, as you mentioned, about to fall asleep. True, she didn’t try to replicate Little Nell’s performance, but she really didn’t add anything of substance to the character. 








Eddie played by Adam Lambert

Moviefan12:   This could  have worked.  Adam  Lambert knows how to play it up and I had hopes  for him  in this as casting him as Eddie was a no-brainer.  On paper, this casting choice made perfect sense and damn, if Lambert didn't try and give it his all but he was let down by everything around him.   I hope Lambert gets another chance to play Eddie , perhaps onstage as he has the chops to pull it off, given better direction.   





Creature: I have to admit, Adam Lambert was probably one of the better performances in this movie. He was very energetic and he gave it his all with what little time Eddie appears. Shame the same amount of energy and dedication wasn’t shown in some of the other actors.



Rocky played by Staz Nair

Moviefan12:  Staz Nair was okay as Rocky but man, there's nothing to him.  Rocky in the original had a sweet & innocent charm that instantly made you care about him, while still looking buff and hot.   Nair's Rocky has the latter part but not much else going.






Creature: Rocky was boring. Like you said, there was nothing to him in this movie. He was just there to fill up space and try to ”act” like Rocky from time to time.


Dr. Everett Scott played by Ben Vereen

Moviefan12: Vereen is a veteran of stage & screen  having performed in such shows as Jesus Christ Superstar in  the '70s on Broadway.  And to see someone that has more than paid their dues to get where they are be relegated to such a middling role of Dr. Scott is maddening as this man deserves better, than what he was given.    



Creature: Although I’m not too familiar with most of Vereen’s work, it is a shame that an accomplished actor like him was stuck in the minor role of Dr. Scott is quite a disappointment.

Music

Playlist

Moviefan12:  We'd be here all day, if we tried to talk about the way they handled all the songs.  So, here's a playlist and we can just give our general thoughts.  If I am to give this movie any praise, I loved the opening for Science Fiction/Double Feature as I am sucker for old movie theaters.   And that was just gorgeous.  

And while the Usherette may have been pointless, Ivy Levan who plays her has a wonderful voice.   I talked about my feelings regarding their take on Time Warp last year before the movie came out and I think my opinion has more than soured.   

This version more than any ever I feel is being asked to be compared to the movie as that is why this movie is being or being promoted as being made to celebrate the movie. But wow, I just can’t get a feel on this song. I don’t hate this version but more baffled by it because it takes the song in such a drastically different direction. Again, I don’t think that’s a bad thing but I think it takes so far away from what Time Warp was, that at points this song doesn’t feel like Time Warp. Again, I don’t hate it but it doesn’t feel like Time Warp. It’s hard to grasp, what is going on with this version because while you know that this is Time Warp, it doesn’t sound like Time Warp. Again, I don’t think it’s bad as you actually hear effort being put into the number unlike The Groovie Ghoulies cover but you hear how drastically different this version is at the very beginning as it sounds almost smooth and that is rather odd to say about Time Warp. It livens up as the number goes on but it never really feels like Time Warp.

But nothing to me more is egregious than what they did to Planet Schament Janet  (my favorite song from the movie)   This is such a great  villain number for Frank  and it has my favorite lyric in the entire film.   

A mental mind fuck can be nice.

That lyric  to me sums  how nasty and devious Frank is.  Frank  is someone that'll use you and move on, when he or she is done with you.   But the remake changed it  and I get it but   augh.   

A mental  mindgame can be nice

This is the changed for network airing  version of that lyric   and......








Censoring that line takes away any bite  that Frank is meant to have in that moment.  I don't know what this was rated  but clearly, it wasn't a TV MA.   According to Rotten Tomatoes, it's not rated but with this being a network airing,  you knew that they couldn't use the F word and while I was prepared for that, I didn't realize how much I was going to hate the forced changed lyric. And it is forced as when Cox sings that lyric, you do not believe that there is any menace in her voice.  Whereas with Curry, he made the original lyric, scary and sexy at the same time.  






Creature: If anything, Science Fiction/Double Feature was the best song in the film. Other than that, the others are not that great . They have little to no life to them and they’re not as energetic as the original where those would make you want to make you get up & dance along. In this, you’d probably just think about the original songs instead. For that line change in Planet, Schmanet, Janet, I expected that to happen considering it’s a TV movie but even then it still weakens the song in regards to Frank’s personality.


Our Final Thoughts




Moviefan12:   I think  Frank-N-Furter can sum up my feelings watching this movie.  

I'm pretty sure, there were numerous times throughout this remake, I made that exact face at many of the decisions made. Like Frank here, I tried to keep my cool but this remake really tested me.  Four years ago, when I did my Monstrous Musicals review of the original ,  I said that the film celebrated weirdness and having an identity.  Being older and having a better understanding of what that weirdness is,  Rocky Horror is a movie that lets the audience know that you can be yourself.  No matter,  how big and loud or quiet your personality is.   There is a reason that so many theater nerds have taken this mantra to heart.

  












Yes, we are taking a lesson from the villain of the piece but Frank's message isn't wrong. Be proud to be who you are and Frank does that.  And I think that brings me to the key thing that this remake doesn't understand about Frank's message.   It dreams of being Rocky Horror but it doesn't be it's own take on Rocky Horror.  Kenny Ortega was so afraid  of being experimental with this remake of a movie that was originally experimental  that it  is an inferior version because it doesn't take any risks.   The only thing added that was new was the movie theater wraparound with fans going to a screening of Rocky Horror but that added nothing and felt like nothing more than fan pandering.   And if I'm to look at certain Rocky Horror Facebook Fan pages, they even got that wrong.       

Creature: I think I know of another gif of Frank to describe my feelings while watching this:

This movie is awful. It doesn’t embrace the wonderfully strange nature the original had, but rather dumb it down to a rather poorly made, sanitized rendition of the film. It doesn’t do anything to make it stand out from other adaptations nor does it try to do anything new with it and that really does make it far inferior to the original film (Hell, the Midnight Screening of RHPS in Perks of Being A Wallflower did a better tribute to and that was a minor thing in that movie). Not to mention in regards of it being a tribute to B-Movies of old, they completely abandoned that notion as well and make it feel like some tongue-in-cheek cutesy thing that basically says ”we know they are there, but they aren’t that important to the film”. If anything, that just adds insult to injury for me.



Moviefan12:  Folks,  stick with the original.   That's  your best bet.   As for me,  I've got some reading to do.   

Let's just say that I'm getting ready for next year's 31 Days of Halloween.    Honestly, folks, there is no reason to watch this sanitized take on Rocky Horror.    Peace!