Musical

  • Leonardo Favio – Aniceto (2008)

    2001-2010ArgentinaLeonardo FavioMusicalRomance

    Leonardo Favio´s long awaited return to the movies was a triumph. On August 3rd, the Argentinean Film Journalists Association gave the Condor Awards to the 2008 local film production, and Aniceto, Favio´s latest film, got 9 out of the 11 statues it had been nominated for.

    A musical remake of his own previous film “Éste es el romance del Aniceto y la Francisca…” (This is the romance of Aniceto and Francisca…), the movie won the awards for Best Film, Best Director (Leonardo Favio), Best Adapted Screenplay (Favio and others, based on Jorge Zuhair Jury´s short story), Best New Actor (Hernán Piquín), Best Cinematography (Alejandro Giuliani), Best Editing (Paola Amor), Best Sound and Music (Iván Wyszogrod), and Best Art Direction (Andrés Echebeste).Read More »

  • Eizô Sugawa – Kimi mo shusse ga dekiru AKA You Can Succeed, Too (1964)

    1961-1970ComedyEizô SugawaJapanMusical

    Japan Society wrote:
    The closest Japanese cinema ever came to the full-blown Broadway style musical, with singing and dancing on the streets of Tokyo, music by avant-garde composer and jazzman Toshiro Mayuzumi, lyrics by renowned poet Shuntaro Tanikawa, and direction by one of Toho’s most prominent “new wave” directors, Eizo Sugawa. Popular jazz drummer and actor Frankie Sakai stars in this comic version of the “industrial competition” genre: two tourism companies compete for foreign clients in the run up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Highlighting the coming internationalization of Japan, the film dramatizes the felt tensions between tradition and modernity, the pressures of the “economic animal” lifestyle, and the energy of high economic growth.Read More »

  • Vincente Minnelli & Busby Berkeley – Cabin in the Sky (1943)

    1941-1950Busby BerkeleyFantasyMusicalUSAVincente Minnelli

    Synopsis:
    Chronic gambler and carouser “Little” Joe Jackson is shot by Domino Johnson at Jim Henry’s gambling club over an outstanding gambling debt. Little Joe’s wife, the God-fearing Petunia Jackson, prays not only for her husband’s mortal life, but also his eternal soul as she’s afraid that if he dies now, he, despite not being an evil man, won’t make it into heaven. As Little Joe is close to death, he is visited by agents of both the Lord and of Lucifer. They make a deal with him: they will give him six months to atone for the errors of his human life.Read More »

  • Vincente Minnelli – Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

    1941-1950ClassicsMusicalUSAVincente Minnelli

    Synopsis:
    St. Louis 1903. The well-off Smith family has four beautiful daughters, including Esther and little Tootie. 17-year old Esther has fallen in love with the boy next door who has just moved in, John. He however barely notices her at first. The family is shocked when Mr. Smith reveals that he has been transfered to a nice position in New York, which means that the family has to leave St. Louis and the St. Louis Fair.Read More »

  • Zhuangzhuang Tian – Yaogun Qingnian AKA Rock Kids (1988)

    1981-1990ChinaDramaFifth Generation Chinese CinemaMusicalZhuangzhuang Tian

    Realistic portraits of Chinese youth embracing western culture.Read More »

  • Kirill Serebrennikov – Leto AKA Summer (2018)

    2011-2020DramaKirill SerebrennikovMusicalRussia

    Plot: A love triangle emerges around a rock and roll musician, his protege, and his wife in 1980s Russia.

    The plot is based on little-known facts of Viktor Tsoi’s (Teo Yoo) life and unfolds in the summer of the early 1980s in Leningrad. The main storyline of the film tells the story of the relationship between the 19-year-old Tsoi, 26-year-old Mike Naumenko (Roman Bilyk), and his wife Natalia (Irina Starshenbaum), as well as the formation of the Leningrad Rock Club and the recording of Tsoi’s first album.Read More »

  • Benoît Lamy & Mweze Ngangura – La vie est belle AKA Life is Rosy (1987)

    1981-1990African CinemaBenoît LamyComedyCongo - Kinshasa (Zaire)MusicalMweze Ngangura

    La Vie Est Belle takes us inside the vibrant music scene of Kinshasha, Zaire’s exhilerating and exasperating capital of four million. Its back alleys and nightclubs pulsate to the beat of some of the most influential musicians in the world, and directors Ngangura Mweze and Benoit Lamy have brought it directly to the screen with their defiantly feel-good epic of charm and persistence.Read More »

  • Andrew Horn – The Nomi Song (2004)

    2001-2010Andrew HornDocumentaryGermanyMusical

    He came from outer space to save the human race!

    Looks like an alien, sings like a diva – Klaus Nomi was one of 1980’s most profoundly bizarre appearances. He was a cult figure in the New Wave Underground scene who sang pop music like opera and brought opera to club audiences. He was a performer with a “look” so strong, that his first audiences went wild before he even opened his mouth. On the verge of international fame as a singer, he instead became one of the first prominent artists to die of AIDS. But the reaction Klaus Nomi provoked was so strong, that he is still unforgettable, even 20 years after his death.Read More »

  • Norman Taurog – It Happened at the World’s Fair (1963)

    1961-1970ComedyMusicalNorman TaurogUSA

    Plot
    Mike and Danny fly a crop duster, but because of Danny’s gambling debts, a local sheriff seizes it. Trying to earn money, they hitch-hike to the World’s Fair in Seattle. While Danny tries to earn money playing poker, Mike takes care of a small girl, Sue-Lin, whose Uncle Walter has disappeared. Being a ladies’ man, he also finds the time to court a young nurse, Diane.Read More »

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