2021: the year of the musical...

Happy Blogmas Day 9! I can't believe that we are already 9 days into December, this month is going by sooo fast! I hope you're all enjoying your December and are watching lots and lots of festive films.

Anyway, anyone who knows me knows how much I love musicals! Even the worse ones still hold a special place in my heart. 2021 seems to have been a year for movie musicals, with 4 new mainstream releases just this year alone! We saw the best and worst versions of movie musicals, the "how to do it right" and "how to fail miserably" movie musicals, but even still, here are my thoughts on this years movie musicals.

(I'm not going to even attempt to address the disaster that was Cinderella, but if you would like to hear my thoughts on that, I have a separate review on my blog dedicated to this atrocity).

In The Heights

Make no mistake, this is movie musical magic! No matter what you think of Lin Manuel or Anthony Ramos, this film is a masterpiece for both music lovers and not.

Music is, without a doubt, the most important part of a musical, and whilst I didn't think that the movie was going to lack in this element, it did worry me as to how they were ever going to improve the original broadway cast recording, and yet somehow, it is bigger, better and brighter. The ability to have an enormous orchestra, time to rehearse and reshoot, and some of the best talent around really pays off and the music and songs are something that every movie musical that comes after, must take note of.

Christopher Scott's choreography is filled with an immense amount of energy and eccentricity which has the audience wanting to get up and dance along with the cast, which is something that any movie musical choreographer can only hope to achieve, and yet he achieves it so seamlessly. 96'000, a number situated roughly half way through the film is one of the most interesting and exhilarating performances ever seen on screen.

The cast are all perfect in their roles, it is equal parts happy, emotional and mind-blowing. I hope that every movie musical that comes after this is just as passionate about creating movie magic because this one really really hits the mark.

Favourite Song: Benny's Dispatch.

Worst Song: Piragua.

Everybody's Talking About Jamie

I adore this musical, I have seen it a few times on the West End so I was super excited to watch this rendition. I really enjoyed it, it was ambitious and rememberable. I would have liked them to have included all of the original songs from the musical but the ones they included were incredibly choreographed and visually stunning.

Max Harwood was an okay Jamie, I felt he was a little reserved and not as theatrically open with the role as he could have been but still had great comedic timing and played Jamie well enough that it was utterly convincing. Richard E. Grant was such a standout in the role and with an incredible supporting cast, it was a great movie and I can't wait to watch it again soon.

Favourite Song: Wall in my Head.

Worst Song: My Man, Your Boy.

Dear Evan Hansen

Okay so, this wasn’t the best and I am devastated by that. As a huge fan of the Broadway (and now West End) musical I was really excited to go and see this movie. I actually am quite a big fan of Ben Platt, loving all of his solo and broadway/movie stuff. And yet, this just wasn’t it. It was awkward, cringe, filled with uncomfortably close camera shots.

The saving grace however was the music, which is actually all anyone cares about. The reviews were extremely harsh, and potentially correct but the music can not be critiqued here. The score is incredible, filled with emotional highs and lows. The grandiose nature of the movie scored compared to the original broadway cast is fun but does that raw element.

However, I can't argue with anyone who agrees this movie was a total flop. And, yes, no one could play Evan but seeing a grown man in his late-20's act like a 17 year old is rather jarring.

Favourite Song: Words Fail.

Worst Song: The Anonymous Ones.

Tick Tick Boom…

Andrew Garfield. I shouldn't have to say anymore. This is absolutely one of my favourite acting performances this year. His emotion and ability to connect to a character is divine and has you completely captured from the moment you see him. His portrayal of Jonathan Larson is magnificent and I hope we see him in future movie musicals because he is a force.

This was also Lin Manuel Miranda's directorial debut and it is phenomenal. He manages to beautifully capture the passion and love of theatre and the arts but also portray in such a delicate way the struggles of dreamers and New York City in the 1990's.

The story and the musical performances are what makes this movie so incredible. It is such an emotional one that seems extremely distant to our lives, but that is just not the case with Larson's story. It is such a human one of love, loss, passion, dreams and fear. I urge everyone to go and watch this movie, it is streaming on Netflix now.

Favourite Song: Boho Days.

Worst Song: Therapy (Vanessa Hudgens is the reason for this, no Andrew Garfield slander on my blog!)

And, being released tomorrow: West Side Story. Despite the drama surrounding the actor portraying Tony, I am excited to see this movie. I have followed Rachel Zegler on social media for a while and I can't wait to see what she does with Maria. And of course, Steven Spielberg. I am hoping they do something truly magical with it because the original 1961movie and musical are both phenomenal.