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THE PRODUCERS gets a thumbs up from this viewer!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with an interesting review of the film adaptation of the Broadway hit THE PRODUCERS, itself an adaptation of Mel Brooks' film of the same name. I love seeing Matthew Broderick being great... I grew up on FERRIS BUELLER and I try to forget INSPECTOR GADGET. The review is very well done, going into what he liked and didn't like so you really start to get a feel for the film. I'm hoping this rocks my socks off!
Hey Harry,
I took a trip to Broadway tonight. Actually, Broadway came to Edgewater, New Jersey. You see, we were able to get a sneak peek screening of The Producers. And I now feel a part of a movement that had eluded me for so long. Because musicals really ain't my thing, trying to score tickets to the Broadway run of this show seemed to be something I just couldn't get motivated for. All I heard from
well, just about everybody was Oh, you MUST see the show! or Oh, it was just WONderful! or
you get the point. But, again, I believed it'd just be one of those things that I'd never really get the energy to try to see.
I guess I should preface this all by saying that I'm not a fan of musicals, but I love a good comedy. My relationship with Mel Brooks movies has been over for a while now
I can't even criticize any of his more recent movies because, since Spaceballs, nothing he's made has really interested me. His old stuff, though? Gold. And I wanted to try to put aside my distaste for musicals and enjoy a good comedy. And, strangely enough, ithis movie was keeping the audience laughing pretty much all the way through. Whether it was the songs (which pretty much got huge applause after every one), the bawdiness, or just the whole shebang
I found myself actually liking a musical.
But, I should be clear, this wasn't Moulin Rouge, there was no flashy editing or dramatic camera angles, I felt like I was watching the Broadway show. Not a movie of the show, but the show itself. With every musical number and with just about every scene, the movie embraced its theatrical roots. I had to push the Mostel/Wilder version to the back of my brain and convince myself that this was not a movie version of the Broadway incarnation of the original film (whew!). This was a big-screen version of the Broadway phenomenon. And, when I accepted that, I slowly felt myself having a good time.
Most of you already know the story, but here's the rundown: A Broadway producer and his accountant (Nathan Lane & Matthew Broderick), after finding out that they can make more money with a flop than a success, set out to make the worst Broadway musical ever. Along the way to making 'Springtime for Hitler,' they encounter a slew of screwy characters and devise all sorts of schemes to make this show a certain disaster. But, when it becomes a hit, they're up 'hit creek.' (pardon the pun
it's that kind of night)
Nathan Lane & Matthew Broderick got a ton of acclaim for their work on Broadway with these roles (a Tony or two, I believe). Here, they show their comfort in becoming their characters and in performing the musical numbers. I'll admit, I was a bit jarred by them at first. They must have been directed to keep the over-the-top, project-from-the-diaphragm performances that they gave on stage. This takes a little getting used to. Truth be told, I felt like some of Gene Wilder's anxiety about his little blankie was a bit overplayed in the original but who the hell am I to criticize Gene Wilder? Here, Matthew Broderick amps it up even more. Great comic effect on stage, I'm sure
on the big screen, it seemed a little too much. But, again, once you take this as a pretty literal interpretation of the stage show, you vibe with the performances and they become quite entertaining.
The supporting players do a great job with their characters:
Uma Thurman as Ulla gives her a chance to just exude sex and to flaunt her body. She's sexy in most-every movie, but here it's just about her physical attributes not the brainy-sexy smarts of Beautiful Girls. And she looks gooooood.
Will Ferrell as Franz Liebkind whether or not you're tired of him, this is what he does best. He's playing a whacked out character and completely committing to it. Very, very funny
and I was impressed by his song-and-dance skills.
The other standout was Roger Bart. You may know him from Desperate Housewives (did I just admit to watching that?) as the creepy pharmacist he's hilarious here as the very gay assistant to the show's director.
The film's director is Susan Stroman. Apparently, she's an accomplished Broadway choreographer and this shows that she can make an entertaining movie with lots of traditional film musical influences
specifically, lots of Busby Berkeley, An American in Paris, and Singin' In The Rain-type influences (I may not like 'em all, but I've given them a shot). Her decision to keep this unabashedly stage-y (wide shots, subtle edits, and theatrical sets) may be questioned by some, but it's a choice that really does work. One musical number, in particular, with old ladies in walkers was quite brilliantly staged. I couldn't help but wonder, though, what this would have been like with the Coen Brothers behind the camera. It could be perfect for a Hudsucker Proxy-type treatment.
The biggest character that runs through the whole show is Mel Brooks. You don't see him until the last frame in the final song, but his voice is the strongest for the entirety of the film. Again, I'm a huge fan of his earlier films: Young Frankenstein, The Producers, High Anxiety, and of course Blazin' Saddles. Though his mojo has seemingly dwindled, it seems like Broadway is a perfect place for him. Here, his nouveau borscht-belt schtick can thrive... and no one does it better. He's also a master showman, so he knows to keep the film light, entertaining, and rapidly paced. Anyway, he may not have directed this
but it's pure, essential, and yes classic Mel Brooks.
So, that's it. It's a great way to see the show if you missed it in New York or on the road. The songs are surprisingly enjoyable (although, 'Springtime in Hitler' and 'Keep It Gay' are the ones that I can't get out of my head
both of which could get your ass kicked if you're singing around the wrong company) and it makes for a fun time at the movie theater. While it may not change my tune (so to speak) about musicals, at least it made me laugh pretty consistently. Assuming it's coming out around the holidays, it just may be the perfect Christmas-time family outing. Because, you know, everyone will be telling you, 'Oh, you MUST see it! It?s WONderful!' And I gotta agree.
Shalom and Auf Wiedersehen,
Darren Swirl
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+ Expand All
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phew
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But I do seem to dig the hell out of a good musical comedy, South Park and Little Shop of Horrors springing to mind, so kinda looking forward to this.
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More power to em, I've been wanting to see Brooks resurrected for years and finally it seems to be coming. I couldn't think of a better way to bring the producers back around, and they seem to have nailed it every step of the way. This definitely makes up for my missing the broadway show
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Aug 31, 2005 2:14:45 AM CDT
actually the Broadway show reminded me of the South Park movie m
by freak2thec0re
Mel Brooks is a damn funny man
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I mean, that's just stupid, people breaking into song for no reason. I need realism in my movies, such as that provided by the Spiderman and Star Wars movies. Or the Die Hard movies, which I think were actually documentaries...... Seriously though, just the fact that this guy says The Producers is no Moulin Rouge, gives me hope that the Producers could be good. God, what a wasted opportunity Moulin Rouge was. Damn Baz Luhrmann and his bullshit "look at me and how cool I am!" frenetic/incompetent editing...... But I digress.
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What the hell? Besides, I'll get bonus points with the ol' ball-and-chain. Mongo likes chocolate and Dangle likes daquiris. Ta-ta.
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Ohh MY GOD! You hired a receptionist who cant speak English?! What will people say?
They'll say AwooWaa Waa Waa Wa wa wa wa -
And whatever this film is, if Broderick is attached to it in any way, that automatically decreases its quality by some 700%.
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Or beautiful...or talented...
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Why not just go watch the original version? It's fucking hilarious; no need for a remake.
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Aug 31, 2005 7:07:52 AM CDT
They Made The Musical So They Could Make Money -- But it IS A Go
by filker-tom
Very old-school, and just before the end of Act One there's a musical hit of "Springtime For Hitler" that makes it sound like it's some kind of glorious sunrise just past the horizon, except of course that it's fuckin' "Springtime For Hitler". If you don't like musicals, you probably won't like this... musical. And, anyone who says Uma Thurman is sexy... is right.
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I don't know, these over-elaborated reviews always seem like they were hatched out in a meeting and writen with specific guidelines ("say ur not a fan of musicals, that will get the non-fans!" or "say you are a fan of Mel Brooks, but only the older stuff. that will get the geeks!". Sheesh...
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TheReturnOfHP said the film was perfect but I saw the play and it blew the original film away - no comparison.AND I HATE PLAYS! I was forced to go with my G/F and actually thought it was good.
I hope the movie has the Nazi Pigeons, the dancing Grannys and the rotating Swastika
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but I'm not paying ot see a film of it, especially with that idjit Ferrel as Liebkin.. Schtupid!
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hhharumph. . . I agree with you.. it seems a little too elaborate and well written.. usually people that write like that GO to the theatre..
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What is theatrical about a subtle edit? There's nothing theatrical about ANY kind of edit...
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Hoke & Owlxi, thanks for the compliment of being a decent writer. You see, I went to college and took film appreciation courses. I wrote papers on the films, whether or not I liked them. As for this review, I tried to be fair... telling you that it won't be for everybody, but it worked for me. Even though I liked it, I can see how others could cringe. But it was a pretty uniformly good experience in our movie theater. Oh, I also like "theatre" - just not musicals. Different thing. And Uma Thurman IS sexy. But I'll cop to that being just an opinion. And, yes, the movie has the nazi pigeons, the dancing Grannys, and the rotating swastika! I can see why Harry and the guys don't read the talkbacks... it's easy to get a thin skin. Sorry. Nevermind.
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I'm still stuck on jollysleeve's comment regarding realism in Spiderman, Star Wars, and Die Hard.
Admittedly, I like them all... as well as "The Producers". -
She was great when I saw The Producers on Broadway! Granted, she's not a Name like Uma, but dammit, Cady was great.
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This guy says he isn't a fan of musicals, BUT that this movie "embraces its theatrical roots"
SUCH a plant.
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she's a Republican. 3.5 weeks till more Curb Your Enthusiasm!
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- Yet I'm constantly forced to go to every damned show that comes to my town and to see our high school plays. Family. Friends. The Occasional Girlfriend. I hear ya, Swirl, I hear ya. Plant-callers are boring. This better be funny though.
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Moulin Rouge, Dancer in the Dark, Once More With Feeling (from Buffy). Most of the time, they are a comment on the musical genre itself, yet take it to a whole new level.
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...and that's the truth.
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Not on Broadway, mind you, but on an academic level. I always get a kick when I come to this site and see all the movie/comic book geeks ridiculing musicals and broadway like it's something beneath them. "Hate musicals." "Broadway sucks." Even: "Musicals suck, but the Producers was good." "I was forced to see the Producers, but it's okay because it didn't suck like other musicals." "I LIKE theatre (but not musicals.)" What's wrong with musicals? Nothing. And trust me, I'm a Star Wars geek, and a comic book geek, and I also happen to be a musical geek. Here's my point: for people who argue the minutae of what makes a particular movie or comic suck, and dismiss all musicals and Broadway as garbage simply because of the type of art/entertainment it is. A movie sucks because it's not done well; it doesn't suck because it's a movie. Just as it's IMPOSSIBLE for a musical to suck because it's a musical. INDIVIDUAL musicals suck, just like everything else. You don't hate all movies because you saw one bad one. And you can't dismiss an entire artistic genre, like musicals, simply because you insist on remaining close minded. For the record: I think Susan Stroman was the perfect choice to direct "The Producers" movie, because so much of what she's touched on Broadway has turned to gold, including "The Producers", "Contact", and "The Music Man". "Oklahoma" and "The Frogs" (in a limited run starring Nathan Lane) were less successful, but I have faith that she'll be able to weave the magic she did with the Broadway "Producers" on the screen. If you know anything about the background of the show, you'll know that all the critical decisions that could have turned the show from hit to flop rested on here, and in every case she made the right one. Also, aside from his brief stint on Desperate Housewives, Roger Bart played Carmen Ghia on Broadway (superb), he played Snoopy in the revival of "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown" (for which he won a Tony), and was the singing voice of Hercules in Disney's "Hercules". I'm also very excited to see Gary Beach play Roger DeBris, for which he won the Tony on Broadway for Best Featured Actor. Lastly... for those who haven't seen it, "Avenue Q" is as funny or funnier than any movie you've seen in a long, long time. One particular song, sung by Trekkie Monster, a lot of you would probably relate to real well.
Musicals rule! (And so does Star Wars.)
P.S. - Has anyone seen the one man "Star Wars Trilogy" being performed downtown in the village? It's supposed to be genius. More theatre you might like. -
Or does the movie version of a musical that was originally a movie, a great movie mind you, sound terribly asinine.
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Yes - she started as a choreographer and that is where her roots lie - even in directing - but that is tantamount to calling Barry Sonnenfeld (pre - BIG TROUBLE) an accomplished cinematographer. And like "RaceMcLoud" said, AVENUE Q is fantastic. So is PUTMAN COUNTY SPELLING BEE this year and SPAMALOT is pretty great too. The two former have rush/ cheap ticket deals so check them out if you are in NYC.
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thank god. just like Hollywood, Broadway is holding the purse strings so tight in an attempt to avoid all risk that it's strangling all the creativity out of the medium. come on, now! let's see The Dukes of Hazzard on Broadway featuring the songs of Elton John's Greatest Hits! Then make a movie of it!
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well done 'cept for too much 'pretty much'. I live on the west coast and so everything I see is wayyy off broadway, but I've seen 'The Producers' on stage and I own all Mel's DVDs up until Spaceballs. Love me the Brooks, Young Frankenstein is my all time favorite . . . The Producers movie and the Producers on stage really need to be seen on stage to differentiate their strengths. I hope the campy "let's put on a show" aspect of the show within a show on the stage version seems to be tough to capture. All the myopic fanboys should know that going to a 'show' doesn't make you gay automatically and that you can wear your Star Wars jammies under your big-boy clothes when you experience entertainment outside your "I know what I like and I like what I know" world. It will be okay, your inflatable Princess Leia doll will always be faithful to you, even if Ulla gives you a little stiffy. Cady was fantastic, I can't imagine Uma topping that act, unless Uma is breastfeeding again (was that the Oscars? I swear my fish tank experienced high tide whenever they showed Uma onscreen) and hopefully no one clocks that tree smoker he-man Ethan Hawke again. What the hell. Good job DSwirl.
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especially in high school where my director was obsessed with 60's musicals like Pippin, Godspell, Celebration and The Fantasticks. Of course, I grew up with Rodgers and Hammerstein/Hart, but most of those are downright silly by today's standards. I preferred those 60's shows, because they at least had an abstractness, an almost ritual-like quality to them. I like some Sondheim, but I won't even mention the abomination that is ALW. The postmodern film musicals (Moulin Rouge, Dancer in the Dark and Once More With Feeling) I mentioned are interesting to me because of their meta qualities (commenting on the genre itself). Now as an adult with an MA in Theatre Studies and a PhD (soon) in Performance Studies, I've found that I've moved further and further away from theatre in general. I haven't acted in about ten years (as family and academics have pervaded) and I simply don't go to shows anymore - not because they're not available (there's plenty of theatre around me) but when I'm still relatively poor, it's just too much of a gamble to pay $40 a ticket for a show I might not like. It's a lot easier to turn off a free tv show I don't like than to walk out of an expensive theatre. I probably would have been into the Lion King, but I just couldn't swallow the ticket price. I'm sure I'm missing some great stuff but if I'm going to pay a lot of money for a ticket, I'm more likely to see a band I'm really into (granted, there's only a handful of bands I'll pay more than $25 for a ticket). I've found myself getting more into television as an over 30 adult then I did as a twenty-something. I can get into an imaginary world through my set much easier than in a theatre (maybe it's the live aspect, maybe because I studied it). A sad state of affairs and why theatre has become more and more elitist with its high ticket prices and shows that sell out way in advance (like I couldn't even begin to hope to get Spamalot tickets when it previewed here before NY). I keep hoping someday I'll get back into it, so there it is.
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yup.
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I was trying (and failed) to make a witty saracastic comment. Basically, that's a complaint I've heard VERY often from people that hate musicals--that musicals suck because they aren't "realistic." And I always found that complaint to be utterly preposterous, since very few movies, especially those popular with the nihilistic geek crowd, are "realistic." I personally love musicals. (Although certainly not all of them; execution and style count for a lot, hence my Baz Luhrmann criticism.)
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'nuff said.
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Aug 31, 2005 6:27:44 PM CDT
R.C.'s opinion: Derlaughaarige must love the man chowder no
by r.c. the "wise"
She looks sensational considering she had two kids and a very public split from her idiot ex Ethan "I must have lost my fuckin mind" Hawke. She's starting to show signs of aging but she still is diabolically sexy. In addition, she's an extremly talented actress and certainly more rewarding to the entertainment business than Joss Whedon (that's my response to that other pistol polisher who's seems to begrudge Uma).
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I think the Theatre is alive and well and all of the naysayers are just looking at a few prime examples of over-hyped shows or post-modern productions like THE PRODUCERS or URINETOWN. There are some bad adaptations and lazy producing jobs like any of the jukebox musicals currently on Broadway or movies to musicals that DON'T work like the cancelled MAMBO KINGS or even the upcoming WEDDING SINGER. But, as I said in my previous post, there is plenty of cheap AND brilliant theatre to be seen in New York whether its Terrence McNally's new play that Nathan Lane is starring in off-Broadway or the off-Broadway smash ALTAR BOYZ or WICKED or AVENUE Q or PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE or THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA. The latter five all have student/rush policies where tix are avail. for $20-$25. Films are $11 - $14 these days in LA in New York so its no thtat much more. And for my money, any of those three shows beats most if not all of the TV/ Film world's output. Its also a taste thing, yes - but if you want to see great theatre and you want to see it for cheap - IT EXISTS! You just have to find it. Now musicals on film is another subject entirely.
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Aug 31, 2005 6:49:52 PM CDT
Sounds great! How long before they make a hit broadway musical
by inspectordoppler
Bloody hell.
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I see. Sorry, sometimes sarcasm doesn't always click with me when I read it. I understand and can commiserate.
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Aug 31, 2005 11:37:55 PM CDT
There's a Broadway musical based on SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. I
by frankdrebin
http://www.silencethemusical.com/
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...and hooray for us! We have yet another remake to endure! Fucking hell, what's next? The Hollywood version of Spamalot The Musical? ENOUGH!!!
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I agree that Uma is a talented actress altough she did not convince me in Kill Bill and let's not even speak about the Woo-disaster Paycheck. She has a certain appeal but to say she is sexy??Oh well, just give me a nice dress and call me gay!!
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....that there was a movie version of Spamalot, it was called Monty Python and the Holy Grail. As for Uma, people have different tastes, get over it.
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we already had an unnecessary old broadway musical adapated movie that bombed this year! into the woods, a gigantic misfire from ghs films,went up against episode 3 and opened well but dropped hard in a freaking week and a half!it sucked, anyway! and chris collins was the only good thing in it! goddamnit! this is too much with these stupid movies these days!
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