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Moriarty Gets A Lungful Of HAIRSPRAY!

First! by stones_throw	Jul 20th, 2007 06:59:57 AM

FIRST!! by DECKERS	Jul 20th, 2007 07:00:12 AM
yes!
..or maybe not..... by DECKERS	Jul 20th, 2007 07:01:12 AM
...well, would have been 2nd this week:-)
I actively spit at every poster I see for this... by Charlie & Tex	Jul 20th, 2007 07:09:53 AM
...movie, as I am a hardcore Waters fans and looking at the images of Travolta gives my the overwealming urge to punch him in the face. I'm not really a fan of musicals - most showtunes make bile creep up my throat. I had the misfortune to hear one of the tracks from this broadcast over the radio whilst I was having Sunday lunch a couple of weeks ago and it nearly made me bring up everything I had just eaten.
Charlie & Tex... by TheRealMoriarty	Jul 20th, 2007 07:14:16 AM
... you know that Waters is actually in this film, as is Ricki Lake? Liking, or even loving, the original does not mean you have to hate this one sight unseen.
WAS IT AQUA NET??? by Shermdawg	Jul 20th, 2007 07:15:31 AM
WAS IT???
Wow, the AICN crew is really . . . by SkidMarkedUndies	Jul 20th, 2007 07:58:04 AM
doing well. Wedding, houses . . . good for you guys, considering not ten years ago (or a bit more) this site was just a newsboard in reality. Kudos, peeps. And BTW: How's the little Jedi treating you these days Mori? He start talking yet?
Might have to watch this by Col. Tigh-Fighter	Jul 20th, 2007 08:15:08 AM
And not just because Mori will shout at me if I dont ;)
Moving house again, Mori?? by Primus	Jul 20th, 2007 08:19:55 AM
Wow - seems like just a few months ago you were moving in to your last place and showing us your dvd storage problems (which many of us sympathised with). Hope the new place has plenty of room for the shiny discs?
I will never watch this by mthrndr	Jul 20th, 2007 08:29:44 AM
ever.
musicals... by Obscura	Jul 20th, 2007 08:54:11 AM
no less realistic than a superhero movie?! so, when has a musical ever explained why everyone knows the lyrics and the dance moves, and where the frickin music is coming from?! at least in a superhero movie they explain the fantastic nature of the characters as part of the plot. superman can fly because he's an alien (plot device).... not just because its a movie.
I can safely say....... by SteffanLongdon	Jul 20th, 2007 09:05:09 AM
I will never ever watch this film.
Wow. by SuckLeTrou	Jul 20th, 2007 09:48:33 AM
You guys sounds just like all the gay guys I know. They are all refusing to ever see this too. I don't blame you, but the thing is, this movie (and musicals in general) are designed for and aimed at the same people who make up the majority of the weekday broadway audience: Housewives. That's why Travolta, the housewife's wet-dream is playing one, and it will work. And why he and this film are on Oprah every 15 minutes.
re: Obscura by VoteRoslin08	Jul 20th, 2007 10:19:08 AM
It’s funny how people how don’t like sci-fi movies just don’t like them, but people who don’t like musicals are pretty passionate about why NOBODY should like them. For the record, I like both. As for Obscura’s take, it’s clear to EVERYONE that singing and dancing are unrealistic conventions of musical. Nobody's saying no. The point is that most movies require a suspension of disbelief, particularly genre movies. People (and I assume aliens) can’t fly. Bruce Willis can't surf the wing of a low flying jet. Zombies aren't going to be ravaging a city any time soon. Your comment about Superman’s powers being part of the plot makes it sound like you don’t care that they can sing an dance in unison, but rather that the writer didn’t throw in some silly line like ‘hey, let’s all do that dance number we were practicing earlier’. That, however, just isn’t true. You don’t like musicals. Fine. But it’s LAME AS HELL to cite ‘Superman’ as more realistic than anything. There is one truth that we can all cling to, Obscura. I will grant you that if zombie aliens who can fly since they're from another plant (which is fully explained) attacked a city, they PROBABLY wouldn't be able to pull off a dance number... I mean, how would they all know the lyrics and dance moves?!?!?!?
Buying Your Second House . . . by kevinwillis.net	Jul 20th, 2007 10:31:03 AM
Will not be any easier. It's actually more complicated, in most cases. Trust me. And additional expenses will come up. And if you spend time adding and finessing this house, when you move to your next house you realize that you have to do it all over again . . .
which is better: High School Musical of Hairspray? by Boomers_Lips	Jul 20th, 2007 10:54:26 AM
i'll say High School Musical. because it is better.
i meant HSM "or" Hairspray. by Boomers_Lips	Jul 20th, 2007 10:55:03 AM
"or"
Brilliant logic there, Boomers_Lips. by themikejonas	Jul 20th, 2007 11:15:42 AM
Sorry, but Hairspray is to High School Musical what Grease is to Grease 2.
You like musicals, don't you dad? by Osmosis Jones	Jul 20th, 2007 11:34:22 AM
No I don't, I think they're BAD!
Count me amongst the other High School Musical fans her by Lando Griffin	Jul 20th, 2007 12:11:44 PM
And its completely possible that even if I didn't have kids I would like it. I realize I am relinquishing all man card privileges by admitting all this but so what. Its a cute little movie with catchy songs. To even further up the estrogen amount in here our family has the soundtrack, dvd and went to the concert. Feel free to mock me, I would if I were you.
Had to IMDB Shawn Levy... he's attached to the Flash? by modlight	Jul 20th, 2007 12:41:32 PM
fuuuuuck.
realism in musicals is dependant on genre... by modlight	Jul 20th, 2007 12:50:30 PM
I'm not the biggest fan of musicals, but I have some I love, some I loathe, which usually has to do with poor music that basically just people talking with notes (look up the Legally Blonde musical on youTube, you'll see what I mean). But the issue of realism comes in when you're dealing with Musical Dramas rather than Comedies. Its fine for someone to break into song about how great life is and bouncing around stage and the lack of realism is fine. But to sing about Aids, murder, the Titanic etc... really undercuts the value of any possible message. Sure Sci-Fi movies aren't real, but they deal with real human emotions, and are often an allegory for true issues. But that is the difference between Ghost Rider and Star Wars. Neither are real, but one has subtext. Now imagine say... Saving Private Ryan and instead of them listening to Edith Piaf waiting for the Germans, Adam Goldberg and Tom Hanks broke into the song "Waiting for Gerry". I'm not saying Musical Drama's can't be done well, (Opera's are another genre btw) Moulin Rouge worked well by removing itself so far from reality that we could just deal with what we saw, rather than nitpick the fact that they are breaking into Nirvana songs in 19th century France, but that is the issue I think people have with Musicals. Sorry, that one got away from me.
as I said before by BadMrWonka	Jul 20th, 2007 01:37:49 PM
having John Travolta, the self-hating closeted homosexual scientologist, star in a remake of a movie by and starring gay icons, is akin to letting Mel Gibson remake Fiddler on the Roof...
My junk swells... by jabbayoda	Jul 20th, 2007 02:01:06 PM
...for Amanda Bynes. That is all.
Amanda Bynes & Brittany Snow! by Boomers_Lips	Jul 20th, 2007 02:03:58 PM
make sure to cover your netherparts with the popcorn bucket when they appear on-screen.
Ok, you convinced me by theBigE	Jul 20th, 2007 02:22:13 PM
I really have a fondness for the original, but since the initial pictures of Travolta in drag, I have had no interest in seeing this rehash. Don't let me down, Mori!!!
re: Modlight by dance4days	Jul 20th, 2007 02:48:29 PM
I just want to stick up for "serious" musical dramas, and say that they're just as capable of dealing with real human drama as any other genre. When a character sings a song, they can say things that would be completely unnatural and unrealistic in standard dialogue, and thus reveal inner turmoil that would otherwise go unknown to the audience, as well as focus in on certain character interplay and situations to set a particular tone for a piece. In one particularly well-known musical, "Les Miserables," no writer in their right mind would have Eponine openly discuss her complicated emotions regarding the young lovers Marius and Cosette; she's a guarded person by nature, and it would undermine her character entirely for her to speak frankly about her feelings. However, within the context of a musical it's entirely acceptable for a character to sing a song about how they're feeling to nobody in particular. Granted, the same effect can be achieved through spoken asides and soliloquies, or a narrator, or whatever, but revealing internal monologues through song is a perfectly valid artistic choice, and if it's well done a subtle and moving story can be told.
Thanks, M! by Archive	Jul 20th, 2007 03:36:13 PM
I've been jonesing for a little bit of your writing, and this was an interesting thing to hear your take on. I grew up in the theater, and have an intersesting love/hate relationship with musicals. For my money, the biggest problem with them is that they rarely take advantage of the camera the way others films do, and Moulin Rouge! and the Lion King were the biggest exceptions. Making a cinematic musical is something few filmmakers can do.
Bynes & Snow by Lando Griffin	Jul 20th, 2007 03:53:40 PM
please fail in Hollywood so we can get some Playboy pictorials or straight to dvd erotic thrillers
I felt myself becoming gay just reading this by la_sith	Jul 20th, 2007 04:00:46 PM
YUCK
Get over yourselves, gentlemen by SeattleMoviegoer	Jul 20th, 2007 04:37:08 PM
Obscura makes a great point. A bigger point is that the kvetching over whether a musical is realistic or not is a moot issue. Telling a story in song and dance is a larger than life way to convey emotions. To bitch about it now (as if it were a new concept) is silly. The musical was the first thing they made once movies had sound. Get over it, folks. The person who doesn't get it is either brain dead or has been living in a cave since birth. Either you enjoy it or you don't. If the latter, there are plenty of options in the other multiplex auditoriums.
faggots by cloudhidden1	Jul 20th, 2007 04:48:09 PM
Yeah, I'm a big time faggot who loves musicals but I also love horror and science fiction films, so enough with the gay shit on here about musicals. All you guys on here ranting about how much you hate musicals in an attempt to prove your manhood also probably beat off every night watching Gil Gerard on your "Buck Rogers" dvds. All I have to say is that any self-respecting faggot WILL NOT see this film because of the travesty of John Travolta as Edna Turnblad. Divine or Harvey Fierstein are 100x the man that the big old closet queen Travolta could ever hope to be. God, either of them could completely beat the shit out of him. Now THAT I would pay to see.
I like Republicans-when they're eviscerated by cloudhidden1	Jul 20th, 2007 06:01:18 PM
Something like Evil Dead 2 or Cabin Fever, yeh I can dig it. But if someone spontaneously bursts out and claims to be conservative?Republican in real life I'd expect; a) Immediate violence enacted upon said person by passerby b) Several prescriptions for anti-psychotics be shoved up their ass (because they secretly like it) Only hot guys with amazing schlongs are exempt from this. Oh, and just because you hate Republicans doesn't mean you action films. Just thought I'd point that out to all you supposedly conservative pussies out there. P.S. Bush gets it in the ass Saturday!
It's been "cool" to watch Christopher Walken... by kintar0	Jul 20th, 2007 06:19:30 PM
dance since DEER HUNTER, for fuck's sake. And how exactly does Evil Dead2 deserve to be "eviscerated?"
ps, cloudhidden1 by kintar0	Jul 20th, 2007 06:21:34 PM
You post doesn't make any fucking sense, even if I agree with you in spirit. Modern Republicans are artless and humorless.
Your point about "Les Miserables" is good by frofropimp	Jul 20th, 2007 06:42:37 PM
However that's the wrong show to take into account as far as realism goes because it's essentially an opera. I do think any film snob who can't handle the realism or lack thereof of people breaking into song needs to get over it and just enjoy themselves.
Wilbur and Edna's chemistry by CherryValance	Jul 20th, 2007 06:56:06 PM
(spoilerish)I thought it was there especially in that dance number which was of course my favorite scene. Except I kept wanting the clothesline to go away. That was bugging me. And there were a lot of weird angles. It seemed like they were shooting upwards at people from the left. Maybe you're supposed to do that, I don't know, but it reminded me of watching televised figure skating when someone does a triple axle and all you see is their hair. John Travolta was great though. I don't know what that accent or speech impediment was but he was really cute. And then towards the end when he was in the red dress and everyone started to back up I thought "Uh-oh, here it comes..." and did it ever! Loved that. In heels and a fat suit? Too awesome. The whole cast was great. I did think there was too much Latifah however. Of course it's not as good as the original movie, but is anything? I think it's very good for a straight up musical.
where the music comes from by CherryValance	Jul 20th, 2007 07:11:13 PM
It comes from their souls. So obvious.
Mori, what did you think of Die Hard 4 ? by Greenflame0	Jul 20th, 2007 08:37:28 PM
As I don't think either Mori or Harry (understandable, as he was busy with his wedding) got to review Die Hard 4, can you offer Mori, any comment/s in this talkback on what you thought of DH4, in terms of it being crap, a big disappointment, or pretty average overall.
Vern, you need to wipe the jiz off your face from when by BGDAWES	Jul 20th, 2007 08:39:31 PM
Walter B. came all over you after you jacked him off so much apologizing for Die Without Balls. Wait, this is Mori's forum. Mori - didn't read your review and I seriously doubt I'll see hairspray but thank Jeebus you write for this site because I agree with you 90% of the time and you write well. Capone and Mori carry this site. I don't have anything else to add. Except that Transformers was worlds better in terms of shitty movies than Die Like A PG-13 Rated Pussy AND YES THE PG-13 RATING SUCKED AND JUST ADDED INSULT TO THE INJURY OF THE DIE HARD SERIES THAT IS LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD! I apologize fellow talkbackers, just got back from seeing that disappointment.
Christopher Walken dancing is not a joke by jimmy_009	Jul 20th, 2007 08:58:50 PM
I think he's actually pretty good, didn't he used to be a dancer before acting? Also I will never see this movie. Ever.
RE: VoteRoslin08 by Obscura	Jul 20th, 2007 09:19:38 PM
i wasnt stating i hate musical, i was stating that saying they are equal to something like a superhero movie in terms of realism is inaccurate. they both involve suspension of disbelief, but the point i was trying to make, is that one is internal to the plot, the other is external. infact, rather than suspension of disbelief, instead a musical requires acceptance of medium. Musicals are not a genre, they are a medium. you could make a musical about anything, and regardless of conent, it would require acceptance of the fact that the story will be told using music. this is VERY different from just believing a man (or alien) can fly. Yes what i said may have sounded like another 'i hate musicals' post, but it wasnt. (why would i read a review for a musical if i decided i didnt like musicals before i read it?) i was simply commententing on the diffrence in plot specific realism and medium defining elements being mistaken for a worthy comparison.
HEE-EY GIRLFIREEEND!! by Enter4None	Jul 20th, 2007 10:16:15 PM
I'd pay anything to smell the funk out of the fat girl's humanoid-like panties after all those hours and hours of dancing takes.
This'll be New Line's first HD disc... by Eric79	Jul 21st, 2007 01:22:50 AM
...strange, but true fact.
I'm not 100% against musicals... by Sledge Hammer	Jul 21st, 2007 01:51:47 AM
...as I believe that any genre can be made to work with the right amount of care and attention, but this sucked, and seriously huge amounts at that. Still, hopefully John Waters got a nice big check out of it all, to help fund his next filmic opus.
Liked the first one but... by RadWon	Jul 21st, 2007 03:55:11 AM
I don't shock easy but I was pretty shocked by the trailer with the outright racist remark by Queen Latif-uh "if there were anymore white people in here, we'd have a suburb" (or something like that). The whole race joke for a easy laugh was played out with rosie o'donnells chinese crack a few back. However, I'm not expecting any apologies from Queen or the producers anytime soon. Maybe now it'll be cool to start cracking overweight, black lesbian jokes.
Overboard rocks! 80's classic. by duh5	Jul 21st, 2007 03:56:08 AM
I agree that the other movies listed pretty much suck though.
Travolta was so fucking horrifying in the trailer... by MaxTheSilent	Jul 21st, 2007 06:03:47 AM
I haven't been that repulsed by make-up since WHITE CHICKS.
This summer's surprise hit. by Yeti	Jul 21st, 2007 06:04:22 AM
The reviews all basically say the same thing. Thought "meh" when we went in, came out saying "wow!" when we left.
Most unintelligent talkback ever..... by ribbitking	Jul 21st, 2007 12:10:02 PM
I'm having trouble separating the homophobia from stupidity...can anyone help?
Once by Mort Meyers	Jul 21st, 2007 12:38:54 PM
Musicals are alive and well. If you don't believe me go right now to your local theater and check out Once. Hell, go see it even if you do believe me. Just go see it! It's the best musical I've seen since Moulin Rouge.
If you haven't seen a musical since Grease... by Lenny Nero	Jul 21st, 2007 04:22:35 PM
...then how the hell do you know if they're any good?
I would never see this movie... by chi3fhog	Jul 21st, 2007 05:00:48 PM
if it were not for the fact that I am married.
Nailed into the closet. by thegreatwhatzit	Jul 21st, 2007 08:08:35 PM
Declining to come out of the closet, Cruise and Travolta shack-up with hot babes as a defense (this strategy has been negotiated by their Scientology drones). Which is worse? Homophobia, hypocrisy or denial of your lifestyle? Cruise almost comically leaks his own desperation (everytime a tabloid challenges his heterosexuality, the idiot seeks solace with a bombshell). His embarrassing performance on OPRAH was the last straw for SOUTH PARK.
Is it just me or by MacTard420	Jul 23rd, 2007 12:36:25 AM
does anyone else want to bang that young fat chick, Nikki Blonsky? I got a thing for big girls!
Poor Man's Dreamgirls by The Founder	Jul 23rd, 2007 01:52:56 AM
It'll probably make more money cuase it's got a good amount of white people in it. A White musical instead of a black one.
Just about as many black people in Hairspray... by Lenny Nero	Jul 23rd, 2007 03:02:44 AM
...as there are in Dreamgirls, sir.
Four words to "disspell" this angry geek mob by cinema_obscura	Jul 23rd, 2007 01:31:09 PM
In response to, oh I don't know, ALL of the previous geek rants about musicals and their alleged affront to geek sensibilities... Once. More. With. Feeling.
It'd be nice for more AICN reviews of this.... by ribbitking	Jul 24th, 2007 01:47:47 AM
maybe it'll give some haters a second thing to think about...
John Travolta's Voice + Mrs Turnblad=Big fat Dr Evil by Mutley26	Jul 25th, 2007 07:48:06 AM
AMIRITE?
This or Grease 2? by spectrebeeyatch	Jul 25th, 2007 03:51:26 PM
This looks horrible! The trailers really bother me for some reason and I like musicals! I agree with most that people who out right come out and bash musicals are probably in the closet like Cruise. Oh well you want a good musical watch Grease again that movie never gets old, hell even Phantom of the Opera was good. PS: DH4 owns Transformers it's a fact look it up.
Spectre, it really is a fun-as-fuck movie. by Lenny Nero	Jul 25th, 2007 05:06:00 PM
Seriously. Oh, and I've already won a bet made about a year ago (don't know with which talkbacker) who said that the movie wouldn't even make it to $30 million. Time to step forward, boy-o.
And yet Cabaret is a terrible adaptation... by Lenny Nero	Jul 29th, 2007 12:02:36 PM
...of what I consider a vastly superior play. What gives?
Travolta & Hairspray by hookem2008	Aug 22nd, 2007 02:47:09 PM
I agree with whoever said that Travolta's voice as Turnblad was awful, but I still loved the movie. I was checking out the Hair Spray trivia, and some of it is pretty funny if anyone is interested.....

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Moriarty Gets A Lungful Of HAIRSPRAY!

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