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Stephanie DeGateo's Top Ten Lists for 2002
Ahhh...I love a good musical. Singin' in the Rain, West Side Story, My Fair Lady. A mediocre musical is a good movie in my book. A great musical like Singin' in the Rain becomes one of my favorite movies of all time. So, that being said, why is Chicago at number three on my year-end list? Well, another movie pulled out the stops and provided more razzle dazzle in my opinion. True, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind had far less leg (though Julia Roberts did disply her gams quite nicely) and far less production value than Chicago. However, the flim flam that Chuck Barris pulled on the country far outweighed anything Billy Flynn pulled off in court. I'm not talking about the supposed CIA assissinations, but the selling of such mindless, tasteless fare as The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game and The Gong Show on the American public. George Clooney's movie shows Barris in all his glory...pushing the standards of television down, reaching the lowest common denominator, and he looks like a genius doing it. A twisted genius, but a genius still. The assassination plotline is played straight, a brilliant move on Clooney and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's part. With someone as wacky and perceptive as Barris, maybe, just maybe, those trips to Berlin were something more sinister than just bad prize planning on the part of his production company. Sam Rockwell's performance is dazzling, all energy and emotion. Without breaking into song, or pulling out his dancing shoes, he brings the house down in a better tour de force performance than rivals Roxie and Velma at their show-stopping best. The last shot of the film, with the real Barris wistfully smiling into the camera is the perfect ending to this bizarre, amazing little film. Chicago gave me real joy, but it was a little too glitzy, a little too jumpy, directed within an inch of its life. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind blew me away. Clooney and company killed for me, baby, and made this musical lover appreciate this serio-comedy all the more.
Special Recognition Award #1Worst Casting of an Attractive Actress in an Unattractive Role...to Linda Cardellini in Scooby-Doo. Did the casting director ever SEE the cartoon version of Scooby-Doo? Velma was short, plump, and near-sighted. You know, the typical brainy girl (because we all know brainy girls can't be attractive). So who did they turn to to play live action Velma...tall, brunette, beautiful Linda Cardellini. Hmmm, I guess there are no short, plump actresses in L.A. Or maybe, it's because they wanted to (inexplicably) put Velma in a tight, low cut, cropped shirt for a few minutes in the movie. Anyway, to have a Velma who is arguably more attractive than your Daphne ruined the film for me. I could no longer suspend my disbelief enough to go with the protoplasmic plot, the talking dog or the canine villian. 'Cause you know, if they had cast someone like Sara Rue in the Velma role, I would have bought into it completely.
Special Recognition Award #2Weirdest coincidence between same named characters...Scooby-Doo Velma and Chicago Velma. Same name, same hairstyle. The source material for their respective movies were developed in the 1970s. Both Velmas are jealous that others are getting all the attention. By the end, both come together with those of whom they are jealous and only then do they attract the spotlight and the media attention they crave. Jinkies, what are the odds?!?
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Friday, November 01, 2024
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