movies

I have spent my entire weekend "watching" movies. Through the kindness of a dear friend, I have been able to see a number of films that were nominated for a Golden Globe this year....the ceremony to be telecast tonight!

What did I see? Well, first I watched "DREAMGIRLS". I loved it! I had seen the Broadway production and was pretty knocked out by the beauty of the staging and choreography---the late great Michael Bennett was responsible for both the Direction and the Choreography!
But the standout was a young woman named Jennifer Holiday. Amazing performance---like nothing I had ever seen on the stage, and I had seen a lot of great performers in all my many years of going to the theatre---particularly on Broadway. The emotional power of that young woman was astounding! Vocally incredible and her 'acting' superb....like I said, I had never seen anything like it before.....

The film, now finally made, after almost 25...well, 26 years later, has another young woman in the part of 'Effie'...the same role that Miss Holiday played on Broadway...and now this young lady, Jennifer Hudson all but eats up the screen! She is really fantastic, and she has quite a terrifically wonderful career ahead of her. And I think she will win a Golden Globe tonight, and deservidly so....it is ironic that she was a "loser" on American Idol....well, actually the way that show works and what they are looking for, Jennifer Hudson does not fit that box, at all....she has something extra that needs a much bigger canvas. "Dreamgirls" gives her that canvas....

As to the actual music of this film...it suits the story wonderfully and has you tapping your foot and shaking your head through almost every song...a joy to listen to, though most of the songs, with the exception of a few, are a variation on the same song...no matter, it works anyway....Everyone in the film is wonderful! And it would not surprise me if Eddie Murphy wins a statue tonight, too.
But one of the really lovely things about the movie for me personally was the inclusion of Loretta Devine, a magnificent actress and singer who was in the 'Original' cast of the Broadway show....not as 'Effie', but as 'Lorell'.In this picture above, we see Jennifer Holiday, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Loretta DeVine on the far right...the 'original' Broadway Dreamgirls....

Loretta has done the S.T.A.G.E. Benefit eight or nine times in the 20 years that I have been involved...and she is a magnificent performer who brings the house down every time she appears. Dear Loretta D. continues to have a very successful career in films and television and she is a truly talented actress weather in comedy or drama....and, she sure can sing! In "DREAMGIRLS" the film, she appears singing in a club at a kind of Celebration of the Eddie Murphy characters life, after he has died....I loved that the director Bill Condon and the other 'powers that be' found a spot for her to not only be in the film, but to sing a little, too....The score of the film is a mixture of the Original score on Broadway---with songs left out, and some new songs written for the film version, as well....I am not sure, but I believe the song Loretta sings in the film was written just for the film....Anyway, it was a lovely homage to Loretta DeVine that she was included in the film. Jennifer Holiday and Sheryl Lee Ralph were not included. I am sure there is a story there, but I have no idea what it is. Here is Loretta at the Premiere of "Dreamgirls" here in Los Angeles....
You all may recognize Loretta from among the many things she has done on film and television including the film "Crash" and the series "Boston Public". And currently she plays Dr. Richard Webber's wife, Adele, on "Grey's Anatomy".

I'll write about some of the other films I saw in my next post, I think...Just one quick thing I will say about Peter O'Toole in "Venus"....I hope he gets nominated for an Academy Award and wins, and I hope he wins the Golden Globe tonight...His was an exceptionally beautiful, sensitive, funny, endearing and lovely performance....







More To Come.......