All in Cinematters

Film Review – Does In the Heights Hit the Heights?

When audiences sat down in their seats at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre in the spring of 2008, many were not quite ready for the electrically-charged piece of musical theatre they were about to witness. The then relatively unknown team of Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) delivered several jolts of adrenaline into the arm of the American musical, infusing the more traditional form of this theatrical storytelling with the contemporary sounds of hip-hop and rap, as well as crafting a bilingual score (English and Spanish) of poignancy and potency. Director Thomas Kail staged the musical with a palpable urgency and an emotional thrust that propelled the show through its climax, and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler provided movement that seemed to defy gravity and lift the show off the stage floor and into the ether. The musical I am referring to is of course In the Heights which has made its transition from the stage to screen some thirteen-years since it’s Broadway berth, under the direction of Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians).

Let’s Talk About Cats the Movie

Reviews for the film adaptation of the long-running West End and Broadway musical Cats have been brutal, even blistering. From the creepiness of the CGI effects to the ridiculously choppy editing and camera work that detracted from the choreography, Cats on the big screen has proven to be... well... a “cat” astrophe, bringing-in well under its projected box office receipts during its premiere weekend. Sure, the film was up against one of the year’s most eagerly anticipated films The Rise of Skywalker, but Cats failed on its own terms, and the force just wasn’t with it. That is not to say that there aren’t some things it got right. A few of them splendidly so. 

The Many Faces of A Star Is Born

It is no secret that Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper have stormed the cinema box offices with the remake of the oft-filmed story A Star Is Born. This is the fourth time that the story of a fading performer and his relationship with an up-and-coming talent has been depicted on the big screen. With all the hoopla around its latest incarnation, I thought it would be interesting to look back on the three prior versions of the film. 

Movie Morsel: High, Wide and Handsome

An early movie musical (in black and white-gasp!) that is worth a look (if you can find it) is Paramount Pictures’ High, Wide, and Handsome. The epic tale features a score by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein, II who also worked together to write one of Broadway’s most prolific scores, Show Boat. Made in 1937 (ten years after Show Boat), High, Wide, and Handsome was directed by Rouben Mamoulian, who would go on to direct the original Broadway productions of Oklahoma! and Carousel.