*** Official NINE Discussion Thread

Re: Nine - "a vibrant and provocative musical"

Gee, that's going to get confusing with another film titled '9', I think.
But what's the deal? Does every actor sing in this? And it does seem a bit strange to have Daniel Day-Lewis in a musical, but that might just be me. It worked out fine for Johnny Depp .

Re: Nine - "a vibrant and provocative musical"

I'm pretty excited for this for a couple of reasons. I've never seen the stage show and haven't listened to any of the cast recordings. So I'm interested in just seeing it to see it, and the fact that the casting intrigues me - putting Judi Dench in the trailer immediately means I have to see it.

I'm also eager to see a musical film by Rob Marshall that I won't constantly be comparing to the Fosse style productions I'm used to seeing. Unfortunately, every time I watch Marshall's "Chicago" I'm constantly remembering the Fosse stuff from both the original Broadway show and the "Fosse-style" revival and I'm honestly not too fond of the choreography in the film.

Re: Nine - "a vibrant and provocative musical"

Looks interesting to me. Don't know anything about the stage version, so right now it's the all-star musical remake of "8 1/2" starring Daniel Day-Lewis. Sounds cool enough.

The trailer looks nice. The worst thing about it though was it didn't feature Day-Lewis singing.

Re: Nine - "a vibrant and provocative musical"

I saw the original stage production, directed by Tommy Tune, starring Raul Julia - it was one of the most original, brilliantly staged, compelling theatrical experiences I've ever had. I didn't think the music was memorable, but the book was interesting, plus the direction, sets, costumes, performances etc melded into something uniquely theatrical that I can't imagine capturing on film. Tune was a brilliant stage director and had one of the most creative minds in musical theater. Shame he never brought that talent to cinema.

Not saying it won't work on film, but I'd be surprised if it comes close to the theatrical presentation.

Re: Nine - "a vibrant and provocative musical"

Why past tense? He's still alive and working.

The Kate Hudson song/trailer was kinda annoying. Still looking forward to this one though. :)

(The following was originally written in response to a post now in the Official Review thread.)

What struck me about your review, Patrick, is how closely it tracks the opinions of more than a few people I know of the stage musical -- including me. I found the first act wildly entertaining, as Guido's colorful predicament gets laid out, and the second act a bore, because it's a fairly shallow predicament.

Sounds like the film is a faithful adaptation.  I still plan to see it.

Edited by Michael Reuben - 8/12/10 at 8:35am

Yes, happily the great Tommy Tune is among the very much living, still singing and dancing, charming as ever and looking fabulous for a 70 year old. Alas he is no longer doing what he was born to do: direct theater on Broadway. His "Steps In Time" plays major venues like...Wabash, Indiana...sigh. The good part about that was Wabash is only 45 minutes away from my front door.

Speaking of whom, here's Tommy's in a Christmas video, which is charming enough but certainly doesn't convey the depth of his talent:

www.tommytune.com/ny_at_xmas.html

I got to see Nine at a free screening, which is a good thing, since I would have hated to have paid to see this trainwreck.