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*** Official "CHICAGO" Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

Lou Sytsma

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They fail in the most basic concept of not adjusting their checklists to fit a particular genre.
Edwin your statement encapsulates perfectly why I struggle watching musical movies. I do judge all movies by the same checklist. That is where musicals more than any other genre needs a different mind set. A mindset that I have difficulty employing.:frowning:
Ron you are probably right.
 

PatrickL

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Ron, fellow All That Jazz fan, I'm glad you posted because I had been wondering what you thought of the movie.

I also felt Queen Latifah was weak
She sold her song and that was her main chore, but I'm inclined to think that they went for a "different interpretation" of the role as you say, one of the things that got softened up for the movie.
 

Ronald Epstein

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Patrick,

From both Broadway performances I saw, "Mama"
was a much stronger, bolder character. It seems
that Latifah was far too soft here, going through
the paces as if she was sedated.

I don't want to be mean-spirited here but I just
felt she was wrong for the part.

I'll also repeat that while Gere was sensational
in his dialogue role (especially the courtroom
scene), his stage presence was very weak.

Otherwise, I felt this was the best film of the year!
 

CraigL

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It's funny to hear people having problems with Queen Latifah because i thought she was absolutely phenomenal. I think they watered down the character in the script...not so much in her performance. Each of the 3 audiences that I've been a part of for the film...they all erupted with applause during her credit...more than any other actor in the film.
 

Jon_Are

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I saw Chicago today and loved it. I was most astonished by Richard Gere's performance and the editing of the film.
The two best lines:
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?" "And then some."
and...
"...so I fired two warning shots...in his head."
Jon
 

Greg_M

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I had my reservations about Queen Latifah playing "Mama" at first, mostly due to the political correctness of the role - she would never have held that type of position in the 1920's (even in Chicago). I would have went with Kathy Bates (As Rob Marshall wanted) but after hearing Kathy Bates sing at a benefit performance, I doubt she would have been as good. Her singing was pretty weak.

Latifah actually blew me away with her opening scene and song,(much better than the stage "Mama") I think the deletion of her second song "Class" may have soften her role, but the director may have been going for historical correctness by having "mama" a little more subdued and not as powerful, just greedy.


"Class" was cut because it wasn't presented as part of Roxie's imagination and filmed as reality. Since the characters don't sing unless Roxie's imaging them, or they are performing as a real stage show, the producers felt "Class" would break the reality of the film. But it will be viewable on the DVD.

It wasn't filmed as part of Roxie's imagination because the director felt Roxie didn't have enough awareness as to what Mama and Velma actually felt about her.
 

Chris Farmer

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Actually, from what I heard, "Class" was cut for pacing reasons and not so much for softening the roll. Latifah I thought was great, although having her as a police officer was unusual, I always saw her as an inmate. Even still, I thought that her presence was perfect. I also felt they downplayed the lesbian overtones as well, the do a favor for mama I'll do one for you I always felt wasn't jsut bribes, but that could easily just be an alternate interpretation. I never noticed the overtones until after I saw the play, so I may have imagined them in there anyway.
 

Tyler Ruggeri

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First of all, loved the movie. But has anyone had problems accessing the Chicago website (www.chicagosoundtrack.com)? It opened a few days ago and you can hear three songs from the soundtrack in their entirely on Quicktime (All That Jazz, Razzle Dazzle, and the new song). This is especially pleasing since the soundtrack doesn't even come out until the 14th.
Unfortunately, the first time I tried QuickTime told me I lacked some file to view it that wasn't available on their server. The second time, it said "connecting" for a few minutes and then gave me a message that has "bad data." Has anyone else had this problem? I'd really like to hear these songs.
Tyler Ruggeri
 

CraigL

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FYI...the soundtrack will be $11.99 at best buy. I should be there for opening to pick this baby up :)
Cannot WAIT!
 

Edwin Pereyra

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I'll be at Best Buy as well.
Here's an interesting bit about the film from USA Today:
'Chicago' catching fire Older moviegoers love the sizzle as studio slowly whets audience appetite
By Claudia Puig
USA TODAY
Chicago may or may not be your kind of town, but it is proving to be the movie musical for grown-ups.
The tale of warbling, hoofing, killer dames, starring Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere and Queen Latifah, is knocking audiences dead at multiplexes across the country as vigorously as the various stage productions of the Bob Fosse classic have captivated theatergoers.
''It's just a smorgasbord of spectacle,'' says John DeBerry, 60, a grief counselor from Chicago. ''We don't have many movies with singing and dancing anymore.''
Not only is it packing theaters with moviegoers over 40 and inciting applause, a whopping 92% of those 35 and older and 96.5% of those younger would recommend it to a friend, reports the Reel Source box office polling firm.
It also has captured the admiration of Oscar voters.
''There is no movie that appeals to Academy (of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) members more than Chicago,'' says Robert Bucksbaum, president of Reel Source. ''It's definitely the front-runner for the Oscars.''
The question is whether Chicago will have lasting impact. Most agree it doesn't need to make $100 million to achieve that status, but it does need to make significantly more than the $9.24 million it has made, a considerable sum given that it is showing in only 96 cities. An Oscar also couldn't hurt.
''Basically, what a film has to do to have lasting impact is ride the wave,'' says Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. ''The film has to catch this wave, keep the momentum going, keep the awareness high, keep the movie in the minds of potential moviegoers, and hope that the accolades and nominations come to fruition. It's all about just keeping the film hot.''
To become a big hit, most movies need to reach a very broad audience, which means teens through retirees.
So far, Chicago is showing all signs of potential crossover success, the first musical in at least two decades to do so.
Most of the theaters showing Chicago have been packed, says Tom Borys of the Nielsen EDI box office tracking firm. Chicago ranked No. 9 at the box office last weekend with $5 million in ticket sales. That translates to a whopping $16,332 per-screen average; $8,000 is considered excellent.
''It has the highest per-theater average among the top 12 movies,'' Dergarabedian says. ''That tells you on a theater-by-theater basis that there's a lot of interest in the film. It's not an MTV-style musical like Moulin Rouge. It's more of a traditional musical, and those in recent years have not been the best box office draw.''
Though its core audience is in the 38-to-70 range, according to Reel Source, Chicago also is appealing to younger movie fans.
Melissa Caraminas, 25, of Chicago, says she was drawn by the TV commercials and the cast. ''The energy level was so high. It really just made me remember how much I love going to see musicals.''
Janalynn Williams, 26, of Nashville, says, ''I had never heard of it until yesterday when I saw a preview for it before another movie. It looked great, kind of like Moulin Rouge but with a plot. I didn't like that one. I love movies. I'm not a theater person.''
But fans of musicals are part of the early core audience.
''I'm a theater major at a college in Georgia,'' says Chris Basso, 20, of Nashville. ''We're actually doing this musical next semester, so I'm very familiar with it. I was excited to see how they would do it in movie form. Musicals as movies are just sometimes weird. I was very skeptical about the Hollywood actors and how their voices would be and how their talents would be. But I wasn't disappointed at all.''
Borys says that Chicago's core audience still can ensure its hit status. Despite current studio thinking that only younger moviegoers matter, ''you can be quite successful reaching an older audience,'' he says.
Still, Miramax officials are leaving nothing to chance in marketing the film in hopes of reaching the broadest audience possible.
Part of that strategy is to whet audiences' appetites by limiting the number of venues showing the movie. Currently, 304 theaters in 96 cities are showing it; on Jan. 24, it will be in 800 theaters in 200 cities.
''We think you should have the experience of seeing it within a full room,'' says Meryl Poster, co-president of production for Miramax Pictures. ''It's like being at a ballgame.''
It seems to be working. ''The early returns are fabulous,'' Borys says. ''It certainly makes sense to build the critical acclaim and control the supply of the film, which they're doing with this one. English Patient (a best-picture winner in 1997) did kind of roll out this way. Chocolat (an Oscar nominee in 2001) did, too.''
That strategy is leaving some moviegoers frustrated.
''This movie is being widely touted as a great film that could really start Hollywood thinking about musicals again,'' says Donald Anglin, 55, a program coordinator in Seattle. ''But here I am in a big movie town, and this show is showing on two screens! I went to both places that had enormous crowds being turned away because it was sold out.''
Big movie towns are one thing, but will it play across Middle America?
Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays With Morrie and host of a syndicated radio show based in Detroit, has his doubts. ''I just don't know if America has the patience to sit and watch a musical at the movies. Especially when Richard Gere is singing.''
But Gere actually is one of the biggest draws for moviegoers, Bucksbaum says.
''In the exit polls we do, the No. 1 thing they're saying is they can't believe Richard Gere tap dances,'' he says. ''Any woman you talk to over 65 thinks Richard Gere is God's greatest gift.''
And those under 40 have been lured by Gere's presence, too.
''There was a great scene where Richard Gere did a tap dance that was funny and powerful,'' Caraminas says. ''I wanted to clap.''
And the buzz about the movie is reaching far beyond the major markets.
''Even my relatives in Wisconsin have heard about it,'' says Lissa Blahnik, 29, an ER nurse in Chicago. ''And they're kind of behind the times in movies.''
Miramax also is hoping to reach the young people who went to Moulin Rouge last year, although the marketing campaign targeting young audiences won't kick in until February, Poster says. ''We wanted to get our core audience of 25 and up first.''
Chicago director Rob Marshall says, ''Miramax is working to create advertisements for everybody. I was just speaking to Richard Gere moments ago, and he said something to me which I hadn't heard. He said, 'Have you seen the demographics? It's kids from age 13 to people in their 80s.' That's really shocking. Maybe that's because the musical form can touch a lot of different people.''
Rap songs that are not in the movie were added to the soundtrack to raise the hipness factor.
''We tried with the soundtrack, with the rap version of Cellblock Tango. And casting (singer) Mya (Harrison) in the movie and Lucy Liu and Queen Latifah was a conscious effort,'' Poster says.
Marshall insists that reaching such a wide audience was not on his mind when he made the movie. ''I never thought about that once,'' he says. ''I was just trying to make the material work.''
Despite the early strong showing, Chicago is still not a sure thing for blockbuster status. Bucksbaum says teens and twentysomethings are unlikely to go in large numbers.
''I don't think it'll ever cross over to 13- to 28-year-olds,'' he says. ''They're not interested in it. But look at (1999 Oscar winner) Shakespeare in Love, how many under-25-year-olds went to see that? Or even (last year's winner) A Beautiful Mind. It was not a big hit with the under-25-year-old crowd.''
It's a better bet to nab an Oscar nomination -- and maybe even a win -- for best picture. The last time that happened was in 1968, when Oliver! won. Chicago's appeal among older moviegoers is a point in its favor come Oscar time; academy members tend to be middle-aged and older.
''I think it's going to win the Oscar, and there's nothing that can beat it,'' says publicist Tony Angellotti, who handled A Beautiful Mind's Oscar campaign but not Chicago's. ''I've gone to hundreds of academy screenings over the years, and I never saw one like that. They went nuts. They were laughing at things I didn't even think were funny, applauding after every number and applauding through the credits.''
Damien Bona, author of Inside Oscar, says it's a shoo-in for at least a nomination. ''It's a terrific musical, and in terms of what the academy looks for, just the professionalism with which it was made, it really does harken back to the old Hollywood tradition. This is the type of movie Hollywood is most proud of.''
 

CraigL

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Wow...i got chills just from reading that article.

It's opening at another 4 theaters here in NYC tomorrow and I'm taking a few co-workers.

The Today show has been running interviews with the entire cast each day this week. It seems to be starting up.

The odd thing is...i haven't seen one commercial for it in the last week and I've been sick at home watching TOO much TV.

Amazing.
 

Vickie_M

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For those interested in a slice of Chicago-ish pie, the 1942 movie Roxie Hart with Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou and George Montgomery will be on FMC (Fox Movie Classics?/Channel?) on Thursday January 16 at 7:01pm (Central time). I haven't seen it but I take it it's based on the 1927 play (according to one of the comments on IMDB). I'll be watching. I'd want to watch even if I hadn't seen Chicago yet. I just love Ginger Rogers in just about anything. (Funny, I like her least when she has to share the screen with Fred Astaire). This woman made 84 movies between 1929 and 1965. She made 35 movies between 1930 and 1935 alone! Damn!)
I'm going to see Chicago again tomorrow.
 

RafaelB

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I've had the VHS of "Roxie Hart" for years now and find that it's a pretty enjoyable movie. The ending's very different from the musical though and it's more light-hearted (due to the period it was filmed in, I would assume).
It would be neat to watch a double-bill of it with "Chicago." :)
Rafael
 

Kenneth_C

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Rap songs that are not in the movie were added to the soundtrack to raise the hipness factor.
It could've been much worse.
According to an article in the new Entertainment Weekly, Harvey Weinstein (of Miramax) "was so anxious to make Chicago hipper that he pushed hard to hire Britney Spears as Go-To-Hell Kitty.... Never mind that the part involves no singing -- Weinstein argued that Spears could do a video of some new pop tune for the soundtrack album."
Also, the article states that the hip-hop version of "Cell Block Tango" could not appear over the closing credits due to a 'no-interpolation clause' in the contract with songwriters John Kander and Fred Ebb. Says Ebb: "Sony can do whatever it wants on the album. But putting it in the movie...would be kind of insulting."
 

Chuck Mayer

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Caught it last night, and I'll post a review later. Just wanted to share a few thoughts. My wife and I were very pleased, the audience seemed to be as well, and the theater was packed. The direction was brilliant, Gere (I initially wanted Hugh J as well) was perfect, and the film was a blast.
I assume the musical and film end similarly. I thought the final number counteracted some of the earlier cynicism of the production, but not distractingly so.
I am also certain that Chicago will win the BP, further illustrating the Academy's bias. Not that the film doesn't deserve it, but it's interesting that great genre films can win Oscars...but only in certain genres. But a musical about fame, ego, and stardom is right up the Academy's alley. When it wins, at least it will be a movie I really like :)
Two straight years with at least one great musical...and after this wins, hopefully we can get a few more. That's a good enough reason for me ;)
Take care,
Chuck
 

Kenneth_C

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I thought the final number counteracted some of the earlier cynicism of the production, but not distractingly so.
To me, this final number not only solidifies the cynicism of the piece, it also implicates the audience (i.e. us) in the morally-bankrupt universe of Chicago.
I loved it! :emoji_thumbsup:
 

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