There is no doubt that superfans of the hugely popular 90’s British rock band Oasis can confidently claim to knowing the intimate details behind one of the most explosive musical acts to come out of working-class Manchester, England. English filmmaker Mat Whitecross’ (“Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll”) revealing and roguish musical documentary Oasis:…
The lyrical lad of film-making, in the form of Irish writer-director John Carney (who gave us the wonderfully musical drama in 2007’s “Once”), is at it again as he brings the continued inspiration of music and motivation in the engagingly festive coming-of-age musical melodrama Sing Street. Carney, the former member of the Irish rock group…
Have you ever hailed someone? You know, much more than just greeting, rather saluting in a profound, almost belittling veneration signaling an orderly obedience. Neither have I. I’ve been close, though. I’m too much of a fetishist to resist the temptation every now and then. My kind of people are artists and thinkers, preferably dead…
Fairy tale revisionism has run rampant across screens of late, so with the marketplace heavily saturated, there’s no better time to revive Stephen Sondheim’s subversive musical “Into the Woods,” about a convergence of fairy tale characters discovering what lies on either side of happily ever after. Sondheim’s playful lyrics and rich humor ensure that his…
“I wish.” These are the first words of Into the Woods, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s timeless 1987 musical production, and the last. Dangerous, familiar words that, in the real world, can strain our relationships with our dreams, our loved ones, and ourselves, and set us up for situations in which we can never truly…
The Barden Bellas have returned for more singing fun in Pitch Perfect 2 (you can only keep a champion a cappella group down for so long). From the looks of it all the group — with a few additional faces — has returned for the sequel which finds the girls getting their act together for…
Why settle on re-imaging one fairy tale at a time (“Jack The Giant Slayer,” “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters,” “Snow White and the Huntsman”) when a host of them can be combined and kneaded into a single movie? With Into the Woods, Walt Disney Pictures does just that, threading elements of Cinderella, Little Red Riding…
