Still going

West Side Story          Mum                  Me
Rewatchability              7                        5
Sing-a-long                   7                        7
Story                             6                        6
Overall                         7                         6                 51

The Wiz                    Mum       Me
Rewatchability           3              6
Sing-a-long                 3              3
Story                           5              6
Overall                       4               5            35

Snow White                Mum                   Me
Rewatchability              6                         8
Sing-a-long                    7                         7
Story                              6                         8
Overall                           6                         8             56

   The Wizard of Oz       Mum                    Me
Rewatchability                 7                          8
Sing-a-long                       8                         8
Story                                 8                          8
Overall                              8                          8          63

   South Pacific          Mum                    Me
Rewatchability              5                        5
Sing-a-long                   6                        5
Story                             6                        5
Overall                          6                        5              43

    Calamity Jane     Mum           Me
Rewatchability           7                7
Sing-a-long                7                 7
Story                          7                 7
Overall                       8                 7          57

        Gi Blues                         Mum                     Me
Rewatchability                          4                            3
Sing-a-long                               3                            3
Story                                         5                            3
Overall                                      6                            4        31

       Cinderella                  Mum                   Me
Rewatchability                   6                          8
Sing-a-long                        5                          7
Story                                  7                           8
Overall                               7                           8             56

   Sweet Charity             Mum                   Me
Rewatchability                  5                        5
Sing-a-long                       6                         6
Story                                 5                         4
Overall                              6                         5            42

Kiss me Kate                  Mum               Me
Rewatchability                   3                   2
Sing-a-long                        2                    2
Story                                  3                    3
Overall                              3                     3           21

Tangled                        Mum                    Me
Rewatchability                 8                        8
Sing-a-long                      5                        6
Story                                 8                        8
Overall                              8                        8          59

Mary Poppins                Mum                    Me
Rewatchability                  7                         8
Sing-a-long                       7                         8
Story                                  8                        8
Overall                               8                        8           62

Mulan                  Mum              Me      
Rewatchability      6                    7
Sing-a-long            4                    7
Story                      6                    7
Overall                   6                    7         50

Update..

Labyrinth
                                     Mum                  Me
Rewatchability              5                        7
Sing-a-long                   5                        5
Story                             6                        7
Overall                          6                        7
Total                             22                      26                  48

Annie Get your Gun                                                                                                              Mum                     Me

Rewatchability            7                         7
Sing-a-long                 8                         8
Story                           7                         7
Overall                        8                         7
Total                          30                        29                59

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat                                  
                              Mum                       Me
Rewatchability         2                            6
Sing-a-long              7                            7                    
Story                        2                            3
Overall                     3                            6
Total                        14                          22                  36

The Blues Brothers
                            Mum                        Me
Rewatchability        1                            1   
Sing-a-long             3                            5                     
Story                       1                            2
Overall                    1                            2
Total                       6                           10                   16

 High Society
                              Mum                         Me
Rewatchability         5                              5
Sing-a-long              5                              4                     
Story                        4                              4
Overall                     5                              5
Total                        19                          18                    37

Thoroughly Modern Millie
                          Mum                         Me
Rewatchability    6                               7
Sing-a-long         6                               4                     
Story                   7                               7
Overall                7                               7
Total                   26                            25                   51

My Fair Lday
                           Mum                          Me
Rewatchability      5                               5
Sing-a-long           6                               6                     
Story                     6                               7
Overall                  6                               7
Total                     23                            25                 48

We got Annie....

Love it!!!

Mum

• Rewatchability 7
• Sing-a-long 8
• Story 9
• Overall 8

Me

• Rewatchability 8
• Sing-a-long 9
• Story 9
• Overall 9

Total 67

Catch up...

So travel plans and life have got a little in the way of musical Mondays, but we have watched a few films and I just haven't updated my blog, so a quick catch up is in order :)

Pocahontas

Mum

• Rewatchability 4
• Sing-a-long 3
• Story 6
• Overall 5

Me

• Rewatchability 6
• Sing-a-long 4
• Story 6
• Overall 6

Total 40
Petes Dragon
Mum

• Rewatchability 6
• Sing-a-long 5
• Story 6
• Overall 7

Me

• Rewatchability 6
• Sing-a-long 5
• Story 6
• Overall 6

Total 47
Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Mum

• Rewatchability 6
• Sing-a-long 6
• Story 7
• Overall 7

Me

• Rewatchability 8
• Sing-a-long 8
• Story 7
• Overall 8

Total 57
Bride and Prejudice
Mum

• Rewatchability 8
• Sing-a-long 7
• Story 9
• Overall 8

Me

• Rewatchability 8
• Sing-a-long 8
• Story 8
• Overall 9

Total 65

Today!

Its already Monday - again, and todays offering is Pocahontas. Lets see how it goes.....

Rocky Horror with a little bit of Bugsy Malone

Last Monday was our chance to view the massive cult hit Rocky Horror - now I thought that I had seen the whole film, just never in one sitting before. Boy was I wrong, there where quite a few bits I had missed - like the house taking off at the end. It is offically one of the weirdest story lines going, but i can't help but love the car crash of it all. Mum, not so much.

Mum

• Rewatchability 1


• Sing-a-long 2


• Story 2


• Overall 2

Me

• Rewatchability 3


• Sing-a-long 4


• Story 3


• Overall 4

The Rocky Horror Picture Show has scored a grand total of 21

We also slipped in an extra this week and watched Bugsy Malone, now this is a film I have seen many a time and really enjoy - it is total bank holiday viewing!

There are many things I really love about this film - but that maybe down to my love of the era, so the clothes and the way the characters talk are an instant hit with me.

Mum

• Rewatchability 5


• Sing-a-long 5


• Story 6


• Overall 6

Me

• Rewatchability 6


• Sing-a-long 7


• Story 6


• Overall 7

Giving Busgy Malone a swell total of 48

Enough said.

The Lion King

Today was the turn of The Lion King

This has got to be near the top of my favourite Disney films and once again thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie!

Everyone knows the story of The Lion King - so I'm not going to get into it to much. All I'm going to say is - animation - great, story - great, music - great, Disney magic - awesome!

Mum

• Rewatchability 8


• Sing-a-long 8


• Story 9


• Overall 9

Me

• Rewatchability 8


• Sing-a-long 9


• Story 9


• Overall 9

Total 69 out of 80 Yey!!

(is it wrong that every time I watch this film I want Scar to be good? Every time he disappoints.)

MIA

March has far proven to be exactly what I predicted, MAD, so we have fallen a little behind :(

Last Monday, though, we picked back up and watched Moulin Rouge. Another film that I have seen many times, and still love. The first few minuets of this film reveal the ending, which as a girl who regularly reads the last page of a book after only a couple of chapters, I wasn't too put off by and I have to admit the first time I watched the film I was completely swept away with the story and had forgotten what I was told at the beginning anyway.

A young guy moves to Paris around 1900 to live out his bohemian dreams and without any real plan or aim gets swept along for the ride at the Moulin Rouge falling hook line and sinker for the star courtesan, who in turn falls right back in love. The only problem (well apart from the fact that she sells herself) is that she has been promised to a Duke who is investing in the Moulin Rouge. Can the writer and courtesan prove that love can conquer all? Well, maybe love can, but it seems that medicine in 1900 can not.

I love the soundtrack of this film, there are some really great mash ups and a couple of odd performances (like a virgin), but the stand out for me is the 'Roxanne' Argentine tango! Definitely worth a watch.

Mum

• Rewatchability 6


• Sing-a-long 6


• Story 7


• Overall 6

Me

• Rewatchability 6


• Sing-a-long 7


• Story 6


• Overall 7

Total 51/80

Mad March has started...

So I am not at home next Monday - I'm jetting off to the Venice Carnival. Whoo hoo, so we have pulled our next film and are going to watch it on Tuesday instead. Next up is..

Mad March.

Behind. Again. Doh.
To catch up I am going to put up the results of the films we have watched and try and come back later, to write up my reviews.

So....
Sweeny Todd

Mum

• Rewatchability 3
• Sing a long 1
• Story 5
• Overall 5

Me

• Rewatchability 5
• Sing a long 2
• Story 6
• Overall 5

Total 32

Whilst mum and I were on the sicky sofa on our first day off sick in years, we slipped another musical in, out of the tin came Carousel. One I have never seen before (and may never again)
Mum

• Rewatchability 1
• Sing a long 2
• Story 1
• Overall 3

Me

• Rewatchability 1
• Sing a long 2
• Story 2
• Overall 2

Total 14 (eeek)

And, this week was the turn of The Aristocats, another Disney goodie.

Mum

• Rewatchability 4
• Sing A Long 3
• Story 5
• Overall 6

Me

• Rewatchability 6
• Sing A Long 5
• Story 6
• Overall 7

Total 42

And next week..

Yey, Johnny Depp!! Whoo hoo!

Ok, now this week..

This Monday was Cliff Richards turn again (I swear this is all drawn out of a tin!) We're all going on a...
I have grown up with this film, and have lost count of the number of times I have watched it, which was probably proven by me (and mum!) singing along to every word at the top of our lungs last night!

There isn't really one bad thing I can say about this film, well OK, the cheesy cringy moment of Cliff declaring his love, loud (and long) and clear in the middle could definitely have been left out. Oh, and the weird way they get out of the French court when pulled over for carrying passengers, but other than that I love it! I love the songs, I love the clothes, well the girls dresses, not Cliffs amazing string vest (shudder), I love the bus (who wouldn't want to travel across Europe in a kitted out double decker London bus?) I love it all!

Four London bus engineers kit out a bus to travel to the south of France for their Summer Holiday - simple and uncomplicated right? Wrong, not long after getting to France, the boys mange to run three beautiful girls off the road. Now, I don't know when MOT's became a must, but the girls car definitely would not have passed it! The girls need to make it to Athens for a show - of course, they sing. After a quick decision to change destination the girls climb on board and never look back. Throw in a stow away boy (who is actually a famous American girl singer) picked up in Paris, a company of mime artists, a power and fame hungry mother, some confusion in Yugoslavia between bride and bread and a mad dash to make it to Athens in time to be arrested for kidnap and you have the perfect Summer Holiday right? Oh and with four guys and four girls on board - there is just the right number to all pair up and fall in love.

What can I say - brilliant - Love it!

Mum

• Rewatchability 7
• Sing-a-long 8
• Story/Plot 7
• Overall 8

Me

• Rewatchability 8
• Sing-a-long 9
• Story/Plot 8
• Overall 9

Total 64, not quite enough to topple Mamma Mia, but pretty close!

So Far Behind...

Eeek, I am so far behind with this blog. Right, time to catch up!

Last week we watched The Young Ones,

The film tells the story of a youth club who's members are trying to stop a millionaire property tycoon from buying up the club and tearing it down. To stop the club from being taken away from them, the members decide to fight back and need to raise the money to stop the millionaire, so, how do you do it? How'd you do what? How do you put on a show? That's right the members of the youth club long to sing and dance, and are actually quite good at it. When the theatre they have chosen to use, gets bought up by the millionaire they decide to get serious and secretive. By using a pirate radio station they broadcast the dreamy midnight mystery singer to drum up interest in the show, but don't reveal the venue until the day of the show. As soon as the day comes and the venue details are released the millionaire jumps straight on it and moves in to buy out the theatre. A number of the members decide to go after the millionaire to rough him up a little, this causes the star of the show, the mystery singer (who is of course, Cliff) to step forward and defend his father - the property tycoon, after the really really bad fight scenes father and son hug and make up, causing dear old dad to decide to build the youths a whole new youth club, Yey!

There a few catchy tunes in this one, but a good few cringe worthy moments too!

Mum

• Rewatchability 5
• Sing-a-long 6
• Story/Plot 7
• Overall 7

Me

• Rewatchablilty 6
• Sing-a-long 6
• Story/Plot 6
• Overall 6

Total 49

Sneeky extra....

Along with owning a silly amount of DVDs, I also rent via the post - this week this landed on my doorstep, and as it fits nicely within my musical rules I have had to add it in (although technically we watched it on a Friday, not a Monday)So, another Disney film, not that anyone could ever get bored of Disney (also went to see Tangled this week - maybe I should include that here to?)

This is a modern twist on the classic fairytale where a Princess kisses a frog and he turns into the prince she has been searching for, although this doesn't quite happen in this film, in true Disney happily ever after style the main heroine Tiana - a waitress, not a princess - does get her prince in the end.

Based in New Orleans we meet Tiana, a feisty young girl who believes that the only way you get anything in life is through hard work and not wishing - especially upon a star. Her dream is to own her own restaurant in memory of her father, and she is working two jobs to get there. Enter Prince Naveen, fresh of the boat from being cut off my his parents, penniless and loving the jazz scene, his only aim is to marry a young girl who's daddy can provide the type of lifestyle he has become accustomed to. The naive young prince is intercepted by the shadow man, who of course, offers him everything he wants - but actually leaves him as a frog and turns Naveens man servant into Naveen as he is far easier to manipulate.

After Tiana has her dream of her restaurant ripped form her she is desperate enough to turn to the stars, when she looks down Prince Naveen, in frog form, is ready with puckers lips (do frogs even have lips??) after a little persuasion, Tiana believes there is nothing to loose and kisses Naveen - but Tiana is only dresses as a princess for a party which means she does not have the power to change Naveen back - in fact the opposite happens and Tiana is transformed into a Frog.

A complete adventure ensues mainly in the bayous of Louisiana to return themselves back into humans, along the way they meet a jazz trumpet playing alligator called Louis, a dopey but adorable and film stealing firefly by the name of Ray and a blind conjurer Mama Odie. Thanks to its sitting this film has a brilliant jazzy, toe tapping soundtrack that really works with the film and moves it along. This was my first viewing of this film and I loved it, the heroine is feisty and modern yet still manages to fall in love and get everything she never knew she wanted or needed! Disney have definitely done it again it lifted my heart and made me believe in magic all over again, I think I will have to add it to my DVD collection!

Oh and Tiana is voiced my one of the dreamgirls - so man can she sing!

Mum

• Rewatchability 6
• Sing-a-long 5
• Story/Plot 6
• Overall 7

Me

• Rewatchability 8
• Sing-a-long 7
• Story/Plot 7
• Overall 8

Total - 54

Ha ha.... Cliff baby!

The first film of February is......

The little elephant who could.

Dumbo was released The Walt Disney studios in 1941, at little over an hour long it is one of the shortest Disney films.

It tells the story of a little elephant born into the circus life, who is nick named Dumbo thanks to his huge ears. When his mother is locked up for protecting her baby from the evil human children (moral of the story? I think so!), Dumbo is befriended by a mouse called Timothy. After a sad and short reunion with his mother, Timothy accidentally directs Dumbo to drink from a water barrel spiked with alcohol, (enter the pink elephants on parade - which always have and always will really freak me out) Dumbo and Timothy find themselves in a tree - how did they get there? Timothy's only conclusion is that Dumbo must have used his ears as wings and flew up into the tree, to help with Dumbos confidence Timothy (with the help of some jazzy crows) gives Dumbo a magical feather. In the circus Dumbo had been cast in the clowns performance and has to jump from a burning building - the perfect time to show off his new talent, but half way down Dumbo looses his magic feather, thankfully Timothy is there to help Dumbo realise that he had it in him all along and didn't need the feather at all, at which point Dumbo pulls out of the dive and sores over the audience! Whoo hoo, go Dumbo!

Dumbo builds a huge fan base, manages to make the circus loads of money and even gets his mother a private and swanky carriage on the circus train, amazing work for such a small elephant.

As for the scores....

Mum

• Rewatchability 4
• Sing-a-long 4
• Story/Plot 5
• Overall 5

Me

• Rewatchability 5
• Sing-a-long 5
• Story/Plot 4
• Overall 5

Total - 37 :(

Last Monday of January 2011.....

plays hots to Dumbo!

Forget about your worries and your strife...

Better late than never, I have been a little busy this week so it is nearly Monday again (Yey!) before I have managed to sit down and update my blog.

This week was all about 'The Jungle Book', the 19th Disney animated feature released in 1967. This was the last of the Disney films to be produced by Walt Disney as he died on 15th December 1966 towards the end of the production. First of all lets get one thing straight, I am a HUGE Disney fan, so my reviews of any Disney film that fits into the musical category will be a little biased.

This film is based on the stories of Mowgli in 'The Jungle Book' written by Rudyard Kipling and has a number of songs that I would challenge anyone not to know even a couple of lines of. Mowgli is found as a baby by a black panther called Bagheera who takes him to a local wolf pack, who raise Mowgli. The next time we see Mowgli he is 10 years old, Shere Khan (the tiger) has returned to the jungle bearing a grudge against anything human. Knowing this the wolf pack decide that the only way Mowgli can remain safe is to return to the Man village. Bagheera steps up to undertake the task as they all know if will be difficult to persuade Mowgli that this is the best thing for him, and so, the adventure begins...

There are many loveable characters in The Jungle Book, most of all for me is Baloo the incredibly laid back bear who Mowgli and Bagheera quickly run into after leaving the wolf pack. Throw in a bunch of monkeys under the rule of King Louie the Orangutan, a heard of military elephants, the hypnotising snake Kaa, a band of vultures (the inspiration for which were The Beetles) and of course Shere Khan the tiger and the Jungle Book is complete. After all of that, what is the one thing that makes Mowgli leave the jungle, a girl. Typical.

Mum

• Rewatchability 5


• Sing-a-long 5


• Story/Plot 7


• Overall 6

Me

• Rewatchability 6


• Sing-a-long 7


• Story/Plot 6


• Overall 6

So a total of 48 out of 80.

Ps. I totally rocked as Shere Khan for Halloween :) Judith had an amazing Disney Villan party!

Next Week....

Next weeks film has been pulled from the tin, so, here starts out journey into the Magical World of Disney! Whoo hoo!

Dreamgirls

Dreamgirls is based on the Broadway Musical of the same name, which itself was said to be loosely based on the growth of Motown records and The Supremes. It tells the story of three young girls from Detroit who dream of being stars and one man who will recognise a good opportunity when he sees one.

The film starts with the three girls, Effie, Deena and Lorrell entering a talent show as The Deamettes, where it is quickly obvious that they have a lot of talent and along with the music writing and choreography skills of Effie's brother C.C make the perfect target for Curtis. Curtis seems to be snooping around backstage ready to pounce on any talent he thinks he can help to stardom - and in turn make himself rich.

Through a lot of manipulation, scheming and illegal affairs Curtis delivers everything he promised to the girls. Even though he starts a relationship with plus size Effie, it doesn't take long for him realise he can not sell what she has to offer, and soon alienates her from the rest of the group, eventually forcing her to settle for backup and have her replaced as the main singer by Deena. Curtis also convinces the group that The Dreamettes is a childish name and that they should move forward in the industry with the name The Dreams. After a small amount of success, Effie is forced out of the group completely and replaced.

We then cut to a number of years later, Effie is collecting social, back living in Detroit raising her eight year old daughter Magic by herself. The Dreams have become huge stars and are now known as Deena and the Dreams, Curtis' record company, Rainbow records, is a massive success and now based in LA. Despite marring Curtis - the man of her dreams - Deena is not happy, she wants to grow as an artist branching out into acting and start a family, something Curtis is dead set against.

Curtis is still as manipulative as ever, but his disguise of this seems to be wearing thin. After an argument C.C, still writing for Curtis quits and returns home to Detroit. Here he meets back up with his sister promising to write her a hit record to release. Effie does record the song and manages to get distribution to local radio stations, at this point, word of the song reaches Curtis who is insistent that Effie must be stopped. As the song was written by C.C, Curtis believes it is owned by Rainbow records. The song gets re-recorded by Deena and the dreams in a vamped up disco version and quickly overshadows Effie's slower passionate version.

Deena does a little snooping in Curtis' office and finds the copy of Effie's version of the song, after an emotional phone call realising that Curtis has gone too far she helps provide the evidence of Curtis' early days in the business which C.C and Effie use to blackmail Curtis.

Effie finally gets her chance at stardom, Deena leaves Curtis and the Dreams decide to call it a day, the final part of the film showing a farewell concert by The Dreams - all four of them.

Now - the music is amazing, most of the songs are as a performance to an audience, which would not make it a musical by the rules of Musical Mondays - but, thankfully there are a few belters performed just for the sake of being able to sing their hearts out, so, it is a Musical!

All in all, I love this film, the cast are amazing. Beyonce as Deena and Jennifer Hudson as Effie are just awe inspiring - man can they sing! I wouldn't change any of the cast at all, although Mum is really not a fan of Jamie Foxx (Curtis) I think he works in the part.

After seeing this film at the cinema I did purchase the soundtrack, and it actually take quite a lot for me to buy music, so I think that speaks for itself. Despite the fact that I am possibly the most atrocious singer in the world, I do like a good song to warble to at the top of your lungs every now and then, both Effie's song 'And I am telling you I'm not going' and Deena's 'Listen' provide just that!

Mum and I have seen this film a good number of times now and it still managed to make mum cry.

The scores are...

Mum

• Rewatchability 6
• Sing-a-long 5
• Story/Plot 7
• Overall 7

Me

• Rewatchability 8
• Sing-a-long 8
• Story/Plot 8
• Overall 8

Which gives a grand total of 57.

Over excited....

Eeek, having written up my review of Mamma Mia, I got all excited and pulled out next weeks movie, and it is......

Can't wait - I think I may have found a reason to love Mondays!

Mamma Mia

Everyone has the lyrics of at least one ABBA song tattooed on their brain, for those of us who will happily admit to this fact, this film was always going to be a winner.

It is the story of a young girl who is unaware of who her father is, and after reading her mums diary of the year she became pregnant, invites three strangers to her wedding, expecting to know immediately who her father is when she meets him. Set on a beautiful Greek island, with a good number of ABBA songs thrown in the mix, this film lifts your spirits and leaves you yearning for a Summer holiday.

There is some amazing casting in this film, (Julie Walters and Christine Baranski as the mums two best friends are brilliant!) and some not so amazing casting (all three fathers), but the cast as a whole make it work.

There are, without question, some really cringe worthy moments in this film (the worst being the ripping off of Pierce Brosnans shirt at the end of the film!), but together they sort of make this film what it is, which is a highly enjoyable and great sing-a-long musical movie.

The scores....
Mum

• Rewatchability 7
• Sing-a-long 9
• Overall entertainment 9
• Story/Plot 8

Me

• Rewatchability 8
• Sing-a-long 9
• Overall entertainment 9
• Story/Plot 7

This gives Mamma Mia a grand total of 66 out of 80.

It seems the bar has been set pretty high. I'm not sure that we could have picked a better starting film!

Week one - Mamma Mia

So, the first name out of the tin was that of Mamma Mia.

I love this film - so I can say that we will definitely be off to a good start. My mum and I went to see this on the stage shortly before the film came out, so knew exactly what to expect with the film, and although I still believe that the stage version is far better, the film is definitely a favourite in my collection.

Lets see how it scores......

The Rules

The rules of the game are quite simple, and of course, are likely to be bent when ever I want, but for now they are this;

• A Musical is any film in which one or more characters sing at a random time to get a point across. Performances on stage do not count.
• Animation is allowed.

All the titles of the films we currently own that fit into this category, have been placed into a tin, and one title will be pulled each week.

All films will be given a score out of ten for the following categories;

1. Immediate re-watchability
2. Sing-a-longability
3. Enjoyable Storyline
4. Overall Entertainment

The films will then be complied into a list based on their final score, which will be out of eighty. (40 for myself and 40 for Mum)