A round-up of the top films and tunes heading your way this month
Text Matt Bochenski
Dreamgirls
Director Bill Condon
Starring Beyoncé Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Jennifer Hudson
This year, few films will arrive on European shores with as much hype as Dreamgirls, Bill Condon’s Oscar-touted take on the hit Broadway play inspired by Diana Ross and The Supremes.
But beneath all the noise, the media buzz and the advertising razzle dazzle, is Dreamgirls actually any good? The answer is no, it’s not good – it’s sensational.
Singing superstar Beyoncé Knowles plays singing superstar Deena Jones of The Dreams. The group’s star is Effie (Jennifer Hudson), a larger-than-life diva who, as the girls get bigger, is gradually sidelined for the cuter, more controllable Deena by their sleazy manager Curtis. As Deena goes on to megastardom, Effie is left out in the cold, but, in classic Hollywood style, you just know it’s going to be okay in the end.
What’s great about Dreamgirls is that it strikes a balance between the worlds of stage and screen. It has a theatrical feel, not least because most of the musical numbers are performed on stage, but it also sticks its head around the curtain and takes a look at the real world, and it benefits from that sense of cultural authenticity.
It has its moments of mawkishness but, by any reckoning, Dreamgirls is a massive, massive hit.
For Your Consideration
Director Christopher Guest
Starring Catherine O’Hara, Ed Begley Jr, Eugene Levy
From Christopher Guest, director of legendary ‘mockumentary’ Spinal Tap, comes this affectionate piece of mickey-taking set around the annual madness that is Hollywood’s Oscar season.
When a small family drama called Home For Purim gets awards-buzzed on the internet, each of its cast members – two ageing stars stuck in the past, two first-timers having a secret affair – goes through their version of a mid-to-late life crisis, from massive surgery to diva-like tantrums. And that’s before the studio bosses get involved.
Guest’s only problem is that the whole hideous fakeness of Hollywood is practically beyond parody. In fact, he does far better by lampooning the ruthlessly parasitic showbiz journos, whose loathing for these superstars is matched only by their desperate dependence on them.
It might not be as epically, operatically funny as Spinal Tap, but For Your Consideration is still well worth a look.
The Fountain
Director Darren Aronofsky
Starring Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Ellen Burstyn
Darren Aronofsky made his name as the director of low-budget indie gems like Pie and Requiem for a Dream. Now he’s back after six years with a €53 million sci-fi poem about love, loss and transcendence.
Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman play a couple whose love affair crosses time and space, from the medieval jungles of a lost Mayan civilisation to the heart of a dying star 1,000 years in the future. These disparate strands are tied together by the search for the Tree of Life, a metaphorical, and very real, quest for a love so strong that it can conquer death.
In fact, The Fountain is very much like love itself: it defies explanation or description – you just have to experience it for yourself.
The music column
Norah Jones: Not Too Late
The first years of the 21st century have been good to Norah Jones: she’s racked up three albums, 45 million sales and eight grammies since her 2002 debut. Now she’s back with Not Too Late, and there’s nothing here to suggest that her chart dominance is going to end any time soon. These 13 tracks were cut with Norah’s long-time collaborators, and the result is that same signature sound – a safe, smooth jazz confection that’s as warm and comforting as hot chocolate on a cold night. It’s the perfect soundtrack for switching off from the world for a few, peaceful moments.
Lucie Silvas: The Same Side
After topping the charts in Germany, France and Spain, Lucie Silvas is back with her new album, The Same Side. Three years on from Breathe In, this is a more candid, mellow affair, with brassy vocals replaced by a deeper, more authentic experience. Stand out numbers include ‘Trying Not To Lose’, and the experimental, 1920s-inspired ‘Stolen’. Lucie Silvas might be older and wiser than last time round, but the most important news is that, musically-speaking, she’s better too.
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