Burlesque: A Review

Went to see Burlesque on Friday night. It was well worth it - but then, I am a sucker for musicals. A lot like Chicago, and Moulin Rouge except without ever leaving the showbiz side, or involving any murder, death,  or actual crime. It was a predictable, feel-good movie, in which every wins (they even use the words 'win-win' near the end, which made me cringe... but then, I guess I like seeing someone lose in a good vs. bad guy type plot!) that is carried - amazingly - by the characters.

The cover of the soundtrack is interesting - the theme of two faces, as well as Cher's lips, and expecially the curve of black to white reminds me a lot of the cover of Wicked (and I predict much femslash based on that alone).

And the songs. LOVED them. The only one I didn't really enjoy as much was the finale - Jack's amazing 'specially written for Ally' song. There didn't seem to be much actual song, and they just threw all the special effects at it - more than I would have thought could fit into the club! Some of the songs were lip-synced (in order for Ally to come in and be a 'unique singer'), but those were classics, so also enjoyable.

'You Haven't Seen The Last of Me' was a quiet, plot-relevant song from Cher that I really enjoyed - looking it up afterwards, it turned out to be the one that won the Golden Globe 'Best Original Song', and the first that she'd sung in seven years!.



I'm currently listening to "I See the Light" because of all the complaints I saw about it losing to Burlesque and ... geez. Original? That's the "A Whole New World" tune! They even have some of the same words! The bit that really triggered it for me was

But when I'm way up here
It's crystal clear
That now I'm in / a whole new world with you

If she's here it's crystal clear
I'm where I'm meant to go
And at last I see the light

Listening to the chorus lines, it definitely fits (same number of beats and everything, with a tweaked tune)
"A whole new woooorld" = "And at last I see the light"
A new fantastic point of view = And it's like the fog has lifted
 Yeah,  "I See the Light" is slower, sappier and Mandy Moore has a lower voice than whoever sang Jasmine, but they are very similar. I KNEW something was bugging me about it.

Well, THAT completely side-tracked my review!

Hmmph. Anyway. "Welcome To Burlesque" from Cher was fantastic, and "But I am A Good Girl" very funny.  Cher was amazing and I loved her voice - and I really enjoyed the dynamic she had with Sean (not John, this is important to note, even if they sound similar ;D ). Especially the tragicomic "...he bats for the other team" line!   And his comment about his wig in the beginning of this clip...

Show a little more,
Show a little less,
Add a little smoke,
Welcome to Burlesque

Luckily(?) I don't really know much about Christine Aguilera, so I was able to watch without awareness of her as a professional singer intruding. Except for the bits where she sang, which were pretty incredible and very professional sounding!

The happy ending was a bit TOO pat, with them overdoing the 'all's well, family and forgiveness' bits (seriously, taking Nikki back was just stupid. She wasn't just a horrible person, she was a really crappy employee! Obviously there was supposed to be 'depth' and 'history' but that wasn't very believable).

  Lots of eye candy - the majority of the cast being professional burlesque dancers meant that they were all pretty. The relationship with Jack was surprisingly enjoyable - two pretty people hit it off and actually have a normal friendship before inevitably falling into bed with each other.

 And I now have a newfound interest in the art of burlesque dancing (or at least, films about it!). I am also sulking because Amazon won't let me download the online soundtrack from NZ (AAARGH. Why do they care where my money comes from?). But I suspect I'll be buying the DVD of Burlesque when it comes out here.

First Person In The World To See Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Pt. 1

I just got back from the first midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I, and as I am in New Zealand, I am officially the first person to see it in the cinemas. Entirely thanks to my sister, who gave me her ticket as she couldn't go, and I may even pay her back for it XD

...well, fine, me and five theatres full of people at that cinema, as well as goodness knows how many over the rest of New Zealand!

I'm all awake now (it's nearly 4am) so I figured I might as well write about it. How was it? Well, I hadn't reread the book since it first came out, and I liked the last one the least (too much drama, death and whining) so I was well-placed to enjoy the film.How much did I enjoy it? Well, I never got the bar of chocolate out of my bag that I brought! (Fair trade chocolate, of course).

The teenage angst was toned down a bit, and made believable, Ron got over himself believably, Hermione was all around awesome, some of the events seem to be skipped past a bit fast early on, and the whole 'quest for the Deathly Hallows' and the Horcruxes made a lot more sense (in the book it was '...okay. So they've decided that They Must Do This Quest' whereas in the film it made slightly more sense, as they were bounced around by events, and were often very much alone and/or the only ones free to act.) The soundtrack was again very awesome and at one point there's a feature from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds over the radio and a brief attempt at cheering up.


Definitely one of the better films in the series though, and I'd happily go watch it again. And it was long, so I wasn't too sorry when it ended, but it was good enough that I rather wish Part II was out already!

Some gory bits - lots of darkness (death of Bathilda Bagshot, and the muggle-loving teacher, George's clever catching of a curse with his head was played for both gruesome drama and laughs... ). When Bellatrix tortured Hermione was very intense as well. Dobby turned into a Deus ex Machina, but the film quickly fixed that. Also a lot of regular tension relievers and laughs. Ron getting splinched was pretty ick.

Summing up the entire series best was the ending... Voldemort hovering over (dead) Dumbledore, reaching for the elder wand... perfect moment to end the film (and lead on to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II). But no, we have to have a couple more minutes in order to have a dramatic magical lightshow, which wasn't half as impressive and creepy and as much of a 'hook'. That's what most of them have been like - something really well done, followed up by a cheesy whizbang ;D

Agreements? Disagreements?

Return to Sender: Going Postal Videos

I'm dying down here in New Zealand - the latest Discworld film, Going Postal, seems to have gone straight to DVD (or something) and I can't get at it!

EDIT: STILL only available as a UK Import


So instead I'm watching excerpts and trailers online... the music video is awesome. The actors look like they embody the characters almost perfectly (... with the exception of the Angua-as-werewolf bit. Someone just wanted to have a wolf onscreen)

"he's a bit... 'return to sender' if you know what I mean"










SPOILERS: Short bits from the film

In which Terry Pratchett has a cameo:


In which Albert Spangler attempts to make a joke without warning Lord Vetinari


Scary moral parole officer golem is scary.


In which Adora Belle Dearheart stops a runaway horse.


The 'sacrificial sausages' discussion


In which Terry Pratchett talks about the film, and the Victorian Postal System





I waaaaaant. But I'm not sure I'm quite desperate enough to pay US$50 to ship to NZ (that's twice the normal cost of a DVD here... hmmm. Time for UK relatives to step in, perhaps?)