CHICAGO begins to strut a bit!

Hey folks, Harry here... We haven't been hearing all that much jazz about CHICAGO over the course of its journey from book to stage to screen, but as we get closer to its Christmas release we're beginning to hear and see a bit more.

One of the key concerns that I've heard voiced about Rob Marshall's CHICAGO film production was whether or not Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere could sing a lick. It is just like the controversy back when Julie Andrews was cast in THE SOUND OF MUSIC instead of the original Mary Martin. Folks I know that were fans of the exhillarating live performance of Bebe Neuwirth were outraged... well have been outraged since the beginning of this Miramax quest to bring CHICAGO to the screen. WELL.... Over at ChicagoSoundtrack.Com they've recently posted a selection of track samples of several of the show-stoppers and very quickly you can tell that Catherine, Renee and Richard all have the vocal chops for it. Whether it's better than Bebe's stage version... well that will be debated for all time, and there is always a magic and power to seeing someone sweat, sing, dance and bleed on Broadway before a packed house that's just... intoxicating in a way that film never quite touches. They're both great, but in totally different ways.

I really do love these samples and wish I had the soundtrack right now! Meanwhile over at Roger Friedman's Column at FOXNEWS.Com we hear from one of the 'long-lead' press guys as to what he thought of the film. Roger feels the film is definitely headed for Oscar nominations in multiple categories, and he's got me... frankly JAZZED to see this one!

I love the musical genre. It's a romantic's genre. The idea that there are profound feelings and ideas of the human experience that are so simple in a sentence, but the only true way to express it is through song and dance. I love that. For example... you take a look at a movie like DONNIE DARKO - one his use of music throughout that film is fantastic, but his School Talent Show / StarSearch contest was brilliant. A clear case of one student creating art, while the next was the crass cold bullshit of pop-americana being expressed by a team of trained monkeys that have no concept as to what the song was written for or just how vacuous the very concept of Sparkle Motion itself is. That musical interlude tells us as much, if not more, about the entire theme of what DONNIE DARKO was about, then the rest of the film. That simple musical vignette was powerful.

In the recent PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE the "HE NEEDS ME" sequence was just transcendent, just as the similar moment in MAGNOLIA where simple dramatics, dialogue or plot failed to take these characters to the next step in the film. They needed to sing. It was that simple. Their souls needed it. The audience watching them needed it.

With CHICAGO coming up, I'm actually worried that there will be monkeys out there that just call it MOULIN ROUGE-inspired filmmaking... but the reality is that CHICAGO - the stage production very definitely inspired and touched Baz Luhrmann himself.

Reading Friedman's review and his singling out of John C Reilly for his Mr Cellophane number and saying that he'll take home the Best Supporting Actor award for it... Well, it has me shakingly excited to see the film. I mean, John C Reilly is the bomb! He's one of the absolute best character and supporting actors working today, and I pray to Shiva seven times on Ramadan that he be cast as Ben Grimm in the FANTASTIC FOUR movie if it ever gets made. Sorry, had to throw that in there.

Also, I just recently read the amazing interview with Bill Condon in CREATIVE SCREENWRITING's latest issue and wow... Wow it seems that Bill (writer-director of GODS & MONSTERS) knew exactly what he was doing in adapting the material. His sense of musical history and the motivations behind adapting the material from play to broadway... well he had his finger exactly on the pulse it seems.

With this being Rob Marshall's first theatrical feature film debut... I am hoping for great things. His work on the revival of CABARET is a bit legendary to those that were lucky enough to see it. It certainly is going to be interesting, I have to say I'm thrilled to see the Musical genre getting the treatment. Now... let's get the Western kicking ass again!