Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Before we even get to MiraJeff’s report from the special DREAMGIRLS sneak peek on Monday night, I’d like to address the recent talkbacks under the test screening reviews we ran for the film. There’s a particular kind of sneaky racism and/or homophobia that rears its ugly head in fandom from time to time, and every report we print on this film seems to be bringing out both forms of ignorant hatred. When you pop into talkback to tell us that “no one cares” about this film, let me see if I can explain why you’re very wrong. First, there’s writer/director Bill Condon, whose films GODS & MONSTERS and KINSEY have more than established him as an important and interesting filmmaker. Then there’s the show itself. DREAMGIRLS was an instant sensation when it opened in 1981, due in large part to the now-legendary staging by Michael Bennett. The music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen managed to encapsulate the entire story of Motown into a show that didn’t use a single pre-existing song, no simple trick. David Geffen, who’s owned the rights to this show since that first production, has been incredibly picky over the years about who would be allowed to bring it to the bigscreen. This is one of the biggest films of the Christmas season, and if it lives up to the show, it’s going to be something fairly special. So if all you can contribute to the talkback is some dismissive comment about how musicals are gay or how films about black people aren’t interesting or some other knee-jerk horseshit, then do us all the favor and keep it to yourself.
Monday night, there was a special event at the Pacific Design Center to preview pieces of the film for the press. I wasn’t able to attend, but I was able to send MiraJeff in my place, and the report he sent in sounds really promising. Check it out...
Greetings AICN, MiraJeff here.
The email came on Sunday. Your friend and mine, one Monsieur Moriarty, flashed the MJ signal in the sky and called for my help. "Tomorrow night. 20 minutes of Dreamgirls and a live performance by Jennifer Hudson. You in?"
I thought about The Illusionist screening I had planned for my evening, and as excited as I was to see Norton and Giamatti together, it wasn't even a question. "Of course I'm in." I mean, I could have been selfish and said, "nah, I really wanna see Jessica Biel in a corset and would rather just wait ‘til "Hanukkah" to see Dreamgirls in its unspoiled entirety," but no, I didn't think twice because this is what you, the people, want and need. It's all about you, folks. At least for today. Mild spoilers lurk below but I implore you to read further because if you don’t, my typing will have been in vain.
So I go to this "event" and while everyone's schmoozing in the lobby, I'm getting a primo seat up front, second row, dead center. I didn't care if it was Jennifer Hudson or Mick Jagger, I wanted to see some magic happen up close and personal.
Which it did. Sort of.
For starters, we were told that we were the "Cannes-West" crowd, and this would be the same 20 minutes of footage shown at Cannes, broken up into four scenes. But before we delve in, let's just explain for the uninitiated that Dreamgirls is Bill Condon's adaptation of the popular 1981 Broadway show. It tells the story of three black female singers, all divas in their own right, as they rise to superstardom over the course of several decades. There's Deena Jones (Beyonce, one name is all that is necessary), the beautiful one, Effie White (Jennifer Hudson), the talented one, and Lorell Robinson (Anika Noni Rose), the other one.
The first scene can be summed up like this: Eddie Murphy. Eddie Murphy, thank God, is back. Eddie plays James "Thunder" Early, a James Brown-ish soul singer who favors bright clothing and a cockatoo hairdo. Watching Murphy strut around and show off his natural born charisma had to be the highlight of the night because it looks like Eddie is nearly as good a dramatic actor as he is a comedic actor, and he’s one of the best comedians ever. We're introduced to "Jimmy" as he's bitching about the mayo on his chicken sandwich. He's looking for two backup singers but the girls’ manager of sorts, Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx), a car salesman trying to talk his way into the business, is insisting that the deal is “all three or nothing." When Jimmy actually meets the girls, he agrees, “Three is just fine.” Kneeling in front of their orange dresses and acting smoother than Cool Whip, Jimmy asks the girls "what can I do for you?" They ask him to teach them a song so Jimmy sits at his piano throne and, with some pinky bling flashing the camera and trumpets blaring, belts out a whopper to impress them. This leads to a colorful montage of concert footage, some sensually choreographed dancing, and the girls’ travails on their tour bus. We see Jimmy smoking a joint with his hair in some weird headband thing, acting pretty god damn pompous and eccentric, but Eddie is so loose and charismatic, he makes this asshole likable. You know, I bet Eddie Murphy is a pretty fun guy to hang out with. Especially in Tijuana. We’re also introduced to Marty Madison (Danny Glover), Jimmy's manager. Glover kind of gets glossed over in this scene but I hear he makes the most of his supporting role in the final cut. I’m just glad it was Murtaugh and not Riggs in this movie, if you s-Mel-l what I’m cookin’. At the end of the clip the applause was pretty loud and the scene definitely benefited from Eddie’s energy, but I wish I hadn’t seen it out of context.
In the second clip, we learn that Lorell has become closest to Jimmy and that even though she's only 18 years old, she sees herself as a woman. Effie is dating Curtis. Curtis announces he's splitting up Jimmy and the girls. Lorell starts freaking out, saying that nothing will ever come between her and Jimmy, but when Curtis explains that the girls are going to do their own tour because they don't need Jimmy anymore, Lorell does an about-face and says that even though she loves Jimmy, she didn't want to be singing behind him for the rest of her life. The backstage cattiness in this scene showed off the script’s sense of humor, which is well serviced by the cast. The big reveal here is that Curtis and Effie’s brother have decided that they want the girls to have a new sound and Deena will be the new lead singer, reducing Effie to back-up. Effie throws a tantrum because she has the best voice, a sentiment reinforced by Deena herself, but the guys rationalize it as the group needing a lighter sound to compete on the pop charts. That's when Effie launches into "What About What I Need (or We Are A Family?)" a conversation versed in song between her and her brother, who wants her to "do it for him" and promises to write her great songs once the girls make it big on their own. The applause was not as loud after this second scene but I guess people began to realize it’d be ridiculous to clap every five minutes for no one.
The third scene was a vanity piece for Beyonce. It starts off with a much different looking Curtis promising to make Deena a movie star. She has crossover appeal, as evident by the fact that the real-life singer is in the film in the first place. Personally I thought some of the costumes here were too outrageous and the montage just didn't sit well with me, with Beyonce covered in tribal paint and other flamboyant clothing. I found the whole thing overwhelmingly cheesy and wasn’t terribly surprised by the fact that Curtis has now left Effie for Deena. Who knows what that will do their friendship? The whole thing reeked a little too much of a retro Laguna Beach episode.
The fourth scene features some Supremes-like concert footage of the Dreamgirls doing their thing on stage. This scene looked the most interesting to me visually, with lots of blue lighting and tiny white lights that looked like stars, giving the whole performance a heavenly look to it. Not to be critical or anything, but bootylicious though she is, Beyonce looks a little plastic here, a little too Barbie-ized. At least the camera has no qualms about setting its gaze on her badonkadonk swaying to and fro. The group sings the title song, "Dreamgirls," which is quicker paced and performed with a peppy zest that reveals their passion for performing and really wowing a crowd. In the middle of the song, Condon cuts away to Curtis at a table with Deena's mother. She can't believe her daughter sounds so good, and Curtis tells her, "She has a quality." Mrs. Jones responds, "You make her sound like a product." I really like that line and think it gives us a glimpse into the emotional depth that this film is sure to have, a depth that I didn't really see in the other scenes, which to me felt like sad songs masquerading as dramatic moments.
When the lights came up, I have to say, I wanted more. For starters, you should know I’m not a huge fan of musicals in general, but to be fair, I loved Moulin Rouge and thought Chicago was very good. But the reason I loved Moulin Rouge so much is because to me, the songs sounded like nothing I’d ever heard before. Even the old songs felt new to me. Here, the songs didn’t make much of an impression on me. The way Moriarty built this film up, I was left a little underwhelmed. I can’t ignore the fact that some of the songs appeared to be lip-synched, which was more than a bit distracting. Forgive me for not understanding The Musical, but I just hate it when someone bursts into song and everyone else around them joins in and knows the song. It just defies all logical reality. I also don’t like when one character is singing and the other is speaking. It throws the whole flow of the scene off; it’s like a retarded seesaw of song.
So back to those lights coming up- I looked around and people certainly looked entertained but they might have been thinking ahead to the free drinks, Wolfgang Puck catering, and the live performance. That's when we were told that there was another three minutes of footage they wanted to screen for us. It turned out to be the new trailer, and now is when I'll admit to being blown away. There's no dialogue in the trailer, it's just another musical number, but this song was better than any of the others I had just seen and heard. The song is "One Night Only" and when people see this preview before they see whatever movie is unlucky enough to screen after it, it will psych them up for Dreamgirls. Even the deaf and blind would enjoy this thing. The song has a better beat and more energy than any of the others ones and I was really impressed by it. And I’m also glad that even though Jamie Foxx is the first name in the trailer, this looks like an ensemble film all the way. The images we glimpse include Effie White's humble beginnings, a funeral, a shot of Beyonce doing her Diana Ross thing, some boxing, Foxx with a baseball bat, and an older Murphy with less hair. It shows off big stars doing what they do best and I think, based on this trailer alone, that Dreamgirls is looking at some serious box office and critical accolades. It felt like Boogie Nights meets Chicago, made with a very broad, diverse audience in mind. In fact, on my way out of the theater, one guest who was drinking during the screening said to me, "Eat your heart out, Chicago!" Gang, for future reference, please don’t say things like that.
That’ll do it for me, folks. This report should tide you over until 12/21 when Dreamgirls is released. I’ll be back with a bunch of films reviews and some sneak peeks at the There Will Be Blood screenplay and FOX’s new, cool show “Vanished.” ‘Til next time, this is MiraJeff signing off…
Now, I’m actually kind of glad MiraJeff isn’t a big musical fan. There was a time when musicals were as common as any other genre, but it’s been a while, and now it seems like every time out, they have to resell the entire concept to an audience. Especially young audiences. If MiraJeff could be won over by the footage he was watching out of context, then I’m really curious to see how it works as a whole. And if you absolutely can’t accept the reality of a musical... well, then DREAMGIRLS probably won’t be for you.
There was another test screening for the film in LA tonight, and we’ve gotten one review from it so far. It sounds like he was really happy with what he saw, too:
Yo Harry
I went through hell to get to this screening, but all the crap I went through doesn't even matter, because I saw Dreamgirls and it was well worth it! So I get in and hear all ho-hum stuff about screenings, "no cell phones, you're the first crowd-blah blah" And the film starts and right from the beginning, you get caught up in the energy of the spectacle, the pacing is lightning quick until it moves into the heavier performance pieces then moves at a steady rate.
I'm really proud of this film, because as a black man, I have to say we don't get this many films of this caliber, with the production values so slick, with the performances totally clicking, not to mention this film has quite the ensemble (Great casting), there really isn't anything else I could have hoped for. Though when you have a capable director like Bill Condon who really knows his musicals, is it really a surprise?
There are definetly going to be some nominations when it comes down to the acting in this movie, firstly Eddie Murphy, who hasn't been fair to himself with roles all these years, finally has a character with panache, and wham that he can really put to work on screen. It was great to see him have fun again on screen, don't really want to say anything more, you all just have to experience it. Beyonce Knowles has never been more beautiful, and poised in a film. Damn if she didn't work that delicious ass off for this role to make sure her acting comes across earnestly, I don't see a nomination but solid work nonetheless, the same thing goes for Anika Noni Rose though she didn't have to try as hard. Jamie Foxx is the devil in this thing, truly a snake of Ike Turner proportions in some scenes, very exciting. I see Foxx getting another nomination.
And lastly, Jennifer Hudson. It was ever so important that they landed the right girl for Effie. Her Song "And I am telling you-" was indeed the showstopper, thats the song people wanted to see, and honestly I can't remember the last time there was a song sung on screen that waranted such joy for the power of musicals. It is overwhelming how good that performance is, I just wish I can say that for her acting, but for it being her first foray into film ever, she does very well. What can I say, everything else in the film is just about top notch, from the rest of the cast (Great Cameos!), to all things techincal. I'm just really giddy about the film.
Overall Condon has really done a good turn for the musical genre what with writing "Chicago", and now unveiling this ravishing beauty. Here's hoping that he continues with the musicals!
If you decide to use this, call me Proffessor Higgins
Thanks, guys. I appreciate MiraJeff’s report and his unflinching honesty about what he saw, and I appreciate the enthusiasm of Professor Higgins after seeing the whole film. Now do me a favor, talkbackers... prove me wrong. Prove you’re not a bunch of homophobic racists and let’s actually talk about the film for once.
"Moriarty" out.
