As expected I totally loved La La Land, although I was a little bit scared that I might have been disappointed with my total love for musicals. As you will already know if you follow my blog I am very big on not only movie musicals but also going to the Theatre and have seen a lot of musicals on stage.
I am therefore a little bit annoyed and sick of people saying that La La Land has saved the musical genre, as we have actually had some fantastic musicals released to film in the past few years. The problem is though the fans of musical films seem to be few and far between now. The hype around La La Land will leave people disappointed I am sure, especially if they don’t usually like musicals.
Don’t get me wrong though as I am happy that it will help increase awareness of the genre, but I really do think that we should be thankful for some of the films we have had released over the past few years. The films I have picked in the list are from the past four years. So while we don’t get as many musical films out each year, we do still get a steady flow. I have tried to vary my choices on different types of music to really help show that no matter your music tastes you will be able to find a musical that suits your tastes.
I guess the biggest problems seem to be the adaptations from more well known stage shows, as they seem to be quite tricky to do! As I guess some scenes, songs and moments just work better on stage and don’t transfer to the screen in the best possible way. Sometimes the casting causes issues as well, but we have to just deal with that as well!
Les Miserables (2012) Review
With this one you probably heard of it, I mean Anne Hathway rightly won her Oscar for her heartbreaking performance. This musical is quite possibly one of the most depressing that you will watch, but with that it is so incredibly powerful with amazing songs and score. Hugh Jackman is truly outstanding as Jean Valjean.
Rock of Ages (2012) Review
Another that is adapted from a very popular stage show with all of the classic rock songs you could possibly want. For the film some of it is toned down quite a lot and the story is slightly changed, unless you watch the uncut version of course. I still throughly enjoy this one and see it very much as a quality pleasure.
Begin Again (2013) Review
A film that has probably surprised me the most in recent years, a brand new musical film with brand new songs arranged and written for it. But not only some amazing songs, the performances are fantastic and it pretty much questions what the meaning of life is, apparently it can be defined by your current playlist.
Sunshine on Leith (2014) Review
Could be called a hidden gem the very Scottish musical with songs from the Proclaimers put together in such a fantastic way, that they make you smile and cry. Sometimes both at the same time, great typical musical style dance scenes it really is well worth the watch. Pretty much what is known on stage as a jukebox musical, as we already know the songs but are seeing them in a whole new story.
Into The Woods (2014) Review
Now this one is a Sondheim musical, which means it is totally off the wall and is very different. It takes a lot of the fairytale stories that everyone knows and turns them upside down and giving the characters a more real life feel. See above quote from Prince Charming, who was not the Prince everyone expects. I think it is a very clever musical and the film is put together in a very interesting way.
The Last Five Years (2015) Review
I am guessing that this one will be the least seen by people as it was not given a huge released. Based on the Broadway show and has just had a stint in the West End. It is pretty heartbreaking but has some amazing points about love and relationships, are they meant to last forever? Sometimes maybe not, and this is a no holds barred approach with fantastic performance from Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick.
Sing Street (2016) Review
Considering that this film made it onto a lot of people’s top 10 of 2016 lists it is quite difficult to therefore understand why people thing the musical genre was totally dead before La La Land. As this film was certainly proof that it is not, a fantastic pretty small film based in Ireland and a teenager who becomes a singer in a band to impress a girl he likes. It has so much heart, thought provoking and the songs just fit together so well!
Which recent musicals have you enjoyed over the past few years?
Will you be watching any of them that are on this list?
