Wouldn’t 6.2 be an above average rating?
The Simpsons episode with the interconnected vignettes about the townspeople of Springfield is one of my favorites. I particularly liked Cletus’ theme song:
There was one other verse but I forget how it goes.
Add me to the Buffy “Once More With Feeling” fans as well.
Some folk’ll never lose a toe
but then again some folk’ll
Like Cletus the slack-jawed yokel.
Me, I like songs as long as their good. Although it’s become too much of a cliché in kids animation. I appreciate it when they don’t do it.
So, are you against songs in general? If not, what’s wrong with linking songs together with a narrative? How do you feel about concept albums?
I love music, many kinds, many genres. But for some reason, if I’m watching a television show or a movie, and the characters begin singing (for seemingly no reason), it yanks me right out of the whole experience. Sometimes it’s just too jarring; sometimes I just don’t like the style. In the shows I watch most commonly, I’ve learned I can’t stand the characters doing it. I will give them a chance, though - it’s the only reason I managed to hear that awesome song about Robot Hell!
I can’t explain it… I just know it rubs me totally the wrong way.
I brought my iPod with me to work today, as it was my day off and I showed up in plainclothes and cranked it up. The number one question from my co-workers as I sat meticulously filing and re-filing one of my weekly projects was: “Whatcha listening to?” They got everything from Chaka Khan to the Clash to the Pet Shop Boys to Megumi Hayashibara to Chopin to A Tribe Called Quest… you see where I’m going with this.
But maybe I like them so much because they don’t break into a television show in the middle of a bridge. 
I can’t speak for Ana, but for me the funny thing is that I am a total music lover. I have music of all kinds playing all the time. I just don’t like it in my movies, except as background. I can live without concept albums, too.
ETA: Are you a big reader, too, Ana? I read as much as I possibly can. I suspect the three things are related, but I’m not sure how.
Yep, I’m a voracious reader - and an aspiring writer! My husband is a musician, and I was for years before I settled my ass down a little bit and tried to organise my life. I’d love to write music again one day.
As for concept albums, man… I guess it depends on the definition. 70s prog rock? I can live without it. Though I loved Pink Floyd when Syd was around (even though I, uh, wasn’t around at the time). My Dad says his favourite concept album is Pet Sounds, which makes me gag a little. Then again, I loved Radiohead’s OK Computer. Or Nine Inch Nails, or Smashing Pumpkins when they did Machina. Maybe it’s just my age. Or, on the other hand, I actually really liked Green Day when I was a teenager, even when they got very popular and I tried to pretend I didn’t… but the most recent concept album by them, American Idiot? Yawn and a half.
Comes down to personal preference, I suppose. I used to be a huge musical elitist. Now I pretty much live and let… live. Yeah, you heard me Paul. Go dance tonight. I hear everyone’s gonna do it. At your place.
Technically, yeah, but the ratings skew kind of high. Out of however many movies they have listed on the site (surely well over 100,000), only 20 scored below a 2.0. Most of the stuff I’ve seen in the lower-six range has been pretty damn bad. Add to that the fact that it’s a romantic comedy, and well…
Like Ana and featherlou, I do love music (and I’m a big reader - featherlou might be on to something there!), and I even like a lot of concept albums, but it just doesn’t work for me when it’s mixed into a show or movie and being sung by the characters. Mostly because of the reasons already stated, but also because I’m picky about what I like and can’t stand the styles of music generally used during music numbers (especially in full-blown musicals - showtunes tend to sound embarrassingly bad to my ears).
I did like Pink Floyd - The Wall, but only because it felt more like a 90-minute music video for an album that I already liked than it did any kind of coherent movie.
Another small reason - and this is probably peculiar to me - is that it’s actually pretty rare for me to like a song on my first listen; I need to hear it a few times to truly enjoy it. Still, though, even after repeated viewings of Simpsons and Family Guy episodes, I can’t stand those damned songs.
Music can, however, work well for me in a film if the characters aren’t the ones singing it. Done well, it can make a movie far more powerful. A great example is Rammstein’s “Mein Herz Brennt” in Lilja 4-ever.
God, I swear I’ve mentioned that movie a thousand times on this board, but it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen, so it deserves it. I don’t even particularly like Rammstein, but the song was used to absolute perfection and genuinely enhanced the film.
See my vest
See my best
Made of real gorilla chest.
That was wonderful
But They CUT OUT almost all of the songs from AFTHOTWTTF!!
It’s true – get the album of the Broadway show (or at least look at a listing of the songs). They cut out all but the opening (“Comedy tonight”), “You’re Lovely” and its reprise (and I’ll bet they would’ve cut out the first one, but the reprise needs it as a setup), “Everybody ought to have a maid”, “Bring to me my Bride”, and the closing. Gone are “Free”, and all the others. I think they thought the songs slowed the movie down, and they left in only what they thought were the really funny songs.
Hate musicals ++
I can’t stand it when they just spontaneously burst into choreographed song. I love normal music, concerts, stuff like that, but hearing singing in a TV show or movie makes me cringe. Occasionally I can stand one, Hell is Other Robots is a good example. But most of em just annoy me. Don’t even ask me about musical plays or anything like that.