SDMB Musical Lovers' Salon and Debating Society

Cafe Society
201

Oh my goodness! I’m next!

I want to apologize to the rest of the SDMBMLSDS for being such a lazy member – I’ve got a whole laundry list of excuses for not participating more, but I’ll spare you. Luckily, I decided what my movie selection would be well in advance. Through sheer coincidence I was given a copy of the movie on DVD for Christmas, so I’ll at least be well-prepared for my own turn at leading the discussion.

Should I go ahead and announce my pick, or allow the tension to build for a few more weeks? :wink:

202

Lamia – announce away!

The Hello Dolly discussion has commenced here. DeVena seems to think there was too much dancing … :eek:

203

Bump

Lamia – go ahead and announce your pick. Or we can double back to eonwe. Or skip ahead to ArchiveGuy. Whatever.

204

No no, I’m ready, I’m ready!

Newsies (1992), score by Alan Menken, starring Christian Bale. Also featuring Ann-Margret, Bill Pullman, Robert Duvall, and that guy who played Doogie Howser’s best friend.

This is not an especially well-known movie (although I don’t think it will be difficult to find – my apologies if anyone has trouble), but it has developed a devoted cult following over the years. I am not of the cult, but I believe it is an enjoyable film that deserves more attention than it received.

I admit that I also have an alterior motive behind this selection, but I shall reveal that in due time…

205

It’s Max Casella, isn’t it? That’s all right, you can admit it. :wink:

206

Whoa – finally, a more bizarre choice than my own series-opener, Neptune’s Daughter.

Oh-kay, Newsies it is. I know I’ve seen it, though I think only once. Luckily they already think I’m weird at the video store.

We’ll look for your OP around Tuesday, April 12th.

I’m sure the discussion will be … lively.

207

You should see the list of films I considered but didn’t choose! I was torn between conflicting desires to select a movie that people have probably not seen repeatedly already, and a movie that people will probably be able to sit through without actually wishing me dead.

208

Hit “submit” too soon:

There is currently an active thread about the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. I was briefly tempted to really abuse my power as this month’s chooser of films and force you all to watch something like that. Luckily for all our souls, I managed to resist my darkest urges.

209

I actually saw Sgt. Pepper’s in the theater when it came out. Thankfully, I was still doing the better living through chemistry thing at that point, so virtually all of the details have been lost. I have so far managed to resist checking out that thread.

But – do tell. What are the movies we don’t have (er, “get”) to watch?

210

Well, thinking of rock musicals best enjoyed with pharmaceautical aids, there’s Tommy. Nowhere near as bad as Sgt. Pepper’s, largely due to the involvement of the actual Who, and fun in its own way…but director Ken Russell has a lot to answer for. As does Pete Townshend, who was responsible for perverting his own compositions into the overproduced, oversynthesized score.

Then there’s such midnight-movie favorites as Shock Treatment and Phantom of the Paradise, both beloved by some of my old college friends…but it’s probably best if I stop here.

211

I remember when Newsies came out, I was just slightly over the target age - so, never saw it.

Since, I’ve never really wanted to see it (on the other hand, I’ve never really not wanted to see it, either), and could probably have gone my entire life without seeing it. Still, I had no real complaints about it.

But now, it’s sounding like the best choice ever. I thank you from the very bottom of my soul for not making me watch Tommy.

212

I seem to be cursed to be two hours too late all the time! :frowning:

Ah well. Newsies rocks, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it. Great pick!

213

Eonwe – sorry to keep skipping you, but you keep going AWOL. Put April 12th on your calendar now – and if you’d like, I can email you and remind you. You are eligible for a pick. Which, if you’re a Newsies fan, may or may not be a good thing. :wink:

214

What, you mean you don’t want to hear Jack Nicholson sing? :wink:

Or Oliver Reed? :eek:

I reckon I’ve got enough Movie Purgatory ahead of me for all the times I made people watch Tommy when I was a teenager.

215

I spent several years of my life in a Rocky Horror cast, meaning we also did a great deal of watching Shock Treatment. And we came very, very close to doing a floor show for Tommy, as well.

I’m very thankful we didn’t, because I don’t even want to think about the scene where I would have had to roll around in beans and liquid chocolate. shudder

216

The new thread is up, with what must be the longest OP I’ve ever written.

Believe it or not, I actually edited it down a lot before posting.

SDMB Musical Lovers’ Salon and Debating Society: Newsies (1992)

217

Oh oh! I’m here on time! :slight_smile:

Since Passover is coming up this month, and because I think it’s a wonderful show, I’m chosing Fiddler on the Roof.

218

Yay, eonwe! I’ve seen it on stage, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the movie. Should be fun.

We’ll look for your OP around Tuesday, May 3rd.

219

It’s actually the first show I ever saw on Broadway, with Topol as Tevye (who also plays the role in the film). I honestly don’t remember a whole lot of it, as I was pretty young at the time. What I do remember was that during intermission we bought a poster signed by the whole cast to support some good cause, but because we took so long and missed the curtain on act two, we had to wait to go back to our seats because they were doing an actual prayer and didn’t allow anyone in or out during it.

220

My original vision of this group was that it be run pretty democratically – mostly because I’m naturally extremely bossy, so I tend to overcorrect when I think I’m headed in that direction. As we go along, though, it seems as though people aren’t necessarily all that interested in picking films (or maybe they’re just shy about writing OPs, who knows). Plus, there’s a bunch of films that I was hoping someone would pick that we haven’t discussed yet. Plus, well, I’m naturally extremely bossy.

So – confession time – I’ve been emailing behind the scenes with ArchiveGuy and Lamia about staging a coup/inciting mutiny and taking the group in a different direction. The idea is that a couple of hardcore fans (that would be, well, me, ArchiveGuy, and Lamia) put together a list of about 20 films that should lead to lively discussions amongst the Salon and Debating Society members. No one would have to write OPs who didn’t want to – AG and I would take turns, but we’d be thrilled if others wanted to volunteer as well.

The only question is, at what point do we wrest control of this rudderless ship? There are six people at least theoretically still on the list to pick:

** ArchiveGuy
inDisGuize
Kizarvexius
jsgoddess
singersargent
Tracy Lord**

The first person, I’m guessing, doesn’t need to be consulted on losing his turn. The second is a friend of mine who hasn’t been active in the Society. The other four of you – do you still want picks? If so, we can wait. Or you could pick one of the movies on the list we’re putting together and write an OP for that. Or something. The point is I’m not trying to screw any of you guys over on picking – it’s just that the list we’re putting together looks really cool and now I’m all eager to get started on it.

So – yet-to-pick people, let me know how you feel about being shortchanged on picking.

Also – we’ve been doing a three-week period between announcing the film and starting the discussion. Do people really need three weeks? I personally have been re-watching each film during that period, even the ones I’ve seen a billion times. I don’t have a DVD player, so I’m not on Netflix, and sometimes it takes me a week or two to find a copy, so three weeks doesn’t seem too long to me. OTOH, another possibility would be that we post the whole list at once, so people can work ahead on things they might have problems finding. Would a two-week period get things moving more briskly? Do we need to be moving briskly?

Any comments, questions, discussion, feedback, etc., on any of these issues will be most welcome!