Post 159: Musicals

Previously on my blog: "I have seen Fiddler on the Roof and I must say...not the biggest fan. I didn't hate it. But, it is far from my favorite musical, in fact, it is preceded by Cats, Wicked, Chicago, A Chorus Line, Mamma Mia, The Book of Mormon, Rock of Ages, Evita, Grease, Sound of Music, Lion King, and Les Mis, and Flashdance (based off the actual musicals, not the movie versions.)"

This got me thinking about musicals vs. movies. I don't know if I have talked about it before, but I am quite often annoyed by the classification of things as musicals. Now, I understand that the definition is a film/show/play that consists of musical numbers, but I feel like the musical numbers must play a specific role to be classified as a musical. 

Shrek 2 has a musical number where Fairy Godmother sings on a piano, that is the only real musical number where a character sings, but I would not classify the movie as a musical. In the movie, Kinky Boots people perform songs on stage. But they don't just sing. It isn't like High School Musical where people sing rather than talk to people or keep their feelings internal. In Lemonade Mouth, there is not a single song that isn't part of a performance or band practice. 

Kinky Boots and Lemonade Mouth, to me, aren't musicals. Their subject matter happens to be a band or performer, but the songs don't really follow the pattern of other musicals and could be left out without changing the plot. 

Lemonade Mouth could have been declared a band and their performances could have been talked about rather than seen, and it wouldn't effect the plot. Meanwhile, you take out the songs from High School Musical or Evita and their is no plot. I feel like true musicals are almost back-to-back songs, where the songs move the plot along and are narrative devices. 

This is why, while I like Footloose, I don't classify it as a musical. Kevin Bacon goes around dancing, while listening to music and they have a school dance. But at no point does anyone sing, as a plot device or otherwise. Same with Pitch Perfect, they are singers. It isn't like in Grease where it is just accepted that people are going to sing, in Pitch Perfect they have a reason to be singing. 

Step Up has dance competitions, but no one sings randomly. They are performers. They dance in accordance with the plot, not to move the plot. 

If I am on Netflix looking for a musical, I am not looking for something like Pitch Perfect or Footloose or Flashdance (though, an ACTUAL musical version of it was made and it was quite good) I am looking for an ACTUAL musical. Netflix can you do something about your genres please?

Post 158: What do you want to watch?

I can be indecisive. There are moods that I get into where I really feel Buridan's ass paradox. It basically says that a donkey (ass) placed an equal distance from a source of water and a source of food, would die from starvation/thirst as it would not move. It has variants that a person between two identical sources of food would starve because they could not choose which one to eat and their indecision would lead to their death. 

Of course, to a lesser extreme. It comes up when asked, "what do you want to have for dinner?" 

But more often it comes up when I want to clean, cook, work on something, etc. and am looking for a TV show/movie to have on in the background. 

And I often don't know what I want to watch. So, recently I started looking up some quizzes for aid and almost every SINGLE one asked: "what do you feel like watching? Comedy, action, etc." 

IF I KNEW WHAT I FELT LIKE WATCHING I WOULDN'T NEED TO BE LOOKING UP QUIZZES TO GIVE ME SUGGESTIONS! 

What actually usually happens is I settle for some movie and then when the trailers come on, I see a trailer for something I would rather watch (though, 8 times out of 10 I don't actually own the movie I then want to watch). 

I will now take one of those quests, posting the progress with you so you can see what I mean. My thoughts are in red, my answers are in blue.

Question 1: What kind of movie do you feel like watching?

If I knew that I wouldn't be here, would I? 

Answers:

• Comedy 
• Adventure
• Romance
• Action

What about horror? Sci-Fi? Fantasy?

Question 2: Which actress would you love to spend a day with?

This is not helpful AT ALL. There are a lot of actors/actresses that I think would be cool to spend the day with, but not the best actors/actresses or that are in movies I dislike even though they seem like good people. But good actors/actresses in good movies/TV shows that are horrible people in real life. 

Answers:

• Anna Kendrick
• Ellen Page
• Cate Blanchett
• Kate Winslet

Other than Lord of the Rings and Cinderella, I cannot really say I know what Blanchett has been in, but I have heard that she is very nice and funny. Speaking of funny, each question has a picture and the picture for this question is Kristen Stewart, the epitome of my earlier point. I dislike Twilight and wasn't a huge fan of The Cake Eaters, but from interviews and fan commentary, I've heard she is actually a nice person. It is also kind of funny because she isn't one of the possible answers. Kristen Bell, on the other hand, I think is both someone who's work I like and seems like a good person. 

Question 3: Which actor would you rather go on a date with? 

Same issue as with the previous question, with the addition of age differences, sexual preferences, and marriages. 

Answers:

• Jude Law (44)
• Adam DeVine (33)
• Orlando Bloom (40)
• Leonardo DiCaprio (42)

Not really comfortable with any of them as the closest to my age is still 9 years older, but at least I don't think any are married or gay. I chose Bloom, because if nothing else maybe I can get some stories about filming Lord of the Rings with my friends, including one in love with Aragorn. 

Question 4: What is your favorite music genre? 

Maybe useful. Though, like movie genres, I couldn't give my favorite music genre. My preference in music is often less about a specific genre and more about the feeling they evoke or whether they have a good beat. 

Answers:

• Pop
• Jazz
• Soundtrack
• Classical

I actually went with soundtrack, because while I do have a lot of pop songs (more so than jazz or classical), soundtrack is more expansive. It can include other styles: the Rock of Ages soundtrack is very different from the Sound of Music soundtrack which is different from the Trolls soundtrack which is different from the Repo! the Genetic Opera soundtrack. 

Question 5: You and your friends are hanging out on a Friday night. You decide to have a midnight feast. What kind of snack do you have?

It actually is Friday and if I am up at midnight, I am in TROUBLE. I have to be up for work at 5am tomorrow. 

Answers:

• French Fries
• Burgers and Pizza
• Pancakes
• Donuts

After a LOOONG internal debate, I choose pizza. I don't really like any of them. Donuts are sweet and sticky, I'm not really a fan. I don't really like french fries (though, tater tots aren't bad). I REALLY don't like pancakes. Not really a fan of burgers either. Pizza is....eh. I'm not really a huge fan. I don't get excited by the prospect of it, but I don't hate it either. 

Question 6: What is your favorite kind of weather?

Answers:

• Snowy
• Windy and Rainy
• Hot and Sunny
• Sunny and Breezy

Question 7: What is your favorite movie of all time?

Answers:

• Interstellar (2014) Didn't see it. 
• Bridesmaids (2011) HATED IT. 
• It's Complicated (2009) Barely remember it. Think it was funny but forgettable. 
• Lord of the Rings: FotRing (2011) I liked it, but it wasn't even my favorite in the franchise. 

Question 8: You and your friends are hanging out and you decide to watch a TV show. Which show do you watch?

Answers:

• New Girl It's okay. Felt like Jess was sometimes made to be kind of too over-the-top. 
• Sex and the City Never seen it, but sounds like too much drama. 
• Star Trek: Next Gen. Patrick Stewart. 'nough said.
• True Detective Had to watch it for a class, not bad. Super weird, dark, and religious.

So, my options are chick-flick, MEGA chick-flick, old SciFi, or Noir? 

Question 9: What is one of your values?

Answers:

• Romance
• Creativity
• Adventure
• Friendship

All of the above? They're all good values and it isn't even asking for my top value or the highest of those listed. I don't know. Must be time for eeny-meeny-miney-mo.

Question 10: Which singer would you love to see in concert?

I'm not really into concerts, which is weird because I love music. However, there are VERY FEW artists that I love all the music for. In fact, if I look at my iPod right now other than a few artists--like Avril Lavigne (26), Basshunter (38), and Adam Lambert (48)--I have, on average, two songs per artist. 

Answers:

• Lady Gaga
• Mariah Carey
• Adele
• Rihanna

I actually almost went to a Lady Gaga concert, but just a few days before my ear drum ruptured, so for obvious health reasons, I wasn't able to go. I think, though, an Adele concert would be pretty cool to see. 

RESULT:

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" (2013)

I love that it isn't even the first in the trilogy. Honestly, I am far from surprised. A lot of the movies revolved around the Lord of the Rings franchise, so not surprised that this was the result. 

I retook it giving random answers and got The Holiday, a Romance with Jude Law and Winslet. And again, next time I got Inception, an action movie with Di Caprio and Page. The fourth time I got Pitch Perfect, a comedy with DeVine and Anna Kendrick.

This quiz would probably be more helpful if there were more expansive answer options. Or even better representatives of each of these genres. 

Did it help me decide what to watch? No. 

Actually took a second one as well that was more expansive, with probably 10 potential results or more as each question had, at least, ten responses. Though, a lot were either really vague, really similar to another answer, or very obviously connected to a particular movie. In the end, I got Fiddler on the Roof. I have seen Fiddler on the Roof and I must say...not the biggest fan. I didn't hate it. But, it is far from my favorite musical, in fact, it is preceded by Cats, Wicked, Chicago, A Chorus Line, Mamma Mia, The Book of Mormon, Rock of Ages, Evita, Grease, Sound of Music, Lion King, and Les Mis, Into the Woods, and Flashdance (based off the actual musicals, not the movie versions.)

Will I be watching it? No. What will I be watching? I'm feeling like some crime drama but like Law and Order levels of drama, not Cold Case/True Detective levels. I don't feel like watching a soap opera where they happen to be detectives, I want to watch detectives that have are well-rounded, real people.