Posts Tagged ‘backstage musical’

Short Take: An homage to Hollywood that comments on the contemporary film business by looking back to an earlier time.

Director: Michel Hazanavicius

Screenwriter: Michel Hazanavicius

Cast: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman

Length: 1 hour 40 minutes

Synopsis:It’s 1927 and George Valentin (Dujardin) is a Hollywood silent film actor at the height of his career. At the premiere of his newest film, he bumps into a young, aspiring actress named Peppy Miller (Bejo) and poses for pictures with her. They meet again when she appears as an extra in his next film and he encourages the studio-head, Al Zimmer (Goodman), to use her in more films. Zimmer soon decides to exclusively produce sound films and chooses Peppy as one of his new stars. He offers George the chance to transition as well, but George rejects the new technology and strikes off on his own to make his own great silent. When George’s film fails and the stock market crash leaves him broke, he is forced to face the reality that his career is over. Peppy, on the other hand, becomes a great star and though their lives are on divergent paths, she and George still feel a connection. Read the rest of this entry »

Short Take: Great for fans, and enjoyable for all

Director: Kenny Ortega

Cast: Michael Jackson

Length: 1h 42m

Synopsis: A documentary comprised of fly-on-the-wall behind-the-scenes footage of Michael Jackson’s rehearsals for his This is it concert tour that was canceled due to the singer’s untimely death. Read the rest of this entry »