What's Going On at DMR

I just recently received a DVD of The Importance of Being Russell from Jeff Hassen, one of its filmmakers. I will be posting the review soon, but would like to let everyone know where they can actually watch the movie in its entirety online right now until June 30th. You can watch it at www.independentfeatures.com. After you get a chance to watch it you should come back and discuss your thoughts about it.

There are only a couple more days for Sharon Movie May reviews. Hopefully I will get a couple more reviews posted. Next month is going to be very different from Sharon Movie May, but I hope everyone enjoys it just the same. I am not going to give it away just yet so you are going to have to come back to find out.

Sharon Movie: Singin' In The Rain

Singin’ In The Rain (1952)

Director: Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly
Writer: Adolph Green and Betty Comden
Genre: Comedy/Musical/Romance

Story

This is the story of Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and his rise to the top at the time of talking pictures. Don made it to the top of his game, but the studios were switching from silent pictures to “talkies” and it was a rough transition. Don’s studio had to come up with a way to make their movies “talkies,” but without the annoying voice of Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) who was the current leading lady next to Don Lockwood. Thankfully Lockwood found a young woman named Kathy Seldon (Debbie Reynolds) who could sing, dance, and didn’t have an annoying voice. The only problem was how to get Lamont out of the movie and Seldon into the movie, but Lockwood’s friend Cosmo Brown (Donald O’Connor) had an idea.


Everything Else

The directing from Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly was quite good in Singin’ In The Rain especially for the time it was made; 1952. Usually I do not like musicals very much, but Singin’ In The Rain was entertaining and had enough story to keep it going. The music of course was good and the dancing to go along with it worked well. The scenes where the singing and dancing came out seemed to make sense which made it better than a lot of musicals which have song and dance coming out of nowhere.


The acting by Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds was good, but Gene Kelly’s character was so smily it was quite scary at times. Donald O’Connor provided a little comic relief often to otherwise dry scenes. Some of the comedy was a little over the top and cheesy, but it worked in a family fun, playful sort of way. Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont did an excellent job at being ridiculously annoying. I still hear her voice in my head (Argh!). Overall the movie had the right ingredients for a well made musical that had a good enough story, music, and acting to make it a great musical.


The Real Deal

No I don’t like musicals unless they are a little different from the norm, but Singin’ In The Rain at least had the song Singin’ In The Rain. I hate to admit it, but I thought Singin’ In The Rain was quite funny at times. It is certainly a classic and could be enjoyed by a wide audience so I have to recommend it to anyone looking for a good musical.


Sharon's Take

It was hard to choose which musical I wanted reviewed for Sharon Movie May. Sing'in in the Rain won over Brigadoon because I thought David would enjoy it more. Gene Kelly might not be the best actor, but he sure can sing and dance. Sing'in in the Rain is light and funny, two qualities that are often found in a Sharon Movie.

The Short Version

Raw Score: 823,292
Sharon Movie? Yes

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What is the Theme in May?

I am sure plenty of you are wondering what the theme for May is going to be since it is just around the corner. Well, it has hit the comments a couple of times over the past two months, but I will tell you anyway if you didn't see it. May is going to be Sharon Movie May.

For those of you who do not know, Sharon is my sister. I started calling movies either Sharon movies or not Sharon movies a few years back when I felt like I had a pretty good idea of whether or not Sharon would like the movie. As you may have noticed at Dave's Movie Reviews, every review has my thought on whether the movie is a Sharon movie or not. Now you will get plenty of examples of Sharon movies as she has picked out 15 or so that I will be reviewing. I hope you all enjoy Sharon Movie May!