The Dream Continues...
For those of you who aren't familiar with DREAMGIRLS it was a hit Broadway musical, created in 1981, based "loosely" on the real monster girl group The Supremes, Berry Gordy and Motown. And although it took almost 25 years to make, the movie version is spectacular.
Following the meteoric rise of the fictitious "Dreams," the story takes place in Detroit in 1962 and ends in Los Angeles in 1975. In between you witness the joy, sorrow and bitterness--as some dreams die, while others live. And being a period movie, DREAMGIRLS doesn't feel dated or unrealistic. It captures the excitement and turbulence of the 60s or at least the romanticized ideal of it...perfectly.
Anyway enough about the movie and on to the DVD.
This dvd set contains two dvds:
***DVD #1 FEATURE FILM; 12 EXTENDED/ADDITIONAL MUSICAL NUMBERS
I won't list the 12 songs but the title track "Dreamgirls" and the show stopper "And I Am Telling You..." are not part of this 12...
Eddie Can Sing!
Musicals aren't really my thing. Many feel forced as the cast breaks out into song at the most bizarre of times. Cheesy is perhaps the best descriptor, but occasionally I enjoy a good toe-tapping flick if it's done right. And DREAMGIRLS is definitely done right. It certainly ranks up there with MOULIN ROUGE and CHICAGO as one of the more recently successful musical films, it too being a period piece (covering the late 50s through the early 70s).
Acting in these style of films tends to lend itself more to dance moves than actual roleplaying of characters, but there are two highly mentionable performances in Dreamgirls: first time actress Jennifer Hudson of American Idol fame, and a major comeback role for Eddie Murphy. Hudson took home Best Actress trophies from The Golden Globes, The BAFTAs, The Screen Actors Guild and The Oscars for her portrayal of Effie White, the powerful and ultimately embittered lead singer for The Dreamettes. Eddie Murphy as James "Thunder" Early is...
It's Wonderful Entertainment
"Dreamgirls," originally a hit Broadway production in the 1980s, is a lavish musical inspired by the history of Motown and its super group The Supremes. Like the songs in "Grace of My Heart" which is clearly based on the career of Carole King, the soundtrack music of "Dreamgirls," good as it is, can't match the power of the real Motown sound. Actually the film's musical numbers hardly sound like Motown Sound, but still some of them are real showstoppers thanks to the film's gifted stars, especially the dynamic singing voice of Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson.
In "Dreamgirls" you should not expect much from the story, which runs a familiar course of superstars or celebrities, with the meteoric rise of three R&B singers (played by Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson and Anika Noni Rose) to the fame and their subsequent troubles and ego-clashing within the members and their shrewd, business-minded producer/manager (Jamie Foxx). It is a same old story you have heard somewhere...
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