Wednesday, April 18, 2007

The Death of Musical Appreciation

UPDATED!

At the time of writing - 11:16 PM CST - the daily IMDB poll nears its close.

The question...

With Sweeney Todd and Hairspray coming soon, which of these post-1970 musicals is your favorite?

The Top 10 votegetters (unlikely to change much before the poll closes):

1. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut 2887 [votes] (15.3%)

2. Moulin Rouge! 2417 (12.8%)

3. Grease 1942 (10.3%)

4. My love of film does not extend to this particular genre. 1577 (8.4%)

5. The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1472 (7.8%)

6. Chicago 1100 (5.8%)

7. The Phantom of the Opera 1004 (5.3%)

8. Little Shop of Horrors 700 (3.7%)

9. Rent 677 (3.6%)

10. Cabaret 515 (2.7%)

Admittedly, I voted for Rocky Horror. I know it isn't the best of the lot, but its impact on the genre and film as a whole is weighty, and I'd be lying if I pretended the damn thing didn't still give a rush anytime I put it on.

Had I been playing based on quality (i.e. a film that rocked & raised the bar), my vote would've gone to either Moulin Rouge! or Chicago. And I certainly understand why Grease is so high up there. I'm mildly surprised by Little Shop's high placing, but would never argue against it. I've still never seen either Phantom or Rent, but the fact that they made the Top 10 doesn't rattle my cage. And if you don't like Cabaret, then there's something seriously not cool about you.

Heck, I even "get" #4 - some people don't like musicals -- and given that fact, why did so many of you vote for...

SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT!?!?!

What the fuck, people? Know the box which you should tick.

Hey, I like the movie - I really do. And I long ago accepted that it was indeed a musical. But come on... Number Freaking One?? Get some perspective folks. Move away from your "everything's become so unfunny that the world's just a big joke" mentality and appreciate some beauty from time to time, even if it's in the form of an alien in fishnets or a singing plant.

The remainder of the results for those who care about such things:

Jesus Christ Superstar 493 (2.6%)
The Producers 479 (2.5%)
Newsies 388 (2.1%)
Dancer in the Dark 354 (1.9%)
All That Jazz 325 (1.7%)
Other 315 (1.7%)
1776 311 (1.6%)
Totally High School Musical! 262 (1.4%)
Tommy 261 (1.4%)
Victor/Victoria 260 (1.4%)
Hair 216 (1.1%)
Dreamgirls 172 (0.9%)
Annie 168 (0.9%)
Everyone Says I Love You 157 (0.8%)
Evita 156 (0.8%)
A Chorus Line 115 (0.6%)
8 Women 106 (0.6%)
Pennies from Heaven 42 (0.2%)

UPDATE!

Since cutting and pasting this poll off of IMDB last night, the wording of the poll has been slightly altered -- it now includes the phrase "live action".

While this absolves the poll's omission of the Disney fare Edward Copeland mentioned in the talkback, suddenly the South Park win has become all the more irritating.