Dir. Chris Columbus. Starring Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Rosario Dawson I am afraid to type the following sentence, but it deserves to be said: Rent, as a film, deserves another chance. You have no idea how much I wish I didn’t mean that, unless you’ve read my thoughts on “What You Own” – so in… Read More Rent (2005)
Dir. Hugh Wooldridge. Starring Idina Menzel, Josh Groban, Adam Pascal For half a second back there, I thought that the Christmas movie musical was about to become a staple of the American film schedule. Les Miserables hit, Into the Woods missed, and then The Force Awakens came out a year later, with a new Star Wars property expected every Christmas, in… Read More Chess in Concert (2008)
Honorable mentions: “The Deal/No Deal,” “You and I (Reprise)” Like Grenada, Chess is a victim of American late Cold War insecurity. In the British version, the Soviet grandmaster beats the American grandmaster to take the latter’s championship before defecting, and with a little help from the American, topples the Soviet challenger for his crown. In… Read More Songs from Musicals: #2, “Pity the Child,” from Chess
Seeing Things Secondhand 