Movies [that] Rock
Category: Music... TV & Radio...
Posted Friday, December 07, 2007 at 10:04 PM [GMT-6]

We're watching the CBS special Movies Rock which is a tribute to musicals and movie music, and there are some pretty amazing performances by current artists performing some of the great songs from the silver screen. I tuned in late, but here are some of the highlights:

  • Jennifer Hudson sang Somewhere from West Side Story, and I can't help wondering why she hasn't yet been showcased in another movie following her amazing performance in Dreamgirls. She's got incredible talent.

  • Usher re-created Gene Kelly's classic dance sequence from Singing in the Rain. I confess that I don't know Usher from Rush, but the kid can flat dance. I suspect he was a fan of Gregory Hines; you don't just wake up one morning with those kinds of tap dancing moves.

  • OK, how intimidating would it be to sing The Sound of Music in front of a packed house of movie and music professionals? Can you think of anybody who's ever done that song better than Julie Andrews? Well, Carrie Underwood came pretty darned close. If there's a better justification for the existence of a TV show like American Idol than bringing the likes of Jennifer Hudson and Underwood to our attention, I'd like to hear it.

  • Nicole Scherzinger's rendition of Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend should be required viewing for pop-tart "performers" like Britney Spears, in the hope that they might begin to discern the distinction between sultry and slutty. [And, by the way, CBS, what's up with failing to give Scherzinger and Usher any billing on your program website?]

  • Harrison Ford still has that dorky earring.

  • John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer (who will be teaming up for this upcoming movie) teamed up to present some of the funniest musical moments in film history. They could have just shown the The Blues Brothers in its entirety and covered the bases, although Puttin' On the Ritz from Young Frankenstein got a well-deserved place in the sequence.

  • John Williams just directed the orchestra in a musical montage of his film scores. These are some of the most recognizable tunes in history. Is there anyone who can't identify the movie scores that feature reek, reek, reek or dum dum dum dum?
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Comments

Dang. I flipped past that and someone I didn't recognize was yammering away, so I switched it. Sounds like it was actually pretty good.

Differentiating between sultry and slutty would definitely be a good lesson for the majority of popular "musicians" to learn. Boys included.

Posted by: beth at December 8, 2007 06:53 AM

I'm not particularly impressed with Jennifer Hudson, but you sure nailed it on the head with your observation about American Idol – especially since it seems that the runners up are the ones who end up making it big. Faith Hill can sneer if she wants, but once the record producers got hold of Carrie Underwood and polished her up, her public performances that I've seen have just blown me away. Even Bucky what's-his-name sounded surprisingly decent when I recently heard a track from his CD played on the radio. I would never have guessed it was him.

Posted by: Foo at December 8, 2007 08:02 AM
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