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Chicago on DVD
• "intoxicating musical" • Dolby Digital 5.1 More DVD info... |
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Chicago on DVD
• "intoxicating musical" • Dolby Digital 5.1 More DVD info... |
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you hold the previous recordings of Chicago dear to your heart and/or you loved hearing the new vocal performances in the film. Avoid it... if you're not inclined toward musicals in the first place and you're not enough of a Danny Elfman fan to purchase an album for seven minutes of his jazz. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
The highlight of the album --the title song, so to speak-- is "And All that Jazz." The performance of the "Cell Block Tango" is well recorded and lengthy in its humor and character rotation. One of the later laughers, "Class," is performed by Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah with great spirit, though this song was for some reason cut from the final edit of the film. It should be noted -- while we're talking about the song "Class," that the CD should have an explicit lyrics sticker somewhere on it, because its profane topics and language are not only a central part of the songs, but a definite plus. To counter the loss of that song, Kander and Ebb have added the song "I'll Move On" as a duet for Velma and Roxie. The ensemble of performers that assist in the background instrumental accompaniment for the singers is consistent with the size of a group that may have actually been in such a club. It is a miniature orchestra that relies, much like the vocalists, on the spunk and pizzazz of the swing in the composition itself to provide the selling point. The Queen Latifah remix of "Cell Block Tango," renamed "He Had It Comin'," is a truly hideous rap adaptation of that song, and has been met with universally negative criticism. In this case, Latifah has only herself to blame. The end credit piece by Anastacia, "Love is a Crime" is adequate, but the film would have been better served by resisting the temptation to modernize the swing of the original songs. Film score devotees were curious to see that veteran composer Danny Elfman was listed on the posters and advertisements for this film, and even Elfman himself was surprised by how quickly this project came up for him. With the film late in production, it was realized by director Rob Marshall (or others) that a handful scenes outside of the singing realm needed scoring. Elfman proceeded to score about four scenes, along with one source cue, which amounted to fifteen minutes of total score material. His material is an excellent match for John Kander's original songs, and Elfman fans will recall from his work on Dick Tracy that he can really swing with the 20's jazz when the opportunity arises. Elfman was happy to do a last-minute recording for that genre, and two cues (representing exactly half of his fifteen minutes for the film) are provided on the album for the film. While speculation existed that Elfman might be nominated for awards due to voters' mis-association with the names on the project, it should be noted that like Evita in 1996 and Moulin Rouge in 2001, Chicago doesn't qualify as having enough new, original material for the film. Fans of the musical will be pleased by the performances, though you really have to be able to tolerate lengthy doses of that jazz in order to enjoy Chicago in any of its incarnations. For film score and Elfman fans, it's likely not worth the price on album, but it would be a riot on screen with the visuals. The two modern songs at the end are an inexcusable finale to an otherwise strong interpretation. ****
The insert includes extensive credits. The CD will 'unlock' extra footage and interview material. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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