My Top 20 Favourite Musicals of All Time

As you all know quite well, the musical genre could be my favourite genre of film. However, I've not been able to make a list like this until I saw more of the essentials of the genre. Well, I have, and I have decided to make the list, including my top 5 favourite songs from each musical. Some of these have not been adapted to film yet and some have, hence why I'm not entitling this "My top 20 favourite movie-musicals of all time". Well, enjoy!

*animated musicals will go on a list of their own eventually*

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

An American in Paris, The Wizard of Oz,  and La Cage Aux Folles

20. Annie (1977, 1982, 1998, 1999, 2012)

1. You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile

2. Easy Street

3. Tomorrow

4. NYC

5. Hard Knock Life

19. Mamma Mia (1999, 2001, 2008)

1. Our Last Summer

2. S.O.S

3. Waterloo

4. Honey Honey

5. I Have A Dream

18. Evita (1979, 1996, 2011)

1. And The Money Kept Rolling In

2. Good Night and Thank You

3. Eva and Magaldi/Eva Beware of the City

4. Peron's Latest Flame

5. Rainbow High

17. Moulin Rouge (2001)

1. Come What May

2. Prologue/There Was A Boy

3. Fly Away

4. Elephant Love Medley

5. El Tango De Roxanne

16. Little Shop of Horrors (1982, 1986, 2003)

1. Skid Row

2. Mean Green Mother From Outer Space

3. Dentist

4. Feed Me

5. Some Fun Now/Act II Intro

15. Dreamgirls (1981, 1987, 2001, 2006)

1. Love You I Do

2. Steppin' to the Bad Side

3. Move

4. It's All Over-Listen (two-way tie)

5. I Meant You No Harm/Jimmy's Rap

14. The Rocky Horror (Picture) Show (1973, 1975, 2000)

1. In Just Seven Days I Can Make You A Man

2. Science Fiction Double Feature

3. Dammit Janet

4. Sweet Transvestite

5. Touch-a Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me

13. The Sound of Music (1959, 1965, 1998)

1. I Have Confidence

2. Eidelweiss

3. How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria

4. Sixteen Going On Seventeen

5. The Lonely Goatherd

12. West Side Story (1957, 1960, 1961, 1980, 2009)

1. Tonight (quintet and duet)

2. Something's Coming

3. Jet Song

4. America

5. Cool

11. Hairspray (2002, 2007)

1. You Can't Stop The Beat

2. Welcome To The Sixties

3. Without Love

4. The New Girl In Town

5. Good Morning Baltimore

10. Into The Woods (1987, 2002, 2013?)

1. Ever After

2. Agony (original and reprise)

3. Moments in the Woods

4. Giants in the Sky

5. On The Steps of the Palace

9. Jesus Christ Superstar (1971, 1973, 1977, 2012)

1. Heaven on their Minds

2. Trial Before Pilate/Superstar

3. This Jesus Must Die

4. Judas' Death

5. Pilate's Dream

8. Cabaret (1966, 1987, 1998, 2012)

1. Two Ladies

2. Money

3. Tomorrow Belongs To Me

4. Cabaret

5. Wilkommen

7. Chicago (1975, 1996, 2002)

1. Cellblock Tango

2. We Both Reached For The Gun

3. Mister Cellophane

4. When You're Good To Mama

5. Razzle Dazzle

6. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979, 1982, 1989, 2005, 2007)

1. Epiphany

2. Johanna Quartet

3. A Little Priest

4. The Ballad of Sweeney Todd

5. My Friends

5. Wicked (2003)

1. Defying Gravity

2. Dancing Through Life

3. No One Mourns The Wicked

4. The Wizard and I (normally sung by a woman, but I really really like this one)

5. The Wicked Witch of the East (meh quality, but it's not on the soundtrack so what can I do)

4. The Phantom of the Opera (1986, 1987, 2004, 2011)

1. Masquerade

2. Think of Me

3. The Mirror/Main Theme

4. All I Ask Of You

5. The Point of No Return

3. Singin' in the Rain (1952, 1985)

1. Singin' in the Rain

2. Make 'Em Laugh

3. Moses Supposes

4. Fit As A Fiddle

5. Good Mornin'

2. My Fair Lady (1956, 1964, 1976, 1981)

1. On The Street Where You Live

2. The Rain in Spain

3. Why Can't The English Teach Their Children How To Speak?

4. I Could Have Danced All Night

5. An Ordinary Man

1. Les Miserables (1985, 1987, 1995, 2006, 2010, 2012)

1. One Day More

2. ABC Cafe/Red and Black/Do You Hear The People Sing (6:46 in)

3. Prologue

4. In My Life

5. The First Attack/The Final Battle (0:00 to 5:13 and 13:05 to end)

Favourite Films

Part III: 21-30

Enjoy! And those of you who think you're clever, please refrain from making "Americanized" comments.

21. WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (1988)

Dir: Robert Zemeckis

22. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001)

Dir: Peter Jackson

23. CHICAGO (2002)

Dir: Rob Marshall

24. THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY (1999)

Dir: Anthony Minghella

25. MONSTERS INC (2001)

Dir: Pete Docter

26. SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (2007)

Dir: Tim Burton

27. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART II (2011)

Dir: David Yates

28. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (2002)

Dir: Steven Spielberg

29. THE PRODUCERS (1968)

Dir: Mel Brooks

30. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (2004)

Dir: Joel Schumacher

Favourite Films of All Time

Part II: 11-20

The title's pretty self-explanatory, so enjoy!

11. THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)

Dir: Christopher Nolan

12. LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003)

Dir: Sofia Coppola

13. SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950)

Dir: Billy Wilder

14. DRIVE (2011)

Dir: Nicolas Winding Refn

15. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991)

Dir: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise

16. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994)

Dir. Frank Darabont

17. DR STRANGELOVE OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964)

Dir: Stanley Kubrick

18. TOY STORY (1995)

Dir. John Lasseter

19. FIGHT CLUB (1999)

Dir: David Fincher

20. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (2003)

Dir: Peter Jackson

MY FAVOURITE FILMS OF ALL TIME: PART I

1-10

1. PSYCHO (1960)

Dir: Alfred Hitchcock

2. MY FAIR LADY (1964)

Dir: George Cukor

3. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)

Dir: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly

4. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (2009)

Dir: Quentin Tarantino

5. PULP FICTION (1994)

Dir: Quentin Tarantino

6. THE GODFATHER (1972)

Dir: Francis Ford Coppola

7. GOODFELLAS (1990)

Dir: Martin Scorsese

8. STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980)

Dir: Irvin Kirshner

9. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)

Dir: Steven Spielberg

10. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)

Dir: Stanley Kubrick

*I will offer justifications if asked*

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

The DVD of this film that I rented came with a foreword from Terry Gilliam, discussing the inspiration of this 

Watchmen (2009)

They thought it was unfilmable, but they were wrong. They were so wrong. The most acclaimed graphic novel of all time is perfectly capable of being filmed, and being filmed brilliantly. Watchmen is a thrilling, dark, and wonderfully made film and, though it is certainly not without its flaws, I believe that it belongs up there with Spider-Man 2, The Dark Knight, and The Avengers in the ranks of the greatest superhero films of all time. A few scenes aside, I loved everything about it. I loved the premise and I loved the non-linear structure it was told in and the narrative tangents that allowed me to learn more about the characters. The film is also extremely well directed, proving Snyder's ambition and skill as a director, which is quite great when he's directing films like this and not like Sucker Punch.

On a similar note, the film is visually flawless in all respects, featuring some of the best special effects, cinematography, art direction, and stylized slow motion that I have seen in any film. Especially in the opening credits sequence, which is probably the instance where I have seen slow motion used to its full potential of awesomeness, alongside being one of the coolest dumpings of exposition/opening sequences of all time. I have a love/hate relationship with excessively stylized films, but it worked for Watchmen, resulting in a good mix of style and substance (due to strong source material no doubt) and the visual perfection that I mentioned.

The actors involved also churn out decent performances, highlights being Matthew Goode, Patrick Wilson, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Jackie Earle Haley (sorry Malin, you did your best, but your character simply didn't have much of a purpose outside token woman/groupie/love interest. Maybe it was different in the comics, but in the film, that's how it is.) Billy Crudup does a good job too, but I found the aforementioned actors and the characters they played a bit more exciting. Perhaps it's because they are fallible, whereas Dr. Manhattan is not. I found his transformation scene damned awesome though. I especially enjoyed Morgan's Comedian (for being extremely badass despite being an awful person, and for completely owning the film's opening scene), and Wilson's Nite Owl (for being the closest thing to a traditional superhero this film has to offer).

This film seems to have become overlooked, sparing certain circles, and the critics say that it's because non-readers would have trouble with the film's quote-unquote, "complex narrative structure". I had no problem with the film's narrative structure, and I have a feeling that the film is not as recognized as it should be due to the characters not being extremely well-known (except maybe Dr. Manhattan, and that's just because of the fact that he has a giant blue dick). That, and some of the film's more extreme moments are REALLY extreme. I mean, The Dark Knight was a gritty film, but despite the brutality shown onscreen, the film was basically bloodless. Watchmen is certainly not bloodless, and certainly not something you can take your kids to. That didn't stop it from making decent money at the box office and earning critical respect, as well as some geek respect (though fans of the comic are still pretty split on it). I'll just say that I loved this film, but if you don't like Zack Snyder's style of film, you probably won't like this film. I still say give it a look. It has earned its place on my favourite films of 2009 and my favourite comic book films.



4.5/5