Nine

Every Summer here in Sydney we have outdoor cinemas. I saw 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' at one of them called Moonlight Cinema while I saw this film at one of the others called Open Air Cinema. This one is by the harbour with the Opera House and Bridge in the background. Something that can be a bit distracting when watching a film and having a wonderful view behind the screen. Last time I went to this cinema I got rained on and there was a threat of rain this time, but I was lucky enough to stay dry.

I am a huge fan of 'Chicago'. Before seeing it I knew very little about it or any of the songs so was totally blown away by how good it was. Since then Rob Marshall has gone on to direct 'Memoirs Of A Geisha' which was an OK film but I was very pleased when he returned to the musical. Unlike 'Chicago' I was looking forward to this film more and but was still very pleased. I was going to buy the soundtrack before hand but didn't and so did not know much about the music. While the songs were not as good as 'Chicago' I still loved the way they were staged. I'm more of a musical/comedy fan so ballads and slow songs don't normally appeal to me. I like upbeat, happy songs. Which is why I liked 'Be Italian' and 'Cinema Italiano' the most. The only disappointing thing was that Rob staged the musical numbers much like he did in 'Chicago'. They were not integrated into the story but staged as fantasy sequences filmed on a stage. This is only a minor quibble as the musical number look brilliant.

The cast of this film is truly amazing. I was so pleased that Daniel Day-Lewis made this film as he very rarely does anything so light-hearted. He normally does such serious films. I thought he handled the comedy really well and I hope he does more in the future. Marion Cotillard gets the meatier role of all the women so has more to work with but rises to the occasion and does an excellent job. So too does Penelope Cruz who plays the sexy role really well. Judi Dench and Nicole Kidman are good but have very little screen time. The one that really blew me away was Kate Hudson. She has been in so many ordinary or terrible films lately that it was nice to see her in something of quality. Plus she is a brilliant singer and dancer. I loved her song in this film and had the audience applauding at the screening I went to.

Another wonderful musical from the great musical film director. Maybe not quite as wonderful as 'Chicago' but still an excellent film.