Dreamgirls, Supremgirls...fictionalized reality

The film Dreamgirls, which is the newest Bill Condon musical based on an old Broadway show, is an interesting if flawed film. For a more thorough critique of its flaws, go read buffyannatator's post on it Here.

The film and the musical that proceeded it are loosely based on the history of the The Supremes - or Diana Ross's all female singing group before she took off and became a solo gig. The film borrows heavily from well-known factoids about Ross's life, such as her relationship with the Jackson Five, here the Campton or Campil Five. And notably, the fact that Ross took over the lead role of The Supremes from Flo Ballard and later or possibly during this period had an affair with Berry Gordon, head of Motown records at the time. Flo Ballard's tale is one of Motown's tragedies and the inspiration for the musical. The musical is not "Diana Ross's" story but rather "Flo's", a realistic Cinderella tale about racism and the power of looks over talent in the music business - which to some degree, and this is a flaw in both the source material and the film, over-simplified to make a point. Reality is never as clear cut as fiction, good guys and bad guys tend to blend together and are less definable. [For another take on Diana Ross, Flo Ballard and the Supremes go Here courtesy of petzipellepingo where Ballard's sister Jenkins speaks on it.]

( Dreamgirls - cut for length and vague spoilers )

My Memorable Films of 2006...from the top of my head

[As an aside - according to the news, 167,000 jobs were added to the economy in December. Hoping this is "good" news and not just bad statistics.]

Granted it's probably mildly silly to rank or list the best/favorite films of any year - since films like people tend to be their own entities. And debating favorites is bit like standing at a candy counter and arguing whether rock candy is better than chocolate bark, if you hate chocolate you will argue rock candy, if you have sensitive teeth - chocolate bark. Same goes for movies, you hate action flicks? Casino Royale would not have appealed to you. Adore satire? Borat would have made you happy.

But what the hey, it's fun to do and even more fun to share with others, not to mention fun to read their lists - hence the reason I keep doing it and I'm entitling my list the most memorable. This list is in no particular order except that of memory or which film comes to my mind first.

(To cut or not to cut therein lies the question - I'll cut to save you real estate, since the post in lengthy and in case of any vague spoilers.)

( My Most Memorable Films of 2006 )

( Three Least Memorable Films )

So there's mine - what are yours?

Friday Night Lights - Film Review

Just watched, courtesy of netflix, the original film version of Friday Night Lights released in 2004 and based on the non-fiction best-seller by H.G. Bissinger , that chronicles the efforts of Gary Gaines, portrayed by Billy Bob Thornton, to propel a small town Texas high school football team to the state championships. Peter Berg, who directed,created, and produced the television series as well as the film is the cousin of H.G. Bissinger - who reportedly spent a year in the town of Odessa, Texas getting to know the kids and the environment, just talking to people and researching what turns out to be a serious depiction of American high school football - which is a phenomenon in certain portions of the country, specifically Texas.

( Review of Friday Night Lights - the film version, which does not include spoilers or only vague spoilers, cut to save you real estate )