Long live the movie musical

The Nose is off this week. In its place: The movie musical died a long, slow death a long time ago. Right?

Well, except that there’s Spielberg’s West Side Story. And Hamilton and In the Heights and Tick, Tick… Boom! And A Star Is Born and The Greatest Showman. And Annette and Cyrano. Oh, and Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman and Elvis. And Encanto.

And those are just from the last five years. And I could keep going.

This hour, a long look at the long-dead movie musical. Long live the movie musical.

Some stuff that happened this week, give or take:

• Irene Cara, ‘Fame’ and ‘Flashdance’ Singer, Dies at 63 Ms. Cara was a child star from the Bronx who gained fame in the 1980s as a singer of pop anthems and as the star of the movie “Fame.”
• Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac Singer-Songwriter, Dies at 79
• The greatest film of all time: Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles For the first time in 70 years the Sight and Sound poll has been topped by a film directed by a woman — and one that takes a consciously, radically feminist approach to cinema. Things will never be the same.
• Glass Onion Is Expected To Gross $15 Million In Its One-Week Theatrical Preview
• This Was the Worst Thanksgiving Weekend in Box-Office History. Yes, Disney’s animated “Strange World” is a bomb — but without Netflix’s “Glass Onion,” the weekend would have been even worse.
• Was ‘Glass Onion’ a Success? Peeling Back the Layers on Netflix’s Box Office Gambit
• Top Gun: Maverick Is Being Re-Released In Theaters Before Avatar Comes For The Box Office Crown
• Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny Trailer Breakdown: Where There’s A Whip, There’s A Way
• ‘Nasty, vile, want to unsee’: Mum sparks debate over multi-use of ‘family sick bowl’ Social media is split
• Brian Robinson’s BIG HAT deserves all caps because it’s a BIG HAT It’s BIG HAT world, and we’re living in it.
• Cocaine Bear: the trailer for 2023’s wildest film is everything and more The Elizabeth Banks-directed caper, based on a true story, looks to be exactly what the internet wants it to be
• The 2023 Oscars Will Televise The Presentation Of All 23 Awards Categories
• A teary Will Smith opens up to Trevor Noah about the ‘rage’ behind his Oscar slap
• Nicole Kidman Receives Standing Ovation at Broadway’s ‘The Music Man’ After Bidding $100,000 for Hugh Jackman’s Signed Hat
• Why has the internet invented a fake Martin Scorsese film? Thousands of Tumblr users have been making posters, soundtracks, drawings and fan fiction for a 1973 Scorsese film starring Robert De Niro — but it never existed
• A man won the legal right to not be ‘fun’ at work after refusing to embrace ‘excessive alcoholism’ and ‘promiscuity’
• Video games for dogs aim to help aging canine brains
• Aubrey Plaza Is Leveling Up—and Still Pranking Her Costars The famously deadpan Aubrey Plaza is reaching new heights with a star turn in the new season of The White Lotus and a mega Francis Ford Coppola project on the horizon.
• Helena Bonham Carter: Good on young men for finding middle-aged beauty sexy The London Library’s first female president on why she thinks Johnny Depp has been ‘vindicated’ and the ‘horrendous’ treatment of JK Rowling
• ‘Avatar’ and the Mystery of the Vanishing Blockbuster It was the highest-grossing film in history, but for years it was remembered mainly for having been forgotten. Why?
• Rolling Stone: The 100 Greatest TV Theme Songs of All Time From Seventies sitcoms with expository jams to modern prestige classics with experimental scores, from ‘Sanford and Son’ to ‘Succession,’ from ‘Match Game’ to ‘Game of Thrones’
• Poynter: We asked, you answered: Here are your favorite journalism movies We’ve published our own list before, but we wanted to hear from you.
• Legendary Entertainment Formalizes Sony Deal After Cutting Ties With Warner Bros.
• Adults Are Spending Big on Toys and Stuffed Animals—for Themselves
• The Last Real American Dictionary Scrabble’s new edition is full of delightful new words. But are there enough of them?
• Kylie Jenner’s Humongous Christmas Tree Has Pissed Off A Lot Of People, But I’m Just Trying To Figure Out What That Potato Sack Thing Is Another day, another drama. This time about a Christmas tree.
• Planes, Trains and Automobiles at 35: An Oral History of One of the Most Beloved Road Movies Ever Made Starring Steve Martin and John Candy, the John Hughes road trip comedy had a nearly four-hour runtime at one point. Hear from cast, crew, and Hughes’ family about the classic.
• ‘Wednesday’ Summons Record-Breaking Debut Week On Netflix With 341.23M Hours Viewed
• NYC is hiring a rat czar. ‘General aura of badassery’ required.

GUESTS:

• Jeanine Basinger: Founder of the Department of Film Studies at Wesleyan University and the author of many books on film; her latest is Hollywood: The Oral History
• Steve Metcalf: Director of the University of Hartford’s Presidents’ College

The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!

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Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired March 5, 2020.

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