#Wicked Part I

[inevitablemoment]

I have a lot of things that I want to say, but first-- having Jonathan Bailey roll up his sleeves to show his forearms-- they knew what they were doing. They know what we like.

[billpottsismygf]

I don't think I've ever taken in before how much Wicked Act I (and thus Wicked Part I) takes its structure from The Wizard of Oz. It opens with No One Mourns the Wicked, which is an obvious response to Ding Dong the Witch is Dead* (the first song once Dorothy gets to Oz, and only the second overall), and ends with our heroes arriving in the Emerald City (Merry Old Land of Oz/One Short Day). Our hero is then asked to perform a task so that the wizard will grant her heart's desire. Having completed this task, she then discovers that he is a fraud and that he cannot do what he's promised (nor could he have done the task he set her), so she has to make use of the power that was inside her all along to get where she needs to go.

*Bonus connection between these two songs is the little musical motif ("ding dong the witch is") that the movie version of No One Mourns the Wicked uses in its newly triumphant orchestration at the start (roughly 1:01 and 1:19 in the official soundtrack).

[naughtygirl286]

So yes we went to see the musical extravaganza Wicked this week. I can say I wasn't overly excited or anything to see this being I never seen the play/stage show and was never really interested in it either, but being I do like the Wizard of Oz and have seen the other related movies over the years I was interested in going to see this.

As for collectables there apparently was stuff cups and buckets they were advertising them but didn't have any on display so when I asked about them at the counter I was told they were all sold out which was sad but what can you do right?

anyway as for the movie I thought it was pretty good. I did enjoy it. It was fun and plenty of singing and there was some cool action and visuals. Basically the story was and origin story. It start off at the end of the Wizard of Oz when the wicket witch is dead and you see Dorthy and her friends walking back down the Yellow Brick Road back to the Emerald City and the movie really starts when you get back to Munchkinland and Glenda (played by Ariana Grande) shows up and confirms the witches death and they have a musical number. then Glenda tells the story about how Elphaba/the Wicket Witch (played by Cynthia Erivo) becomes Wicked. you get to see her as a child and then a teenager/adult and how her and Glenda meet at a Hogwarts type of school for Witchcraft and Wizardry and everything that pretty much goes on from them that is pretty much it.

While watching around the first when the munchkins were having their celebration I was thinking "boy alot of these munchkins are awfully tall" and when they wheeled out the straw effigy of the witch I was like boy that was quick! like seriously did they have that pre built and stored in like a barn somewhere just in case the Witch was killed at some point? I also thought the name of the school was "Shitz" at first cause that is what I was hearing I had to lean over and ask one of the people I was with what the school was called and they were like "I think its Shiz?" so I had to look it up when I got home and it was "Shiz" which in my opinion isn't any better but I could swear I was hearing "Shitz" lol

but all joking aside while watching this it reminded me of the movie Maleficent that came out a few years ago. In my opinion it was pretty much the same idea. I'm not discounting this movie because of that being that this was pretty good I felt it was well acted and all the songs were I thought were really good and the choreography was really great too.

The visuals effects and alot of the character animations were really done as well I think this will probably get some Oscar Nomination for production designs and maybe even Make-up and costumes.

But yeah like I said I thought it was pretty good and being this is a "Part 1" we'll have to go and see Part 2 when it comes out so So if you are interested in seeing it I would recommend going to see it.

[greensparty]

Movie Reviews: Gladiator II / Wicked

This week I got to review two big studio releases. After last year's successful Barbenheimer release of both Oppenheimer and Barbie, two of the most successful and critically acclaimed movies of last year, many Hollywood insiders are looking to the release of both Gladiator II and Wicked as being this year's Barbenheimer. SNL's Weekend Update recently joked "So get ready for ‘Glad-dicked." I'll save you the suspense and just tell you this, Glicked or Wickiator is nowhere close to Barbenheimer!

Gladiator II

Ridley Scott is one of those directors where even when he's not as great as his best films (i.e. Alien and Blade Runner), I'm always interested in what he's doing and how he's going to take it on. I worked on his film American Gangster in 2006. Months before production began, I worked for one day in the costume dept. Then a few months later, when one of the crew members in another dept. needed to leave for a week, I filled in for a week (not going to name names or the department). While it wasn’t the greatest experience for me, I was quite impressed with the film itself. But I digress. In 2000, Scott made a film that was both a box office hit and a critically acclaimed hit with Gladiator, which won the Oscar for Best Picture. It was a sword-and-sandal epic about a gladiator Maximus (Russell Crowe) trying to avenge the murders of his family. I saw it in the movie theater in the Summer of 2000 and it was one of the highlights of that Summer. A year later on The Sopranos, Ralphie was a big fan of Gladiator and took his fandom too far. As much as I enjoyed the movie, I found it hard to believe it won Best Picture in the same year as such movies as Almost Famous, High Fidelity and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But now after years of rumors of a sequel, Gladiator II is opening 24 years since the first one.

movie poster

Taking place 16 years since the first movie, Paul Mescal (who was excellent in Aftersun) stars as Lucius, the son of Maximus (he was played by Spencer Treat Clark in the first movie), now a grown up. Another general who trained under Maximus is Marcus, played by Pedro Pascal (so good on The Mandalorian). Not going to get into spoilers, but after a battle, Lucius is forced into slavery and bought by Macrinus, played by Denzel Washington (always good in anything he's in). There's also Lucilla, Lucius's mother played by Connie Nielsen (reprising her role from the first film), who sees her son in the arena. That's about all I can say about it without getting into spoilers.

My friend I saw this screening with said he liked it, but that there was a lot of things that went over his head and it seemed they condensed a lot of facts and info, suggesting it might've been better as a mini-series. My friend was right about that, but the bigger issue I had with this movie is that it can't get past the shadow of the first movie. I don't even hold the first Gladiator up on a pedestal as much as some people. I mean it was good, but it's not a movie I return to that often. But this one, it felt like I just couldn't stop thinking about how much better the original one was. Now credit where credit is due, any scenes of fighting and battle scenes elevated this movie in a big way. And as much as the cast was good, it is truly Denzel's show even in a supporting role, he is showing everyone how it's done. But at 2.5 hours it was way longer than it needed to be. It was shorter than the first one but felt way longer. In recent years we've seen a lot of sequels to movies that came out more than 30 years ago. This wasn't even 30 years old, but it felt like - well, we waited this long for this? Really?

For info on Gladiator II

2 out of 5 stars

Wicked: Part I

If they only knew in the year 1900 that over a century later there would still be adaptations of the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 2024? The book about farm girl Dorothy getting swept up into the Land of Oz has entered the English lexicon in so many ways, i.e. "We're not in Kansas anymore!" or "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" just as examples. There have been countless adaptations in film, TV, theater and more. The most famous and greatest was 1939's The Wizard of Oz, a perfect movie from start to finish! It was an early film I saw as a kid. My older sister once met and got an autograph from the Wicked Witch of the West herself Margaret Hamilton. But I digress. There's been a lot of different attempts at a sequel over the years. In 2013, Sam Raimi tried it with a prequel Oz the Great and Powerful. As much as I love Raimi that was a letdown, but was visually stunning. One such attempt was the Broadway musical Wicked that premiered in 2003. It was a big huge hit in the theater world and now it is getting the big screen adaptation from director John M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians). The first installment Wicked: Part I opens this week from Universal.

movie poster

The film opens with Glinda (Arana Grande) the Good Witch of the North informing citizens in the Land of Oz that the Wicked Witch of the West is gone. This is not a spoiler since it happens towards the beginning of a movie from over 80s years ago (I think we're past the statute of limitations on spoilers from that far back, right?). It, then, goes into a flashback of the young Glinda arriving at Shiz University, where she meets Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), a woman born green who later becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. This is like an origin story, where we learn that the Wicked Witch wasn't always wicked and the Good Witch wasn't always good, as they room together and work together under Madame Morrible (Michele Yeoh), the head mistress at Shiz. I've probably said too much already, so I'll refrain from the rest.

I brought my son to see this and he really enjoyed it, having seen Wizard of Oz earlier this year. I felt that it was a bit long at 160 minutes. For a movie that's already being split in two, this part could've been a little shorter. The production design is off the charts. The cast shines, but I do wish we got to have more Michele Yeoh, who makes everything she's in better. As a life long fan of Wizard of Oz, this was kind of cool to get into the back story of these supporting characters. In the end, how good this one is really depends on the next one (which is usually the case when you see a movie that's been split into parts). But let's raise a glass to the musical of the year (after the "MacArthur Park" portion of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice that is!).

For info on Wicked

3 out of 5 stars

[warningsine]

Galinda, what are you doing? Stop. No.

[crowlixcx]

Two good friends. Two best friends.

[ashleyslorens]

WICKED Costume Design from Stage to Screen ↳ part 1 / part 2

— by Susan Hilferty — by Paul Tazewell

[breeberrypies]

“Only bad witches are ugly ‧₊˚ ⋅* ‧₊

[keirahknightley]

Costume appreciation series: Wicked: Part I (2024) dir Jon M. Chu

Costume Design by Paul Tazewell

bonus:

[inevitablemoment]

How dare the Tonight Show leak my Spotify Wrapped before I get a chance to see it?

And how dare it be so accurate?

[sparemoon]

im preparing to need hospitilzation after this scene in wicked part 2

[tophuukiey]

“Stay close to your dearest friends

But also, even closer to your adversaries„

•

•

Bonus—the uncropped, unshaded version:

[afloweronthemoon]

Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth's last show together.

[sonseulsoleil]

and just for this moment, as long as you're mine, I've lost all resistance and crossed some borderline

Absolutely obsessed with this stunning commission I got from my friend Cass!! Check them out on bluesky.

[yangsbandana]

i, for one, think we moved on from this too quickly like

where did she find this meme???? who did she take it from????! DID SHE MAKE IT HERSELF??????!? inquiring minds!!! want to know!!!

[crowlixcx]