Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Hairspray (2007) - Glorious time with Shankman's inspired musical

4/13/2024

Hairspray (2007) - Glorious time with Shankman's inspired musical

♥♥♥♥

Fizzy, fun-promising poster for Adam Shankman's Hairspray, centering on the hairdos of the main cast

Tracy is the biggest fan of Collins' dance shows on television in Baltimore in 1962, and of course one day she ditches school in order to take part in an audition for the show. But her liberal mind clashes with the leader of the show ...

Hairspray is written by Leslie Dixon (Pay It Forward (2000)), based on the 2002 Broadway musical that in turn was based on John Waters' same-titled 1988 film, and directed by Adam Shankman (The Wedding Planner (2001)).

Outstanding shooting star Nikki Blonsky (The English Teacher (2013)) as Tracy is a trouper and imbues the film with an irresistible, happy energy throughout the simple, good story. James Marsden (The Stand (2021-21, miniseries)), Elijah Kelly (Heavens Fall (2006)), Zac Efron (17 Again (2009)), Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter (1978)) and John Travolta (Ladder 49 (2004)) in a wild and fantastic cross-dressing fat suit-draped performance that has to be seen, - are all terrific. The good songs include Good Morning Baltimore and (You're) Timeless to Me, the latter a duet between Travolta and Walken.

The hair, makeup and prosthetics job is killer. Michelle Pfeiffer (Frankie and Johnny (1991)) is catty and looks utterly amazing but is no singer, which regrettably shows.

Hairspray is deeply charming, if a bit overlong, and it certainly inspires one to search for Waters' original as well.

Adam Shankman: A Walk to Remember (2002) or, Annoying Girl and Idiotic Guy Find Each Other and Love Like the Wind, Which You Can Feel But Not Touch

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: 75 mil. $

Box office: 203.6 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 2.71 times its cost)

[Hairspray premiered 10 July (Los Angeles) and runs 116 minutes. Travolta was paid 14 mil. $, 3 of them up-front, for his performance in the film. Efron was paid 100k $. Shooting took place from September - December 2006 in Toronto, Ontario and in Baltimore, Maryland. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry and holdover hit Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, to a 27.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent 2 more weekends at the top 5 (#4-X-#5), grossing 118.8 mil. $ (58.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 25.7 mil. $ (12.6 %) and Australia with 14.4 mil. $ (7.1 %). The film was nominated for a BAFTA, 3 Golden Globes and a Grammy, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Shankman returned with Prop 8: The Musical (2008, short) and theatrically with Bedtime Stories (2008). Travolta returned with a voice performance in Bolt (2008) and physically in The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009); Efron in 3 TV and short credits prior to his theatrical return in Me and Orson Welles (2008); and Blonsky in Queen Sized (2008, TV movie) and theatrically in Harold (2008). Hairspray is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hairspray?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (15-24)

4/13/2024

Hairspray (2007) - Glorious time with Shankman's inspired musical

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