Alternate Takes: 11.08.08: Repo: The Genetic Opera

Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 11.08.2008

This weekend, people in eight lucky cities will get to see a movie that might be the next cult musical. Alternate Takes looks at other musical cult films from Rocky Horror through Sweeny Todd.



Hello and welcome to Week 28 of Alternate Takes. My name is Shawn S. Lealos.

A few plugs before I start. The James Bond Blu-Rays are worth every penny. Between the great video and audio and the ample extras, they have everything you could want.
MY REVIEW FOR FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
MY REVIEW FOR LIVE AND LET DIE
MY REVIEW FOR DIE ANOTHER DAY
CHAD'S REVIEW FOR FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
CHAD'S REVIEW FOR DR. NO

Also, check out my review for the latest Troma offering Poltrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.
My review for Zack and Miri Make a Porno is available to read here!

I was on tap this week for The Watcher Diaries and reviewed the episode Gingerbread.

Finally, the November Movies Roundtable is online. Click Here to read The Month That Was and Click Here to read the Coming Attractions.

I won't be reviewing anything at the theater this weekend, but watch for my DVD review of the new Centennial Edition of Roman Holiday. Also, be on the lookout for the finals in the Sports Fact or Fiction Tournament, where strangely enough the Movie Zone's own - ME!!!! - will face off against the Sport's Zones Sean Garmer. Who would have thought it?


And here .. we .. go ...

REPO: THE GENETIC OPERA



Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
Cast: Alexa Vega, Paul Sorvino, Anthony Head, Paris Hilton, Bill Mosley

This movie has me completely intrigued. First take a look at the cast: Alexa Vega, from Robert Rodriguez's Spy Kids movies. Paul Sorvino earned his musical geek cred in the Baz Luhrmann production Romeo + Juliet. Anthony Head is known to most of you know as Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Bill Mosley is one of Rob Zombie's favorite actors, and appeared in all three of Zombie's movies. Paris Hilton... we'll just leave it at that. The movie appears to be a musical mixture of Sin City and Dark City. It has all the marks of a cult musical classic written all over it. Early reviews are not favorable and it is not showing in my area this weekend, but that is also par-for-course for cult musicals. This week in Alternate Takes, I am looking at five other musicals that bear the markings of a cult favorite.





Five Alternate Takes

CRY-BABY (1990)

Directed by John Waters
Cast: Johnny Depp, Traci Lords, Rikki Lake, Willem Defoe, Iggy Pop

If the term cult movie was made for one man, that man would be John Waters. It takes a special kind of person to watch his early movies such as Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Mondo Trasho and Polyester. The most famous of the four, Pink Flamingos includes a scene where cross dresser Divine sits on the ground and eats dog feces. You don't get much more cultish than that. Even when he began to go more main stream, he remained solidly standing in the camp of cult icons. His most famous film would have to be Hairspray, which spawned a 2002 stage musical and then was remade back to film with Hollywood talent such as John Travolta. That wasn't the only Water's film to get optioned for the stage. Cry-Baby was made in 1990, his first film since Hairspray, and is a movie that retains his unusual flair for the strange while keeping him in the public eye. It stars teenage heartthrob Johnny Depp, best known for portraying heartthrob Tom Hanson in 21 Jump Street. He is Cry-Baby, the leader of a small gang of "Drapes", who are continually at odds with the straight laced "Squares." Everything goes south for the young man, who has a continual tear flowing down his cheek in memory of his parents who were fried in the electric chair, when he meets and falls in love with Allison, a "Square". If you take Grease and mix it with a little bit of Rebel Without a Cause and then top it off with an episode of Jerry Springer, you have Cry-Baby. It also co-stars Iggy Pop, Rikki Lake, Traci Lords, Willem Defoe and Patty Hearst. With that storyline and cast, you won't find a better example of a musical cult classic. It is ridiculous and brilliant.

"Please Mr. Jailer, won't you let my man go free?
Please Mr. Jailer, won't you let my man go free?
He don't belong in prison, though he's guilty as can be,
But the only crime he's guilty of is simply loving me.
Please Mr. Jailer, won't you let my man go free?"


CANNIBAL! THE MUSICAL (1996)

Directed by Trey Parker
Cast: Dian Bachar, Juan Schwartz, Toddy Walters, Ian Hardin, Matt Stone

It's easy to think of Trey Parker and musicals. Whether its "Oh Canada" or "America, Fuck Yeah!" you have two of comedy's best comic musicals. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut might have shocked the world when it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song but for those following the career of Trey Parker it should not have come as a surprise. He got his start in filmmaking with the independent film Cannibal: The Musical. The film tells the story of Alferd Packer, an American prospector convicted of cannibalism in 1874. When watching the movie you recognize a few familiar faces including his South Park partner Matt Stone and regular collaborator Dian Bachar (Orgazmo, BASEketball). When you see the movie, the first thing you will notice is this is a Troma release. Unlike many Troma releases, instead of relying on over-the-top gore and gross out jokes, Cannibal! The Musical is much funnier than almost any Troma release you will find. It is obvious from the get go that Trey Parker was an up-and-coming talent. Everything is absurd but I would rank it as one of the best Troma releases I have ever seen. As for the musical, the song where Packer sings a love song to his horse is what you can expect from the numbers.

"So hang the bastard, hang him with cheer.
We'll make some hot dogs
And drink a few beers.
And when his tongue rolls out we'll know,
It's the end of the show
And we all can go home!"


THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993)

Directed by Henry Selick
Cast: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, Paul Reubens

Tim Burton produced this movie, based on one of his stories. Director Henry Selick took the movie and created a motion capture animated film that has gained more and more fans as the years pass. Just as The Rocky Horror Picture Show did before, The Nightmare Before Christmas has become a cult film that has earned a long running limited release, still playing in theaters fifteen years after its debut. Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, is the leader of Halloween Town. The citizens of Halloween Town are very successful with their holiday festivities but Jack wants something more. While walking the night after their recent successful Halloween, Jack discovers a group of trees, each leading to a different holiday town. He chooses the one with the colorful tree and finds Christmas Town. He is at once enamored and confused at the celebration and decides he wants to bring his special talents to this holiday as well. The songs are catchy and the animation is amazing. This is a masterpiece and if you have a theater where you can still catch it in its new 3D format, I would advise you do so. You won't be disappointed. It's a true modern classic.

"There are children throwing snowballs here
instead of throwing heads
They're busy building toys
And absolutely no one's dead
There's frost on every window
Oh, I can't believe my eyes
And in my bones I feel the warmth
That's coming from inside
Oh, look, What's this?"


SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (2007)

Directed by Tim Burton
Cast: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman

This isn't a cult classic - yet - but it has all the markings of one and I believe will become one as it ages. The producer of The Nightmare Before Christmas and star of Cry-Baby joined forces for the sixth time for an adaptation of the Tony Award winning musical. The movie is exactly what you would expect a Tim Burton film to look like, grays and blues with startling splashes of red. Depp plays Todd, a man wronged by an evil judge (Rickman) and now back home after fifteen years. He meets an eclectic woman (Carter) who owns a meat pie restaurant that tells him his wife had committed suicide while he was incarcerated and his daughter is now the ward of the judge. He eventual succumbs to madness and begins a killing spree, based out of his barber shop, all while plotting his final revenge against the judge. The movie is a straight musical, with songs telling the story from start to finish. Everyone carries their weight, Depp himself singing for the first time in a film (His character's singing voice in Cry-Baby was by a man named James Intveld). The movie is brilliantly shot and the violence and bloody gore, along with the great actors on hand, should keep this movie as a favorite for years to come. Bonus points for those who spotted an un-credited Anthony Head in a cameo early in the movie.

"There was a barber and his wife
and she was beautiful
a foolish barber and his wife
she was his reason and his life
and she was beautiful
and she was virtuous
and he was--"


THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975)

Directed by Jim Sharman
Cast: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O'Brien

I present you with the biggest cult musical ever made. As far back as I can remember The Rocky Horror Picture Show has a midnight showing every Halloween. When I started college, I remember the movie was a midnight showing every Saturday night at one local theater. The plot line is nonsensical. A newly engaged young couple (Sarandon and Bostwick) find themselves with a flat tire on a rainy night. They approach a castle and end up in a madhouse of transvestites, murderers and aliens. The basis of the plot is the Frankenstein story, as Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry) creates a glorious being named Rocky to be his mate. Meanwhile, we get a cameo by Meat Loaf as a biker named Eddie and a group of songs that are so brilliant and catchy you will find yourself humming them for days after viewing the movie. Written by Richard O'Brien, who also plays the hunchback Riff-Raff, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has now been showing in limited release for 33 years, the longest running theatrical release in cinema history. Most of these showings include audience participation as they act out the story playing on the screen while they watch. It is the greatest, and strangest, phenomenon in movie history and, without argument, the most successful cult movie of all time.

"How d'you do, I see you've met my faithful handyman
He's just a little brought down because when you knocked
He thought you were the candyman.
Don't get strung out by the way that I look,
Don't judge a book by its cover
I'm not much of a man by the light of day,
But by night I'm one hell of a lover
I'm just a Sweet Transvestite from Transexual, Transylvania."