Dreamgirls
I only got interested in Dreamgirls after seeing Beyonce's performance at the Academy. Man, she is awesome! I did not know she can sing so well. Maybe Beyonce stood out because of the contrast against Jenifer Hudson. Jenifer exposed a weakness - her lack of experience singing live. And she needs to have more variation in her techniques. Quit that shouting.
I bought tickets for the 7:20 pm show at Cineleisure, but was caught up with work last minute. I only managed to leave the office at 7:15 pm. It was raining and cabs were scarce. Anxious, I tried to call but the line for Comfort was engaged. (6552 1111 and 6552 2222, right? Why is the network always busy when I call?) Eventually, I managed to hail a cab at 7:25 pm. I dozed off during the ride - I guess work was mentally draining today; I was so worn out. When I reached Cineleisure, I woke up flustered, paid hurriedly and ran to the cinema, only to realize that I left my brolly in the cab. Darn!
Anyway, the movie was great - but only if you can appreciate their style of singing. Jenifer Hudson sang pretty well in the movie. I still have the same complaint. Her techniques were so repetitive that her climax in each song, did more than delivered a punch. It battered, whipped, flogged, and kicked you; it dragged you all around the town and finally crucified you at the town square. Her performance got boring (and perhaps irritating as well with all that screaming) after a while. But she has potential - if she were to be more creative in future. I thought Beyonce really showed her prowess. She handled her songs with power not lesser than Jenifer Hudson, she had a nice tone, and she crafted her performance more artistically. I was rather moved by the climax in her song.
Of course, it should not be too much to ask a singer to act a singer. Still, they were still quite natural before the camera. Eddy Murphy's performance made me chuckle a few times. I thought it was refreshing to see him in a role that is not slapstick. Oh, I heard another good voice - Keith Robinson.