Freaktana A Major Disappointment

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Aiden Melton The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

HotToastyRag There's an incredible backstory behind Easter Parade. Fred Astaire had announced his retirement from movies, and Gene Kelly was attached to the new Judy Garland musical set at Eastertime. Then, Gene experienced every dancer's nightmare and broke his leg. He called Fred up and asked if he'd take his place. And now we have Easter Parade!Now that you know Gene Kelly was supposed to play the lead, it's understandable that he was supposed to sing the seductive "It Only Happens When I Dance with You" to Ann Miller. How would Fred Astaire handle it? He's not usually marketed as having much sex appeal. Well, move over Gene Kelly; Fred's just fine. In fact, although there are plenty of great numbers in Easter Parade, that one's my favorite because of the different tone Fred takes with himself.There are quite a few famous songs from this movie, most notably the performance Fred and Judy give dressed like bums: "A Couple of Swells". Peter Lawford plays the other man in both love triangles-although who would ever pick him over Fred Astaire?-and he gets to sing the cute "A Fella with an Umbrella" when he meets Judy Garland. "Steppin' Out with My Baby" is another performance on the stage-Fred's character is a performer looking for a new partner-that utilizes groundbreaking camerawork that's still fantastic to watch. Fred dances in slow motion while the chorus girls behind him move in regular time, and the layered look is jaw-droppingly innovative for 1948.I've praised several of Irving Berlin's songs from the movie, but they're not all fantastic. "I was born in Michigan, and I wish and wish again. . ." is a lyric from one of the silly songs Judy has to sing. So, while there will be a few scenes that will make you cringe and leave the room for more popcorn, most of the movie is pretty fun to watch. I own a copy, and we watch it every few years on Easter when we want a break from our usual Ben-Hur. I always like Fred Astaire's movies, so it has to be really stinky for me to not recommend it. I mean, who else but Fred can walk into a toy store and turn the toys into a dance number? Watch his dance "Drum Crazy" in Easter Parade and ask him through the television why he bothered trying to retire.

Charles Herold (cherold) Easter Parade is less a story than it is a roughly sketched premise filled out with musical numbers. Astaire loses his dance partner and decides he can turn anyone into a new partner, then conveniently stumbles upon Garland. He's demanding and rather sour, so of course she falls for him. Meanwhile, Peter Lawford floats through the movie to no real purpose, and Anne Miller is unsympathetic but really knows how to tap.The movie shouldn't really work as well as it does. Astaire is much too old for Garland (the part was originally set for Gene Kelly, who was injured) and she's not as comfortable a fit for him as previous partners like Ginger Rogers. She's also no more than serviceable as a dancer. And once again, Lawford is an entirely extraneous character whose only purpose seems to be to make clear that no one cares about the story.And yet, Astaire has his usual debonair charm and his dancing, shown off particularly well in a solo dance near the beginning, and Garland is all vulnerability and amazing singing.Even the weak chemistry works, because the whole idea is Garland is random, not someone Astaire would choose, making their mismatch a feature rather than a bug (until the inevitable romance, which seems forced). It's a weird movie, in that almost everything about it is problematic and yet it completely works. It's a classic that shouldn't be, and you should watch it.

chaos-rampant This was modeled after the cycle of Warner Bros musicals in the 30's; so for the first part we get various backstage tribulations about the effort to stage a show, usually a search for love that can inspire dance, with the eye-popping show in question as the second part.It starts with the miraculous dance pair breaking it off. She wants to be a star on her own right; he sets out to prove that he can get any girl to dance as well as she can. He plucks the first girl he sees out of a chorus line in a bar, just like he did with her the first time. She turns out to be a disaster, humorously rendered as her not even knowing which foot is left.So how to make headlines once more? Of course he grooms her into the image of that first woman, and she turns out great; but only because, unbeknownst to him, he was seducing out of her the love that can make a difference. So eventually the two rival shows are made to spin at the same time, vying for headlines and our attention. The new pair visits the opponent to strut their newfound triumph under her nose, but she's cunning enough to seduce a dance out of her ex-partner that will break them apart.Naturally, this being an MGM production, the finale is drenched with the wistful sentiment about wholesome values one is led to expect. The two of them stroll happy together on the Easter Parade, as promised in the beginning.So generally speaking this may seem like ordinary stuff for the time. Two things make it stand out however. One is Fred Astaire, such heavenly, chattery legs. Put simply, there is no Michael Jackson without Astaire. The other is a kind of soft Vertigo at the heart of the candy-colored spectacle about an obsession with cultivating an image, less morbid this go round, less dangerous, but potent the right amount if we keep in mind how it mirrors across the sparkling surface of a deeply troubled Judy Garland.We know how MGM cultivated the young star in the image of the chaste teenage girl that she's also saddled with in the opening of this film. In the finale she manages to lift herself out of the confines of that image and asserts herself as a sexual, dynamic woman, likely mapping to some part of her struggle in real life to pursue her heart. Among her many lovers, she counted Frank Sinatra, Welles, Mankiewicz, and Tyrone Power. She had enough pull in Hollywood by this time to get then husband Vincente Minnelli fired from this.Our loss here is that Chyd Charisse broke an ankle and could not appear. Ann Miller as replacement acquits herself pretty well as the scheming diva. Her last on-screen glimmer decades later would be Mulholland Dr., where she reflects on the bygone Technicolor glories here.

Blueghost I don't have too much to say about this thing other than I can't remember too much of what it's about. We have Fred Astaire and Judy Garland dancing it up on the big screen circa turn of the century America.There's lots of color, lots of pageantry and, of course, Astaire dancing and performing numbers on the big screen. It's a story about teaching the new girl new moves, and reassuring her of confidence that can only come from a hoofer like the legend of dance musicals.The "payoff" at the end of the film will leave most guys wondering what the hell they just watched. I know it did for me. I saw it and contorted my face into a "huh?", but then realized (or rather reminded myself) of who the target audience was.Not a dude flick in the remotest, even with Fred hoofing it up to show us how women like to be treated. Nope, strictly a date film for the 1940s couple, or a bit of nostalgia for those so inclined.Not really a bad film. Give it a chance.