VeteranLight
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
filippaberry84
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Adeel Hail
Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.
preppy-3
A filmed version of the long-running off Broadway musical. It has 10 handsome talented guys singing and dancing while totally nude about being gay. I saw this twice live. First was in 2003 in NYC. I hated it. Then I saw a restaged version of it in PTown in 2012 and LOVED it! The songs are OK. Some are bad--"Robert Mitchum" and "Muscle Addiction" were dreadful--but most were good. Two favorites were "Gratuitous Nudity" and "Perky Little Porn Star". Also the guys are not all white boys--there's a black, latino and Asian guy in the cast too. Kudos to the cast for having no inhibitions to performing totally nude. That can't be easy. Fun and entertaining. Not rated but it would probably get an R or NC-17 for the non-stop full frontal male nudity. Only debit--some bad direction lessens some of the numbers.
ilikeimdb
If you haven't seen the stage version of Naked Boys Singing! (NBS), then what more can you do but see this film. The film's fun, campy, well-acted, well-sung and has lots of inspired choreography. However, compared to the live stage version, the film misfires conceptually, has truly cheesy "just graduated from film-school editing" and doesn't do justice to the essential intimacy of the material -- it neither delivers a good film nor a piece of theater-on-film. // Before writing this review, I watched the "making of" segment (titled "Nuts and Bolts") to find out how the producer/director could have gone astray with excellent material and a stage production that literally sells itself. Biggest problem: They tried to reimagine NBS as a film, making the same sad mistake foisted upon A Chorus Line -- both shows are perfect as-is and were designed to be seen in a theater from a center row in the Orchestra (and in the case of NBS, the second row): Why add all the superfluous cut-aways, back stories, reverse angles (again, an audience isn't supposed to see what the actors see), cutesy effects (slo-mo, sepia tones, dissolves, multiple-image shots, etc.)? This screams "I'm trying everything they taught me in film school." Moreover, introducing the numbers by showing the musical scores gives a documentary feel to what should be a live production. Why incorporate techniques from an dissonant genre? Hasn't anyone seen the excellent Sondheim recordings of his stage productions? They record the performance. Period. That said, there is the issue of how to record the actors...no body mics. But somehow, when I saw NBS in New York in that intimate little theater in the Village, no one needed a mic. So, I reject the rationale that they had to lip-sync everything to get the recording. No, they had to lip-sync in order to support all the cheesy/cutesy editing techniques! So much time and effort could have been saved had they simply filmed the show in a, er, straight-forward fashion. Simple, direct, intimate...that's what drives the NBS source material -- and the film introduces too much schlock and unnecessary distractions.
sobaok
What surprised me the most about this filmed stage production was the splendid variety in the musical numbers. The dancing is professional. Each dance is well choreographed. The vocals are entertaining, and pleasant to listen to. All numbers are done with heart and humor. This was truly a unique experience. I'm surprised at the arrogant remarks posted in other IMDb reviews. I found Naked Boys Singing highly enjoyable and fresh. Just look at the expression on the audiences faces. These talented guys offer a good sock in the jaw to convention. Intelligence and humor are the threads that hold this production together. Cheers and applause to all involved.
Joel Kurzynski
Before starting I should say that I saw the original show in NYC in 2001 and enjoyed it. What made the stage show unique is that it provided quality musical theatre by nude actors, LIVE. The live quality gets the show a long way. Seeing it on film (with popcorn) is sort of odd.I saw the film as part of the 2007 Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and was surprised to find it to be a filmed version of the live show, taped in LA. The beginning of the film shows the cast members flaunting into the theatre while casually shedding their clothes in preparation for the show. Besides these and a few other cinematic flourishes, the movie version offers little new content or perspective. A treat for fans of the show are new arrangements, orchestrations, and musical settings of the familiar songs. (For example, the song "Nothing But The Radio On" is turned country.) What frustrated me most about the movie was the quality of the movie itself. This is a GREAT show and for posterity sake deserved a great adaptation. The film makers obviously hadn't have experience in filming a live performance. The production quality was more pornographic. The editing was choppy and the pre-recorded vocals were way too loud. The "special effects" were akin to those made by a novice film maker, fresh out of high school.While the live show may be hard to see for some (especially in rural areas) the film can act as an acceptable substitute (like "Puppetry of the Penis). Most folks will go for the camp and penises. I just wish they were shown it in a prettier frame.
