Catching Up with ‘Chicago’ and Other Movie Musicals

We watch a lot of movies, but we haven’t seen everything. This month we’re tackling our personal movie musical blindspots!

The Young Girls of Rochefort

The musical is an already idyllic sensory experience, but set yours in the charming seaside town of Rochefort, France, and you’ve got yourself one hell of a charming movie. Starring *Chicago Bulls starting lineup theme* Catherine Deneuve, Françoise Dorléac, George Chakiris and the one and only Gene Kelly, Jacques Demy’s The Young Girls of Rochefort is nothing short of a spectacle, bursting with color and delight at every turn. I knew this was an influence on Damien Chazelle’s La La Land (one of my favorite films), so it was fun to watch with that in mind. Immaculate vibes all around, would recommend! —Kevin Prchal

Chicago

I never wanted to see this when it came out because it beat The Two Towers for Best Picture. (And now I know for sure The Two Towers should have won.) The music and lyrics are iconic and the choreography fantastic, but the story isn’t anything interesting. Everything is a foregone conclusion: there’s no shocking twists, character arcs, or emotional attachments. “It’s all a circus,” as they say in the film. I had no idea John C. Reilly and Christine Baranski were in this, though, so that was a nice surprise. And Catherine Zeta-Jones was mesmerizing. But it doesn’t even compare to the likes of Singin’ in the Rain or Moulin Rouge. —Natalie Pohorski

True Stories

Never really listened to the Talking Heads or David Byrne, so I was pretty ignorant of what to except from him as a filmmaker. It’s shockingly well made for a debut feature. It also felt like a fever dream, with a bunch of surrealist vignettes punctuated with Byrne’s wry humor. Not sure I got the movie’s wavelength but still enjoyed the wild ride. —Chad Comello

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