And I Am Telling You

Aku ari ni tamau wat entry personal.because today is my review of Dreamgirls. Yes, caught it, no not on ciplak punya DVD but on downloaded format. Aku wat review skang because tomorrow, ada gala premiere for the event, aku nak pastikan aku focus on our local stars cause I already know every inch of the Dreamgirls movie.

If that isn't enough, aku siap da tengok the original Broadway staged version thanks to the beauty of technology.

Yer...pada sapa yang tatau, it';s not Beyonce ok who made Dreamgirls big. Dreamgirls was already a big musical prior to it making film. Now on to one of the most anticipated movies of the year (for me - apart from The Simpsons Movie and Transformers The Movie amongst others)

Synopsis

The story begins with Curtis Taylor Jr (Jamie Foxx) who is a car salesman with a big dream to make it in the music business with his tadical ideas in 1960s Detroit where being black equalled your song not being played on the radio.

He comes across The Dreamettes, comprising of Deena Jones (Beyonce Knowles), Lorrel Robinson (Anika Noni Rose) and lead singer Effie White (Jennifer Hudson) with cheap wigs (siap pakai terbalik ok, that's creativitiy for you) and homemade outfits - that still look better than the outfits you see on Akademi Fantasia, with original songs an choreography courtesy of C.C., Effie's brother (Keith Robinson).

They get their first real break backing up James 'Thunder' Early (Eddie Murphy), before Curtis introduces the trio for their own spot, tapi kali ni nak jual rupa Deena, pushing Effie to the back The rest is drama and more than enough songs for me to holler to (kesian sapa yang akan dok sebelah aku nak dengau sora katak aku melalak skali pada lagu lagu)

Facts
*It took 25 years for Dreamgirls to be made into a movie. *The script for Dreamgirls began with Big Dreams. The musical then was written by Tom Eyen and Henry Krieger and made public theatre.
*On Dec 20 1981, Dreamgirls began its run at the Imperial Theatre with a cast that included Jennifer Holliday. *In 1982, Dreamgirls received 13 Tony Award nominations (anugerah seni pentas) and won six.
*The success of Dreamgirls also saw the work of David Foster, who was involved in the original caat album of the musical.
*The show has been performed in many countries, which include Malaysia sometime in the 80s, anyone remember that?
*The songs And I Am Telling You and I Am Changing placed Jennifer Holliday among the legendary divas and made them the biggest musical anthems. And I Am Telling You is considered the BEST tune from musicals and is my personal drama tune.The new version has Beyonce to thank for in making One Night Only a crossover pop hit.
*Jennifer Hudson was originally was one of the favourites of the American Idol where she was anticipated to join Latoya London and Fantasia Barrino in the top three for the battle of divas before two of them were eliminated before Fantasia won.
*Dreamgirls received eight 2007 Academy Award nominations, the most of any film for the year,but it didn't get one for Best Picture, Best Director, or any of the lead acting categories. The film's nominations include Best Supporting Actor (Eddie Murphy), Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Hudson), Best Achievement in Costume Design, Best Achievement in Art Direction, Best Achievement in Sound Mixing, and three nominations for Best Song (Listen, Love You I Do, and Patience). Dreamgirls is the first live-action film to receive three nominations for Best Song with only Disney animated features Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Lion King (1994) having achieved that.

In 2007 Golden Globe Awards, Dreamgirls was nominated in five categories: Best Picture - Comedy or Musical, Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical (Beyoncé Knowles), Best Supporting Actor (Eddie Murphy), Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Hudson), and Best Original Song (Listen). The film won the awards for Best Picture - Comedy or Musical, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress. The film also garnered Screen Actors Guild Awards for Supporting Actress (Jennifer Hudson) and Supporting Actor (Eddie Murphy), as well as a nomination for its ensemble cast. The film was also nominated by the Producers Guild of America for Best Picture and the Directors Guild of America for Bill Condon's directing. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts gave the film nominations for Supporting Actress (Jennifer Hudson) and Music (Henry Krieger). Dreamgirls was nominated for eleven 2007 International Press Academy Satellite Awards, and won four, Best Picture - Comedy or Musical, Best Director (Bill Condon) (tied with Clint Eastwood for Flags of Our Fathers), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Jennifer Hudson), and Best Sound (Mixing & Editing). Dreamgirls also received a record eleven Black Reel Award nominations, among them Best Film, Best Actor (Jamie Foxx), Best Actress (Beyoncé Knowles), Best Supporting Actor (Eddie Murphy), and Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Hudson). In addition, Dreamgirls received eight NAACP Image Awards nominations, including Best Picture, and was named as one of the American Film Institute's top ten films of 2006.

What did I think of it?
Love it love it love it love it love it!!!!!!!

I'm a freak when it comes to musicals (aku pegi panggung bayar sendiri ok nak tengok The Producers FOUR times - keep it happy, keep it snappy...)

And Dreamgirls is definitely a showcase of amazing acting. The real star of the movie bukan Beyonce ok, but Jennifer Hudson. She carries off where the other Jennifer (Holliday) left off with her big voice.

Vocally, Hudson takde ler standard Hollliday but I think she fared a lot better in the acting department.

Beyonce is just so-so and despite her starring role, I think the folks behind it letak nama Beyonce besau besau because in an ironic move, like the storyline, meka nak jual rupa dan nama Beyonce.

Still...it's all fabulous. Listen to the songs before ko pegi tengok (if you haven't heard the songs, so you can sing along, like what I did when The Bodyguard made the screens here - watched that SIX times in the cinema).

Anyway...definitely worth a watch....

After all...it is one of the best movies of the year. And no, no poster colored painted faces in green biting of toes for this one...

Now I've gotten that out of the way, tomorrow aku akan posting pics from the event sebab the gala premiere malam esok if I am not mistaken is organised by Berita Harian with all the biggest stars in the country attending the event.

The theme, aku dengar for the event is Motown, so aku nak gak tengok how many of our local artises understand what Motown means.

Nanti aku post pics tomorrow...

Meanwhile, I'll leave you guys with clips from the original Dreamgirls, the first taken from the 1982 Tonys and the second a clip from the movie. So you guys can compare...and then enjoy the movie trailer, and erm...a little bonus. Enjoy....and be posting soon...

Note : To learn more about Dreamgirls, CLICK HERE for info on the movie and musical on wikipedia, or CLICK HERE for the Dreamgirls official motion picture website.

Jennifer Hudson doing And I Am Telling You in the Dreamgirls movie (this video is a little skewed but the best I could find)