The MoFo Top 100 Musicals Countdown

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Trying Real Hard To Be The Shepherd
I watched Labryinth for the list and it was what I expected.

I watched South Park for the comedy list and it was what I expected.
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For me, Labyrinth is such a random movie to show up because it's been decades since I last remembered it existed. I saw it long ago and didn't like it, and if I were to like it, it would've been back then.

South Park is decent, liked the show better but didn't watch much of that anyway.



Haven't watched Labyrinth but South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut was my #13 pick.



I'm positive I rented/saw Labyrinth back in the day. I just don't remember anything other than Bowie walking through the woods or something, so I'm not counting it.

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is one I'm still banging my head a bit that I didn't include. I think I said it a while ago when someone brought it up, even though I'm not a big fan of the story, I absolutely adore the music; "Blame Canada", "Kyle's Mom's a Big Fat Bitch", "What Would Brian Boitano Do"... I bought the soundtrack and still listen to parts of it from time to time. Glad it showed up.

Anyway, here's where I stand...


SEEN: 23/74
MY BALLOT: 8/25

My ballot  
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I haven't seen either film. I started watching South Park awhile back, but didn't finish for a reason unrelated to the quality of the film.
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As much as I adore Bowie, Labyrinth gets by on visuals and music rather than plot to me. And I don't take that South park movie seriously enough as a musical, but it's still way better than Labyrinth.



I forgot the opening line.
28. Labyrinth (1986) - My family had moved to Melbourne in 1987, which was unfamiliar to me, but there are some movie memories that are special to me from this period. One was going with my brother Keith to see Predator and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 : Dream Warriors at the movies (he didn't care that much for Nightmare films, but he loved Predator - it was an enjoyable night.) Another was renting Labyrinth on video - my first really good look at David Bowie. It made me want to know more, and by the time the 90s rolled around I was a huge fan of his. Considering the fact that I loved The Dark Crystal it pretty much figures that I was set to love Labyrinth - the puppets, Bowie and his singing, the gorgeous Jennifer Connelly and the cute comedy was a potent combination for me at that very moment. It's something I haven't outgrown, and the likes of "As the World Falls Down" still strikes me as a nice, gentle love song worth listening to from time to time. Way back then, I even ended up getting the Labyrinth computer game - which was groundbreaking in a few ways at the time. It's part of my movie-watching history and although it's not as watched as it used to be I still love it. Ended up snagging #7 on my list.

27. South Park : Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) - This one I saw on the big screen - South Park was huge at the time, and unlike The Simpsons, which waited a curiously long time before taking a shot at cinematic glory this came only a few years after it started airing on television. Just as the Simpsons did back in the late 80s, South Park busted taboos and went places no animated show before it had. I have to admit, I still remember songs such as "Uncle *bleep*er" and "Blame Canada", but it's been a while since I last saw this. I really like it though - and I usually enjoy South Park when I watch it, even though I really haven't kept up with it. It's funny, but what I like the most about the show is that I usually agree with whatever Matt Stone and Trey Parker are saying. Anyway, this missed out on getting a place on my ballot, but I don't think it crossed my mind - it would have been an outside chance if it had of.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seen : 47/74
I'd never even heard of : 11/64
Movies that had been on my radar, but I haven't seen yet : 16/64
Films from my list : 10

#28 - My #7 - Labyrinth (1986)
#37 - My #1 - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
#41 - My #6 - Pink Floyd - The Wall (1982)
#44 - My #13 - Oliver! (1968)
#47 - My #14 - Hair (1979)
#59 - My #5 - Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
#60 - My #23 - Annie (1982)
#72 - My #22 - Yellow Submarine (1968)
#92 - My #8 - Tommy (1975)
One-pointer - My #25 - Shock Treatment (1981)
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I like The Young Girls of Rochefort, but it's not one of my favorite musicals, (even with Gene Kelly in it).

Fantasia has some great animations and music, but I didn't think it was eligible for this countdown, so I didn't consider it for my list.

Les Misérables is one of the few musicals based on a Broadway show that comes close to living up to the Broadway show. I love Hugh Jackman, and I wish he would make more musicals. I'm not really a fan of Russell Crowe's voice, but his acting makes up for it. This movie was #15 on my list.

I love Judy Garland, and Meet Me In St. Louis is a great movie, but it's not my favorite of her musicals. It didn't make my list, but I'm glad that it made the countdown.

James Cagney is amazing in Yankee Doodle Dandy, and he's primarily the reason why this movie is one of my favorite musicals. I love the story and the songs, and Cagney's dancing is mezmerizing to watch, so it easily made my list. I wish he had made more musicals. This movie is #18 on my list.

I saw That Thing You Do! many years ago, but I don't remember much about it except that it was better than I expected. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to rewatch it for this countdown, but I doubt it would have made my list anyway.

The first time I saw Moulin Rouge!, I didn't care for it. I have rewatched it a few more times, mainly because of Ewan McGregor, and I still don't love the movie, but I like it a little bit more each time I watch it. I doubt it will ever become a favorite movie for me, but I can see how some people love it enough for it to make the countdown.

Robert Preston was born to play Professor Harold Hill, and The Music Man is one of the greatest musicals ever made. It easily snagged the #2 spot on my list.

I watched Labyrinth for this countdown mainly out of curiosity. I'm not a David Bowie fan, but I like The Dark Crystal, I love The Muppets, and I think Jim Henson was a genius. I thought Labyrinth was an interesting movie, but the music isn't really my type of music, so it had no chance to make my list.

I hate South Park, so I have no interest in watching South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.



My list so far:
2. The Music Man (1962)
5. Oklahoma! (1955)
9. 1776 (1972)
12. The Greatest Showman (2017)
15. Les Misérables (2012)
16. Oliver! (1968)
17. Anastasia (1997)
18. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
25. Frozen (2013)
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Yay! I was worried no one else voted for Labyrinth, my number 1 pick. My love of Jim Jensen's puppetry no doubt helped it raise to the top of my list, but I adore Bowie's songs and performance. A true Masterpiece.

South Park was number 19 on my list, an incredible satire of both epic Broadway musicals and animated Disney style ones. It works so well on many different levels.



I've only seen Labyrinth's first half, but hope to see the rest. I'm not into South Park so I haven't seen the movie. So I got zip on this go-round.

#1. On the Town #93 (list proper)
#6. Easter Parade #78 (list proper)
#8. Meet Me in St. Louis #33 (list proper)
#9 Yankee Doodle Dandy #32 (list proper)
#10. Gigi #85 (list proper)
#12. Calamity Jane #84 (list proper)
#14. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers #71 (list proper)
#18. The Muppet Movie #45 (list proper)
#25. Neptune's Daughter (one-pointer)
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As much as I adore Bowie, Labyrinth gets by on visuals and music rather than plot to me. And I don't take that South park movie seriously enough as a musical, but it's still way better than Labyrinth.
Like most of what Trey Parker and Matt Stone come up, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut is truly amazing stuff and it almost made my list along with Team America World Police, also from Parker and Stone. South Park isn't meant to be taken seriously, at least not any more seriously than any other brilliant satire would be taken, but it a musical and a legit musical too, not just a mockery of the musical genre. Any who has watched South Park over the years, knows that music is absolutely integral to the series and the world building of this universe... which even at the time went far beyond just the long Chef breaking out into song. Also more than even South Park and Team America, music and writing musicals is in the blood of Stone and Parker with Cannibal the musical and The Book of Mormom.

I really do love how the film starts off immediately by giving a tip of the hat to the opening song in 1992's Beauty in the Beast, "Bonjour" with their "Mountain Town" song. It's all great and good fun and South Park the movie came out in 1999, only two years into the shows run and being an absolute hit which, along with The Daily Show, made Comedy Central from a third rate cable channel which played Young Einstein and Clue on a weekly basis that no one watched into an absolute powerhouse and "killer app" for dish TV, TiVo, and a bunch of other ways to watch TV that started in the late 1990s and went to the late 2000s. So because this film came out in 1999 it doesn't have all the polish and production of the episodes of the last decade and a half, nor did South Park have quite the refinement in writing characters, stories, and dialogue that it does in present day - keep in mind this is still back when Kenny being killed was fresh and Cartman was the show's top character, as opposed to Randy, yes despite all this it is still great.

I had to cut it from my short list though.

Labyrinth is also an all time favorite that didn't quite make my list either. I could have easily put either of those movies on my list, but again I couldn't bring myself to part with anything else in their place. I'm glad they both showed up.

I had the privilege to see Labyrinth in the theater two years ago, which was just spectacular, and it's a film that I have seen since I was about six or seven years old, so it's a childhood favorite. The interesting thing about that is because I am an 80s child, my first initial knowledge of David Bowie was as Jareth the Goblin King and only later did I find out that the dude in Labyrinth happened to... just happened to mind you, make music on occasion as a side hustle. So it was Labyrinth and a computer software program called Encarta 1995 (don't ask) that brought me into the world of David Bowie's music. Two of the songs are really good and delightful in Labyrinth. The haunting and somber "As the World Falls Down" is the best, but then the playful "Magic Dance" is just solid fun and I still randomly breakout into singing it every once in a while. Also David Bowie channeling that "you remind me of the babe..." Cary Grant bit is top notch stuff.

Sure the story is simple, but it's not about the story... it's about the overall journey and Alice in Wonderland type premise and the situations and obstacles that Sarah has to confront to reach her little brother that make it all worthwhile. Also if you look at the film from a thematic of symbolic point of view, it really is a great allegory for growing up or taking on responsibility and Sarah learning that she loves and cares about her baby brother is certainly a great message, especially considering initially she hated her baby brother, wanted him dead, and wishing the Goblin King would take him away forever! I could go even further into my interpretation of this film and some of the deep and heavy material that's wrapped up into a nice kids Jim Henson puppetry film... but to save Yoda grief and so not to break any MoFo rules, I'll just leave it at that.

So yeah... Labyrinth and South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut are two films I love, love, love, love, love, love and both films I have owned on DVD for decades now. Both aren't without flaws, both aren't perfect, but they are two beloved films of mine that are very important for different reasons and I would rate both at about a an A-

But like I said, neither made my list, but just barely and they were both painful cuts too.

Also just watch this below and can a person really tell me this isn't just great stuff?

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Two more reveals and two more from my list, as I had Moulin Rouge! at #6 and South Park at #8,

I've probably not seen Moulin Rouge! for more than 20 years, but I loved it when I first saw it and saw it a few times. A must see at the cinema but I can completely understand people not liking it or the visuals beinig too much in a Blair Witch manner. As Lurman's version of R+J is one of my favourite films, I have no problem with the style and it looks gorgeous too. The singing/songs are the worst part of it, but then, they're usually the worst part of any musical.... Except South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut, where the song "Karl's Mum's A Bitch" is the best part of the entire thing (and that's quite a high bar) and I'll be humming/singing/whistling that for days/weeks after. In fact, just because I've thought about it now, I'll probably be doing that for the rest of the day at least. I've not seen the other two and have no desire to.

Now, if you'll excuse me...

"WWWWEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLL......."
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Just rewatched Labyrinth recently (though I neglected to post a review for it).

I like it... I just don't like it that much. Also, how many people can name a song in the movie other than Dance Magic Dance? I can't.

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I've seen Labyrinth a couple times. Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie are both terrific in their roles and the film is fun and entertaining. I enjoyed it, but it didn't make my list. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is funny and I like some of the songs, but it was never in contention for my ballot.

Seen: 72/74



We might be underselling the importance of a Brian Dennehy cameo.





26
9lists134points
Pinocchio
Director

Bill Roberts, 1940

Starring

Dickie Jones, Cliff Edwards, Christian Rub, Evelyn Venable