The phenomenon that is....Dreamgirls

So I was surprised when I was visiting home in MA that not everyone had heard of Dreamgirls and was dying to see, since it was so hyped up but everyone in NYC. Luckily, I was able to drag one unsuspecting friend to see it. She had no idea what to expect and thought that it was going to be a VH1 “movies that rock” type film. In reality, it’s definitely one of the best films of the year. The performances are astounding! Jennifer Hudson(Judson) will blow you away with her singing. In High School, I always expected big things from her when she was on Idol, so I’m glad she’s now getting the chance. It’s definitely going to be a stiff battle for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes with her up for it, especially against Emily Blunt from The Devil Wears Prada.
Beyonce is actually really good too. I was skeptical at first because of all the buzz about how much better Judson was. Beyonce said she had a hard time holding back the power in voice, which at first I thought was just trying to cover up her sucking. After seeing it you can really see that she does hold back her voice to fit the part of Deena, that is until she finds her voice in “Listen,” which is an amazing track.
Basically every song in the movie is great and the storyline is really interesting. In the movie version, they’re able to hit more of the social issues of the times, which adds a lot of depth to it in comparison to the stage show. I do have to say that I think the cinematography of Chicago was better than in Dreamgirls. On seeing it a second time, there were definitely some interesting filming choices that I had missed the first time, but nothing like in Chicago. For this reason I don’t think it will win the Oscar like Chicago did, but I wouldn’t rule it out completely. Definitely go out and get the soundtrack if you haven’t already! If you would rather just get a few tracks from iTunes my favourites are :
*And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going
*Listen
*Dreamgirls
*Love You I Do
*One Night Only
*Move
or really just get the whole thing!!