Musicals
As soon as sound was introduced to the movies, the movie musical was born. The musical was one of the most popular movie entertainments from the 1930s through to the 50s, before falling out of favour at the end of the 60s for audiences now being weened on Vietnam, race riots, political assassinations, flower power and psychedelia. The musical still continued onwards, albeit in a different form, with various efforts such as "Cabaret", "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", "Grease", "Hair", "All That Jazz" and "The Blues Brothers" appearing over the next decade. More recently, "Moulin Rouge" and particularly "Chicago" hark back to the glory days of the musical.
Right: Liza Minnelli does "Cabaret"
The Rocky Horror Picture Show / Shock Treatment (1975)
Director: Jim Sharman
Starring: Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon, Tim Curry, Cliff De Young, Jessica Harper
The quintessential cult movie "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975) follows Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon) as a flat tire leads the... Read more
The Rose (1979)
7/10
Director: Mark Rydell
Starring: Bette Midler, Alan Bates, Frederic Forrest
Bette Midler makes her starring debut an event as she lights up the screen in a familiar tale of an entertainer on her way down from the heights of st... Read more
The Saddest Music in the World (2003)
7.2/10
Director: Guy Maddin
Starring: Isabella Rossellini, Mark McKinney, Maria de Medeiros, David Fox
Director Guy Maddin's works are like a window to an alternate film universe - this unforgettable feverish whirligig of a movie is the closest the cul... Read more
The Sapphires (2012)
7.1/10
Director: Wayne Blair
Starring: Deborah Mailman, Chris O'Dowd, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens, Miranda Tapsell
1968. Four young women from a remote Aboriginal mission, sisters Gail, Julie and Cynthia, together with their cousin Kay, are discovered by Dave, a do... Read more
The Sapphires ( Blu-ray ) (2012)
7.1/10
Director: Wayne Blair
Starring: Deborah Mailman, Chris O'Dowd, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens, Miranda Tapsell
1968. Four young women from a remote Aboriginal mission, sisters Gail, Julie and Cynthia, together with their cousin Kay, are discovered by Dave, a do... Read more
The Slipper and the Rose (1975)
7.1/10
Director: Bryan Forbes
Starring: Richard Chamberlain, Gemma Craven, Annette Crosbie, Edith Evans, Christopher Gab...
"The Slipper and the Rose" is a grand musical adventure in the tradition of "The Sound of Music" and "My Fair Lady". This lavish production features R... Read more
The Soloist (2009)
6.7/10
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr, Catherine Keener, Tom Hollander, LisaGay Hamilton
Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr star in this biography of Nathaniel Ayers (played by Foxx). Ayers was a musical prodigy who played the cello, but afte... Read more
The Sound of Music (1965)
8/10
Director: Robert Wise
Starring: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn
Julie Andrews lights up the screen as Maria, the spirited young woman who leaves the convent to become a governess to the seven children of Captain Vo... Read more
The Sound of Music ( Blu-ray ) (1965)
8/10
Director: Robert Wise
Starring: Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Julie Andrews
The hills are alive with the sound of the Von Trapp family in this beloved Rodgers-Hammerstein epic musical. Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer lea... Read more
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
7.8/10
Director: Jacques Demy
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Anne Vernon
A beautifully restored version of Jacques Demy's classic, bittersweet musical of two young lovers (a luminous Catherine Deneuve and handsome Nino Cast... Read more