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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, December 15, 2006 - 5:25 pm
I can hardly wait till this movie opens!! I got to see the original on Broadway. I got the cd today and they didn't try to 'put their stamp' on the songs and change them up, but they still sound fresh.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Friday, December 15, 2006 - 8:42 pm
I also saw the original with Jennifer Holiday, who just blew me away and just thinking about it to this day, gives me chills.
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 9:33 am
I went to see Dreamgirls last night and it's pretty good--not great, but pretty good. The reviews are really true, though: Jennifer hudson is really good in it. The reviews I've read compared her to Streisand, Midler, and, in her rendition of "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going," to Judy garland in A Star Is Born. I don't know if I'd go that far, because those actresses were the centerpiece of the movie and Hudson is not; she becomes the centerpiece though, in a way, because the ostensible center of the film, Ms. Knowles, is simply vacuous. "And I'm Telling You" will remind you of the emotional power of Streisand's "My Man" at the end of Funny Girl, and that scene won her an Oscar... Eddie Murphy was very good and Jamie Foxx was adequate. My criticism of the film is what people will undoubtedly like about it: that it's all bluster and schmaltz. Except for Hudson and Murphy, the characters are just stock figures and the story, well-known as it is to fans of the musical and/or Diana Ross and the Supremes, isn't involving enough...But enough of that. Go see it for Jennifer Hudson. It's worth it.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 10:40 am
was this a sneak preview Tish? I didn't think it opened till Christmas day. The part of Deena isn't really the starring role in the broadway show either. The role of Effie made Jennifer Halliday a star, very few people remember that Sheryl Lee Ralph was Deena. I am listening to the CD right now and it sounds wonderful!
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 11:00 am
Nah it opened on Friday here (and I think in NY too). It's only playing at one theatre I think and it was packed.
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 12:42 pm
I love Sheryl Lee Ralph and Jennifer Holiday. I'm sorry but to me no one else compares to Jennifer's version of that song. No one.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 1:13 pm
Mocha, I had the honor and pleasure of seeing Jennifer perform Effie. It was the first time I ever (and I think the only time) gave a standing ovation in the middle of a show! I have been listening to the new cd and Jennifer Hudson does a really remarkable job. I can't wait to see how it all comes together in the movie.
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 1:37 pm
I do have to agree that Hudson's version isn't as good as Holiday's, but it's filmed in such a way that it packs a greater emotional wallop than you can get from the stage version. It makes it very intimate.
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Terolyn
Member
05-06-2004
| Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 2:35 pm
Some great Versions of Holiday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC_u_q-iND0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qDhjbIq8GA&mode=related&search= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqt9mfcg7cQ&mode=related&search=
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Vacanick
Member
07-12-2004
| Tuesday, December 26, 2006 - 8:06 am
Watching Jennifer Holiday sing "And I'm Telling You" makes my heart ache and brings tears to my eyes. She's absolutely amazing and the song is incredible!! Thanks for the link Terolyn!
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Egbok
Member
07-13-2000
| Friday, December 29, 2006 - 9:54 am
I saw this movie last night and it was an entertaining movie for me. I loved the outfits/costuming and Beyonce's beauty radiating through with hair and make-up. For me personally, I saw the movie to see and hear Jennifer Hudson. She didn't disappoint me with her singing and acting, although she did lack the snappy edge in the dance moves that the two other ladies had. I loved that after Jennifer sang, our audience gave a loud round of applause. They also applauded Beyonce after her song, but it wasn't as spontaneous and loud as Jennifer's applause. It goes without saying for me, Jamie and Eddie just added so much to this movie. I can hardly wait to see these ladies and gents on the red carpet at the Oscars!
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, December 29, 2006 - 3:22 pm
call me schmaltzy, call me sappy, but I just got home from seeing it and it was wonderful!!!!! It was so much more intimate that the songs were able to carry the same emotional impact they had the very first time I ever saw it on Broadway. The costumes were a great chronology of the times!
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Friday, December 29, 2006 - 3:50 pm
I was just over at a friend's today and....well...the studio is obviously pushing this film HARD for Oscars. He gave me the entire contents of something he got in the mail "For Your COnsideration" and it included a beautiful copy of the script (said friend is a screenwriter), a huge, glossy photo-album of the film, with information about all the stars, the producer and director, the make-up artists, the set designers, etc. It's just beautiful and must have cost them a fortune to make and send out to all the voting members of the Academy. Oh and a DVD of the films, too. So I'm going to hold onto it until after the Oscars, hope it wins lots of awards, and then put up on eBay. 
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Friday, December 29, 2006 - 5:03 pm
I'm more than a little ticked ... if I want to see this, I'll have to drive into Austin ...
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, December 29, 2006 - 5:05 pm
It's not in SM? How cool, Tish!
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Friday, December 29, 2006 - 5:38 pm
San Marcos is even further from me than Austin
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, December 29, 2006 - 5:46 pm
oh, I am sorry. I thought you were in SM. Bummer that it's not showing near you. Have Tish you her DVD!
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Ginger1218
Member
08-31-2001
| Friday, December 29, 2006 - 6:29 pm
LT, you could fly into NYC and see it with me LOL
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Friday, December 29, 2006 - 6:31 pm
LOL, sounds like a plan!!
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Egbok
Member
07-13-2000
| Friday, December 29, 2006 - 7:44 pm
LT, better yet... ....come to LA and see it with ME!!
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, December 29, 2006 - 10:19 pm
heck..Houston is alot closer! Come see it with me.
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Friday, December 29, 2006 - 10:55 pm
LOL, wow, I feel special I'll probably just drag my carcass to Austin. It's not even showing in Wacko ... sigh ...
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Egbok
Member
07-13-2000
| Saturday, December 30, 2006 - 9:50 am
LT, you'll be pleased that you dragged your carcass to Austin...this movie is worth the drag.....let us know when you see it! Happy New Year to you LadyTex!!
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Ketchuplover
Member
08-30-2000
| Saturday, December 30, 2006 - 2:44 pm
That's some dream girls. Oh well I tried 
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Goddessatlaw
Member
07-19-2002
| Saturday, December 30, 2006 - 4:51 pm
Finally got to see the movie and I think Tishala's review is spot on. Egbok, the audience did exactly the same thing at my viewing as yours - Hudson got a huge ovation and Beyonce got polite applause. I also saw Jennifer Holiday on Broadway in the early eighties, and wore out my vinyl of the cast recording. Jennifer Hudson is great and does her own thing with "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going." She is truly wonderful and I hope she receives many awards. But for me Jennifer Holiday's version is the platinum standard - Hudson's version is marvelous; Holiday's version is virtuoso and her performance of it on Broadway was shattering. I hope the revival of "Dreamgirls" gives Holiday's career new legs as well as catapulting Hudson into stardom. The movie was great, but the setup seemed to take forever. Eddie Murphy was excellent. He and Hudson were really the only ones who had much of a chance to act in the film, though. It's sort of like Porgy and Bess set to Motown tunes - only a few scattered lines of dialogue here and there, and the rest of the story is told through song. Oh, the other revelation was that Jamie Foxx looks like crap in a marcelle wave. Funny thing coming out of the movie - "Casino Royale" was playing at the same time in the theater next door but ended first. When we came out of the movie there were alot of husbands waiting for their wives. One of them was Colossus LOL - we struck a deal because he wanted to see Bond and I wanted to see Dreamgirls, but neither of us wanted to see the other flick. Guess we weren't the only ones ROFL.
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