davidh777

Rules

This Challenge overlaps with two well-established Challenges: the Academy Award Movie Challenge and the Quadrennial Leap Day Challenge. During the overlapping days, you can receive "double credit" by listing any qualifying items watched for those other two Challenges on your Romance, Music & Musicals Challenge list.

Eligible titles include romantic movies and TV shows, filmed concerts, music-themed movies, and musicals--they don't have to fit all three categories! So this is the time to catch up on Greta Gerwig's Little Women, Sleepless in Seattle, Blinded by the Light, Casablanca, leftover Hallmark Christmas movies, James Taylor Live at the Apollo, and West Side Story. Use your best judgment on qualifying titles or ask in the discussion thread, but we tend to be pretty lenient. Live events (concerts, stage musicals, etc.) can also be listed, but sorry, not your Valentine's Day date with your sweetheart or streaming an album on Spotify.

Post your list in the list thread. Be as creative or as basic with your list as you want.

You may number (or not number) the items on your list any way you like. We're breaking new ground here!

davidh777

• Watch a rom-com
• Watch a concert film
• Watch an eligible title with an LGBTQ+ theme or elements
• Watch an eligible title that is a period piece or is based on a book or historical event
• Watch an eligible title that features dancing
• Watch an eligible title in which a musician acts
• Watch a film listed in AFI's 100 Years of Musicals
• Watch an eligible title featuring one of the following: Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn
• Watch an eligible title featuring one of the following: Sandra Bullock, Hugh Grant, Anne Hathaway, Rachel McAdams, Julia Roberts, Will Smith
• Watch an eligible title featuring one of the following: Julie Andrews, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Marilyn Monroe
• Watch an eligible title featuring one of the following: Anna Kendrick, Barbra Streisand, John Travolta, Renee Zellweger
• Watch an eligible title that includes music by one of the following: George Gershwin, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim

LorenzoL

Sure why not?

TheBigDave

I'm looking forward to this. I can catch-up on some Hallmark movies. And there's some classics I'd like to watch again.

Trevor

This will make my wife happy.

davidh777

I was thinking of tossing up a simple checklist including “watch a film with one of these stars” with categories for romance and musicals, both old and new.

-Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, ?
-Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts, Will Smith, Matthew McConaughey, Kate Winslet, ?
-Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland
-John Travolta, Anna Kendrick, ?

Smith doesn’t have as many choices as others but was looking for some diversity.

shadokitty

I have a couple concerts that I bought on Amazon Instant Video. Be a good chance to watch them.

BobO'Link

My wife can't stand musicals and I'm not that sure she likes "romance" stuff - although she does seem to watch an inordinate amount of the Hallmark Channel stuff.

I think I have a few rom-coms in the unwatched pile. I know I have a few musicals I upgraded to BR so will finally watch those. My oldest granddaughter *loves* My Fair Lady so I'll try to work that one in as well (it's on my short list of musicals I'll watch without someone else asking). Her little sister (about to turn 9) hasn't seen it at all so I'd like to indoctrinate her...

And neither have seen A Hard Day's Night or Help! (which I recently upgraded to BR) so I'll try to get them into screenings of those as well - and both are huge Beatles fans so it should be rather easy.

ade3333

Further to Davidh777 post, I always like the checklists, for me it makes me limit my choices, & makes me watch things I might normally miss out on, loving all the challenges

Giles

woohoo !!

LJG765

I'm in! I even have a few Hallmark movies left to watch from Christmas that will work quite nicely!

Sandra Bullock, Shirley Temple, Julie Andrews, Ethel Merman, Barbra Streisand, Marilyn Monroe, Debbie Reynolds, Dorothy Dandridge? Elvis Presley, are some other suggestions. I'll keep an eye out for some more diverse actors, singers, though.

For another category, how about watching a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical or one by Andrew Lloyd Webber?

davidh777

List thread is live.

Great minds, LJG! I had "watch a musical with a score by ____" on my mental draft list.

davidh777

I just edited the OP to clarify that TV shows are included, just in case people are hankering to watch Big Love or Disney+’s High School Musical series.

Travis McClain

Checklist ideas:

x/y from these lists:
AFI's 100 Years of Musicals
iCheckMovies: 100 Musicals (BFI Screen Guide)
iCheckMovies: IMDb's Music Top 50
iCheckMovies: IMDb's Musical Top 50
iCheckMovies: Top 100 Bollywood Films (compiled by Outlook India)
15 Memorable Black Movie Musicals (compiled by The Root)
30 Best Music Biopics of All Time (compiled by Rolling Stone)
The 50 Best Music Documentaries and Concert Films Ever (compiled by Vulture)
Top 20 Bollywood Movies of All Time (compiled by Times of India)

Starring...
Fred Astaire
Danny Kaye
Gene Kelley
Ginger Rogers

Animated
Based upon Andrew Lloyd Weber
Based upon fairy tale
Based upon historical figure/event
Based upon Rodgers & Hammerstein
Produced by MGM

Decades

Academy Award Nominees for Best Dance Direction
Based upon the American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards Best Musical Winners
Nominated for Grammy Award for Best Sound Track Album or Recording of Original Cast From a Motion Picture or Television

Travis McClain

Believe it or not, but I'm gonna ignore Romance and focus primarily on Musicals this go round! I've got a bunch of musicals in my digital library thanks to other members of my defunct UltraViolet group (looking at you, Trevor & LGJ745!) that I'm probably never going to watch left on my own so this is as good an impetus to make myself watch them as any. I've also got a handful in my Criterion Channel and Hulu watchlists. I was surprised by how many there were between all those resources until I assembled my goals list! If nothing else, I ought to rack up a whole lot of checks on iCheckMovies.com by the end of this challenge!

LJG765

Waves back! I plan on using the group collection too. I miss seeing the new films being added! To be honest, I haven't thought of a goal yet. I likely will focus on Musicals with a smattering of Romance (though so many of them are both...). I have a bunch of movies I haven't watched my copy of so it'd be nice to get them off the unwatched list. I know there still are a few "classic" musicals out there that I haven't watched yet either. Cabaret, for instance. Just not a Liza Minnelli fan but it'd be nice to get it off the totally unwatched list too!

BobO'Link

Right now I'm planning to watch those titles in my unwatched pile that qualify. It's a smattering of older musicals, some BR upgrades, a few concerts, and rock movies (This is Spinal Tap and Help! BR upgrades specifically). My 2 oldest granddaughters love The Beatles so I hope to drag them in the days I watch A Hard Day's Night and Help! (and I really wish the new Let it Be documentary and original movie remaster were being released now). The oldest loves My Fair Lady and her sister has never seen it. Since it's one of a handful of musicals I'll watch without someone else asking I plan to watch it at some point - if I can get them involved. I think I have a Busby Berkely box set I've never watched so that'll come out too. The ones I'm most looking forward to are new BR upgrades of the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby "Road" movies. The last 2 should arrive Friday and I'm going to watch them in chronological order.

pagefrance

Fantastic idea! For myself this year I was going to completely skip the Academy Awards Challenge since the Oscars have become increasingly irrelevant to me a as a moviegoer. Music and Romance it is, count me in.

Doc Moonlight

Here are a few checklist ideas:

Watch a movie based on a Broadway musical
Watch a movie that became a Broadway musical
Watch a musical and non-musical derived from the same source
Watch musical, opera or concert in a foreign language

BobO'Link

I started things off by cracking open a set of Midnight Special "episodes" - they're edits of the full episodes (bummer) but have had some, mostly, very good performances so far.

The first one had a *very* stilted, and obviously reading from a teleprompter/cue cards, Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille "hosting" things. Performers were Barry Manilow (blech) and Jim Croce (yeah!). Sadly, Croce only got one song, "Operator".

Up next, Wolfman Jack hosted Wild Cherry, Elvin Bishop, Rick Dees and his Cast of Idiots, and the Bay City Rollers for another mixed bag. The stand outs were Wild Cherry performing their only(?) hit - "Play that Funky Music" and Elvin Bishop performing "Fooled Around and Fell in Love."

THEN - George Benson hosted and played with Van Morrison, Carlos Santana, Etta James, and Dr John for a spectacular group of songs. All of them performed Morrison's "Moon Dance" followed by Etta and Dr. John doing a awesome "I'd Rather Go Blind" and ending things with Carlos Santana and George Benson trading licks and getting laid back on "Breezin'" - Wow! I'd love to see this whole show.

And the final "show' on disc1, hosted by Helen Reddy, featured Linda Ronstadt - "You're No Good", Earth, Wind & Fire - "Shining Star", and Aretha Franklin - "Something He Can Feel".

After that were some "isolated" bonus songs: Michael Murphey - "Wildfire", Seals & Crofts - "Get Closer", REO Speedwagon - "Keep on Lovin' You", and Charlie Daniels Band - "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." Carolyn Willis (never heard of her) joined Seals & Crofts and almost ruined the song - otherwise it wasn't bad for bonus songs. Mostly lighter things but ones I like and listen to on occasion (then and now)

Overall, that first disc is pretty good with some excellent performances and songs.

I'm really looking forward to some of the performances on the 2nd disc - Steely Dan, Natalie Cole, and Heart specifically... but one of the bonus songs is Christopher Cross with "Sailing" - I got more than enough of that one when it was popular to last me the rest of my life.

It's a 3 disc set with nothing but comedy routines on the 3rd disc. Until I saw that I'd forgotten the format of this program. It's somewhat a variety show with mostly music and comedians of the day in between music acts. There would be several different performers who, mostly, played live and a comedy act in a show. It's not a show I watched often but would tune in if an act I really liked were performing. It reminded me of Dick Clark's American Bandstand without the dancing and song ranking bits - and no Dick Clark.

davidh777

I have finished the checklist! Sorry I didn't get it done before the start of the month. Many thanks to everyone who offered ideas! They were all great, but I didn't want to get too heavy the first time out so I cut and combined as much as I could. Counting a selection as more than one check is totally valid.

• Watch a rom-com
• Watch a concert film
• Watch an eligible title with an LGBTQ+ theme or elements
• Watch an eligible title that is a period piece or is based on a book or historical event
• Watch an eligible title that features dancing
• Watch an eligible title in which a musician acts
• Watch a film listed in AFI's 100 Years of Musicals
• Watch an eligible title featuring one of the following: Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn
• Watch an eligible title featuring one of the following: Sandra Bullock, Hugh Grant, Anne Hathaway, Rachel McAdams, Julia Roberts, Will Smith
• Watch an eligible title featuring one of the following: Julie Andrews, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Marilyn Monroe
• Watch an eligible title featuring one of the following: Anna Kendrick, Barbra Streisand, John Travolta, Renee Zellweger
• Watch an eligible title that includes music by one of the following: George Gershwin, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim

As noted, I tried to be broad with the categories. So dance-eligible titles would include West Side Story, Shall We Dance (Japanese version--OK fine, the U.S. version counts too), and The Object of My Affection. Renee Zellweger could be Bridget Jones or Judy Garland. Anne Hathaway could be checked off by The Devil Wears Prada or Ella Enchanted. A Gershwin title could be Manhattan, Mr. Holland's Opus, or A Damsel in Distress. For LGBTQ+, you could go all-in with Love Simon or rely on the gay best friend in My Best Friend's Wedding. And remember the checklist is just for fun and providing ideas, so you can also completely ignore it and watch Hallmark movies all month and get "credit" for them! It's all up to you.

BobO'Link

The 2nd disc of that Midnight Special set was OK - but just OK. The standout performances were from Steely Dan ("Do it Again" and "Reeling in the Years"), Heart ("Crazy on You"), Natalie Cole (I've Got Love on My Mind"), and Mary MacGregor ("Torn Between Two Lovers"). Heart did an excellent job on "Crazy on You." While I very much like the songs the Spinners performed, "Could it Be I'm Falling in Love" and "I'll Be Around," the performance wasn't that good. Albert Hammond ("It Never Rains in Southern California") and Stephen Bishop ("Could it be I'm Falling in Love") did OK but nothing stand-out. Glen Campbell ("Southern Nights") and Dolly Parton ("Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You") did some signature songs very well - but it's just stuff I'm not particularly fond of. The rest was disco from Yvonne Elliman (If I Can't Have You"), Gloria Gaynor ("I Will Survive"), and Donna Summer. Summer did the long version of "Love to Love You Baby". The *short* version of that one's far too long. Oh... and Christopher Cross performing "Sailing."

If I ever watch this disc again it'll be only to cherry pick the Steely Dan and Heart performances and possibly Cole and MacGregor.

The stand-up comedy disc just reminded me how unfunny most of those 70s comics could be. Even George Carlin's, Richard Pryor's, and Steve Martin's performances weren't all that good.

davidh777

I have a number of those music TV shows from the ‘60s and ‘70s on DVD. I don’t think that kind of material has made the leap to the digital realm yet.

davidh777

Just watched my first film by accident: Marriage Story for the Oscar challenge. If you know anything about the film,

In addition, it gave me

BobO'Link

I finally watched the copy of Carousel (1956) I'd purchased a few years back. That's a surprisingly good movie with music that supports the dialog far better than some. I'd never known Frank Sinatra was initially attached to play the male lead but dropped out *after* recording the music tracks and practicing for some time. I just can't imagine that movie with Sinatra in the lead. It'd have been *very* different.