Music And Lyrics

Music And Lyrics
Director: Marc Lawrence
Starring: Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore, Haley Bennett

Official website: http://musicandlyrics.warnerbros.com

Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant) is a washed-up '80s pop star who's been reduced to working at county fairs and amusement parks. The talented musician gets a chance at a comeback when reigning pop diva Cora Corman invites him to write and record a duet with her, but there’s a problem --Alex's never written lyrics. Enter Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore), Alex's beguilingly quirky plant lady, whose flair for words strikes a chord with the struggling songwriter. As their chemistry heats up at the piano and under it, Alex and Sophie will have to face their fears—and the music -- if they want to find the love and success they both deserve.

Lots of funny one-liners by Hugh Grant, the ever dead-pan humor in him and the goofiness of Drew Barrymore formed a funny partnership for a song-writing task for a hot new singer named Cora. Even though the overall plot is pretty weak with Drew Barrymore being Hugh Grant's plant lady (?) and then becoming his song lyricist, the music and humor are enough to keep you entertained, especially the opening music sequence, which is shockingly funny. Most of the original music and score of the movie are written by Fountains Of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger so if you are into the '80s music and open to new creative music and sounds, this is the movie for you!

Oh yes, and remember to grab the soundtrack after you watched the movie because the music will stick to your head for days!

Hairspray Review and Soundtrack

John Waters' cult 1980s comedy returns to the big screen, this time as a musical based on the 2002 Broadway hit!!!

The Producers started a trend. Mel Brooks' 1968 farce, you'll recall, made a comeback in 2006 as a celluloid adaptation of its Broadway musical remake. Now Hairspray completes the same cyclical journey, returning to where it all began with a big-screen transfer of the stage show it spawned.

It's a bizarrely cannibalistic process that, in the case of the Producers film, ended up with a work that was markedly inferior to both its forebears. With Hairspray, though, it works a treat, the blend of John Waters' anarchic weirdness, a star-studded cast and some splendid retro tunes creating a beguiling 1960s pastiche that's an infectious delight from start to finish.

Much of the attention that will justifiably be heaped on Adam Shankman's film will inevitably focus on John Travolta's outrageous cross-dressing turn as the frumpy Edna Turnblad - a role played by Divine in the 1988 original that the Pulp Fiction star, with the help of a fat suit, beehive wig and a few tons of latex, hilariously makes his own.

Travolta gives an audacious performance - especially given the flack he took from gay activists who complained that Scientology disapproves of homosexuality - but the true star here is newcomer Nikki Blonsky. Plucked from obscurity with only a few high-school acting parts to her name, the Long Island native completely steals the show as bubbly heroine Tracy - a small, rotund bundle of fun we fall in love with the second she appears on screen singing exuberant opening number 'Good Morning Baltimore' from the top of a dump truck.

As fine as her voice is, dancing is Tracy's passion - especially if she can do it on 'The Corny Collins Show', the city's top-rated pop programme. Alas, her flabby frame doesn't suit the size-zero ideals of bitchy station manager Velma Von Tussle (Pfeiffer), especially as she's already lined up daughter Amber (Snow) to scoop the prestigious 'Miss Teenage Hairspray' crown. How Tracy contrives to secure a spot on the show, win the heart of teen heart-throb Link Larkin (Efron) and bring about some overdue racial integration forms the busy plot of a movie that still manages to cram in a dozen or more songs amongst its satirical intrigue.

With Christopher Walken providing priceless support as Tracy's jokeshop-owning father, Amanda Bynes an unlikely bonus as her prim pal Penny and Queen Latifah bringing brassy bravado to the role of Corny's reluctant co-host Motormouth Maybelle, there's not a weak link to be found in Shankman's stellar ensemble. And if the transition from stage to screen isn't quite as smooth as he might have been hoped, especially during a frenetic climax that tries to tie up too many plot strands, it's a small price to pay for a film that will have you walking out of the cinema wanting to hug the first fatso you lay eyes on.