The Ultimate Movie Musicals Bracket - Round Three, Day One

Feed me!

Friends, we’ve made it…to the third round of the Ultimate Movie Musicals Bracket, of course! (We still have a couple days left before October begins.) We’re down to just 32 seeds, and boy, do the matchups start getting really tough now. So tough, in fact, that I want to dive in (and thank my lucky stars that I don’t have to vote like you all do). Let’s go!

(1) Singin’ in the Rain vs. (16) Little Shop of Horrors: See? Tough. Now, I’ve already stated that Singin’ in the Rain is my favorite film of all time, so you know I will tell you to vote for the 1952 classic. But I don’t want to dismiss the many charms of the film adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors, which may not have been massively successful upon its initial release, but is funny, creepy, and (of course) full of unforgettable earworms.

A tough vote. But I vote, again, for dignity. Always dignity. You?

Singin’ in the Rain

Little Shop of Horrors

(8) Once vs. (24) Tick, tick…boom!: This is a little challenging as well, but I’m sticking with Once. I enjoyed Andrew Garfield’s performance as Jonathan Larson perhaps more than any single performance in Once, but the latter film is tender and heartfelt beyond belief. Not that either film has a disingenuous bone in its body, but Once is just something I can’t help but love from top to bottom in part because of its aching sincerity.

Once

Tick, tick…boom!

(4) The Muppet Movie vs. (13) Fiddler on the Roof: Listen, I love Fiddler on the Roof, but The Muppet Movie is another one of my favorite films of all time. If it winds up that, in a couple rounds, Singin’ in the Rain goes up against The Muppet Movie, well…that won’t be fun. But for now, I stick with Kermit and pals. How about you?

The Muppet Movie

Fiddler on the Roof

(5) Moulin Rouge! vs. (21) All That Jazz: Moulin Rouge! gets this one in my vote. All That Jazz is appropriately edgy and rough and an open wound of a movie that does not hold back. But Moulin Rouge!, in its own way, doesn’t hold back either. It is the most Baz Luhrmann movie there is, and in this case, Luhrmann gets the vote over Fosse doing the most Fosse movie possible.

What do you think?

Moulin Rouge!

All That Jazz