Saturday, January 09, 2016

Da 60's

 



Week-end cinema à la carte                                 





Jersey Boys
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons



Movie goers, I'm sure, know about this Clint Eastwood movie about the Four Seasons.  When I saw the title being tossed around a few years ago I figured it was more Jersey Girl trash. But, no.

John Lloyd Mills Young plays Frankie Valli in the movie, and is only American actor to date to have received a Lead Actor in a Musical Tony. He's so good that  I had to Google-up to see if he was lip-syncing songs. My dear wife passed through the room during a barrage of FK languaging, so she won't watch it—so there is that. 

There were two points in the movie when I was awash with goose pimples. Like a little girl.  Sheesh.  Christopher Walken is terrific (per usual) as the neighborhood Don. Superb acting by all. 
1/09/2016 12:11:00 AM 4 Comments

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4 comments:

Skoonj said...

I saw Jersey Boys a couple of years ago on stage in Las Vegas. It gave me a renewed appreciation of The Four Seasons, which had number one hits before, during, and after the Beatles era.

The Beatles sucked the air out of the room, and made it very hard for pop and rock performers to make it in that era. Radio stations carried them and their imitators, and not much else. My old man, a NYC police captain, was part of the security detail at the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. He came home that night, in uniform, and told me about it (it was kept secret before it happened). He was puzzled that I had no reaction at all to his being there with the Beatles. I hated the Beatles in every bone in my body!

The Four Seasons were among the very few acts which survived then, even though the Beatles company bought out a year's production of vinyl records from the company that made records for the Four Seasons, resulting in a change of companies for Valli and his band.

They were even poked fun of for the falsetto of Valli. Yes, they did Walk Like a Man (sing like a girl), and I still sometimes hear jokes about that one.

I loved the play, and I have the DVD also. I'll watch it in the not too distant future.

1/9/16, 5:59 PM
Rodger the Real King of France said...

I treasure little happy moments these days, and this was one of them.

1/10/16, 8:02 PM
Kim du Toit said...

I absolutely LOVE the Four Seasons. Their "Who Loves You?" is one of the greatest pop songs of all time, and "December '63 (Oh What A Night)" is another classic.

All those people who belittle falsetto singing are morons. It's fantastically difficult, and Frankie Valli was easily the best of the lot, because he did it for so long. (As you get older, your vocal cords loosen, and falsetto becomes almost impossible. Yeah, I used to do falsetto "top harmonies back when I were a yoot in a rock band.)

I haven't watched the movie yet (because The Mrs. hates that kind of music), but I will one day, when she's asleep.

1/11/16, 10:51 AM
Anonymous said...

My wife and I saw Frankie Valli at the Winstar casino on New Years Eve. He can still hit those high falsetto notes. He sang for over 2 hours. What an entertainer. He kept asking whose room the party was in. Likely none. The crowd was pretty old, but hopping.

1/12/16, 3:13 PM

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