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The 1999 Tony Award winner for Best Musical came to television brilliantly intact in 2001 with the most of the original cast and a couple of sterling star turns. This bold and brassy tribute to arguably Broadway's greatest director/choreographer, Bob Fosse, this musical, directed and choreographed by Fosse mentor and girlfriend Ann Reinking, lovingly recreates some of the most classic Fosse routines that we Fosse fans have come to adore and revel in over the years. The TV version features Ben Vereen and Reinking on stage as well as some of Fosse's best known (and least known) work comes vividly to life again. Honestly, there are moments where you miss the original performers of these numbers, but this young and nubile cast is willing and energetic and give these classic routines fresh life. For me, the highlights were "Big Spender" from SWEET CHARITY (featuring Reinking), "I Wanna Be a Dancin Man" from DANCIN, "Steam Heat" from THE PAJAMA GAME, "Rich Man's Frug", also from CHARITY, "Nowadays" from CHICAGO, and two numbers from the 1973 TV special LIZA WITH A Z: "Bye bye Blackbird" and "I Gotcha". Just about all of Fosse's work is touched on here, with the possible exception of HOW TO Succeed IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, but it is a monumental mounting of Fosse's best work and if you're a fan of the dance in general and of Fosse in particular, this is a must.

MOVIE, MOVIE is a forgotten gem from the late 70's which is an affectionate spoof of a 1930's double feature (there's even a preview of coming attractions)that is divided into two separate films that run about 50 minutes a piece. The first film, "Dynamite Hands" is a black and white "Golden Boy"-type spoof with Harry Hamlin as a young boxer rising to the top with George C. Scott as his manager, Red Buttons as his trainer, Kathleen Beller as his hometown girlfriend and Ann Reinking as a nightclub singer named Troubles Moran. The second film is called "Baxter's Beauties of 1933" and is a colorful spoof of films like 42nd STREET with George C. Scott featured again as the egomaniacal director, Barry Bostwick as the idealistic young songwriter, Rebecca York (who years later would practically steal the Broadway show VICTOR/VICTORIA from Julie Andrews) as the young Ruby Keeler type and Trish VanDevere as the bitchy diva who York eventually replaces. True movie buffs and fans of these kinds of movies will be in cinema heaven here...a loving tribute to a bygone era that works thanks to spirited direction by Stanley Donen and an energetic cast.

For years, the 1996 HBO movie NORMA JEAN AND MARILYN has been maligned and skewered by critics and viewers alike because it was not an accurate biography of Marilyn Monroe. Frankly, if you're looking for an accurate film biography of Marilyn Monroe, there is no such animal (though the ABC-TV movie with Catherine Hicks is pretty close). NORMA JEAN AND MARILYN is not supposed to be a biography of Marilyn. So much has been written about Marilyn over the past 50 years, how can there be anything that people don't know at this point? That's why this movie took a different tack and presented a probing psychological drama that speculates about the inner demons that tormented Marilyn from her childhood as Norma Jean throughout her adult life as Marilyn. Ashley Judd lights up the screen as a young Norma Jean, the young woman determined to forget a loveless marriage to Jim Dougherty and carve out a career for herself as a movie star, even if she has to sleep her way to the top to do it. Norma Jean makes no bones about what she wants, even if it means using and abusing good friend Eddie Jordan (Josh Charles)to get to his famous uncle as an "in" to the Hollywood crowd. The screenplay splices together fantasies and inner dialogues with some actual events in Norma Jean's life in order to give us a look into Marilyn's psyche. Once Norma Jean gets signed to Fox and she changes her name to Marilyn Monroe, Mira Sorvino takes over the role in an uncanny reincarnation of the screen's greatest sex symbol. Sorvino is warm and heartbreaking as Marilyn, recreating some of Marilyn's greatest on screen moments with frightening accuracy while at the same time beautifully conveying the decay of Marilyn's mind, thanks to booze, pills, men, and the treatment she received from studio heads, acting coaches, and others who tried to help her. What makes this film unique and indicates that it is not just a typical biopic is that after Sorvino takes over the role, Ashley Judd still appears as the inner Norma Jean, coaching and encouraging Marilyn to do the right thing and ridiculing her when she does the wrong thing. This movie is an examination of the inner Marilyn who lived in constant mental anguish and was never satisfied with anything she ever did or any relationship she had. The movie is well-written with flashbacks and flash forwards that require close attention in order to stay with the story but it is well worth it. Sorvino and Judd receive solid support from David Dukes as Arthur Miller, Peter Dobsono as Joe DiMaggio, Ron Rifkin as Johnny Hyde, and Lindsay Crouse as Natasha, Marilyn's acting coach who, according to this film,was in love with her. This is a haunting and disturbing film that will not answer all your questions about her, but might help you to understand what a tormented soul she was. If you're looking for a biography of Marilyn, go to a library and check out a book on Marilyn. If you're looking for a unique film experience about a side of Marilyn we rarely saw, then give NORMA JEAN AND MARILYN a look.