hey, I was just wondering if there are any guys here who had seen this, and what they thought of it! I'm about to force a guy i know to watch it, and was wondering what the general concesus was.
"Guess what?"
"The fifth dentist caved and now they're all recommending Trident?"
I just saw it in my film critical studies class (got to see it in a theater on 35mm).........and I thought it was great. Amazing.
I have an appreciation for this kind of stuff though.
But normally, I do not dig musicals.
I am incredibly jealous that you got to see it on a 35mm in a theater. I'm a film student too and we've gotten to see some films in their origional format, its just amazing. I'm glad to hear there's a guy out there who liked it, hehe. But like you say, having the appreciation helps.
"Guess what?"
"The fifth dentist caved and now they're all recommending Trident?"
I am a fan of musicals AND a guy, and I should like to dissent from the general chorus of adulation.
I honestly don't believe it makes much difference if you're a guy or a gal, gay or straight: this movie is a TERRIBLE exercise in emptiness.
To put some specifics on that statement:
The worst problem: Garland as Esther is left to carry the film and Garland in this one is a sick-looking ugly corpse-pale creature with weird eyebrows, a weird big nose, weird protuberant teeth and weird articulation. Totally distracting and off-putting. Let's be honest: her singing is not great. She hits the notes but t's like a corpse singing.
The numbers are all over the place: scattered, disconnected, random, dull and draggy.
The whole substance (?) and even the surface texture are trivial, twee, irritatingly pointless and fussy-fussy-fussy. Much flapping around over nothing; much ado about less than zero.
You don't believe me? But this pointlessness is evident in every scene! Pick any scene! Just take the opening, all that fuss about the soup being too sweet/sour; the fuss about the stupid pointless phone-call from New York; the fuss about the twee little 5-year-old on the ice-truck fussing about the age of the horse.
Who would be interested in such pale etiolated overfussy dross, really!
Did I see the same movie as mcleodie? I don't know of many trivial, twee, irritatingly pointless and fussy-fussy-fussy movies that are still as well-thought of as this one is sixty some-odd years after it was made. In fact, I'd apply mcleodie's adjectives to his or her comments. :)
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The best scene in the film occurs after each family member has left the dinner table in reaction to Father's announcement of his intention to move them all to NYC. Mother plays an old romantic tune that Father tries to sing but she has to lower the key she's playing in to allow his vocal range, signaling her reluctant acceptance of his position in the family and his position as the family Patriarch. This is the early days of the 20th Century, not the 40s. The rest of the family members drift down from their sanctuaries and share the moment with their Parents. It's a beautiful scene and totally unexpected.
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Alright. I'm not old enough to take a film class, but I can honestly call myself an extreme film fanatic. And by the way, the only thing a film class is good for is to see some foriegn films that are hard to find on DVD.
But I digress. Meet Me in St. Louis is one of those amazing films that not only gets better with age but also with each viewing. It's wholesome, but even today's teens can identify with Esther's longing when she sings "The Boy Next Door." It embraces so many feelings that adolescents experience, but also appeals to the child in all of us. The scene in which Tootie destroys her snow people never ceases to bring a tear to my eye.
It's a movie that's all about pairs. The acting is most powerful when it's just between two people. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "You and I" are both tour-de-forces from their respective duos.
And the music. Wow. The songs are both haunting and happy. And the score is one of those that knocks you off your feet (for anyone with the DVD, the track with music only is a gem).
To summarize, yes, I'm a guy, and yes, I think this is one of those great films that affects people, no matter what age or gender.
Bye, bye, baby.
I look at this movie every Christmas, just to hear Judy sing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". She sings it so beautifully. Can't wait to hear it again this year.
Hell To The Naw!!!!
XY chromosome here. Great movie -- up there with Singin' in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Gigi as one of the best musicals ever written directly for the screen. A treat -- as someone said, it gets better each time you see it.
shareI am a guy. This movie kicks. I've seen it before, and my wife and I are gonna watch it two-nite on a double-header!
Judy Garland was the most talented human being ever to grace celluloid - she's always the center of attention. It doesn't matter who surrounds her - Fred Astaire or Tom Drake - just give her decent material to work with and she makes anything memorable! This is one of the best Americana-type musicals ever made.
You posted this a month ago. If it hasn't happened yet, get yo boy to check this out!
By the way, the other movie on the double-header is "Collateral" with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx.
I'm a man, a black man. And I like this movie awhole lot. And no, I am NOT gay. People think that men who like musicals are gay or something. That's not true, lots of men liked the movie musical "Grease" and they were not gay men.
shareI would like to make perfectly clear that when i asked this question, this "issue" was not even remotely in my head. i was not implying that if a guy were to like this movie that means he's gay. No, i was merely wanting to know what the opposite sex thought of this move. it wouldn't matter either way, if the people giving their opinions was gay or straight, etc. It is you who make this issue a big issue by being so quick to "defend" yourself against what is considered "bad," for reasons i cannot fathom, in our culture.
rant done.
"Movies are life without the boring parts."
I am a guy and i just love this movie,actually i love a lot of old movies ,all kinds of them!
And if people think you are gay for loving this kind of movies.. I couldn´t care less.
ive watched it 5 times ina row, its on again! i simply love this movie, although im 15, gay and i have appreciation for old movies! lol
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The costumes and sets are interesting and if you like Judy Garland singing, that's a plus. The plot is paper-thin (it can be summarized in about 10 words), but I suppose no more than any musical. I'd say it's pretty good, but the reviews lead you to believe this is a great movie. It's not. And the only reason I say that is I'm trying to set expectations properly.
It's a pleasant diversion for an evening.
What I learned from the movie was that the song "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was apparently introduced in this film, and that explains why this became her trademark song around the Christmas holidays when she did variety shows on TV.
I purchased the special edition DVD from Amazon and found the colors to be faded. But it didn't really detract from the film.
I recently watched the film on my film course. I am not a fan of musicals. This is well made, with some amazing songs, vibrant colour and some well choreographed scenes. However I still find it a little too sweet at points.
But as a message to the original poster. By asking "If any guys liked this film" on the film's message board, typically the only people who will answer are people who have seen the film. Generally the only males who will have seen this film are film students. As an earlier poster pointed out we have "appreciation" and so can enjoy films that others might not. It depends entirely on what "kind of guy" your friend is as to whether he will enjoy the film. For your average, drinks beer, likes football, etc male; i would say he would not enjoy Meet Me In St Louis. I'm NOT suggesting that this is always the case. But generally speaking men, the type of man mentioned above, either dislike musicals or are afraid to admit any enjoyment for fear of the homosexual label (as one poster mentioned above).
If the guy has any taste in films, or has ever professed to liking musicals then he should be fine.
I've seen this movie a couple dozen times, I've watched it with my daughter, I've watched it with my niece. I've seen it done a couple of times on stage. It is always fun and a joy to watch. But I'm from St Louis so what would you expect?
By the way, anyone from St Louis never refers to it as St Louie. It's always St Louis and the only thing I don't like about the movie is the title song calling it St Louie.
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"Deck The Halls" and "Scrooged" are "diversions" (and lousy
ones at that). "St. Louis" IS A GREAT FILM, one of the
finest musicals ever produced. It should've been nominated
and won for Best Picture (instead of that gooey, cheaply
sentimental "Der-Bingle" starer "Going My Way.").
I'm a guy and I saw it WAY back in the 1970s on the late show. Even though the color was faded badly I LOVED the film. There's one great number after another and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is heart-breaking. A truly greal movie musical. I realize most guys don't like musicals but I do:)
shareAmen to that. I can't sit through "Going My Way," and I'm a Bing Crosby fan. If "Meet Me in St. Louis" is merely a "diversion," I'd hate to think what that means a lot of other movies are.
shareI love this film!
I can rarely stand musicals, but c'mon; Judy Garland at her early peak?
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas?
This is a fantastic film, and any man who grumbles about having had to watch it deserves to never get laid again in his life.
But in the future, I don't recommend forcing anyone to watch anything.
And if he counters with the Three Stooges, RUN!
(the Marx Brothers will be OK)
Thanks!
Never get laid again in his life" Good One!!!!!
shareI just finished watching it on TCM again and I realize that this is indeed one of my favorite movies. It's so charming. Margaret O'Brien was one of the cutest little girls in history. She's so sweet I want to bite her. I love everybody in the household, as a matter of fact. They're all so endearing. I like how Esther (the Judy Garland character) and her sister Rose stick up for each other rather than being the catty rivals you might expect in less imaginative script.
BTW, I'm a straight middle-aged non-film-student kind of guy
So hogwartstransfer you never told us about your guy friend. Did he like it or what?
Dang, I missed it??
shareHey guys!! This response has been amazing, thanks for all the great input! I'm sooo happy to see that this film has a following from both genders ;). And to address two things from you Rocketer:
1) I'm not "forcing" him to watch it just because, lol. We're both having the other person watch 10 movies of our choice and we HAVE to watch them no matter what. I'm including a couple of musicals on mine not to torture him but because i think they're important movies to see.
2) And unfortunately things got so busy for both of us mid way through this last semester (we're at CU Boulder) that we only got to see about 4 from each persons list--eight movies total. Hopefully next semester though!
Keep the responses coming guys! Thanks!
"Movies are life without the boring parts."
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