Once Upon a Mattress (2005) – When stage plays are translated to cinema, especially comedy musicals, I think they are often best served by simply filming a “stagey” version such as this, rather than trying to un-stage it.  Seeing Tracy Ulman prance around the set as the delightfully un-delicate Princess Winnifred is a joy which would be…

The Phantom of the Opera (2004) – This is the big-screen adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, not the Lon Chaney silent shocker.  Or the 1943 version starring Claude Rains that I absolutely hate. Or the 1962 Hammer version which I haven’t seen, or the ill-conceived 1989 Robert Englund version with time travel and…

As longtime readers (all 1.5 of you) will know, our family tradition is to hold a movie marathon on the Friday before Halloween: I’ll just keep tossing fun horror flicks in until everyone throws in the towel. Except this year, my wife and kids had so many overlapping activities and engagements on Friday, we held…