The Golden Age of Musicals

Let the records show that as of late i have been very interested in lists. A rewatch of Moulin Rouge! this afternoon led me to compiling a list of my favorite musicals, a genre of which i am a huge fan.

My Top Seven Musicals (in no particular order)

• Moulin Rouge! Baz Luhrmann's 2001 classic combines stunning turn of the century sets and costumes, with modern music and zany editing such as is normally found in music videos, this is one of my favorite films of all time, and also features some great performances from Kidman and Broadbent, as Satine, a beautiful courtesan and Charles Zidler, owner of the Moulin Rouge.
  

• Evita An Oscar worthy performance from Madonna with great music and lyrics by Andrew Lloyd Webber makes this a great movie musical with incredible music. 
  

•  Mary Poppins Despite being over fifty years old this movie hasn't aged a day, it is still as delightful as the day it was released, the music is great and Julie Andrew's performance as Poppins and Dick Van Dyke's performance as Bert make this film a classic movie musical, and the step in time sequence remains to this day one of the best musical moments in any film. 
  

•  Sweeney Todd Deftly sung despite not using traditional singers. Bonham Carter and Depp provide great performances and are delightfully kooky as the murderous barber and his wife. The film looks great and makes a change from the traditional glossy musical look, the film, like most Burton pictures is also delightfully saturated which means that the film contains little or no color, except of course the wonderfully cathartic blood.

•  Dreamgirls This is a great film, it contains assured performances from Beyoncé and Eddie Murphy, and a true star turn from Oscar winner Hudson as the brokenhearted Effie, the music is great and the film is a visual treat, overall this is a great film which is wonderfully fun and incredibly catchy. 
  

•  Cabaret Liza Minelli has a star turn as Sally Bowles, a young cabaret singer who becomes involved with a british writer during the sexual emancipation of pre war Berlin. I am a little partial due to the fact that i am a huge fan of the original novel, yet this is a film with great music and a wonderful story which manages to be heartbreaking and incongruously heartwarming at the same time, the music is very catchy and the performances assured.
  

• The Rocky Horror Picture Show This film is far from perfect yet manages to be great fun and a hilarious romp with great performances from its leads, in particular Tim Curry, who shines as the deliciously creepy yet somehow loveable transvestite. The film is visually and musically unique, and remains forty years on delightfully camp.