Episode 187: CODA (2021)

And so we come to the close of our “Now Streaming in a Room Near You” series, and what a wild ride it’s been. Yes? No? Anyone? I know I said last week’s episode was the last in our series; I’m sorry, I just had to throw THEM off my trail. You understand. Well, we’re closing out with a film nominated for Best Picture this year, “CODA,” which, much to my disappointment, is NOT the origin story of everyone’s favorite tiny green Jedi master.  Apparently, the spelling is quite different but I’m sure I was not the only one confused by this one-letter difference. Excuse me? Ah. Mike has just assured me that I am, in fact, the only person in all of known time and space who found this confusing. Well. There it is.  So, this movie is actually about a Child Of Deaf Adults . . . oh! I see what they did there! NOW I get . . . what? Yes, sorry, I’ll get on with it.  CODA is the moving story of Ruby Rossi, the only hearing person in her family of four, and the rising conflict between her desire to be her family’s link to the hearing world and her own growing love of singing. This movie is actually a remake of an earlier French movie (which we will mention within) but unlike that film, CODA has only deaf actors portraying deaf characters.  Kind of a shame that this is something we need to congratulate them on, rather than something that’s simply obvious, but so it goes. Give a listen, and try to control your disappointment at the utter lack of Jedi masters in this movie. Really, would that have been such a big deal . . . ok, ok, I’ll stop.

Poll question: can you think of a “perfect” movie musical, one with NO bad songs at all? If so, what is it? Stage adaptations are fine but we’re not talking about the actual stage show, just the movie.

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Southern Poverty Law Center: https://donate.splcenter.org/

4 thoughts on “Episode 187: CODA (2021)”

  1. I am not a fan of musicals and feel especially more recent ones just don’t work. However, I am a huge fan of the Astaire/Rogers series of musicals and pretty much all of them are close to perfect. The songs, the ridiculous storylines and incredible dancing just tickle me every time. Many Disney animated musicals are pretty swell too but the old style Astaire/Rogers are just in a different realm for me.

    1. We will add your answer to the bunch. I’m not so much into musicals in general, though I tend to like Disney movies and they are musicals, even if I forget that fact. Thanks, Snowman!

  2. I’ve been thinking over this poll question for days and I’m not sure I have an answer. “Perfect” is such a high standard! I actually dearly love quite a lot of musicals, but even the ones that are special to me always have “that one song” that bores me, or the bit that I don’t think works.
    The Sound of Music is one of my childhood favorites, but honestly I only like the first half. Once you hit “Climb Ev’ry Mountain”, the music drops off drastically. I remember we had the film on a two-VHS set and that was the cutoff point – most of the time I would only watch the first tape!
    Singin’ in the Rain is also a film that I’ll watch over and over, but the “You Were Meant For Me” and “Broadway Melody” numbers really do bring the pacing of the story to a complete halt.
    Into the Woods is an amazing show, but the film adaptation was horribly disappointing.
    I really think Chicago is the best film adaptation of a musical that takes advantage of the medium to do something that the stage musical can’t. The framing of the musical numbers as fantasy juxtaposed with the harsh realities of the prison the characters actually inhabit works well, and in my opinion the music and pacing are actually consistent the whole way through.

    1. Oops, forgot to answer! Thanks for the well thought out comments, Haley, and for using the website! We used your answer on the show, so you get scads of BumpyBux, which I just know you’ll love! Thanks again!

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