Fame

Firstly, this movie poster looks like an ad for Coke!

I remember watching hours and hours of the Fame tv series fame when I was in my teens, and thinking Debbie Allen was an INCREDIBLE dancer. The dance routines were unbelievably complex and unattainable for someone like me who loved to dance but had no ballet training. High kicks and splits were so out of my range!  But, I remember the original Fame movie being much darker than the tv show, and not enjoying it as much.

This new Fame movie is also not as fun and frivolous as the tv show and there was nothing particularly amazing about the dance routines. Also, I don't think tracking the lives of five or six students over three years in 90 minutes really gives any of their experiences any depth, and I certainly wasn't lead to feel any emotion throughout the movie. With one exception. When Naturi Naughton's character sings Out Here On my Own I could feel the goosebumps and the tears welling. Gosh, that is an amazingly emotive song.   Her voice is much higher than Irene Cara, who sang the original, but she is still able to produce the goods.  I prefer Irene Cara's version becuase I just prefer deeper tones in a singer's voice, but  Naturi Naughton does well, and brings the song into the present.

I wouldn't recommend the movie because it just skims the surface of the life of an entertainer in training, but I do recommend watching this clip of Naturi Naughton singing the theme song (very catchy!) and the next clip of her singing Out Here On My Own. Spend ten minutes doing this and you will see all the best parts of the movie.

Oh, there is also a good bit in the movie where one of the teachers asks the students to keep a journal in which you write about other people in your life, what they do and say, and the effect they have on your own philosophy of life. Brilliant.