If you only looked at headlines, box office numbers, and online discourse, it’d be easy to believe that there’s only one movie in theaters right now.
Of course, I mean “Wicked,” the “Wizard of Oz”-inspired Broadway smash turned blockbuster film event of the year and inescapable pop-cultural phenomenon.
The witchy wonder of the worldwide box office is already beginning to collect accolades, taking Best Film of 2024 from the National Board of Review, generally considered to be the first major awards–granter of the season and the first step toward the Academy Awards.
This is all to say that you can pretty well guarantee the “Wicked” hype won’t be dying down any time soon, even in this very column.
In my attempt to watch and discuss every potential Best Picture Oscar nominee this time around, you can expect to see a full review of the record-smashing musical very soon.
But whether you’re pining for a musical alternative to the blockbuster or you’ve just already had your fill of “Defying Gravity” and you want to follow it up with something else you can sing along with, OKC theaters have you covered with some other musical selections in December.
From the classic to the uniquely strange and modern to the year’s biggest music biopic (which is already seeing some major awards contention of its own,) here are some options to keep you singing in the theater all month long (but please, don’t sing in the theater.)
‘Meet Me in St. Louis’ – Flix Brewhouse – December 8th
There’s a handful of undisputed Christmastime classics that really only rose to that level because of some select, important scenes or settings written around the holidays.
And right at the top of that list sits two of the most enduring and persistent film classics of the 1940s, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” of course, and this Judy Garland-led musical about a big Midwestern family at the turn of the century.
It’s all about young love, changing times, and singing with (and to) your family, and it earns its legendary status almost entirely on the back of Garland’s immortal charm and infectious musical showmanship.
But what really elevated “Meet Me in St. Louis” above the countless other musicals of its time – and what’s kept it in hearts and minds for generations – is the now-standard holiday carol “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
It’s such a classically cultural tune that a lot of people might not even realize that it comes from an Old Hollywood film and was written especially for Garland’s voice and emotive style.
So even if it’s only the film’s final act that takes place during the holidays, it only takes one undeniably heartfelt Christmas song to make a film into a Christmas classic.
For showtimes, tickets, and more, visit flixbrewhouse.com.
‘The End’ – Oklahoma City Museum of Art – December 20th through 22nd
If you prefer your musicals with quite a bit more modern experimentalism and apocalyptic dread, then OKCMOA has just the new release for you.
Oscar-nominated writer/director Joshua Oppenheimer has been heavily lauded and awarded for his documentary works like “The Act of Killing,” but he takes his first big swing for the fictional fences on this left-field narrative oddity that’s sure to be among 2024’s most unexpected offerings.
Following an absurdly upper-class family continuing to live the lavish high life in a bunker following a world-ending event, “The End” finds its drama in class struggle and boiling paranoia when a young new stranger shows up and captures the heart of the wealthy family’s son.
It’s already a taut, evocative premise, but Oppenheimer cranks up the “cinema” of it all by also making it an outright, traditionally styled movie musical, with belted ensemble showstoppers, torch songs, and choreography.
With its dark sci-fi backdrop and its cast led by subversive, chameleonic greats Tilda Swinton and Michael Shannon, “The End” just might be the most creative and compellingly strange film musical since 2021’s “Annette.”
For showtimes, tickets, and more, visit okcmoa.com.
‘A Complete Unknown’ – Opens everywhere December 25th
It feels inevitable that every year will feature at least one major musical biopic and this year, that distinction goes to “A Complete Unknown,” director James Mangold’s glimpse into the life, love, and meteoric rise of Bob Dylan through the late 60s, chock full of his untouchable folk and rock hits.
With the omnipresent Timothée Chalamet cutting a striking (if too chiseled-cheeked) resemblance to the young Dylan, “A Complete Unknown” has already started raking in some awards and some sustained buzz, and that’s really no big surprise.
The struggle of a brilliant, guitar-slinging musical icon is no new territory for Mangold, who helmed the Johnny Cash biopic “Walk the Line” – and Chalamet has already long since proven that he can ably play a reluctant and volatile young cultural savior in his “Dune” performances.
So the admitted trepidation around “A Complete Unknown” comes from the same concern plaguing all of these musical biopics, which is that in order to get the rights to the iconic songs, the filmmakers are forced to bow to the artist or their estate and to portray them as unimpeachable.
What we end up with is often low-quality, fawning exercises in hero worship with “Elvis” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
But Mangold has proven himself capable of deeper substance before, and Chalamet tends to be great, as does his co-star Elle Fanning, who fills the role of Dylan’s longtime cultural counterpart Joan Baez.
And then of course, there’s the songs. You really can’t argue with the songs.
Catch Brett Fieldcamp’s film column weekly for information and insights into the world of film in the Oklahoma City metro and Oklahoma. | Brought to you by the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.