Agreed On The Play
I love Shakespeare, but the sloppy plotting and lack of momentum make The Tempest one of my least favorite of his plays. It's possible that a brilliant Prospero/a can make it all hang together well, so I still have hopes for Mirren's ability to save this movie, but none of the three productions I've…

I heard him on Fresh Air once, and it only took about 20 minutes with Terri Gross for me to realize without any doubt that he is a pompous ass still desperately humping the Doors' legacy. Seriously, fuck that guy.

I'm shocked this hasn't gotten the Criterion treatment before. I'm not usually one to get excited about extras, but this has me salivating. This is a really stunning movie, and I want to see it again now.

Let's Spend The Night Together. A distinct improvement.

By which I mean his version of "Let's Spend The Night Together" is sexy. I'll hide in the corner now.

Watch That Man and Panic in Detroit are probably the greatest songs on that album, but can we take a moment to appreciate that his version of "Watch That Man" is one of the sexiest things ever recorded? (And that it is definitely better than the original.)

Yes Queen Bitch, Yes Panic In Detroit, Yes Five Years, Yes Suffragette City.

Demerits?
To be clear, I absolutely love Bowie, but it's hard to deny the man had some pretty punishing lows, and I think we need to call them out so that the rest of his stuff can shine in comparison.

The list of favorite Bowie songs is far too long to list, but "Oh! You Pretty Things" will always be on top for me. Just so mysterious and perfect and wonderful.

Read An Excerpt
The New Yorker published an excerpt of this as a short story a few months ago. Powerful stuff—I may want to check this out.

To be pedantic—"I Have Confidence" is Rodgers only—Hammerstein died shortly after the Broadway opening, and Rodgers wrote the lyrics for both that song and "Something Good" for the movie.

My copy should be arriving in the mail today. SO EXCITED.

The film version of "The Wizard of Oz" wasn't based on any of the stage versions (the music was all original, for instance), so I'm not sure it counts.

A Rare Case
I'm no lover of this show, on stage or screen, but I think it's an extremely rare case—a film adaptation that significantly improves upon the stage original. The book of the original is not enough to tell the story—the screenplay does a better job of filling in the gaps instead of jumping from event to…

Wait, do people actually call her P-Rad? That's an awful nickname.

The play I'm in just opened, so acting in the evenings. Also sleeping in, and probably eating some good food.

So Dan Savage's Columns, The Movie?
Wouldn't it be great if a movie ended up with the reasonable conclusion that strict monogamy isn't always the way to do things, and a lot of marriages would be better if there were a little room for openness? And maybe it were the WOMEN who were expressing sexual agency?

@lexicondevil—And I can't think of the last really prominent role Angela Bassett had, either.

In the past decade or so she's worked up a really impressive stage resume, including a Tony win—I get the impression that having made a mint on The Cosby Show freed her up to do whatever she wanted and find really interesting parts. Not many of them have been on film, but that's the way for most older actresses.

Phylicia Rashad and Anika Noni Rose are both brilliant, and I maintain a stubborn affection for Whoopi Goldberg. The rest are variable, perhaps, but have still done good work.