Everyone loves classic movie musicals such as "West Side Story" and "The Sound of Music," but there are also so many wonderful ones that were made in this millennium! So here's a list of my favorite modern movie musicals!
1. "Mamma Mia!"
This musical is my go-to whenever I'm feeling depressed or sick. It's a jukebox musical that utilizes smash hit Swedish group ABBA's music to tell a truly crazy tale.
"Mamma Mia!" tells the story of Sophie, a girl that is getting married and wants her dad to come to the wedding. The only problem is that she doesn't know who her dad is! She finds her mom's old diary and realizes that there are three different men that could possibly be her dad, so unbeknownst to her mom, she invites all three of them to the wedding!
Chaos and hilarity ensue through ABBA's iconic music.
This musical's hilarious and incredibly feel-good. It has all the elements of a good chick flick, but it's even better since there's singing! The only issue is getting through Pierce Brosnan's horrible singing voice, but you are also rewarded with Meryl Streep's amazing singing, so it's a fair trade-off.
2. "Moulin Rouge"
This is another jukebox musical, but it meshes together tons of music from different artists. It tells the story of Christian, a writer who is fascinated with the idea of love but has never been in love until he meets Satine, a prostitute at the Moulin Rouge.
Ewan Mcgregor's singing is truly a blessing. Though the movie can be a bit trippy at the beginning, it is definitely worth a watch.
3. "La La Land"
This one's pretty self-explanatory. There's a reason why it won every possible award (except for Best Picture... Too soon?).
The music is great, the acting's phenomenal, the visuals and use of color are stunning, and the ending is deeply emotional and heartbreaking in all the best ways.
Yes, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone aren't great singers, but everything else in this movie is so great that that can be overlooked.
4. "Hairspray"
Through its fun dance sequences and upbeat music, "Hairspray" does an amazing job of tackling serious themes like racism and body image while remaining super happy and uplifting.
Plus, who wouldn't jump at the chance to see Zac Efron singing and dancing again?
5. "Once"
"Once" is one of those movies that sounds terrible in theory, but is actually amazing in practice. This is a very low-budget, almost plot-less movie about two people making music together.
But the raw emotion the movie evokes and the gorgeous music is what makes this movie so special. It's one of my favorite movies of all time, but it's hard to describe why. It's just one of those movies you have to see for yourself.
6. "Across the Universe"
This is another jukebox musical, this time utilizing the music of The Beatles to create a story about love and friendship.
This musical follows the story of Jude, a British man who journeys to Vietnam-War-era America to find his father. Along the way, he befriends a guy called Max and falls in love with his sister, Lucy.
This psychedelic story does an amazing job of weaving the world-famous Beatles music into the story and making it their own (but still remaining true to the originals).
7. "Rent"
This movie's an adaptation of the Broadway hit musical, which centers around 6 friends living the bohemian lifestyle in 1980s/1990s New York City.
Lots of people complain about this movie and I will grant that there were some terrible choices made about what they cut out when they made this movie. But you've got to give them props for having the good judgment to bring back almost the entire original Broadway cast.
The singing and acting are phenomenal. And though it's not the same as the stage version, it still captures the spirit of it pretty well.
If you're going to watch the movie, I highly recommend you watch the deleted "Goodbye Love" scene in the place it should be. It adds so much to the story and whoever decided to cut that scene was an idiot.
8. "Chicago"
This is yet another Broadway adaptation, centering around Velma and Roxy, who are trying to get out of the women's prison they're in and get into show business.
Even though the main characters are horrible people, the acting's so good that you find yourself rooting for them. Also, iconic musical scenes like "Cell Block Tango" make this an instant hit.
9. "Sing Street "
This musical flew way under the radar when it came out even though it's amazing. Made by the same people that made "Once," the story takes place in 1980s Dublin, where a high-schooler named Conner tries to win over his crush by starting a band.
Though the story seems clichéd and overdone, it's really the music that sets this one apart. The songwriters did an amazing job of capturing all styles of music in the 80s and adding their own original spin on the songs. Not only does the music from the movie feel current, it feels like it could have come from that era.
Also, the relationship between Conner and his older brother is really compelling and something that isn't shown in movies too often.
BONUS: "The Greatest Showman"
I've already made an entirely separate article about why I love this movie, so I don't think I need to elaborate here, but it would have felt wrong to not include it.