Is it me or was Beyonce trying too damn hard to be a Diana Ross (circa Supremes) era with her dance moves or what? Maybe that was to makeup for her terrible acting skills???

OMG what a coincedence.. I'm watching Dreamgirls right now LMAO!

DANGEROUSx said:

missfee said:

missfee said:

That's exactly what she was doing!

Timmy84 said:

well I can tell you, she did a great job on her dance moves acting like Diana Ross, but her sole acting skills are just hideous.

missfee said:

speshli when she says something along the lines of 'fucking bullshit' ...

edit- typo!
[Edited 1/4/08 19:50pm]

missfee said:

Yeah I cringe when she tried to act, lol. She's just not convincing. Actually the one who convinced me the most of acting in that movie was Anika Noni Rose, who was supposedly the Mary Wilson character, Lorrell Robinson.

But here's the odd thing when you compare the Supremes to the Dreams, Diana Ross actually had a unique voice but in the movie, Deena was supposedly "not so unique" (her mama's words and Curtis').

DANGEROUSx said:

OH MY GOSH!!! That's like the main part where she fucks up at. Or when she was "smoking" the cigarette at the scene where she is watching her fucking true life story. I'm sorry, but diva's don't smoke like the way she was portraying it.

Beyonce is just like J-Ho and Will Smith but the opposite. She should stick with her music and dancing, but leave that acting to professionals. J-Ho and Will, well let's just say that if they even go near a recording studio again, they need to be shot and maimed.

Timmy84 said:

Right! It was more along the lines of..."well we need your voice to crossover even though it's really not that good to begin with"...talk about harsh. I loved Jennifer Hudson's sassyness, but after a while, she was starting to get on my nerves. I wanted somebody to slap her to shut her ass up!

missfee said:

I know. I saw that bit and just cringed, it doesn't sound right.. hahahaa and the bit where she was smoking and smirking at the TV cracked me up.

Yeah Will Smith should stick to acting.. although I love 'Gettin Jiggy With It' .. I love JLos older stuff, like her Love Dont Cost a Thing album or whatever it is, Play or something. ... That Gigli movie was terrible

missfee said:

Isn't Dreamgirls based on The Supremes?

I don't know why it's weird to act like Diana Ross when the story basically IS about Diana Ross.

I agree she can't act though.

missfee said:

I think they really miscontrue that fact. Like that's to say that Diana was too bubblegum or too poppy to be a true soul sister or whatever. And Jennifer IS getting on my nerves. Why she won the Oscar again? Even Flo Ballard didn't sing like either Jennifer (Holiday or Hudson) did, lol.

purplesweat said:

Loosely based on the group but don't tell that to Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson.

!

Who was supposed to be Berry Gordy? Was it Jamie Foxx?

DANGEROUSx said:

Curtis Taylor, Jr. - Berry Gordy, Jr.
Like Curtis, Berry worked in a car mechanic shop.
Curtis built Rainbow Records out of the former shop, but Berry built Motown LIKE a car shop.
Rainbow's logo was THE MUSIC OF TOMORROW, Motown's THE SOUND OF YOUNG AMERICA.
Jimmy Early was a Jackie Wilson/Marvin Gaye type.
The Stepp Sisters could've been the Marvelettes while the Four Tones were obviously the Four Tops.

The film was really Motown-esque. They even copy Supremes album covers for Dreams' covers.

The big differences between the Dreams and Supremes though go as follows:
*While Effie White was the official lead singer of the Dreamettes when they started out, when Florence Ballard formed the Primettes, it was actually a multi-led vocal group (Ballard, Wilson, Ross and a fourth member all sung lead like a doo-wop group).

*Effie White's vocals were gospel-oriented, Florence Ballard's was more blues-oriented and she can wail an operatic wail like no one's business!

*Lorrell Robinson's vocals are also strong as hell but Mary Wilson has a VERY deep husky jazz tone to her vocals.

*Deena Jones supposedly had "no soul", but Diana Ross was reared in Etta James music and doo-wop (mainly Frankie Lymon was one of her biggest influences growing up).

*People will try to think that the lighter Deena (in the film version) got buzz over the darker Effie when in truth in the Supremes, Flo was the lightest of the three Supremes and Diana was the darkest.

*The Supremes never had a "farewell concert" with Florence Ballard when she was alive; the "farewell" from 1970 was for Diana but the Supremes carried on with newer singers until 1977. Flo also died before the Supremes officially called it quits.

*Effie White became an Aretha Franklin-like star but Florence Ballard unfortunately wasn't able to become a star. People in her corner after she left Motown either turned on her or used her for money issues.

*Flo and Diana never fought over the same guy's affections like Effie and Deena. Berry only pursued Diana romantically.

Oh and C.C. White's character was based on Smokey Robinson and Holland-Dozier-Holland.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

Timmy84 said:

!!!

Thanks for all that, wow. I'm still taking it all in

DANGEROUSx said:

Harlepolis don't call me "Motown man" for nothing.

I think the scene where Curtis told her "That she's a LEAD artist because her voice got no personality" stuck with me the most, I guess because it mirrors ALOT of singers now.

Anika is a THEATRE BABY, just like Phylicia Rashad. Both can act, sing and dance if a role requires that. I love Anika, and just like Ms.Rashad, I hope she gets a lush career. She's def well-deserved.

As for the Supremes connection, well lets not 4get how scared and appalled Miss Diane was esp when Sheryl Lee Ralph greeted her, and got nothing but the cold shoulder in return.

As for the movie, they squeezed out EVERY Supreme album picture, every picture from Mahogany and put it in the movie. They wanted to make their own version of "Dreamgirls AKA Supreme" theme, but the story of the Supreme are WAAAAY deeper and much more complicated.

I can understand if Diane got offended. She was STRONGER welled than Florence, she possessed the fire and ambition of the group whereas Mary and Flo took the whole thing nonchalantly, she controled Berry Gordy for her gain on the contrary of the obveious,,,and I wouldn't think that somebody with no personality or no character LASTS this long and still gets considered an iconic figure.

It is what it is, I personally advice everybody to take the movie with a grain of salt.

Harlepolis said:

True. Diana Ross is much stronger and much more driven than people give her credit for. The film had it seem like Deena Jones a/k/a Diana was a puppet but Diana comes from the streets of Detroit, she knew early on that nothing came easy and if that meant controlling men, she had the ability to do it. Looking back, I have no qualms over that because Madonna used the same tactic to become an icon her damn self.

!! This is all very interesting.

Actually if I can be frank, when the Supremes started as the Primettes, they were sought-after background vocalists on other people's records from Detroit. When they couldn't get ahead with their own songs, they were often in the background of other people's records and it was not just records off Motown. Beforehand, they had sung background with Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett, James Dee and a Piece of Action, Gene Martin, Don Ravel, James Velvet, Al Garner, Walt Jessup and so and so and continued doing background work after signing as the Supremes in Motown. They were as prolific a background singing group as the Blossoms and the Andantes but somehow this fact has been overlooked in a lot of Supremes biographies. I'm surprised neither Mary and Diana ever talked about all of that.

Were they? ! Yeah you'd never guess by the way Diana acted lol.

DANGEROUSx said:

When I said the Supremes were more prolific than they were perceived to be, I ain't lying about it! Between 1959 and 1964, the Supremes worked their butt off and after hearing the pre-WDOLG (Where Did Our Love Go) material, they were one of the most underrated girl groups of that period. It's amazing how they suddenly found major success soon after and actually transcended the music business. Diana continued that evolution in her solo career. It's been an amazing journey so to say. "Dreamgirls" doesn't even tell HALF of their story and most of it is not even the Supremes' reality.

I really wish they'd stop putting her in movies, she truly cannot act

CalhounSq said:

i wish they had clips of it so i could c 4 myself on utube but i can't find any

i think ill have 2 rent it
[Edited 1/5/08 18:23pm]

Timmy84 said:

Yeah thanks for the breakdown!!! I knew if anybody was going to do this it would have been you!!! Most of this I knew already, but thanks for giving a clear comparison for us!!!

missfee said:

You're very welcome. When it comes down to Motown stories, I can put it together like a biographer. Besides that's actually my FAVORITE music now. I was listening to the Supremes' #1's like nonstop in the last few days.
[Edited 1/5/08 19:39pm]

DANGEROUSx said:

I'm a bit of a SF geek and dig his science-fiction roles (INDEPENDENCE DAY, I, ROBOT, MIBs (but his serious ACTOR roles are either over-the top (PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS) or horribly miscast (ALI...too skinny)!

His recent I AM LEGEND is aMAJOR star turn!! I thoroughly dug that flick!!!! .

PFunkjazz said:

That Ali movie is a 2-hours cringe special

I can't blame Spike Lee for snubbing the whole thing.