In case you adore musicals and are upset that you currently can’t watch any on stage, we have you covered! Here are some of the best movie musicals, but we’ve decided not to include any Disney musicals for a change as we know the majority of them are well worth the watch!

The Greatest Showman

This movie combines the magic of cinema with music beautifully and features amazing dance sequences, incredible songs, and beautiful shots. This movie is all about P.T. Barnum and how he created the first circus. This movie musical is also about loving yourself and coming together for art. Cast members you may recognise include Hugh Jackman (Logan), Zac Efron (High School Musical), Zendaya (Spiderman: Homecoming), Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine), and Rebecca Ferguson (Mission Impossible-Rogue Nation)

Burlesque

This film has a very star studded cast and songs you can dance around the kitchen to. Although the plot may not be groundbreaking, the dance sequences, costumes, and vocals make up for it. This is a sort of modern Cabaret and shows a country girl rise to the stage in a Burlesque club. Cast members you may recognise include Cher (Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again), Christina Aguilera (The Voice), Eric Dane (Greys Anatomy), and Stanley Tucci (The Hunger Games).

Grease

Grease is a classic in the movie musical world. The songs are iconic and you will want to go right back to the 50s and learn the hand jive after watching this one. Again the storyline has not survived the passage of time that well, but the songs and dance make up for the questionable morals in this one. Grease is all about Sandy and Danny, they had a great summer romance, but all of that changes when Sandy turns up at Danny’s school. 

Mamma Mia

If you love ABBA and/or Greece, then this one’s for you. Mamma Mia is all about Sophie and the fact that she invites all three of her potential dads to her wedding, and what ensues is lots of drama and laughs. The iconic songs from ABBA offer the perfect soundtrack to this one. Cast members you may recognise include Amanda Seyfried (Dear John), Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada), Stellan Skarsgård (Chernobyl), Pierce Brosnan (The World Is Not Enought), Colin Firth (Bridget Jones’ Diary), Julie Walters (Harry Potter), and Christine Baranski (The Good Wife).

Singin’ In The Rain

Singin’ In The Rain is another old classic. It’s set in the 1920s and talking films are slowly becoming a thing. This film is all about actors finding their way in talking films and singing in movies. This movie has amazing songs, breathtaking dance sequences, and is all around wholesome.

Moulin Rouge

Moulin Rouge follows Christian, a writer who travels to Paris, where he meets Satine at a nightclub. This musical features a lot of popular songs and you will definitely recognise some of them. It’s directed by Baz Luhrmann and is a visual masterpiece, filled with colour and drama. Cast members you may recognise include Nicole Kidman (Big Little Lies) and Ewan McGregor (Star Wars).

Rocketman

This film is all about Elton John and it has all of Elton’s best songs, while telling his life story beautifully. It’s very theatrical and feels like a stage musical. Rocketman will have you crying, laughing, and singing along. Cast members you may recognise include Taron Egerton (Kingsman), Richard Madden (Game of Thrones), Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) and Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World).

Les Miserables

This may be one of the best musicals ever written, although the movie isn’t quite as powerful as the onstage version . This one is entirely sung through and follows Jean Valjean on his journey from being a prisoner to something more. This story is set in 1832, France during the June rebellion. This film is filled with Broadway actors and Hollywood actors, what makes this film unique is that all these songs were sung live on set! Cast members you may recognise include Hugh Jackman (X-Men), Russel Crow (A Beautiful Mind), Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises), Eddie Redmayne ( Fantastic Beasts and where to find them) and Amanda Seyfried (Mean Girls).

Sunshine on Leith

Sunshine on Leith is set in Scotland and is set to the songs of The Proclaimers. This film follows Davy and Ally who have just returned from Afghanistan and how they settle back into their life in Edinburgh. The story is touching and you will be singing along to a couple of songs. Cast members you may recogniseinclude George MacKay (1917), Kevin Guthrie (The English Game) and Antonia Thomas (The Good Doctor).

Once

Once is great for the people who don’t want big dance numbers. This film is all about a busker and an immigrant and their love story in Dublin. This film combines songs beautifully with their romance, this is a movie where they only sing when they are recording songs or celebrating.

Because there are just too many good movie musicals, here are some honourable mentions: Hairspray, Chicago, Goddess, Annie, The Sound of Music, La La Land, and The Phantom of the Opera!

Do you have any other recommendations? Tell us in the comments below!

The post 10 Wonderful Movie Musicals appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

The Greatest Showman hit the theatres at the end of 2017 and it took a lot of us, including myself, by surprise. Filled with music, romance, and most importantly: the journey to self-acceptance, I’m not exaggerating when I say it glued me to my seat.

Of course, with the ending of every movie comes that moment we all dread the most—when you get out of the theatre and you face the terrible realisation that the movie is over and with that, the universe of the film is gone too. There will be no sequels, no new trailer or no cast reunion. The only thing left to do is to stalk every website with a list of movies or books that remind them of the masterpiece you just watched, hoping for at least the chance to mirror the feeling this work of art gave you.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is our list of books that will help you escape to a circus or a world of magic!

The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O’Neill

This book captures the rise of people with big talent and little money. Just like Barnum, these kids take their creativity to the next level and make their way through the hard times to rise above the adversity and life that was designed for them by others. With a couple as touching as Phineas and Charity, this is the closest book I have found to resemble all the action and meaning in The Greatest Showman.

Synopsis | Goodreads
Two babies are abandoned in a Montreal orphanage in the winter of 1910. Before long, their talents emerge: Pierrot is a piano prodigy; Rose lights up even the dreariest room with her dancing and comedy. As they travel around the city performing clown routines, the children fall in love with each other and dream up a plan for the most extraordinary and seductive circus show the world has ever seen. Separated as teenagers, sent off to work as servants during the Great Depression, both descend into the city’s underworld, dabbling in sex, drugs and theft in order to survive. But when Rose and Pierrot finally reunite beneath the snowflakes after years of searching and desperate poverty the possibilities of their childhood dreams are renewed, and they’ll go to extreme lengths to make them come true. Soon, Rose, Pierrot and their troupe of clowns and chorus girls have hit New York, commanding the stage as well as the alleys, and neither the theater nor the underworld will ever look the same.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

In this book the magic of a circus is captured—quite literally. The journey of two magicians to befall one another gets tricky when they actually fall for each other. If you like the circus environment and the battle to rise inside it, plus a good love story like Barnum’s or Phillip’s, this book is for you.

Synopsis | Goodreads
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway – a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love – a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley

Since The Greatest Showman is a family movie, this book is written from a middle grade and children’s point of view. It takes the atmosphere of the circus and its magic, except this time the magic is real. It’s a wonderful tale about the power of family and it made me think of how Barnum’s girls would be picturing his circus.

Synopsis | Goodreads
Do you believe in magic? Micah Tuttle does. Even though his awful Great-Aunt Gertrudis doesn’t approve, Micah believes in the stories his dying Grandpa Ephraim tells him of the magical Circus Mirandus: the invisible tiger guarding the gates, the beautiful flying birdwoman, and the magician more powerful than any other—the Man Who Bends Light. Finally, Grandpa Ephraim offers proof. The Circus is real. And the Lightbender owes Ephraim a miracle. With his friend Jenny Mendoza in tow, Micah sets out to find the Circus and the man he believes will save his grandfather. The only problem is, the Lightbender doesn’t want to keep his promise. And now it’s up to Micah to get the miracle he came for.

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

Not only does this book include the circus life, but this beautiful love story between Jacob and Marlena will bring you back memories of Philip and Anne. This book was also adapted for a movie in 2011, starring Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon.

Synopsis | Goodreads
When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.

The Prestige by Christopher Priest

This story doesn’t include a circus, but the story of two magicians trying to rise to fame within the same time period. The battle to overcome each other and the advance of their careers mirrors the struggle of life in The Greatest Showman. This book was also adapted into a movie in 2006 which, coincidentally, or not so much, stars Hugh Jackman.

Synopsis | Goodreads
In 1878, two young stage magicians clash in the dark during the course of a fraudulent séance. From this moment on, their lives become webs of deceit and revelation as they vie to outwit and expose one another. Their rivalry will take them to the peaks of their careers, but with terrible consequences. In the course of pursuing each other’s ruin, they will deploy all the deception their magicians’ craft can command–the highest misdirection and the darkest science. Blood will be spilled, but it will not be enough. In the end, their legacy will pass on for generations…to descendants who must, for their sanity’s sake, untangle the puzzle left to them.

Bonus: The Life of P.T. Barnum by P.T. Barnum

What better way to remain in the universe of The Greatest Showman than reading Phineas Taylor Barnum’s autobiography? This book tells about his journey to fame from his own point of view. If you’re into knowing more about the man Hugh Jackman immortalised, this book is for you.

Synopsis | Goodreads
An autobiography of Phineas T. Barnum that immortalizes the showman who hoodwinked customers into paying to hear the reminiscences of a woman presented as George Washington’s 161-year-old nurse, the impresario who brought Jenny Lind to America and toured Europe with General Tom Thumb, and the grand entrepreneur of the American Museum of New York.

Are you still infatuated with the circus vibes and legends in rising? Do you have any faves similar to these? Tell us in comments!

The post 5 Books To Read If You Loved ‘The Greatest Showman’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Can’t make it to the movies? No problem because Netflix is releasing their $90 million fantasy film this month and it looks very interesting!

Check out what’s coming out this month and tell us in the comments below what film you’re most excited for!

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Rey develops her newly discovered abilities with the guidance of Luke Skywalker, who is unsettled by the strength of her powers. Meanwhile, the Resistance prepares to do battle with the First Order.

Starring Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Carrie Fisher, Billie Lourd, Domhnall Gleeson, Mark Hamill, Andy Serkis, and Gwendoline Christie.

The Greatest Showman | Trailer

Inspired by the imagination of P. T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman is an original musical that celebrates the birth of show business & tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.

Starring Hugh Jackman (The Wolverine), Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn), Zac Efron (Baywatch), Zendaya (Spider-Man Homecoming), Rebecca Ferguson (The Girl on The Train).

Bright

Set in an alternate present-day follows two cops from very different backgrounds.  Ward, a human, and Jakoby, an orc, embark on a routine night patrol that will alter the future of their world as they know it.  Battling both their own personal differences as well as an onslaught of enemies, they must work together to protect a deadly, thought-to-be-forgotten relic, which in the wrong hands could destroy everything.

Starring Will Smith (Men In Black), Joel Edgerton (Warrior), Noomi Rapace (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo), Lucy Fry (Vampire Academy), Edgar Ramirez (The Girl on the Train), Ike Barinholtz (The Mindy Project), Enrique Murciano, Jay Hernandez, Andrea Navedo (Jane the Virgin), Dawn Olivieri (House of Lies), and Kenneth Choi (American Crime Story).

Pitch Perfect 3 | Trailer

After the highs of winning the world championships, the Bellas find themselves split apart and discovering there aren’t job prospects for making music with your mouth. But when they get the chance to reunite for an overseas USO tour, this group of awesome nerds will come together to make some music, and some questionable decisions, one last time.

Starring Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Hailee Steinfield, Elizabeth Banks, and Ruby Rose (Orange is the New Black).

Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle

Four high school kids discover an old video game console and are drawn into the game’s jungle setting, literally becoming the adult avatars they chose. To beat the game and return to the real world, they’ll have to go on the most dangerous adventure of their lives, discover what Alan Parrish left 20 years ago, and change the way they think about themselves – or they’ll be stuck in the game forever.

Starring Dwayne Johnson (Baywatch), Kevin Hart (Get Hard), Karen Gillian (Guardians of the Galaxy), Jack Black (School of Rock), Missi Pyle (Gone Girl), Tim Matheson (Hart of Dixie) and Nick Jonas (Scream Queens).

Ferdinand | Trailer

After Ferdinand, a bull with a big heart, is mistaken for a dangerous beast, he is captured and torn from his home. Determined to return to his family, he rallies a misfit team on the ultimate adventure.

Featuring the voices of Kate McKinnon (Ghostbusters 2017), Bobby Cannavale (Mr Robot), John Cena (Trainwreck), David Tennant (Jessica Jones), Gina Rodriguez (Jane The Virgin), Daveed Diggs (The Get Down), and Miguel Ángel Silvestre (Sense8).

Downsizing

When scientists discover how to shrink humans to five inches tall as a solution to overpopulation, Paul and his wife Audrey decide to abandon their stressed lives in order to get small and move to a new downsized community — a choice that triggers life-changing adventures.

Starring Matt Damon (The Martian), Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), and Hong Chau (Big Little Lies).

Wonder Wheel | Trailer

Four peoples’ lives intertwine amid the hustle and bustle of the Coney Island amusement park in the 1950s: Ginny, an emotionally volatile former actress now working as a waitress in a clam house; Humpty, Ginny’s rough-hewn carousel operator husband; Mickey, a handsome young lifeguard who dreams of becoming a playwright; and Carolina, Humpty’s long-estranged daughter, who is now hiding out from gangsters at her father’s apartment.

Starring Justin Timberlake, Kate Winslet (The Dressmaker), Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises), and Jim Belushi (Good Girls Revolt).

All The Money In The World

After the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III, his mother desperately attempts to convince his billionaire grandfather to pay the ransom. When Getty Sr. refuses, she attempts to sway him as her son’s captors become increasingly volatile and brutal. With her son’s life in the balance, Gail and Getty’s advisor become unlikely allies in the race against time that ultimately reveals the true and lasting value of love over money.

Starring Mark Wahlberg (Transformers: The Last Knight), Christopher Plummer (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo), Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn), and Charlie Plummer (Granite Flats).

The post December Movie Releases appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Hugh Jackman takes on the role of P.T Barnum, a charming man in the early 1800s. The film tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation and celebrates the birth of show business.

Directed by Australian commercial director and visual effects coordinator Michael Gracey, this will be his feature-length debut. He’s also set to work on a live-action adaptation of Naruto, an Elton John biopic, and Laini Taylor’s 2011 fantasy novel Daughter of Smoke and Bone. he screenplay was written by Bill Condon (Chicago) and Jenny Bicks (Sex and the City). The film will feature original songs by La La Land‘s Oscar winning lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

Starring Hugh Jackman (The Wolverine), Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn), Zac Efron (Baywatch), Zendaya (Spider-Man Homecoming), Rebecca Ferguson (The Girl on The Train).

The Greatest Showman opens in wide release this Christmas.

Watch the trailer and tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

The post ‘The Greatest Showman’ Is Here With First Trailer! appeared first on The Nerd Daily.