why do people hate the spice girls ? ?
what exactly have they done wrong , other than perhaps offend the fashion police ?
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so what if they are not " great " singers --- they ai n't singing opera , folks , its pop music ! ?
who exactly is a " great " singer ? judging by that opening paragraph
it is obvious that i like the spice girls . ?
they do what they do -- sing some catchy tunes -- and
they do it pretty well . ?
they are able to carry that into their first film , " spice world " . ?
" spice world " certainly is n't a great filmgoing experience .
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what it is what the spice girls are all about : fun , songs , and a lot of " girl power !
" drawing from a number of different films ( like the beatles ' " hard day 's night " ) " spice world " chronicles the week heading up to the girls ' first concert at london 's albert hall .
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they get to tool around london in a big ol' bus ( driven by meat loaf ! )
and generally have fun . ?
in order to through a semblence of plot into the film , there is an evil tabloid publisher played by barry humphries , better known to americans , for about 15 minutes , as dame edna ( remember her ? ) ?
he wants to sabotage the girls ' concert so he can sell papers .
of course , the point in a movie like " spice world " is n't plot . ?
the center of the film is the spice girls themselves : ginger ( the recently departed geri haliwell ) , posh ( victoria adams ) , sporty ( melanie chisolm ) , scary ( melanie brown ) , and baby ( emma bunton ) .
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each one has their own personality and , perhaps the best part of the film , look like they are having some honest - to - goodness fun , something that ca n't be said for a lot of people in films today .
along for the ride are richard e . grant as their manager , clifford , and various other characters making quick cameo appearances ( including teriffic british actors like richard briers and stephen fry ) . ?
and , every once and a while , roger moore pops up as the chief to spout odd koans ( added bonus : he gets to , in the words of craig kilborn , dance , dance , dance . )
watching this film was fun , for the most part . ?
there are a few slow segments , but overly , director bob spiers keeps things moving at a quick pace , with plenty of hummable spice girls songs in the background . ?
his camerawork is fairly pedestrian , though the final concert number is done quite well with effective use of editing . ?
the look of the film promotes the high fun , with the design of the spicebus being quite original and eye - catching .
? add in wall - to - wall spice girls music and this film is lovable romp . ?
if you do n't like the spice girls , you wo n't change your mind with this film .
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but , if you find them at least tolerable , get ready to sit back and chill because the spice girls are here to entertain you . . .
and do it quite well . ?
" spice world " ( 1998 ) . ?
directed by bob spiers . ?
written by kim fuller . ?
music by the spice girls .
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with geri halliwell , victoria adams , melanie chisolm , melanie brown , emma bunton , richard e .
grant , claire rushbrook , roger moore . ?
distributed by columbia pictures .
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running time : 92 minutes . ?
rated : pg . ? available on home video .
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29 june 1998
Output: P