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esonetwork · 5 years ago

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Cats Movie Review

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Cats Movie Review

Since the trailer debut in July, Cats has been the talk of the Internet with many people calling it “nightmare fuel” due to the use of “digital fur technology” that blends actor’s faces with the body of a CGI cat. It’s a strange effect that makes the film look downright bizarre. The titled “cats” don’t look human, nor do they look exactly like cats. They fall somewhere in the middle of a new digital creation. It’s a bold experiment that didn’t exactly pay off for Director Tom Hooper, who has received scathing reviews from critics on his latest film. I’m not sure he deserves the intense bashing he’s getting. Had he remade the film with the actors in fursuits, like the musical, I’m sure people would’ve mocked him just as tirelessly. He tried something new, and it works some of the time, it doesn’t work in others. Cats is not the tragedy it’s been declared. It’s just a strange film based on an odd musical.

The Broadway musical was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on poems by T.S. Elliot. Webber has famously said that Cats is just “a musical about Cats.” Nothing more than that. How can I believe that when this storyline contains not one, but two cat magicians, Andrew? What are the Jellicles? Why is Judi Dench their official leader? Are we sure this isn’t a metaphor for the monarchy in England? I cannot sit here and believe this is simply just “a musical about cats.” I will overthink it until January.

The story starts, straightforwardly enough, a female cat named Victoria (newcomer Francesca Hayward in a very good performance) is abandoned and finds herself in a group of jellicle cats attempting to find her place. What’s a Jellicle cat? Great question. The Jellicles are like a clique of singing cats that really want to perform for Judi Dench. Victoria soon learns there’s about to be a Jellicle Ball (obviously. What else are the Jellicles going to do on a Tuesday night?) On the evening of the Jellicle Ball, Judi Dench takes the form of a cat and grants one cat a new life in the Heaviside Layer. (It sounds ominous, but it just means they get to live a happy life!) it’s kind of like American Idol, but for Cats. Anyway, that’s all well and good. Still, things get wild when a magical cat (formerly known as the sexiest man alive, Idris Elba) starts magically transporting his fellow felines to a boat in the middle of the Thames because he wants to get to the Heaviside Layer first. If you followed that plot, congratulations. You are ready to attend the Jellicle Ball. Judi Dench is preparing your invite as I’m typing this.

My biggest problem with Cats is this bonkers storyline. I’d love to know the amount of drug usage that was involved in writing the stage play. Maybe it was none, but that seems hard to believe. Seeing the introduction of each cat and their different personalities is entertaining! It’s the side plots with magic that bogs the movie down. You’re already asking me to suspend disbelief if I’m watching a 2-hour movie about singing cats, let’s not push it by having them be successful magicians.

I can’t deny there are some genuinely good musical numbers here. Andrew Lloyd Webber decided he was going to write some catchy tunes about his cats, and he did that. It certainly helps that choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler is fantastic. The opening “Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats” is an explosion of energy in song form. Seeing all of the cats (or whatever you’d like to call these creations) run around the massive and impressively built sets is just plain fun! Musical fans know the opening number is make-or-break, and this one got my attention. The most notable song from Cats is Memory, and Jennifer Hudson brought the house down with that one. I completely forgot she was playing vying for the Jellicle choice the moment she sang the song. I’m a loyal Taylor Swift fan, so “Macavity” was a personal favorite in the movie. Swift descends from the ceiling on a moon cutout and commands every second of her 5-minute screen time. (Fans should know she only appears in one scene. It’s a bit misleading that she’s been hailed a star of Cats.) “Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat” is a lively and upbeat musical number explaining the importance of railway cats. Do you have a train? You better get a Skimbleshanks because 1) he will tapdance around the tracks, and 2) he will keep the mice away. Beautiful Ghosts, the new addition to the musical, penned by Taylor Swift and Andrew Lloyd Webber brings emotion and heart to the film. As a musical fan, I wasn’t let down by the songs or numbers. However, there is very little dialogue here. If you don’t enjoy musicals, you will not have a good time watching this.

There is quite a star-studded cast involved in Cats. Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Ian McKellan, Jason Derulo, James Corden, and Rebel Wilson all make appearances. Some of these are just quick cameos (like Swift and McKellan), while some have more prominent roles. Jennifer Hudson is the standout of the film. “Memory” is beautiful, and her character, Grizabella, has an interesting storyline. James Corden, as Bustopher Jones, which is my new favorite name in the history of the world, is way too over-the-top. Taylor Swift and Idris Elba make the best of the little time they have.

There’s not a doubt in my mind that Cats will become a cult classic like Rocky Horror Picture Show or The Room. Honestly, I’d join in on the fun. I can’t get some of the songs out of my head. These cats have me so intrigued. I must know more about their Jellicle secrets! Cats is whacky, wild, and weird. There are some entertaining and fun musical numbers here, but the strange storyline might take away from your enjoyment. I’d recommend this one to musical fans only.

#cats #review

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hellchilde · 7 years ago

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Reactions to Beauty and the Beast: 2017

Like most of my generation, I have a special connection to the Disney animated film, Beauty and the Beast, when it was released in 1991. I was 4 at the time, already obsessed with Disney, enough that I had the Little Mermaid memorized and my parents had recorded Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty on cassette tape for me to listen to in the car. Beauty and the Beast changed the game for me. Here was a princess with brown hair who liked to read and was considered a little odd by her village - awesome, just like me! The music and visuals were stunning, the story was captivating, and it became my new favorite Disney film (until 1992′s release of Aladdin, which I remember seeing five times in the theaters, but that’s another story).

When news came that they were remaking Beauty and the Beast in a live action film, I had a mixed reaction. On one hand, I was excited about how modern technology might remake some of my favorite Disney visuals in a whole new medium. But at the same time, I was skeptical of recapturing the magic of the original. I have never seen the Broadway show, so I didn’t have that for reference. I just hold the original animated version very dear to my heart.

The movie was just released on Netflix, and my reaction is still mixed. It’s probably best summed up in a pros and cons list...

Cons first:

- I saw this for the first time on a laptop screen, rather than in theaters. I could tell there were portions that were meant to be viewed with 3D glasses in a theater, and that’s one thing I hate about movies produced for 3D. I can’t stand it when you see a part that is so obviously meant to have some kind of visual effect, mostly because I don’t see movies in 3D and the effect is always lost and just generally superfluous. I almost never see an effect that works better in 3D. The exception might be something like How To Train Your Dragon, where the 3D effects are subtle and woven in more seamlessly. - A side effect of this 3D effect was maybe some of the grandiose, sweeping shots felt just kind of ... boring. One of my favorite songs/shots in the original was Belle’s song about wanting a life of adventure and excitement as she runs out to the field, right before the horse returns and signals her father’s imprisonment. The song is stirring and beautiful, and she looks so wistful and hopeful. In the 2017 version, rather than keeping the focus on Belle’s longing expression, the scene pans out over a boring kind of landscape like an excuse to show off more CGI work. The movie did this a few times, zooming out or panning when I would have preferred a closer look at the characters and the emotions on their faces. - Why was this movie so effing dark? Maybe it works better in a theater, but on my laptop screen, even with the brightness turned up, it was often hard to figure out what was happening. The lighting definitely needed some work. - For a big budget Disney film, I found the CGI lacking. I know the Beast’s design has come under some criticism (understandably). The other CGI characters looked intricate, but again, there was a severe lack of focus. The shots were too wide-frame or quick or dark to take in the details that were so beautiful. I really liked Cogsworth’s design, but we only clearly got to see it in a few shots near the end. - There were some tweaks to the story, some more bothersome than others, and some of that is probably nostalgia speaking. I’m undecided about how I feel about Gaston leaving Maurice to die in the woods ... in the end, I think it was kind of extra and didn’t add much of anything to the story. I did have a problem with Agathe being the secret sorceress the whole time. Again, didn’t add anything to the story, and she didn’t even have any dialogue that would explain her reasoning behind staying so close to the prince all these years. She showed up to save Maurice (pointless) and then at the end to wave her wand (also pointless). - The change that I hated the most was the library scene! In the original film, the Beast has the library set up as a gift, and he’s so excited he has Belle close her eyes before she enters, and he flings the drapes open, and he’s so THRILLED to see her reaction! It’s beautiful character development, and I love the Beast’s facial expressions in the animated version. In the live version, the whole scene is underwhelming, he brings her to the library because he thinks she isn’t well read, and he doesn’t even think of offering it as a gift until she seems excited to be there. Just so womp-womp and lacking the emotion of the original. - Actually this exact same thing happens in the final scene! It’s the climax, Gaston has cornered the Beast, verbally and physically berating him for daring to fall in love with Belle, and the Beast has basically given up the fight, too heartsick to go on. But then she appears, and his face transforms like light breaking over the trees. He sighs her name like it’s the meaning of life, and his whole body softens, and he has the will to fight for his life once more. It’s utterly beautiful. Cut to the 2017 version, which is shot far too wide for any kind of such beautiful emotive transformation and the CGI lacks the subtlety or lighting to portray the Beast’s relief to see Belle again. Yeah, you can tell he’s happy, but it’s not nearly as effective as the original. - Not entirely sure how I feel about “historically accurate” Disney movies. The original took place in a sort of timeless “France”, possibly post-monarchy but somehow with a prince ... you just don’t question it. But between referencing “the war” and flashbacks to Paris (and needing to leave it) and the costumes referencing a very specific time period, you have to wonder what’s going on. Has the monarchy been overthrown? Why is there still a prince? What’s Napoleon up to? What are the politics outside of the little town? I found it distracting in the course of the movie because these questions can never be answered and still keep the integrity of the original story at all intact. That would be a different movie. Possibly very interesting. Probably more in line with the Anastasia movie than Beauty and the Beast. - I almost forgot the accents. It’s a thing with all of these movies, but honestly, we have British accents, French accents, and American accents. I wish they would stick with one accent for everyone in the movie, it would make it much more cohesive.

That being said, there were some things that I really liked about this movie...

- When the movie wasn’t overly dark and jerking it to the wide pan shots, the visuals were beautiful. When they got the CGI right, they got it REALLY right. The marketplace was really well done, so colorful and cheerful - I got the feeling this was something they had pulled from the Broadway version because the ensemble thing worked really well. Also that final ballroom scene where they’re all dancing ... stunning colors, not too dark, well-shot in a wide frame that fits the scene. - Luke Evans killed it as Gaston. Loved it. A+ performance. Hot damn. So entertaining to watch. - In the same vein, I was pleasantly surprised by the celebrity cameos! Kevin Kline! Emma Thompson! Ian McKellan! Ewan McGregor?! (did not recognize him in all the makeup) All very entertaining. I loved Kevin Kline’s Maurice. - Le Fou’s character definitely didn’t match with the original, but somehow I didn’t mind it? I liked that he was a little less of a bumbling idiot and questioned Gaston and even brought him down from some kind of weird PTSD-related rage surge. I thought he was pretty fun. Did not like the gay crumbs thrown to us by having him dance with a guy for 0.5 seconds. But I am willing to overlook it because he was fun to watch. Also, such amazing chemistry with Luke Evans/Gaston. - At first I was pretty annoyed with the Beast in general, and overall I liked him less than his animated counterpart. He was pretty mumbly and not nearly animated enough with his expressions. So, partly the actor and partly the CGI. But as the film went on, I liked him more and more. When he wasn’t being mumbly, he had a fun dry humor that I enjoyed. The transformation into a human is still basically disappointing because human men are boring, but I giggled when he growled playfully at Belle at the very end. - The ~music~! All of my old favorites and some new ones! Again, some I liked better than others, and the Gaston song I felt was particularly disappointing if only because it’s really a favorite of mine and I’m nostalgic enough not to want it to change at all. But it was so good to see them done in a new way and to relive that piece of magic.

When it comes to it, I was entertained and I’d probably watch it again. It doesn’t come close to beating out the original, which I think was both more emotionally effective and beautiful to watch. But it was a good new take, and there were parts of it that I really enjoyed. I’m still bothered by the historical stuff, though, and I want to figure it out! Why doesn’t this movie give me the answers I so desperately require!

#beauty and the beast #beauty and the beast 2017 #movie review #movies #movie #long post #i just have lots of opinions

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banjodanger · 5 years ago

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X-Men: The Movie(2000) Previous Impressions.

So, I wanted to expand on why I’m doing this idea as my first blog. Firstly, I just want to get back into writing, and what’s easier to write than criticism of things I had no part in? Paragraphs upon paragraphs are written in a million comment sections. So, I’m taking a very minor hurdle in the hopes I can renew my interest in something that brought me a lot of joy in the past. Plus, X-Men have always brought my a certain amount of joy. I’m in my mid-thirties and still buy and enjoy the comics. I love these characters, and this gives me a chance to spend some time with them. Finally, these movies ushered in our current cash crop of superhero movies. They’ve been running for twenty years. The first one came out when I started high school. This year, New Mutants comes out and I’m almost ready for a few mid-life crises. Is that enough justification? No? Too bad, first time blogs don’t have to be good. In fact, what if I’m never good at blogging? I won’t lose much sleep, I have a lifetime of mistakes to dwell on. Trust me, blogging takes a backseat to anytime I’ve tried to flirt, ever. So, let’s start with some memories of the first X-Men movie: *I remember Hugh Jackman being perfect as Wolverine from the get-go. Apparently he almost didn’t get it, and was recommended by Russell Crowe. The list of actors that were considered is a damn fun game of what if, but honestly I think they got the best man for the job. *Speaking of what ifs, what if they had cast Glenn Danzig? His best acting job would still be Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Hugh Jackman 4-eva, is what I’m getting at here.  *The rest of the casting was pretty spot on. Ian Mckellan and Patrick Stewart really stand out. Anna Paquin took Rogue in a much different direction than she had in the comics, but it worked. It was very similar to her characterization in her miniseries and Evolution. The villains successfully villained, the heroes were successfully heroic. *As far as cute cameos and references, the voice of Beast in the nineties cartoon has a cameo as a truck driver. That’s it. I mean, what were they going to reference? Blade had come out a couple years previous, but it was hardly marketed as a comic book film. I only remember the marketing slightly, but I’d call it horror marketing before I called it superhero marketing. *The plot was pretty straightforward, which is weird considering the usual X-men storyline. Magneto might have been trying to turn everyone into amorphous water blobs, *I wonder how Wolverine’s claws look after twenty years of advances in special effects. This wasn’t a cheap movie, but graphics have made huge advances in twenty years. Go ahead and boot up some of your old games if you don’t believe me. I remember when Max Payne’s graphics were considered cutting edge. *There wasn’t an after-credits scene…this is almost quaint. Remember when you just went to see a movie, liked it, and that was it? A glut of sequels wasn’t an automatic given? Apart from horror movies, I guess. I don’t think they had any choice BUT to turn Jason into a zombie-type monster. You can’t keep arguing that this Massachusetts hillbilly is just really tough to kill forever.   Ok, that does it for now. Let’s see how this goes.

#xmen Xmenmovies movie criticism

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