Originally Posted by Buehler445:
Ummm. Not possible. I expect the worst. I also expect my daughter to want to see it. Which, mind you, is the only way it can be worse than I expect.
From one of the reviews:
Originally Posted by :
Glad to report that Cats is everything you’d hoped for and more: a mesmerisingly ugly fiasco that makes you feel like your brain is being eaten by a parasite. A viewing experience so stressful that it honestly brought on a migraine.
I’m not sure how anyone could watch that trailer and think it looks good. My wife seemed interested but I think that’s mostly just because it’s about cats and Taylor Swift is in it. She has no idea what the show is about but she definitely will have to wait to watch once it is in Redbox or something which seems like it might only be a few months until that happens. I don’t even really know of any famous songs from it either that could redeem it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by mr. tegu:
I’m not sure how anyone could watch that trailer and think it looks good. My wife seemed interested but I think that’s mostly just because it’s about cats and Taylor Swift is in it. She has no idea what the show is about but she definitely will have to wait to watch once it is in Redbox or something which seems like it might only be a few months until that happens. I don’t even really know of any famous songs from it either that could redeem it.
"Memory" is the one that most people would know. [Reply]
If they just flimed actors in cat-like leotards like the stage, it would have had somewhat limited appeal, but it probably would have been OK.
Instead, they chose to go full on creepy. As I said above, I just feel bad for all the actors. This is gonna crash and burn hard, and none of their performances are going to remotely be the reason. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
If they just flimed actors in cat-like leotards like the stage, it would have had somewhat limited appeal, but it probably would have been OK.
Instead, they chose to go full on creepy. As I said above, I just feel bad for all the actors. This is gonna crash and burn hard, and none of their performances are going to remotely be the reason.
Like I said when the preview came out:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I've always kinda wondered if somewhere about halfway through something like this the directors, producers and editors went "man, isn't this a complete piece of shit..." but soldiered forth because they were pot committed.
Surely they didn't get ready to start cutting trailers on it and thought "hell yes, we nailed it!"
Everyone closely associated with this project has to know it's trash. Right?
They HAD to know, didn't they?
Surely this was just an issue of being pot-committed.
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Like I said when the preview came out:
They HAD to know, didn't they?
Surely this was just an issue of being pot-committed.
I refuse to believe they didn't know.
It's a fairly beloved stage musical, and they wouldn't have any clue what the final look would be when they were on set. I can buy that it sounded like a good idea at the time. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
It's a fairly beloved stage musical, and they wouldn't have any clue what the final look would be when they were on set. I can buy that it sounded like a good idea at the time.
Apparently even the stage version is something most people think is terrible but it somehow became beloved. It was basically a gimmicked that worked. I wonder if they were going for the same effect with the movie.
Originally Posted by -King-:
Apparently even the stage version is something most people think is terrible but it somehow became beloved. It was basically a gimmicked that worked. I wonder if they were going for the same effect with the movie.
It's definitely a weird show, and it wouldn't be anywhere near my top 10 (probably not even top 25), but it's not painful to watch in person. It's mainly notable for 1) being unique (cat costumes), 2) catchy songs, and 3) great dancing. There's very little plot, but theater is often a bit...experiential.
On the surface, the movie seems to be all of those same things, but the "weird but interesting" costumes have been replaced with "weird and creepy" CGI, the dancing and singing seem much less impressive since it's spliced together rather than live, and they appear to have thrown a nice dose of cat horniness to make it even more creepy.
The more I think of it, the more I think that this should have been a TV live event like they did with Grease, Hairspray, etc. The costumes still would have been weird, but people will live with a low-commitment TV show being a bit odd and experimental, and the singing and dancing would be much more impressive live.
I'm kind of excited to watch this someday just to see how bad it really is, but no way am I spending money to see it in the theater. [Reply]
In trying to draw some sort of parallel, consider the Radio City Rockettes and their Christmas show. They sell a fuck ton of tickets every year at Radio City Music Hall. There's not a plot. Just catchy songs (even recorded), and a bunch of dancing. But it's fun, and the performance itself is impressive.
But imagine if they produced a 2.5-hour movie version of it, but instead of costumes they CGI'ed all of the women to make them look like elves, nutcrackers, penguins, or whatever. Then they zoomed in and out all the time so you could barely even appreciate the dancing. And then they had them grind all over each other as penguins. It just doesn't work the same as it does on stage. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
In trying to draw some sort of parallel, consider the Radio City Rockettes and their Christmas show. They sell a fuck ton of tickets every year at Radio City Music Hall. There's not a plot. Just catchy songs (even recorded), and a bunch of dancing. But it's fun, and the performance itself is impressive.
But imagine if they produced a 2.5-hour movie version of it, but instead of costumes they CGI'ed all of the women to make them look like elves, nutcrackers, penguins, or whatever. Then they zoomed in and out all the time so you could barely even appreciate the dancing. And then they had them grind all over each other as penguins. It just doesn't work the same as it does on stage.
Most musicals would fail.
I mean even something like Hamilton would lose a lot in the translation, IMO. Having a real world 'movie' instead of the carousel set and fixed scenery (that focuses you on the actors not the backgrounds) and lacking the power of a person's voice in real-life just wouldn't work.
It would work better than friggen CATS but it would still be a watered down facsimile. About the only ones that I can see making a fairly seamless transition to a movie are comedies. I honestly think you could pull off Book of Mormon or Spamalot. Even Avenue Q might be able to make the transition (puppets would make it tougher).
But beyond comedy I just can't see it ever being a good idea. [Reply]
