I stuck it out because I kept hoping it would get better (it did not), but I totally get why a person would have walked out of the stage version. In my opinion it is quite possibly the worst musical ever written and is the ultimate musical theatre version of a one-hit wonder.
I heard some commentary about an upgrade being sent out over the web to all the theaters where it's currently showing. Doesn't that remind you of Windows 10?
From rottentomatoes.com:
"Despite its fur-midable cast, this Cats adaptation is a clawful mistake that will leave most viewers begging to be put out of their meow-sery."
I saw it the day of release. I didn't notice the cgi being all that bad. The things people complained about I didnt even recall.
I think because I wasnt so concerned with the graphics. I was too focused on how it was directed and the choreography/singing. I thought some of that was not great.
A Chorus Line is my all time fave musical. It did not translate well to film. Still, some of the dance scenes, especially the opening number, are great.
Cats is my second fave. The first time I saw it, the only seat available was first row, seat 1. I was a bit bummed until the show started. Some of the performers were about 8 feet away. I could practically touch them. The costumes were amazing, and the dancers moved like they had all had their spines surgically removed. It was stunning, no matter that the story line is pretty goofy. It was based on a book of poems for children. It wasn't meant to be Shakespeare!
This sounds like it didn't translate all that well to cinema either. Pity, but I will go for the dancing and the costumes. Even in the live version, it wasn't about the acting. Though I hear Ian McGandalf is pretty good.
I don't know why, but I liked the movie A Chorus Line. I've never seen it onstage, but I'd like to.
When I first heard Cats was going to be a movie, my first thought was "bad choice". Then I found out Thomas Hopprr who directed the movie musical Les Miserables was going to direct, and I thought that was an even more bad idea. I like it though. Ian as Gus was my favorite part. I'd watch that scene all day.
Took a nephew to see it on Broadway many years ago so I already knew to steer clear. I thought it would never end. 2 & 1/2 hours. I was wishing I had brought something to read---like the phone book. Remember them? Some Chinese tourists behind us were singing along. That actually improved it.
Midnight Not a sound from the pavement Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone In the lamplight The withered leaves collect at my feet And the wind begins to moan
Memory All alone in the moonlight I can smile at the old days I was beautiful then I remember The time I knew what happiness was Let the memory live again
Every street lamp Seems to beat a fatalistic warning Someone mutters at the street lamp gutters And soon it will be morning
Daylight I must wait for the sunrise I must think of a new life And I mustn't give in When the dawn comes Tonight will be a memory too And a new day will begin
Burnt out ends of smoky days The stale cold smell of morning A street lamp dies, another night is over Another day is dawning
Touch me It's so easy to leave me All alone with my memory Of my days in the sun If you touch me You'll understand what happiness is Look a new day has begun
"Cats" has a very bizarre history for me. I was spiraling down into a soul-crushing depression. I knew that my husband and his girlfriend were cheating on me, but they were gaslighting the hell out of the situation, and both assured me, with the most incredibly sincere faces, that they would never dream of such a thing.
"Cats" was playing at the Sanger Theater in New Orleans, and I desperately wanted to see it. The DH consistently refused. I crashed into a horrific depression that landed me in the hospital for two months. It was awful.
Many months later, I would chance to find tickets for "Cats" - DH and the GF went while I was stuck in that hospital. Was that rotten, or what? I already knew that they were cheating, but somehow, sneaking out to see that play while my soul was being crushed out of me at that hospital seemed like a terrible betrayal.
After I escaped to my new life and new love, "Cats" came to our local theater here, and while my DH isn't particularly fond of Broadway-type shows, he shared that one with me, and it healed all the hurt places in my heart. The symbolic value of seeing that play with the man I love was so magical!
So, yes - "Cats" is especially meaningful to me. I don't think I will bother with the movie. I saw the stage play, and I have a DVD of the West End soundtrack, and that is enough.
The preview in the link is pretty bad, but not quite as bad as Robert Redford's "The Great Gatsby" (1974); Cybill Shepherd's "At Long Last Love" (1975); or "Michael Cimino's Heavens Gate" (1980). I saw all three in previews, but only "Gate" in the full version (re-edited second release) and that was mostly to see if it was really as bad as everybody said. Based on the previews, I would still give the bad movie crown to one of them; but "Cats" is certainly a strong contender.
I didn't care much for T.S. Eliot in college, but I saw a roadshow production of "Cats" in the 1990's in Cleveland, and it had its moments. For this version, I think the preview will be enough.
But Judi Dench and Ian McKellen? It just shows once again that great actors can't save a bad picture. Think of Paul Newman and Virginia Mayo in "The Silver Chalice" (1954); Laurence Olivier as Douglas MacArthur in "Inchon" (1981); Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in "Cleopatra" (1963), "Boom!" (1968), or "Hammersmith is Out" (1972)--the list goes on and on. At least Dame Judi and Sir Ian can fall back on the words of the great motion picture philosopher Robert Mitchum: "I don't see how you can call that movie a failure: I got paid."
Holiday greetings and best New Year's wishes to all RFM'ers from nevermo occasional contributor,
Never been much interested in seeing the play, let alone the movie. I'm not someone to see plays. I don't know if mormonism ruined it for me or what, but all the BORING productions mormonism put on that I was so excited to go see, I can't bear to see live acting. I even gave my ticket away to see Phantom (in SLC). I saw the movie and liked it.
And catnip, I'm sorry you had to go through all that. I know what a horrible "divorce" is like (since I'm not divorced, one of the main reasons being I didn't have the emotional energy to do it back then). I don't really even acknowledge to myself that I'm married, that I ever married him. They definitely should have hospitalized me.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/25/2019 12:45PM by cl2.
Woke A word currently used to describe "consciousness" and being aware of the truth behind things "the man" doesn't want you to know i.e. classism, racism, and any other social injustices. The term comes from a genuine place but is becoming overused. People mainly use it to sound like deep thinkers when they are really just following a trend.
She's so trendy and people pay attention her just because she's aware of her privilege and the social injustices that other people who don't have privilege have to deal with, etc.
She abandoned CW some time ago, then "CW Crossover," and is now mainstream, or is marketing herself as such. The deplorables are abandoning her in droves.
So that's "woke," Dave, at least in this case. A tip o' the hat to Tumwater and Anybody. I am now ready for Lot's Wife/Ineffable B*tch and Jordan/Whomever to square off on Cultural Marxism.
I thought of you this morning while at a magazine stand, and poked through an issue of "Trains." You would have loved it!
Disclaimer: I couldn't name one Taylor Swift song if you waterboarded me.
I don’t mind being the apparently sole person (and my partner) in the world that found this movie to be a singularly swing-for-the-fences home run. Loved every minute of it and will see it again before the holiday is over.
I must add that my opinion of the film is in no way coloured by the fact that I was a young stage-hand on the set of CATS when it toured in the 80s, which was an important, formative experience in my life. The film is something quite different, and yet doesn’t deviate from the spirit and even the content of the original.
Yes, it’s weird, very weird even, but that’s the point. The other point, the main point that goes back to its original 70s punk rock London very intimate theatre beginnings, is to showcase a shockingly sensual, undulating feline dance aesthetic. The film gets this right, and the CGI adds greatly to this. I was in awe, in fact. The music is generic, but the dancing is captivating.
The reviews and audience reactions are so over-the-top bad, I can’t help thinking this’ll be a cult classic for years to come, even if only a cult of one (two).
The choreography, really? I thought it was extremely underwhelming for this show. You have a principle of the Royal Ballet on set, yet you rarely see her dance to her full ability. Actually, I don't know if I blame the choreography as much as the directing of it.
I miss the old days of classic movie musicals where you saw ALL the dancing in full, not the cut away/close up style they get up to nowadays.
I don't much care for all the jump cut filming of dance. I always assumed it was a way to cover up the fact that the singer in the music video/movie couldn't really dance, which is usually the case. I happened to stumble across the video of Waka Waka in the first hour it was posted. I had two thoughts: this is going to be a spectacularly successful video, and I don't have a clue who this Shakira person is, but damn, she can dance. She's probably not great, but she is a couple standard deviations above the average singer.
I'll be going for the choreography. The story is goofy. It's about the dancing and costuming. I'm with Human on that. Opera is not about the story either, it's about the singing. West Side Story did indeed have a story. In Cats, it's an excuse for the dancing.
> I miss the old days of classic movie musicals > where you saw ALL the dancing in full, not the cut > away/close up style they get up to nowadays.
Sure, those films are great, and we can see the dozens of them any time we wish. The Criterion Channel just featured a couple dozen of them these past few months.
But I enjoyed the camera breaking the fourth wall and zooming around the set, as if a member of the audience’s eyes unattached themselves and roamed freely on the stage, looking sometimes here and sometimes there.
And speaking of the principal from the Royal Ballet, we couldn’t take our eyes off of Francesca Hayward. Even in full headshot, she was dancing. Utterly beautiful woman, perfectly cast.
Nothing today will match the big, garish Hollywood Musical of days gone by. It’s right to innovate on the theme, as LaLa Land did, as CATS 2019 did. Also, there already is a fine film of the stage version, from ‘98 I think.
I think the fact that there are so many people who feel compelled to say negative things about the film is interesting in itself. Lots of movies are released, and disappear without making much of a ripple. Nobody says much of anything one way or another.
The stage musical had lots of bad reviews too, and ran for what, 18 years on Broadway, and sold around $4 Billion in tickets. Somebody sure as hell must have liked it!
I'm not sure what is with the hostility it seems to generate. Is it because a lot of people just don't like cats? It can't really be that simple, can it?
I grew up in the country with at least ten cats - I don't mind them one bit. But this movie's trailer looks awful!
My first and biggest prejudice against it is that it is a musical. That means a lot of singing and not much acting or plotline in most cases. I hate most of them except, strangely enough, Les Mis which the same director made a decent movie out of.
My second problem with it is that it just looks awful. The CGI and scale is all over the place. The pictures of the Broadway show look much better, but some of that works on the stage and not the screen.
It's so bad that they had to update it while it was in the cinema! So what you'll see this week is not what was out last week. It sounds like the post-production was rushed to me.
I just listened to Elaine Paige sing Memories from the original cast recording and it created a huge emotional response. I hope that they didn't mess it up in the new production