CATS Film Adaptation Thread- Page 30

[clever2]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 8:34am

seaweedjstubbs said: "^ You act as if “hate watching” is a brand new thing. Ever heard of Florence Foster Jenkins? People have found enjoyment in bad art for a long time now. You talk about this movie as if it was some small indie film that people just didn’t get instead of the $100 Million big studio production it is. All the people who worked on this movie will be fine. Let people enjoy (or not enjoy) CATS the way they wish and move on. "

Perhaps you misread. I said hate watching has been around for years. Did I need to specify the number of years for you? And when you start reprimanding all the people who are passing judgment on those who enjoyed it, then I will take you seriously. Until then… 

[trentsketch]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 8:52am

A Director said: "trentsketch said: "The second version of the film is much stronger than the first. They really should have just delayed the release to Christmas day. The "updated graphics" included all new lighting, cats who were just missing in scenes appearing in more crowd shots, a more natural looking transition between the human face and the green screen fur, and no blatantly missing elements of set pieces. Some of the scenes have slightly different edits, as well, to better mask some of the too far gone visual elements that just didn't work. The scale of the cats is still inconsistent, but at least they maintain the correct number of limbs and don't have collars half in and half out of their necks anymore."

Now the movie looks "better," but it's still a FLOP!"

I never said it wasn't a flop. I said it was better than what they originally put out. Actually having a finished chandelier in the heavy side layer sequence and no visible green screen in every scene is objectively better, so no quotation marks are needed. 

And to be fully honest, I think the new lighting is incredibly distracting, but it's a whole lot better than having a clear view at cats switching fur patterns or disappearing completely in the middle of a shot. 

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 9:26am

Will the failure of CATS deter studios from financing movie musicals in the future? Are Universal going to thing twice about producing WICKED now? Hopefully with he release of IN THE HEIGHTS and THE PROM it’ll show that with the right source material movie musicals can work!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 9:32am

No, it will have NO bearing on future releases. They might not let HIM anywhere near a musical again.... but no other fallout.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 9:33am

I wouldn't worry too much, Plannietink. As you said, In the Heights and The Prom- not to mention Spielberg's West Side Story- are all poised to do quite well, and La La Land/Greatest Showman (despite mixed reviews on this board for both) have proven to be massively popular, and moneymakers.

Also, Cats is far from the first movie musical to have failed on artistic and/or financial levels...

[chernjam]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 9:46am

Gorlois said: "A Director said: "There will never be a movie version of ALW's Sunset Blvd."

I think this will be the saddest legacy of Cats. The movie version of “Sunset Boulevard”was already unlikely after Glenn Close failed to win the Oscar this year but after Cats became a public laughing stock and now the miserable box office returns, we will probably not see an adaptation of “Sunset Boulevard” very soon, if ever."

I had always worried that was an iffy proposition even with them making such a big deal about finding a director and announcing filming was going to start this fall.  It seems in Hollywood this isn't too unusual in a films production for there to be a lot of start/stops in its development.  Cats was talked about for over a decade.

But a couple of things - 1 - I think that the main criticism for Cats the movie has been directed towards the CGI and Hooper's choices.  There's not been a heck of a lot said about the music.  So this failure is going to hang on Hooper -not on musical-movie's as a genre 2 - Cats as a theatre piece had to overcome not having any real story attached to it - which it did by making it a whole atmospheric thing of music, dance, set, etc.  That was going to be an even bigger challenge on screen.  Had the CGI been a success, this would've split between those who love/hate the musical in the first place and probably would've had a much more respectable run on the strength of the shows popularity and star-name power drawing people as well. 

If Spielberg's West Side Story also tanks, well, that might be another bad omen for Sunset Blvd moving forward.  These two seem more comparable.

To me - Paramount should try to do what they did with Love Never Dies - do a full out filming of the stage production.  Use the original set for Norma's mansion and costumes - have the symphonic orchestra - do a week or two of performances with a live audience and without and edit it to preserve it as a musical-theatre piece rather than trying to make Sunset into a stand-alone movie musical

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 9:58am

At the theater for CATS, Round 3. Hey, it’s become a guilty pleasure. :)

[clever2]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 10:13am

chernjam said: To me - Paramount should try to do what they did with Love Never Dies - do a full out filming of the stage production. Use the original set for Norma's mansion and costumes - have the symphonic orchestra - do a week or two of performances with a live audience and without and edit it to preserve it as a musical-theatre piece rather than trying to make Sunset into a stand-alone movie musical"

Now, this I would love. They could even make it as starry as they wanted. The original film is so....perfect. I would be afraid to go there. It’s not the same as culty Hairspray to stage and then back to screen. Sunset Boulevard needed no musical to elevate it or turn people to it. I’m probably just speaking for my friends and myself here. However, I do love the show. “THAT’S Norma Desmond! THAT’S Norma Desmond! THAT’S Norma Desmond! THAT’S Norma Desmond!” is one of the strongest moments in musical theatre as far as I’m concerned. 

Updated On: 12/27/19 at 10:13 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 10:20am

If anyone thought the Sunset Blvd adaptation was actually going to be happening, they were either delusional or just unfamiliar with how Hollywood PR machines work. The failure of Cats had nothing to do with it, and failure was its narrative from the first trailer. 

The film should be so lucky to eventually garner a cult following. It may, in the same way that weirdo flops like Repo! The Genetic Opera did, or in the same way that total disasters like Plan 9 from Outer Space did. But that's very niche and takes years to actually develop. 

The film came in 8th at the box office on Christmas Day, behind movies that had been out for weeks like Frozen 2 and Knives Out and the prickly, uncomfortable, not-holiday-family-fare Uncut Gems. With zero chance at any sort of awards momentum and the prospect of it gaining legs through word of mouth looking bleak, I suspect theaters will start dropping it entirely very soon. 

 I thought it was a bad movie not because- or not just because- of unfinished special effects, nor because of its source material (which I think works onstage). I thought it was bad because it was helmed by a literal-minded director with no sense of how to direct or shoot musical sequences and a shocking lack of taste. Cats onstage is many things, but tacky and tasteless aren't some of them. Hooper was not able to translate what made Cats work as a stage piece- the thrill of seeing it live- into the comparable magic of a different medium. 

So, sure, fix the fur and the hands and the lighting and the unrendered CGI. But you'll still have Rebel Wilson eating humanoid cockroaches and scratching her crotch, JHud flying into the sky on a chandelier tied to a balloon, and Judi Dench's digital leg behind her head and then later looking straight into the camera and delivering "The Ad-Dressing of Cats" with all of the solemnity and importance of a Shakespearean soliloquy. 

[clever2]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 10:33am

Kad said: "But you'll still have Rebel Wilson eating humanoid cockroaches and scratching her crotch, JHud flying into the sky on a chandelier tied to a balloon, and Judi Dench's digital leg behind her head and then laterlooking straight into the camera and delivering "The Ad-Dressing of Cats" with all of the solemnity and importance of a Shakespearean soliloquy."

Rebel’s bit was the least successful, but I’ve never been nuts about that song anyway. I have to ask though: why do you feel the rising tire worked and not the balloon? Both are nonsensical. Lol I thought Judi’s leg bit was funny and I enjoyed how into Gus she was. I also thought “The Ad-Dressing of Cats” was charming. Frankly, I think the show is a bit dull with some great moments, but my response to the film surprised even me. I guess I’m the niche market, and I’m good with that. 

[clever2]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 10:40am

P.S.

RE: Sunset

Anna Kendrick would make a great Betty and she could work that role onstage.

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 10:42am

clever2 said: "I’m the niche market, and I’m good with that."


Same here. The ticket taker at the theater said with a fanciful yet puzzled look on her face, “Back again?”. And I’ll most likely buy this when it becomes available on iTunes. To me it’s been fascinating and bizarre little film. Have been listening to the motion picture soundtrack for days and couldn’t get some of the tunes out of head. Gonna sit back, relax, and enjoy this. 

[Kad]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 10:45am

It works onstage because it's so theatrical and over the top and clearly not "real." There's smoke machines and crazy lights and she ascends to a different plane of existence. The whole show exists in a crazy, uniquely theatrical place where things are just accepted. 

In the film, it is presented literally. She is put into a cat-assembled one-way flying machine and sent into the sky, and it's treated like a thing cats do, no more or less unusual than any of the other ridiculous stuff we've seen in the movie. 

[clever2]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 10:52am

Kad said: "The whole show exists in a crazy, uniquelytheatrical place where things are just accepted.

In the film, it is presented literally.”

I feel the movie exists in a uniquely cinematic world where things are just accepted. 

The movie, the settings, the colors, the neon signs. All of it is so distinctly cartoonish, I don’t understand the view of it being literal.

I’m not being argumentative. I just don’t understand.

 

[sherie_worshipper]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 11:42am

Kad, your argument doesn’t make sense.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 11:50am

And sincere, unironic love for this movie doesn't make sense to me. Dif'rent strokes. 

[Justin D]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 11:51am

I will come out and say that i am in minority as someone who actually liked the movie, the extra plot details ad the music, but also I to am biased as the stage show has always been in my top 3 faves.

the only minor issue I had which is something i never thought about before, in the stage show i always assumed the cats were strays, but in the movie Jennyanydots was a house cat, and as a pet owner it was a little saddening to think that my pet would disappear and never come back, she even comments about hating her life as a pet, ouch. it's a minor thing but something I never thought about before.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 12:31pm

Updated On: 12/27/19 at 12:31 PM

[MyLife]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 12:56pm

Justin D said: "I will come out and say that i am in minority as someone who actually liked the movie, the extra plot details ad the music, but also I to am biased as the stage show has always been in my top 3 faves.

the only minor issue I had which is something i never thought about before, in the stage show i always assumed the cats were strays, but in the movie Jennyanydots was a house cat, and as a pet owner it was a little saddening to think that my pet would disappear and never come back, she even comments about hating her life as a pet, ouch. it's a minor thing but something I never thought about before."

To be fair, most pets are essentially under house arrest. I can't blame your cat for wanting a better life for herself and want her freedom.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 1:00pm

Whoa whoa whoa people, you all must remember that Rebel's Jennyanydots lives in a roach-infested shack of a house. I'm sure Justin D's cat lives in the lap of luxury, and is quite content with its lot.

[Sho-Tunes-R-Us]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 1:44pm

Perhaps the "years to develop a cult status" phenomenon will accelerate with CATS.
This, from the left coast:

https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/wild-Bay-Area-screening-Cats-movie-Rocky-Horror-14927779.php?fbclid=IwAR0ppaMnDhG-iHy16wfezJQntcDXfhoqS3DvN0pXPMg0AaEQzkKvDGStUyI#photo-18693680

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 2:02pm

Actually Kad’s analysis of why the chandelier slash balloon is a poor translation of the magical tire is spot on. First one I’ve read that articulates the inconsistency.

People disappear and reappear on a Thames barge by magic but ascend to heaven via physical means? The spiritual principles in this jellicle sphere are metaphysically contradictory.

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 2:30pm

The audience for my third viewing was closer to around 50 people, a mix that leaned heavier towards families with kids, some teens, and pairs of adults. No one laughed inappropriately, went crazy, walked out, or acted out. For most the entire movie they were quiet as a mouse, even the four teens sitting in the last row down from me were respectful. And when Jennifer Hudson belted out Memory I could hear sniffling all over the theater.

I definitely enjoyed this a LOT more the third time around. It’s bizarre and crazy and over the top. The choreography and songs are, for the most part, just pure escapism. And that’s why I think I like it. I can escape into this world and lose myself. Something I really need right now in my life. I haven’t tried to dissect it, make sense of it, or psychoanalyze it. I just sat back and let it happen.

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 3:16pm

Regarding SUNSET BLVD.:

Let's not forget that both the EVITA and CHICAGO film versions were off and on for decades.

I wouldn't count a musical film of SUNSET out just yet.

[kdogg36]

Posted: 12/27/19 at 3:33pm

Kad said: "delivering "The Ad-Dressing of Cats" with all of the solemnity and importance of a Shakespearean soliloquy."

I actually thought this was one of the most amusing things in the movie! I think this song is intended to be ironically humorous to begin with, setting such a silly text to grand, reverential music and making it the finale. Judi’s ridiculously earnest delivery just enhanced that effect for me.