Ryan Murphy's HOLLYWOOD on Netflix- Page 3

[Loopin’theloop]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 6:47am

uncageg said: "I am trying to remember what book I read that talked about the gas stations being a hot spot back then and aspiring actors wanting to get a job at one. Can anyone help me remember?!!"

I think you might mean FULL SERVICE by Scotty Bower?

[Robbie2]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 11:08pm

CATSNYrevival said: "I liked it. I thought Patti was excellent."

Fun to binge watch-terrific cast-Lupone is sublime!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/3/20 at 11:56pm

Robbie2 said: "Fun to binge watch-terrific cast-Lupone is sublime!"

I thought Patti LuPone was a major stand out on the series. I could have done without seeing her get slammed stupid on the staircase banister but what can you do? It was so quick it was too late to unsee it.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 12:14am

Okay, now I've seen the whole thing and I didn't like it better than I did halfway through. Ryan Murphy doesn't understand how to build to a dramatic reversal; he simply turns day to night, black to white, the film is on, the film is off, they burned the print, a minor character kept a copy! Yes, these are reversals, technically, but they are robotic and give his series (again, other than ACS and AHS) the feeling of a Nancy Drew (or Dan Brown) book written on crack cocaine.

Over on HBO there is a better (not great, maybe, but much better) adaptation of Phillip Roth's THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA. It, too, is an alternative history, but if focuses more on the non-famous characters.

There's something about rewriting history with so many characters whom we know from real life--or at least biographies and news reports--that bothers me. Turning Rock Hudson and (especially) Henry Willson into pre-Stonewall gay rights heroes is just offensive, somehow! Perhaps because there is no context for the revisionism. Yes, there were always a few people in Hollywood who were out and proud, damn the torpedos and full speed ahead; but nothing about the lives of Hudson or Willson suggests they would have made such a stand.

(BTW, I said above I worked briefly with Hudson in the 1970s. I only had a few conversations with him, but while he may not have been Einstein, he did not come across as border-line **** like the HOLLYWOOD character.)

And the posters here who reassure us that HOLLYWOOD is nothing serious, just go along for the ride, baffle me! Because the series VERY MUCH PRETENDS to be a serious comment on racial prejudice, sexism, homophobia, corporate cowardice and courage, and--most of all--the power of cinematic representation! Ryan Murphy must have dislocated his own shoulder patting himself on the back every 7 minutes!

So I think it's entirely fair to evaluate the work, and itemize its myriad failings, on the basis of the serious themes it claims to highlight.

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 12:41am

I'm into the third episode now and i just think this is a steaming pile of... Oh, I stopped midway through episode 3; not continuing.

Patti's little sidebar in EW (or was it People) this week didn't sell me at all. I was embarrassed for her. Truly. This show is CRAP! Hope we can say that in these so troubled times...

I also hope someone connected with the Scotty Bowers estate is getting some money off of this as the late Scotty seems to have inspired a good chunk of the material. Ahhh, but now that Scotty is gone, Ryan probably thinks he has nothing to worry about.   

Updated On: 5/4/20 at 12:41 AM

[jbird5]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 3:25am

2 episodes in and what a sanitized, bowdlerized, whitewashed depiction of this time. It really doesn’t do justice to how institutionalized and vicious the racism and homophobia of this time was (and still is in a lot of places). And the hypocrisy of the people that ran Hollywood. Not to mention this was the era of HUAC and the blacklist. It makes it look like with a little persistence and pluck these people could overcome these obstacles when there was actually very little hope for people like them. It would take actual blood being shed to start changing things.

And pulling punches by not having his hero service men as well as women? WTF. I guess we haven’t come that far after all.

The films of this era give a much better picture of how effed up things really were.

[Skip23]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 4:05am

Loved this new gay fantasia - what if the film industry was set on it's head by woke racial and sexual portrayals both onscreen and off.  

 

It's a total fantasy, folks.  Either ride the ride or get off.

 

 

[A Potter Line]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 5:00am

I am loving LuPone and the whole show. Makes me feel good that Murphy won’t mess up The Prom!

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 5:29am

Well that was a whole lot of piffle. Enjoy the ride? It was a slow ride to nowhere.

The oldies, except for Ms LuPone, did well, but the young guns, they'll never work in that town again, especially Mr Criss.

Any audience knows the background of Rock Hudson so why choose that name and turn him into an out there homo when the opposite is well documented. I don't know if he really was that dumb but there is no way he could have morphed into a leading man opposite Darling Doris from this character. All the others weren't 'names' [Anna May Wong perhaps] so why call him Rock Hudson?

If homosexuality and racism was such a big deal back then, why did Meg win almost every bloody award?

It should have won NONE. I know it's a fantasy film.

Once seen, totally forgotten--doesn't even make it into camp culture and the male nudity disappeared, what there was of it, after about the first two episodes--I was taking notes.

Jim Parsons was a 'producer'?  of this trash--he should have stayed in character as Isadora Duncan throughout, the only bit of light relief and here Rocks acting was believable.

[Wick3]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 8:39am

Did anyone else wish Patti Lupone, Darren Criss, and Jeremy Pope would at least a sing one of the songs from that era? 

I recall watching a Ryan Murphy interview on the Politician and he literally said how can you cast Ben Platt in a TV show and not have him sing. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 10:32am

Wick3 said: "Did anyone else wish Patti Lupone, Darren Criss, andJeremy Pope would at least a sing one of the songs from that era?

I recall watching a Ryan Murphy interview on the Politician and he literally said how can you cast Ben Platt in a TVshow and not have him sing."

WTF?  The way the roles were written in HOLLYWOOD would make zero sense for them to break into song, unless they were playing a Hollywood musical star so a musical number would be expected.  Ben Platt’s character sang during a political assembly on THE POLITICIAN, so it was justified.  He didn’t sing in plot context to another character as if in a musical.  

 

[Wick3]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 11:18am

Whoa ...calm down! It was just a wish. In the Politician, did he have to sing in the assembly? No. It was obvious they just added it in for emotional impact.

People sing to themselves when they're alone depending on the mood or sing along while the car radio is on. I'm not suggesting it should be a full song... could have just been a line or two. 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 11:21am

Wick3 said: "People sing to themselves when they're alone depending on the mood or sing along while the car radio is on. I'm not suggesting it should be a full song... could have just been a line or two."

In that case, you might have missed it. I think Patti’s character was humming to herself the morning after she and her husband reconnected.

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 11:56am

I really enjoyed Hollywood- loved Patti- as always- but I must agree with other posters that these revisions of history are not a good sign of the times- with politicians revising facts daily and twisting reality into whatever shape suits their agendas. I thought that the names of Rock Hudson and his sleazy manager should not have been used- if this is a fantasy- keep the characters all fantasy names as well. Although I enjoyed it- I felt that revising Hollywood history to suit a liberal agenda- of which I am totally in favor- is still a bit heavy-handed. Liked it a lot- with reservations. And hey, you can't knock a muti-episode new series when you are in lockdown and looking for something interesting to watch.

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 12:34pm

Skip23 said: "Loved this new gay fantasia - what if the film industry was set on it's head by woke racial and sexual portrayals both onscreen and off.


It's a total fantasy, folks. Either ride the ride or get off."

 

^^ Thank you.

 

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 1:23pm

Of course it is total fantasy- but even though I took the ride- and am happy I did- doesn't mean I cannot express reservations about it.

[JayElle]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 1:37pm

GavestonPS wrote, in part: "So I think it's entirely fair to evaluate the work, and itemize its myriad failings, on the basis of the serious themes it claims to highlight."

Interesting commentary. I wonder what former critic Frank Rich would've said.  I enjoyed the beautiful cinematography and seeing all the Bway folks I've enjoyed. But there was "something" about the show I couldn't put my finger on. I found Ozark so gripping that I could easily spend a day binging the 3 seasons. But with Hollywood, I kept getting bored about 35 mins into an episode but I didn't know why.

In some respects, it felt like the Joe Mantello show, but I did enjoy him. Have to admit, Jim Parson was hysterical with that dance.

[DAME]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 1:52pm

Loved it.  What fun!   More please!   MORE!

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 1:53pm

As I said on the off topic board--

 

It's a shock to me that we got to the end of the 7 episodes with not a single break of the 4th wall or crawl at the end to tell the audience that this whole thing was a Tarantino-level fairytale. How many of the viewing audience would already know that back in 1947 (or anytime before the 70's) there never WAS a woman running a major studio; a black screenwriter winning an Oscar; a Best Picture winner with a black actress as its star; an Oscar winner thanking his boyfriend on national radio in his thank you speech and on and on.

I would have loved to see a coda where a 70-year-old Jim Parsons tells a reporter that everything you just saw was a fantasy and here's what REALLY would have ended up happening to those same characters in the actual Hollywood.

Also couldn't SOMEONE have told the writers that no-one said "a person of color" or "woman of color" in 1947. Such a basic mistake. 

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 2:11pm

Someone in a Tree2 said:

"Also couldn't SOMEONE have told the writers that no-one said "a person of color" or "woman of color" in 1947. Such a basic mistake."

Do you honestly think they didn't know that? The show is a fantasy set in an alternate reality, not a documentary. It's not about historical accuracy, it's about "What if?" I think the message about how "Hollywood can change the world" is a good one, and it outweighs whatever continuity faults the series has.

Updated On: 5/4/20 at 02:11 PM

[JayElle]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 2:21pm

SomeoneinaTree2 wrote, in part: "Also couldn't SOMEONE have told the writers that no-one said "a person of color" or "woman of color" in 1947. Such a basic mistake.

Agree. I noticed that throughout the series.  Folks used "negro,"  "colored," "nigra," and the standard "n.......r."   Using the reference "black" came into popular existence to replace negro during the 1960s, with African American following that 20 years later.  But then, interracial movies didn't happen like the show depicted. If it was a fantasy, I guess the language didn't matter.

 

[Impossible2]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 2:28pm

The production design is gorgeous and some of the performances are fun. 

It's a pity the writing is so terrible as it actually is an interesting idea for a series overall.

I don't think they needed to use real stars, it actually adds absolutely nothing to it whatsoever as we know it's all fake.

Once again the gays are horribly represented, but most people don't seem to care about that as long as they get to watch a few hot pretty boys make out.

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 2:28pm

FYI, most of the cast is going to be on Stars in the House tonight, sans Patti.

[binau]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 2:51pm

CATSNYrevival said: "Robbie2 said: "Fun to binge watch-terrific cast-Lupone is sublime!"

I thought Patti LuPonewas a major stand out on the series. I could have done without seeing her get slammed stupid on the staircase banister but what can you do? It was so quick it was too late to unsee it."

What?? This is the best part!!

[Skip23]

Posted: 5/4/20 at 3:36pm

Loved this uber-fantasy.

 

Two quibbles - why couldn't they find good actors to play Rock Hudson and the starring girl in Meg.  These two were just wrong.