Ryan Murphy's HOLLYWOOD on Netflix- Page 6

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/16/20 at 8:50pm

Hm.  So, after initially not wanting to see this at all (Not a fan of Murphy) I binged this over the last few days.  I was constantly torn between amusement, sentimentality and disappointment.   Overall, I think I enjoyed it.  I thought a good number of the performances were absolutely terrific.  I can see this doing fairly well at the Emmys, and rightfully so.   

 

Some of my favorite performances included:  Joe Mantello, Dylan McDermott, Jeremy Pope and Holland Taylor.  I thought the writing was pretty weak, but it held together just enough.

 

 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/16/20 at 11:03pm

QueenAlice said: "That's what I suspect too,Brody, but I think Murphy should be warry about doing a series based aroundrevisionist 'alternate' universe history of Hollywood. As others have pointed out, others, like Quentin Tarantino have done a better job applying that concept to other periods in Hollywood history.

Truly, I wish he'd just give us history."

Well, FTR and FWIW, I found ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD--except for Brad Pitt's lovely performance and the little girl from AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE--far worse than Murphy's HOLLYWOOD. This is called damning with faint praise, as I make clear in my previous posts about the latter.

As often happens, I agree with Jarethan re the performances in HOLLYWOOD. Many were excellent.

I just think there's a big difference between Dan Levy creating a magical, homophobia-free Midwestern town in SCHITT'S CREEK, and Ryan Murphy & Co. twisting real people into pretzels in an attempt to make some still-unclear statement.

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 5/17/20 at 12:06am

GavestonPS said: "QueenAlice said: "That's what I suspect too,Brody, but I think Murphy should be warry about doing a series based aroundrevisionist 'alternate' universe history of Hollywood. As others have pointed out, others, like Quentin Tarantino have done a better job applying that concept to other periods in Hollywood history.

Truly, I wish he'd just give us history."

Well, FTR and FWIW, I found ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD--except for Brad Pitt's lovely performance and the little girl from AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE--far worse than Murphy's HOLLYWOOD. This is called damning with faint praise, as I make clear in my previous posts about the latter.

As often happens, I agree with Jarethan re the performances in HOLLYWOOD. Many were excellent.

I just think there's a big difference between Dan Levy creating a magical, homophobia-free Midwestern town in SCHITT'S CREEK, and Ryan Murphy & Co. twisting real people into pretzels in an attempt to make some still-unclear statement."

I know it's beside the point, but SCHITT'S CREEK takes place in Canada.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/17/20 at 12:27am

I think there’s a slight problem of current generations being too far removed from these real life people. It’s a little unclear who’s an actual person, who’s fabricated, which parts of the real celebrity are fabricated. I was second guessing myself on numerous occasions. Not that there should be Cliff’s Notes or prefaces, but there wasn’t any real education on who these people really were, what was inspired by real events, etc. At least Once Upon a Time in Hollywood or Inglorious Basterds were very clear about where the action was headed, and the climaxes were the fantasy element. This was quite muddled and lacked focus (or any sort of believability and truth).

One plot point I thought they would focus more on, especially since it elicited an outburst from his black girlfriend, was Darren Criss’s passing as white. That scene was the last we heard of it though. His passing is the white savior in his storyline, which echoes an overall series arc of the white savior. Jeremy Pope credits Patti for his success. Joe Mantello was given the credit for all of diversity in Hollywood. Heck, even the villainous Jim Parsons is redeemed and saves the day. If this is going to be a fantasy take on old Hollywood, how about the people of color and gay people succeed on their own and create their own stories to begin with (Jeremy Pope still doesn’t tell his story as a gay black man by the end).

They could have at least made the Peg screen tests make us believe they picked the right actress for the part. The losing one was clearly much stronger without question.

With one exception, I think the performances are actually quite good and definitely elevate the bad writing and poor execution of an interesting concept. As expected, sadly.

Updated On: 5/17/20 at 12:27 AM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/17/20 at 12:29am

CT2NYC said: "I know it's beside the point, but SCHITT'S CREEK takes place in Canada."

It is purposefully never specified where Schitt’s Creek takes place.

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 5/17/20 at 12:37am

HeyMrMusic said: "CT2NYC said: "I know it's beside the point, but SCHITT'S CREEK takes place in Canada."

It is purposefully never specified where Schitt’s Creek takes place."

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/01/9126485/where-is-schitts-creek-real-filming-location

And, considering they have Canadian license plates on the cars, it really isn't much of a revelation.

Updated On: 5/17/20 at 12:37 AM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/17/20 at 12:48am

That sounds like a “Dumbledore is gay” afterthought, but okay. Being a Canadian town was never the identity of Schitt’s Creek, however. Perhaps it embodied certain stereotypical ideals, yes, but there was no patriotism or national identity in the context of the show. As Dan Levy said, it was its own little bubble, so it could have been in some fake North American country for all that mattered. Sounds like he answered this just so people would stop asking him.

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 5/22/20 at 12:13pm

I’m listening to Patti LuPone’s autobiography on Audible. The scenes with Mina Sorvino and LuPone are suddenly more interesting after LuPone ripped into Sorvino’s father while talking about their time together in The Baker’s Wife. 

Updated On: 5/24/20 at 12:13 PM