Posted: 5/10/19 at 1:50pm
I doubt that Renee Zellweger, even at her best, can outdo the great Judy Davis in the TV biopic, which of course used Garland's own voice for almost all the songs.
Posted: 5/10/19 at 1:50pm
Posted: 5/10/19 at 2:06pm
Posted: 5/10/19 at 3:11pm
LYLS3637 said: "That's because Malek didn't do a great job lip syncing. The entire success of the movie musical historically has been based on a great performer's ability to lip sync to a track-- Judy being one of the best."
Agreed on Malek. I suppose what I was trying to articulate was that by having Zellweger perform the song herself, she doesn't have to stick to every note and vocal inflection laid out by Garland which may give her more control over her performance. I tend to think performers are more genuine when lip syncing to their own vocals and choices (but of course there will be exceptions, Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose comes to mind).
Posted: 5/10/19 at 4:51pm
Posted: 5/10/19 at 5:26pm
Posted: 5/11/19 at 8:15pm
Several things: Judy's voice was not gone at the end. I have listened to her last recorded concert, and she still sounded quite good singing Over the Rainbow. Also, she did have her troubles, but to say that she led a tortured life is a bit of an oversimplification. She still had her children and through all the ups and downs, she kept going. I don't care to watch or listen to Renee attempt to channel her voice, although I'm sure she's a good actress.
Posted: 5/11/19 at 8:47pm
Like the stills released months earlier Rene resembles a Judy Garland in her 40s had she never taken a drink or drug in her life. Judy Davis on the other hand, and as others have noted, had Judy Garland cold with a mesmerizing performance.
Posted: 5/11/19 at 10:11pm
Really hard to capture a legend- Marilyn Monroe for me has never been captured- nor has Jackie- Helena Bonham Carter captured Liz in that BBC movie about the Burtons- and Judy Davis captured Judy in a superb portrayal- and Michelle Williams capturing Gwen. I hope Rene can do Judy justice- if not, the movie will quickly sink. I, for one, would love to see it and hope it is a great movie. But, for me, Judy Davis will be hard to beat. Saw Tracie Bennett on BWAY in that Judy mescal - and I really did enjoy it though it was quite brutal in its depiction of Judy- which may actually be close to the facts- of that I do not know- but it seems plausible considering her demise. The feeling i got from the Rene clip was sadness- it seems to be a sad portrayal of a very dysfunctional Judy- at first glance it seemed that way to me, anyway.
Updated On: 5/12/19 at 10:11 PM
Posted: 5/12/19 at 2:39am
Kad said: "TotallyEffed isn't saying Zellweger can't sing or doesn't sound good. He's saying that Garland's talent is extremely hard to duplicate because it is so singular, and it's especially hard to duplicate in a less forgiving medium like film."
Exactly. And the YouTube clip doesn't tell us much. Zellweger whispers her way through "Over the Rainbow" as if she were Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday" to JFK. That approach which may work beautifully in the film, but it doesn't tell me anything about her ability to do Garland justice.
In the recordings I've heard, Garland was still belting her head off even when she had little voice left. And that's the way Tracey Bennett (sic?) played her when I saw END OF THE RAINBOW in LA. I'll reserve judgment until I see more of the film.
By comparison, Michele Williams sings Gwen Verdon's numbers in a smallish voice because that is what Verdon employed (to magnificent effect, I should add). But that ain't Judy Garland, IMHO.
Posted: 5/12/19 at 8:04am
Does anyone know what they're trying to replicated at about :15 in the trailer? I can't think of any Judy film, or any press film or photos for that matter, that shows her jumping into a pool, particularly showing her from underwater. Unless it's just her jumping into the Esther Williams underwater filming tank at a studio party. Though I'd think there'd be filmed evidence of this somewhere. Only pool photos I've seen are Judy, Mickey etc at L B Mayer's home pool for a birthday party.
Posted: 5/12/19 at 10:35am
Posted: 5/12/19 at 10:53am
Based on the positions of the equipment and the people on the platform plus the photographer to the right, this looks like a party on an MGM soundstage:
Posted: 5/12/19 at 11:07am
When I watch biopics, I tend to think of what Helen Mirren said of her approach to portraying Elizabeth II in The Queen, she thought of herself as a "portrait painter." A portrait may be imbued with as much of the artist as with the artist's subject. I don't expect every portrayal of a real person to be transformational, in fact, too often those performances can come across as somewhat gimmicky. Meryl Streep looks and sounds just like Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, but sometimes it feels as though you're watching her as Roger Rabbit with everyone else in the real world.
Posted: 5/22/19 at 3:09pm
Posted: 7/8/19 at 11:11pm
Anyone catch the first full trailer yet? Not sure if I know how embed it?
https://youtu.be/98t7aXRaA6w
Posted: 7/9/19 at 3:02am
Jingjo2 said: "It is authorized but a good chunk of itis fictionalized. It’s a fantasyhe created based on his life, so it’snot an ordinarybiopic
Just like the very handsome Elton in the film--a fantasy.
Posted: 7/9/19 at 3:45am
I am replying to Niles Silvers and someones else regarding the strength of Judys voice towards the end.
I am repeating myself as I have posted similar before here.
I was at the very sad and emotionally distressing performance in Melbourne where Ms Garland was almost 2 hours late. When she stumbled on stage having been dragged[?] unwillingly very drunk on vodka from her Southern Cross Hotel suite, the audience went crazy for her-all was forgiven.
She tried to sing, forgot the words, wound the mic.cord around the lead violinist and the poor conductor had no idea what she would do next---BUT, then---something just 'clicked', time stood still, and she became Judy Garland. That Voice came back and mesmerised all that night at Festival Hall. I think we got 2 songs and then she was gone.
There wasn't a sound except for my emotional sobbing and many around me, the same. We all drifted out into the dark night with our emotions, having witnessed a legend fall apart in front of us.
Melbournes very popular night show host, Graham Kennedy, even cancelled his show for one night to be there.
In hindsight I would have preferred not to have been there, the same way I will not be going to see this movie. At my age I don't want warts and all about Judy Garland, I have her movies and music. The time I have left I have only room for the positive, uplifting and joyous celebration of the 'good times'.
Posted: 7/9/19 at 8:58am
I would prefer that she do her own singing, just like you don't have to look like the person you are playing in the film , you just need to interpret the person and in song I believe she just has to make sure she puts the song across so it feels like Garland. I actually hate the lip synching when it is a real person, it takes me out of the film, I hated when Jamie Foxx did it and hated when Ramy did it ...you could tell from the speaking voice to the singing voice it didn't connect for me. (like Jim Nabors Lol) .. I never think you deserve the Oscar if you lipsynch…(especially if it is a huge part of the story ) Now if the case of musicals and they have ghost singers for people who cant sing at all (lucy in mame) for some reason that is ok for me.
Posted: 7/9/19 at 10:24am
I can't wait for this! I remember when I was eleven I talked my parents into bringing the little TV from the den into my bedroom so I could stay up late and watch the Judy Davis telefilm, which I found thoroughly engrossing.
Agreed that I would rather she do her own singing - it's preferable to have a fully-formed character created via acting instinct than a Disneyland animatronic.
Posted: 7/9/19 at 5:33pm
LYLS3637 said: "TheQuibbler said: "I’m actually pleased that she’s doing her own singing because I think it frees up the performance a bit. I found it distracting in Bohemian Rhapsody, for example, whenever they’d switch to Mercury’s real vocals because it never looked like the sound was coming out of Malek’s mouth and I think the performance suffered. While I’m sure Zellweger prerecorded her vocals, she can align her vocal performance with her on-screen performance."
That's because Malek didn't do a great job lip syncing. The entire success of the movie musical historicallyhas beenbased on a great performer's ability to lip sync to a track-- Judy being one of the best."
I watched the "Hello Dolly" film last night (much better than I had been led to believe) and then read Vincent Canby's NYTimes review in which he wrote: "As in "Funny Girl," Miss Streisand does not lip-sync her lyrics very well, which contributes to the detached cool of her performance." Really? Her lip-syncing has never bothered me (take a look at Marianne MacAndrew's Irene Malloy for atrocious lip-syncing) and I've never thought of Streisand's screen musical performances as "detached". Another line from the review caught my attention: "The screen adaptation of "Hello, Dolly!," which began a reserved-seat engagement last night at the Rivoli Theater (after a private, somewhat violent, invitational premiere Tuesday night), What the hell happened, does anyone know?
Posted: 7/9/19 at 7:30pm
This thread has been all over the place-I'm guilty--watched last night on Netflix 'The Whole Truth' with Keanu Reeve and Renee Zellweger. Until she spoke, I did that 'she looks a little like....' . I thought often throughout the film she has Roxie still to do and then Judy--who would have thought ?
Not a bad courtroom drama.
Posted: 7/10/19 at 12:46pm
All about opinion on this one but, meh.
I don't think she looks like her or sounds like her.
And I say this as a huge Judy fan who is usually willing to keep an open mind when something is done quality, even if the performer doesn't make me think much of Judy. This looks quality, but the performance does nothing for me.
I agree that Judy Davis really hit it out of the park and I could really suspend disbelief on that one.
This one though. Not so much.
I'll have to pass.
Posted: 7/10/19 at 12:54pm
Posted: 7/10/19 at 5:10pm
bryan2 said: "I would prefer that she do her own singing, just like you don't have to look like the person you are playing in the film , you just need to interpret the person and in song I believe she just has to make sure she puts the song across so it feels like Garland. I actually hate the lip synching when it is a real person, it takes me out of the film, I hated when Jamie Foxx did it and hated when Ramy did it ...you could tell from the speaking voice to the singing voice it didn't connect for me. (like Jim Nabors Lol) .. I never think you deserve the Oscar if you lipsynch…(especially if it is a huge part of the story ) Now if the case of musicals and they have ghost singers for people who cant sing at all (lucy in mame) for some reason that is ok for me."
Lucy’s Mame is a guilty pleasure for me. I saw it about 6-8 weeks ago on TCM and was reminded just how awful Lucy’s singing was in that movie. If she had a ghost singer for any part of that, they failed miserably. Every phrase she sang was cringeworthy.
It is a guilty pleasure partially because oh her singing. I know how truly awful it is, but I just wait for her to stop singing, and I enjoy it again. It would have been astronomically better with Lansbury in the role; but, as done, I am not sure it still would have been a very good movie stilL...at least it had Bea Arthur and Jane Connell.
