Steve Pond's Blog, page 2066
November 17, 2019
‘The Inheritance’ Broadway Review: A Big Gay Mashup Offers Real Suds, Limp Toes
After its awards-laden engagements at the Young Vic and on the West End in London, Matthew Lopez’s “The Inheritance: Part One & Part Two” opened Sunday at Broadway’s Barrymore Theatre, all six-plus hours of it. Under the playwright’s name on the title page, the Playbill credit reads, “inspired by the novel ‘Howards End’ by E.M. Forster.” Perhaps space did not allow for Lopez to credit “The Boys in the Band,” “Longtime Companion,” “Love! Valour! Compassion!” and “Angels in America,” not to mention “Stella Dallas” and “Youngblood Hawke.” Yes, they write them like they used to — only longer.
“The Inheritance” isn’t a great play or even a very good play, but Lopez’s opus is compellingly watchable in the way that old so-bad-they’re-good movies are: Finger-snapping one-liners and dramatic fireworks explode throughout as logic and character development are abandoned. At the helm is the perfect director, Stephen Daldry, the theater’s version of Douglas Sirk. If anyone knows how to make pulpy dialogue an even deeper shade of purple, it’s Daldry. Despite the play’s lengthy running time, you will be riveted watching this lurid, weepy, pandering, derivative, and very grand soap opera.
Before we get to how Lopez lifts from both “Stella Dallas” and “Youngblood Hawke,” let’s begin with his credited inspiration. First up, Forster is a character in “The Inheritance.” He is exhumed from the dead to help one of the play’s characters write a novel, which ends up being titled “The Inheritance.” Paul Hilton portrays Forster with real Leslie Howard detachment. Considering Lopez’s take on “Howards End,” the dead novelist’s reserve is completely warranted.
Also Read: 'Tina' Broadway Review: Adrienne Warren Captures Tina Turner's Distinctive Bray of a Voice
For instance, Forster’s sisters in “Howards End,” Margaret and Helen, are now Lopez’s very modern same-sex lovers Toby (Andrew Burnap, being more decadent than Helmut Berger in “The Damned”) and Eric (Kyle Soller, being more noble than Norma Shearer in anything). Updating these two Edwardian characters to make them gay men living in modern-day Manhattan is a stretch that snaps the story apart to spectacular effect in Part Two. And the sex change is the least of it.
A few years ago, Hollywood released a disastrous movie remake of “The Women.” Because its makers updated the story to the present, the female characters were given careers. Those jobs outside the home destroyed Clare Boothe Luce’s polemic. Providing them a livelihood freed these women from men, hence no story. That’s basically the problem with turning Margaret into a professional gay man living in contemporary Manhattan. Whether the character is named Margaret or Eric, making her/him independent of a wealthy man turns the character into a fool rather than a victim bent on being delivered.
In “The Inheritance,” Eric works for a “social justice entrepreneur.” In other words, he’s a hardcore liberal. He’s also an insatiable bottom who prances about, wiggling his butt (no choreographer credited), because he loves getting screwed by Toby. Lopez’s view of gay men is very structured. There are bottoms and there are tops. “Versatile” is outside this writer’s vocabulary. Anyway, Toby is a real top who has written an autobiographical novel that’s described as a gay “Catcher in the Rye.” Unlike J.D. Salinger, Toby is turning his novel into a play destined for Broadway and possibly the movies. As if that weren’t enough to distinguish Toby from J.D., Lopez titles the novel and the play “Loved Boy.”
Also Read: 'The Rose Tattoo' Broadway Review: Marisa Tomei Goes Full Fellini
The much more hilariously engrossing part of “The Inheritance” is Toby’s story line, which diverges most from “Howards End.” While his Helen counterpart in “Howards End” ends up unwed and pregnant, Toby clearly doesn’t have that option. Instead, he dumps Eric to fall in love with Adam (the occasionally naked Samuel H. Levine), a young actor cast to headline “Loved Boy,” who promptly trades in Toby for the show’s director. Unlike most legit debutantes, Toby is so wildly successful that he has no friends in Manhattan, meaning he must pay a hustler (the double-cast Levine) $400 dollars to bed him and tell him he’s “loved.” Unsatisfied, Tobe flees to that faraway place called Fire Island, where he takes a house, acquires all sorts of friends who apparently never heard of his Broadway leprosy and throws an orgy that leaves one young man’s anus so bloody (gasps from the Barrymore audience) that he returns to Toby’s parties every weekend for the rest of the summer (nods from the Barrymore audience). In other words, when these gay characters drone on too long about being victims, Lopez punctures that monotony by giving us Mike Pence’s vision of Fire Island. Kudos to Bob Crowley’s Ninth Circle of Hell set design, Jon Clark’s fiery lighting, Paul Englishby’s cacophonous disco music and whoever runs the fog machine. Also, how do I get on Toby’s email blast for next summer?
This entire novel-to-Broadway/sell-your-soul plot is ripped from 1964’s “Youngblood Hawke,” a guilty-pleasure movie that stars James Franciscus as a young writer on the make from the South, just like Toby. My fave line from “Youngblood Hawke” comes when the jaded Genevieve Waite asks the naïve Franciscus, “So, what should I call you? Youngy or Bloody?”
Lopez tops that howler of a question with a scene that replicates the ending of “Stella Dallas,” the sudsy moment when Barbara Stanwyck sneaks a peek of her daughter’s wedding through the mansion window. In “The Inheritance,” the HIV-infected hustler somehow finds the strength to drag himself to the Booth Theatre (Lopez doesn’t settle for the Cort or the Nederlander) to see his ex-boyfriend’s play. No, it’s not raining a la “Stella Dallas.” But it’s winter and freezing and the hustler can’t afford Stanwyck’s warm coat and cap despite charging $400-a-night fees for tricking with Toby and billionaires like Eric’s billionaire fiancé. (I’ll get to Eric’s story in a moment.) There’s no money to see “Loved Boy.” But ever ready with an MGM miracle, Lopez has the hustler run into the show’s star in Shubert Alley; he’s his doppelganger, Adam, and they have a conversation with themselves (remember, Levine is double-cast). And the two men bond! Playing twins in “A Stolen Life,” Bette Davis never got a scene anywhere near this juicy and contrived.
Lopez’s drawer of gothic gay horrors simply overflows. Vito Russo’s “The Celluloid Closet” lambasted 1960s Hollywood for littering the screen with gay suicides. Lopez snatches one of those for Part Two of “The Inheritance.” Maybe “The Children’s Hour” is another of his inspirations?
Also Read: 'Evita' Theater Review: Andrew Lloyd Webber's Eva Peron Is Back and Lovelier Than Ever
Toby’s story makes sense in a Hollywood hokum kind of way. It’s extravagant, but it makes comic sense. Eric’s story, on the other hand, is pure queer baloney. Despite his working for a “social justice entrepreneur,” he falls in love with Henry (John Benjamin Hickey), a Manhattan billionaire who voted for Trump and, worse, refuses to have premarital sex with his anally fixated fiancé. Does Henry still read the “Baltimore Catechism”? Is Eric’s need to be sodomized a sign of extreme masochism? (More Mike Pence thinking here.) This no-sex revelation is Lopez’s biggest shocker, and so off the wall that Margaret from “Howards End” should sue if she were gay and a real person. Forster’s Margaret marries the rich capitalist Henry Wilcox for a variety of reasons having to do with her being a British woman from the early 20th century who has no career and inherits only a few hundred pounds a year. Plus, Wilcox is a respected man, albeit a prig, in old London society, which was pretty much nothing but prigs.
So why on earth is Eric sticking around with his billionaire if not to get plowed on a regular basis? And only slightly less important, an Ayn Rand capitalist would be a total pariah in Eric’s world of pious Hillary-voting homosexuals led by a “social justice entrepreneur.” (These three words are the play’s most original.) The one thing Eric’s Henry has going for him, especially as played by Hickey, is that he’s an adult man. He’s not one of the silly, giddy, giggly little twinks inhaling helium who comprise Eric’s circle of friends. No offense to young women, but this queer gaggle makes a middle-school girls’ volleyball team look downright dour in comparison. Mart Crowley put one Emory in “The Boys in the Band.” “The Inheritance” is rife with such lively clichés. Among them, the actor Arturo Luis Soria manages to be limp from the toe knuckles up.
In interviews, William Friedkin has said that he wishes he’d toned down Cliff Gorman’s Emory in the film version of “Boys.” If only Daldry had followed that advice. His direction of “The Inheritance” has the actors showing every ounce of their effort. Since Broadway likes to honor the most acting rather than the best acting, the Tonys may have to expand its best featured actor category to accommodate all the flop-sweat on the Barrymore stage.
The exceptions are Hickey and Lois Smith, who shows up near the end of to deliver an 11 o’clock monologue. “The Inheritance” features many such spill-your-guts arias, like Paul’s in “A Chorus Line” only less restrained. It’s a convention that cuts down on actual character development. Smith plays Margaret, the caretaker of the house in the country that Eric should have inherited from the Manhattan billionaire’s first boyfriend (the double cast Hilton) but doesn’t — until he finally does take ownership. (The play follows “Howards End” closely here.) Smith recites a line or two written by Forster then breaks into her long dissertation about being a Southern homophobe who disowned her dead gay son before she could experience a major moral overhaul regarding God’s punishment, i.e., AIDS. Lopez’s inspiration for Margaret is probably the Mormon-bigot-parent-turned-beatified-homophile Hannah Pitt from “Angels in America.” These repentant mommy figures are designed to make the LGBTQ audience feel “loved,” to borrow from Toby’s dictionary.
Part One of “The Inheritance” makes a major bow to “Longtime Companion,” Part Two ends with something from “Love! Valour! Compassion!” When the Tony nominating committee meets, will “The Inheritance” be deemed eligible for best new play or best revival?
Related stories from TheWrap:
'Tina' Broadway Review: Adrienne Warren Captures Tina Turner's Distinctive Bray of a Voice
'The Sound Inside' Broadway Review: Mary-Louise Parker Writes Up a Storm in Riveting New Drama
'The Rose Tattoo' Broadway Review: Marisa Tomei Goes Full Fellini
‘Joker’ Beat Up Several Superheroes En Route to $1 Billion at Box Office
This weekend saw “Joker” become the first movie with an R rating to gross $1 billion at the box office. That alone is enough to immortalize it in the comic book movie canon. But when compared to some of the big DC and Marvel tentpoles that have defined the movie ecosystem over the past few years, it’s amazing how Gotham City’s most infamous villain has beaten the superheroes at their own game.
To show just how special “Joker”‘s box office run has been, we have compared its domestic and overseas performance to a small sample of comic book movies that it has passed on the all-time charts:
– “Justice League,” a film featuring all of DC’s biggest superheroes
– “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” a DC film with a similarly dark tone to “Joker”
– “Suicide Squad,” the last DC film to feature a version of the Joker
– and “Thor: Ragnarok,” a Marvel film released in autumn that was a hit with audiences.
Also Read: Why 'Joker' Has Outperformed All Other R-Rated Films at the Box Office
Against those four films, “Joker” had an $96.2 million opening well below that of the latter three and only slightly above the $93.8 million start of “Justice League.” But as you can see in the chart below, “Joker” has lasted longer with audiences than any of those films and is on the verge of passing the entire domestic run of “BvS.”
This is partly because “Joker” has taken advantage of weak competition. Films like “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” and “Terminator: Dark Fate” haven’t made a big splash with audiences, allowing “Joker” to sustain its status as the sole can’t-miss film a lot longer than our current, content-overloaded pop culture allows a lot of movies to have.
But of course, that required “Joker” to strike a chord loud enough to have such can’t-miss status to begin with. As we noted last month, “Joker” was able to hit that increasingly rare sweet spot between pop culture phenomenon and critical darling. Its big Venice win and fears of triggering real life violence kicked pre-release buzz into overdrive, and the overwhelmingly strong response from the usual comic book movie crowd spilled over into the general moviegoing populace, allowing it to linger in the top 5 for over a month.
Also Read: 'Justice League': Gal Gadot Joins in Call to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut
But that’s only half of the story. What makes “Joker” a truly special box office hit is that unlike many of its comic book brethren, it grossed $1 billion without the aid of China.
Instead, it vastly overperformed in many other major markets, showing the same kind of long-lasting performance all over the world that it did in the U.S.. In the next chart, you can see how “Joker” and the four films we chose stacked up in “Joker”‘s five highest grossing international markets: United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, France and Germany.
Not only does “Joker” have totals that dwarf those of all the others — including $70 million in the U.K. — it also beat the other DC film that grossed $1 billion in the past year: “Aquaman.”
With “Frozen II” kicking off the holiday movie season early next weekend, it’s likely that “Joker” will see its final global total fall short of the $1.14 billion that “Aquaman” grossed last winter. But even if that happens, it’s only because “Aquaman” had a Chinese release and “Joker” didn’t. Take away the $291 million that “Aquaman” grossed in the Middle Kingdom, and its global total drops down to $857 million.
It’s difficult to say whether “Joker” can become a trendsetter when it comes to comic book movies, but it certainly has pushed the boundaries on what can be done with the genre and what global audiences will respond to.
Also Read: 'Joker' Takes R-Rated Box Office Record...and Possibly Another No. 1 Weekend
Following the critical disappointment of “Batman v Superman” and “Justice League,” much discussion was had about the “grimdark” tone that DC Films was using towards its superheroes. But while films like “Wonder Woman” and “Shazam!” have pushed the heroes in a more hopeful direction, a “grimdark,” Scorsese-inspired tale about a DC villain was embraced by audiences as something unique and fresh.
And unlike the other $1 billion-plus superhero hits — even the “Avengers” films — “Joker” did it all on a mid-sized budget. With a production cost reported to be in between $55-70 million, “Joker” has provided Warner Bros. with one of the biggest returns on investment in blockbuster history. Even as other WB films like “The Kitchen,” “Motherless Brooklyn” and “Doctor Sleep” have flopped this autumn, “Joker” has joined forces with “It: Chapter Two” to erase any financial losses those films may have incurred.
It may be a good while before we see a box office run from an R-rated film like this again.
Related stories from TheWrap:
'Joker' Crosses $1 Billion at Global Box Office
Why 'Joker' Has Outperformed All Other R-Rated Films at the Box Office
'Justice League': Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck Join Call to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut
Kanye West Says He’s ‘the Greatest Artist That God Has Ever Created’
Kanye West addressed a packed house of parishioners at Joel Osteen’s megachurch in Houston, Texas on Sunday, affirming his dedication to Christianity and calling himself “the greatest artist that God has ever created,” according to USA Today.
The rapper told the crowd of about 16,000 at Lakewood Church that the “devil stole all the good producers, all the good musicians, all the good artists, all the good designers,” but that a shift was coming because “now, the greatest artist that God has ever created is working for him.” He was referencing himself, USA Today wrote.
“I know that God has been calling me for a long time and the devil has been distracting me for a long time,” West told Osteen during a 20-minute interview on stage.
Also Read: Behind the 'Jesus Is King' Film That Brought Together Kanye West and Imax
The “Jesus Is King” artist shared details of a low point in his life in 2016 when he was hospitalized after a “mental breakdown,” saying God “was there with me, sending me visions, inspiring me,” adding that rappers are distracted by alcohol, promiscuity and other “addictions” that “bring our Christian scorecard down.”
Oh, and about that rumor that he’ll be running for President of the United States in 2024, West said, “I’m not going to run, I’m going to walk.”
Last weekend, West took his “Jesus Is King” tour on an unexpected stop in two Houston prisons where he performed tracks from his gospel album. Last month, he released the album along with a short film featuring him and his Sunday Service gospel choir that screened in IMAX theaters, selling out screenings in 24 cities worldwide.
Related stories from TheWrap:
Behind the 'Jesus Is King' Film That Brought Together Kanye West and Imax
Kanye West's 'Jesus Is King' Resurrects $862,000 in Box Office Debut
'Jesus Is King' Film Review: Kanye West Documentary-Promo Is Both Too Short and Too Long
‘Justice League': Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck Join Call to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut
DC fans who have been demanding for Zack Snyder’s original cut of “Justice League” may have just got the Champion of Themiscyra and The Dark Knight on their side, as Gal Gadot and Ben Affleck posted tweets on Sunday that seemed to show support for the fan campaign.
Gadot’s tweet had no context; simply a black and white picture of the actress with the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut, which DC fans were trying to get trending on Sunday to mark the second anniversary of the release of “Justice League.” Affleck’s tweet followed two hours later.
Snyder, the original director of the film, stepped down during post-production after the untimely death of his daughter. Joss Whedon was hired to finish editing the film and also did reshoots with scenes he wrote himself.
#ReleaseTheSnyderCut pic.twitter.com/wssMmlPqEK
— Gal Gadot (@GalGadot) November 17, 2019
— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) November 17, 2019
But “Justice League” ended up being no “Avengers,” with lukewarm fan reception and grossing well below $1 billion at the box office. Since then, fans have demanded that Warner Bros. re-release the film in the original cut that Snyder intended, one that original composer Tom “Junkie XL” Holkenborg confirmed had a score composed for it before it was replaced by Whedon.
“The full score is still there,” Holkenborg told CinemaBlend last month. “It’s a really great score, and it’s just there. It never goes away. We’ll see what happens in the future, you know?”
As for Gadot, she is still an active part of the DC Universe, getting ready to appear as Diana Prince for the fourth time on the big screen in “Wonder Woman 1984,” set for release on June 5.
Related stories from TheWrap:
'Joker' Crosses $1 Billion at Global Box Office
Why 'Joker' Has Outperformed All Other R-Rated Films at the Box Office
'Joker' Passes Global Box Office Run of 'Justice League' in Just 3 Weekends
‘SNL': Pete Davidson’s Parody of Michael Avenatti Gets a ‘Total Loser’ Review From the Attorney
“SNL’s” cold open this week got at least one person’s attention — Michael Avenatti, who joked that there was “nothing funny” about Pete Davidson’s impression of him.
“Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC!,” he tweeted late Saturday night. “Question is, how does that total loser Pete Davidson save his dieing [sic] mediocre career by playing me and get away with these total Democratic hit jobs without retribution? This is the real quid pro quo. Investigate!!!”
Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC! Question is, how does that total loser Pete Davidson save his dieing mediocre career by playing me and get away with these total Democratic hit jobs without retribution? This is the real quid pro quo. Investigate!!!
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) November 17, 2019
Also Read: 'SNL': Jon Hamm Is Bill Taylor in 'Days of Our Lives' Parody of Impeachment Hearings (Video)
The “SNL” sketch (which you can check out here) that triggered Avenatti’s jocular comeback lampooned Donald Trump’s congressional impeachment hearing that “lacked pizzazz” by turning it into a soap opera called “Days of Our Impeachment.” Davidson’s Avenatti showed up to remind everyone of Trump’s sordid past, all while poking fun at the idea that people have all but forgotten Stormy Daniels’ former legal eagle.
Davidson’s Avenatti arrived at the inquiry thinking he was dropping a bombshell that the president had an affair. But Cecile Strong as Marie Yovanovitch said, “We know. No one seems to care.”
Avenatti then adds with gusto, “The affair was with a porn star!” Again, old news.
“Fine I’ll go, but you haven’t seen the last of me. Who am I playing again?” Davidson’s Avenatti asked, then finally answering his own question, saying, “Michael Avocado!” The bit was presumably referencing a recent episode of “Jeopardy!” in which Avenatti was the question but none of the super-smart contestants remembered his name.
Also Read: 'SNL': Darrell Hammond Returns as Bill Clinton, Attends a Trump Rally (Video)
Sunday morning, Avenatti continued to play along.
He tweeted, “When Trump supporters see or hear the words ‘tongue in cheek’ on Fox News, they think it refers to Trump making out with another porn star.”
When Trump supporters see or hear the words “tongue in cheek” on Fox News, they think it refers to Trump making out with another porn star.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) November 17, 2019
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‘The Crown’ Season 3: Did Queen Elizabeth Really Think Harold Wilson Was a Russian Spy?
(Some spoilers ahead for “Olding,” the first episode of season 3 of “The Crown” on Netflix)
Season 3 of Netflix’s “The Crown” starts off with an episode that you could very well interpret as being metaphorically about current events in the United States, with a plotline that’s all about conspiracy theories and Russian spies. It’s an interesting plotline even divorced from that potential real-life cultural context, with Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) seemingly buying into theories about the Labour Party leader Harold Wilson (Jason Watkins) being a spy for the Soviet Union.
The episode takes place in 1964, around the time of a new parliamentary election in which the leftist Labour Party looked poised to take enough seats to hoist Wilson to the Prime Ministership. Ahead of the election, Prince Philip (Tobias Menzies) mentions to the queen over dinner that he heard that Wilson has been turned by the Soviets when he had visited Russia on a trade mission. The queen is at first skeptical of this idea, saying that if he was really a spy then MI5 probably would have dealt with it by now.
Also Read: 'The Crown' Refresher: Here's Where We Left Queen Elizabeth II Ahead of Season 3
But as the episode goes on, Queen Elizabeth continues to hear these conspiracy theories. And eventually, she buys in. By the time MI5 pays her a visit to tell her that there definitely is a Russian spy in the highest levels of British society, the queen is very sure she knows who it is.
She’s wrong, of course. The real spy was art historian Anthony Blunt (Samuel West), who was serving as the art curator for the royal family at the time, and had passed British secrets to the Russians during World War II — the two countries weren’t at war with each other at least, but that’s still bad. Everyone agreed to keep the whole thing quiet and, ah, handle it internally, as the sports teams and corporations today would say.
So how much of this story was real? Well, Anthony Blunt definitely was a real spy for the Soviets, a fact that was made public in 1979. And while MI5 did in real life continue monitoring Wilson throughout his political career, there’s never been any publicly disclosed evidence that he actually was a spy.
As for the queen’s part in all this, all we really know is that this account is roughly how Margaret Thatcher described it during an address to Parliament in ’79: that the queen knew and was advised by the government to keep it quiet.
What we don’t know is what Queen Elizabeth actually thought about Harold Wilson. It’s important to note that “The Crown” does have to take a lot of liberties with history when it comes to the queen’s private interactions. There’s no record of her chats with the various British prime ministers over the years, for example, but those scenes are nonetheless copious throughout the run of “The Crown.”
So when it comes to all this stuff about the queen buying into Prince Philip’s paranoid conspiracy theories, it’s not likely that much of that is based in fact. Which is fine. If Peter Morgan and co. had to stick with only established facts when writing “The Crown,” it would probably not be a very entertaining show. But still, it’s important to keep in mind while watching that you are not viewing a completely accurate account of history.
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Helena Bonham Carter Talked to Princess Margaret Via a Psychic Before Playing Her on 'The Crown'
All 17 Disney Live-Action Remakes of Animated Classics, Ranked from Worst to Best (Photos)
Over the last decade, Disney has found itself dipping increasingly into its own well of nostalgic favorites. Specifically, they’ve been taking their beloved animated classics, remaking them in live-action (or mostly live-action), and producing one blockbuster smash after another.
Not all of these live-action Disney remakes are good, and some of the bad ones have unexpectedly interesting ideas. And some of them actually predate the current (and seemingly never-ending) wave. Let’s take a look at all of the live-action remakes of Disney’s animated classics, going all the way back to the 1990s, to explore which films improved on the original and which ones came up short.
15. “The Jungle Book” (1994)
The first live-action Disney remake of an animated Disney classic is, somehow, still the worst. Stephen Sommers (“The Mummy”) directs this frustratingly inert take on Rudyard Kipling’s stories, which strips the animals of their characterizations and highlights instead the bland experiences of British colonizers, who condescend to Mowgli (Jason Scott Lee) at every turn. Some of the supporting performances, especially by Cary Elwes and Lena Headey, are noteworthy, but the rest of the movie is a sloppy throwback to a mercifully bygone era of adventure filmmaking, full of backwards mentalities and underwhelming action.
14. “Christopher Robin” (2018)
The beloved stories of A.A. Milne have been previously adapted by Disney into several beautifully animated and heartwarming motion pictures. So it’s especially cloying that Marc Forster’s “Christopher Robin” just plops these timeless characters into a tepid and cookie-cutter family flick about a dad who — gasp! — spends too much time at work, and rediscovers his inner child thanks to the return of his old, magical friends. Ewan McGregor shines as the adult version of Christopher Robin, but the melancholy cinematography, underdeveloped screenplay and creepy VFX renditions of Pooh and his friends make “Christopher Robin” a rough slog.
13. “Alice Through the Looking Glass” (2016)
James Bobin’s sequel to “Alice in Wonderland” certainly looks like an improvement on the original, with vibrant production design and weird visual effects, and a tone that’s mercifully less grim. But the time-travel storyline, which sends Alice back to the early days of Wonderland (sorry, “Underland”) to become the cause of all its miseries (including a genocide), retroactively injures the original film, which had a boatload of problems in the first place.
12. “Beauty and the Beast” (2017)
Despite the excellent source material and a decent cast, Bill Condon’s remake of “Beauty and the Beast” has the unfortunate distinction of being the only live-action Disney remake that has absolutely no new interpretation of its material. It’s just the exact same story but longer, and only because of unnecessary additions that arbitrarily pad the running time, confuse the characters’ motivations, and shoot holes in the already thin plot. Add in some ugly character designs and an utterly forgettable new song, and you’ve got a film which made Disney a lot of money, but artistically has no particular reason to exist.
12. “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” (2019)
Maleficent is back, and this time she’s meeting Aurora’s future mother-in-law, Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer), who frames the sorceress for an attempted assassination attempt and tries to commit genocide against Maleficent’s fairy kind. Jolie is as sharp as ever but the movie gives her precious little to do or even say. The plot is a leaden bore that’s just an excuse to end in a big climactic battle (which gets hastily brushed off) and at the center of it all is the dumbest pipe-organ solo in cinema history. “Mistress of Evil” would make “Maleficent” look good if it didn’t, right at the end, completely contradict the story and message of the original, making both films worse as a result.
11. “Alice in Wonderland” (2010)
Tim Burton’s blockbuster retelling of “Alice in Wonderland” is unnecessarily murky and violent, and — worst of all — devoid of Lewis Carroll’s signature wit. Mia Wasikowska stars as Alice, who has forgotten all about Wonderland (sorry, “Underland”) and returns years later, only to find it taken over by darkness, a problem that can be solved only by more war. The film comes across like a cynical attempt to make a classic story edgy and marketable, but at least there’s an interesting attempt to transform Alice into a modern and active heroine, and the film’s ensemble cast boasts some real highlights, including Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, and Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat.
10. “102 Dalmatians” (2000)
Kevin Lima’s sequel to the hit “101 Dalmatians” remake is strange and cartoony but, in its defense, completely unapologetic. Glenn Close returns as the despicable Cruella de Vil, now rehabilitated via brainwashing and eager to rescue puppies instead of murdering them. When her programming wears off, she resumes her wicked ways. There’s not much more to it than that, but the film’s astounding costume design and Close’s pitch-perfect performance make “102 Dalmatians” an amiable, if shallow, piece of children’s entertainment.
9. “Maleficent” (2014)
Disney’s “Maleficent” isn’t so much an adaptation of “Sleeping Beauty” as it is quasi-family-friendly riff on Abel Ferrara’s “Ms .45.” Angelina Jolie stars as a fairy who gets betrayed and violated by her human lover and left physically and emotionally scarred, so she plots her revenge against him by cursing his daughter, played by Elle Fanning. The cinematography is hard to make out a lot of the time — and once you do get a good look at some of the CGI creatures, you’ll wish it stayed that way — but the bold new interpretation of the source material and Jolie’s exceptional performance elevate “Maleficent” above its shoddy VFX and extremely sloppy storytelling.
8. Aladdin (2019)
Guy Ritchie’s remake of “Aladdin” sucks out all the personality the filmmaker could have possibly brought to the project, instead simply rehashing the original in a mediocre but mildly enjoyable way. Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott are wonderful as Aladdin and Jasmine, and Will Smith plays the Genie like he’s the ultimate fantasy wingman. It’s like watching the original “Aladdin” acted out in the middle of a parade: Cheerful, well-intentioned, and fleeting.
7. “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (2010)
Except for an obligatory scene with some dancing mops, Jon Turteltaub’s “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” has very little in common with the classic Mickey Mouse segment from “Fantasia.” Jay Baruchel stars as a young science nerd who is destined to become a sorcerer, and Nicolas Cage has to train him before evil sorcerers can raise an army and take over the world. It’s a perfectly watchable fantasy adventure, but nothing about “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” makes a lasting impact. It’s practically the textbook definition of “average.”
6. “The Lion King” (2019)
Unlike “The Jungle Book” — which has at least one human character — the new “Lion King” couldn’t even be considered “live-action” in the most generous use of the term, but for the sake of conversation we’ll include it anyway. This is an ambitious visual spectacle, recreating the African savannah of the original 2D-animated movie in photorealistic CG detail as it tells the story of a lion cub who avenges his father’s murder and brings order back to the ecosystem. When Jon Favreau’s film works. it’s a visual marvel, but when it fails, it’s because the film’s literalist animation style is directly at odds with the arch, fantastical story and characters. “The Lion King’s” style may be the selling point but it isn’t the substance — and too often, it gets in the way.
5. “101 Dalmatians” (1996)
Stephen Herek directed a trio of live-action Disney hits in the 1990s — “The Mighty Ducks,” “The Three Musketeers,” and “101 Dalmatians” — and they’re all satisfying family-friendly romps. Jeff Daniels and Joely Richardson play humans whose dogs fall in love and have oodles of puppies, and Glenn Close portrays Cruella de Vil like a pitch-perfect 1960s “Batman” villain. The film devolves into brainless, non-stop “Home Alone” slapstick in the second half, but it’s never less than fun, and Close gives such a gloriously unhinged performance that she’s practically Oscar-worthy.
4. “Dumbo” (2019)
Tim Burton’s second live-action remake of a Disney animated classic is more clever, more emotional and significantly more subversive than his “Alice in Wonderland.” It’s still the story of a baby circus elephant with giant ears that help him fly, but this time his circus is purchased by a theme-park entrepreneur played by Michael Keaton, who proceeds to lay off most of the workers after the merger and to exploit his newly acquired IP beyond reason. Disney has often turned heartless capitalists into their villains, but in “Dumbo,” the studio seems to be pointing the finger at itself, giving Burton’s richly realized fantasy an unexpected and impressive sting.
3. “The Jungle Book” (2016)
Jon Favreau’s “The Jungle Book” uses so much CGI that calling it “live-action” is probably a misnomer; there’s only one character who isn’t motion-captured, and even the realistic environments were digitally rendered. But either way it’s an excellent film. Favreau eschews the laidback, episodic structure of the original in favor of a more focused adventure, with Mowgli (Neel Sethi) gradually taking responsibility for rescuing the jungle from the deadly Shere Khan (Idris Elba). An all-star cast of mo-cap animal characters keeps the film lively, although Christopher Walken is a distractingly strange choice for King Louie.
2. “Pete’s Dragon” (2016)
Another nebulously defined “live-action remake,” since the original “Pete’s Dragon” was a mostly live-action musical fantasy with one animated title character. David Lowery’s remake does away with all the classic songs (which ranged from adorable to weirdly violent) and also throws out the wackier storylines. Instead he highlights the emotionally sincere story of a lost boy whose only friend is a giant dragon. When Pete is discovered and brought back to the human world, his dragon, Elliot, comes looking for him. Lowery makes room for comic shenanigans, but he’s mostly interested in exploring our contemporary capacity for wonder. He transforms a formerly eccentric tale into something beautiful and, possibly, timeless.
1. “Cinderella” (2015)
Disney’s original “Cinderella” is a masterpiece of animation, but it’s also a narratively thin piece of wish-fulfillment. Kenneth Branagh’s live-action remake keeps the original, classic storyline in place but amplifies the characters, giving the wicked stepmother (Cate Blanchett) a meaningful motivation for her treatment of Cinderella (Lily James), giving Cinderella a set of clearly-defined principles that justifies her every decision, and giving the prince (John Madden) enough time with Cinderella that they can actually fall believably in love. Romantic, beautiful and — from a story perspective, at least — an undeniable improvement on the original, “Cinderella” is the crown jewel of Disney’s live-action remakes. For now.
‘Lady and the Tramp’ Film Review: Doggy Love Story Retains Charm in Live-Action Remake
Say what you will about director Charlie Bean’s new “Lady and the Tramp,” but it stands out from the rest of the recent Disney live-action remakes. This isn’t a film that’s been remade to dazzle audiences with big-budget fantasy spectacle. It’s just a story about two dogs who fall in love in backyards and alleyways.
This new “Lady” was probably never going to break box-office records, yet it’s too iconic to go straight to video with the implication that it’s the runt of the Disney live-action remake litter.
So it makes sense that “Lady and the Tramp” will instead debut on the new streaming service Disney+, where its pedigree looks impressive while audience expectations can still be a little more modest than if a hundred dollars had just been plunked down for a whole family’s worth of tickets and a bunch of snacks. In the comfort of one’s own home, Bean’s mostly faithful remake can probably be appreciated for all it is — briefly entertaining and pretty darned cute.
Also Read: Original 'Avatar' Film to Stream on Disney+ at Launch
Tessa Thompson provides the voice of Lady, a cocker spaniel who belongs to a kindly upper-crust couple. Jim Dear (Thomas Mann) and Darling (Kiersey Clemons) dote on their dog, but with their first baby on the way, Lady has started to notice that the family dynamic is changing. Like, her walk schedule is thrown completely off. Nobody has ever suffered as she has suffered, surely.
Meanwhile, a nameless stray dog — for the sake of conversation, let’s call him Tramp (Justin Theroux) — is wandering the streets, avoiding a dog catcher (Adrian Martinez, “Stumptown”) who’s weirdly obsessive and always on the clock. Tramp escapes to Lady’s neighborhood and hides out in her backyard, and as they bicker back and forth, he reveals to Lady the shocking truth that she’s no longer the center of her family’s universe.
Tramp is right, of course. The baby is born, and the family leaves Lady with their fussy Aunt Sarah (Yvette Nicole Brown), who brings her two cats into the house. Those cats promptly wreck the place, but Lady gets all the blame. When Aunt Sarah takes Lady to get muzzled, she escapes into the city streets, where Tramp starts to show her the ways of the stray-dog world, and romance finally blossoms over a plate of spaghetti and meatballs.
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The live-action “Lady and the Tramp” is extremely similar to the original, but the differences are noteworthy. The world the remake shows us is significantly more inclusive, including the human characters and the animals, and the controversial “Siamese Cat Song” has been replaced with an inoffensive, albeit unremarkable, little ditty about breaking stuff. The plot has undergone minor alterations which contribute little or nothing, but those changes don’t detract from anything, either. As adaptations go, it’s mostly a list of modest improvements and lateral moves.
Whatever cynicism fans of the original — or Scrooges in general — might bring to the film will probably wash away in the first few minutes as a cocker spaniel puppy cuddles its way into our collective hearts. Then again, it might come back when the animals start talking. “Lady and the Tramp” opts for CGI talking animal techniques that range from impressively expressive to somewhat embarrassing. The body language is spot on, but the computer-generated facial expressions are never believable, with overzealous eyebrow movements, glassy eyes and too-wide smiles that aren’t nearly as convincing “Babe” was 24 years ago.
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If “Lady and the Tramp” had eschewed cheesy CGI facial animation and instead deployed the same vocal performances over shots of adorable dogs merely standing next to each other, the film might have been more effective. It’s a rock-solid voice ensemble, with Thompson and Theroux offering amusing banter and sweet burgeoning romance, and a supporting cast giving likable comic performances. Sam Elliott, Ashley Jensen, Janelle Monáe and Benedict Wong all play lovable animals, and even Ken Jeong shows up for two lines of dialogue, one of which is hands down the funniest moment in the film.
“Lady and the Tramp” has always been about class divides, and Bean’s version (written by Andrew Bujalski, “Support the Girls,” and Kari Granlund) doesn’t shy away from that conversation. But the messaging is simplistic; ultimately all there is to get out of the film is a modest romantic comedy about mismatched lovers who just happen to be covered in fur.
It doesn’t glitter, it doesn’t explode. It’s just fluffy and sweet. Bean’s film suffers a bit from minor technical issues and, despite a few improvements, it just doesn’t have the same emotional impact as the original, but it still deserves a good home.
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November 16, 2019
‘SNL': Jon Hamm Is Bill Taylor in ‘Days of Our Lives’ Parody of Impeachment Hearings (Video)
Given the pretty eventful political week we just had, there was really only one thing that “SNL” could have mocked in its cold open this week: the televised Donald Trump impeachment hearings in the House of Representatives.
The sketch took the hearings and, uh, very loosely adapted them into a “Days of Our Lives” parody, dubbed “Days of Our Impeachment.” The opening title crawl for the parody declared that the show was doing this for the sake of those in the media who were dragged this week for having complained that the hearings “lacked pizzazz” or whatever.
The cold open brought out what felt like the entire “SNL” cast, with a bonus in the form of Jon Hamm making a surprise appearance as ambassador Bill Taylor.
But seriously, this sketch had a shockingly large group of performers involved. We had Alex Moffat as House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, Cecily Strong as ousted Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, Kate McKinnon as Rudy Giuliani, Beck Bennett as Sen. Mitch McConnell, Kyle Mooney as Ambassador Gordon Sondland, Melissa Villasenor as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Heidi Gardner as a random woman who stood in the background making shocked exclamations whenever something surprising happened.
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) November 17, 2019
And for good measure, we had Pete Davidson as former Stormy Daniels Michael Avenatti, who showed up to try to remind everyone of Trump’s affairs, and Kenan Thompson as Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, who showed up to try to defend himself after he was suspended by the NFL for the season this week for hitting an opposing player with his helmet.
To give you an idea of how the sketch went, I’ll describe the part where Villasenor came on stage as AOC.
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Hamm’s Bill Taylor said flirtatiously.
“And I didn’t expect you to be such a low-key daddy,” AOC replied. Then the two of them made out.
No Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump this week, but obviously Trump’s tweets about the hearing did come up. “SNL” mocked the whole furor over the tweets, which were widely interpreted on social media as witness intimidation.
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Conservative Denver Radio Host Fired Midshow After Criticizing Trump
Conservative Denver radio station 710 KNUS fired host and former district attorney Craig Silverman during his broadcast Saturday after he criticized Donald Trump, according to the Denver Post.
Silverman told the paper he was taken off the air for replaying a 2015 interview with Trump surrogate Roger Stone, who was found guilty on seven federal charges on Friday including witness tampering.
In the interview, Silverman told Stone that one of his biggest concerns with Trump was his connection to Roy Cohn, who assisted Joseph McCarthy in the House Committee on Un-American Activities in the 1950s and later served as Trump’s personal lawyer. The Colorado radio station promptly took Silverman off the air and removed the webpage for his show from their site.
Also Read: Trump Attacks Ousted Ukraine Ambassador Mid-Hearing, Schiff Suggests It's 'Witness Tampering'
You can listen to that 2015 interview below:
Here is my 12.31.15 interview w #RogerStone – recorded as I filled in for Dan Caplis & then re-played when I filled in for Boyles on @710KNUS . My favorite part, when we talked about Roy Cohn and him introducing Cohn to Trump during Reagan run in 1980. https://t.co/Uml7NIKUjg
— Craig Silverman (@craigscolorado) November 15, 2019
“Sad day for Colorado and the First Amendment,” Colorado State Rep. Dylan Roberts tweeted about the dismissal. “Toe the Trump line instead of talking about law and facts if you want a show? ‘Sad…as our President would say.'”
Silverman, who hosted “The Craig Silverman Show” on Saturdays mornings for more than five years, thanked Roberts for his support and said he would not back down from criticizing the Trump administration.
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“I cannot and will not toe strict Trump party line,” Silverman replied to Roberts’ tweet. “I call things as I see them. I see corruption and blatant dishonesty by President and his cronies. I also see bullying/smearing of American heroes w/courage to take oath and tell truth. Their bravery inspires me.”
In a subsequent tweet, Silverman wrote, “The 95% nice reaction to my firing has been most appreciated. That is a strange sentence to write but it has been a strange Saturday.”
Silverman is scheduled to tell his story Sunday on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” with Brian Stelter.
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