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Post by OrsonSwelles on Mar 6, 2017 3:52:53 GMT
About the making of Whatever Happened To Baby Jane. Sarandon as Davis and Lange as Crawford. So far so good.
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Post by TheOriginalPinky on Mar 6, 2017 15:26:34 GMT
About the making of Whatever Happened To Baby Jane. Sarandon as Davis and Lange as Crawford. So far so good. |
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Post by MiketheMechanic on Mar 6, 2017 15:50:53 GMT
Didn't get a chance to watch last night but will catch it during the week.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Mar 6, 2017 17:02:53 GMT
Well, the first installment was...okay. Entertaining but not riveting. If there's a major problem, it seems to be one of shifting tone: one minute, it's credible drama; another, camp; still another, something approaching satire. There's a sense of trying to be too many things, but not trying hard enough at any of them.
Sarandon is coming off quite well, capturing Davis's gutsy, no-BS spirit without lapsing into caricature. At the other end of the spectrum, Judy Davis and Stanley Tucci, both of whom I admire, are wildly over-the-top in their respective roles of Hedda Hopper and Jack Warner. Lange as Crawford I can't quite make up my mind about yet, so I'll rate her somewhere in between, pending further developments. Molina's fine as the put-upon Aldrich, but he's having to do some fancy high-wire walking negotiating the varying tones to which I referred. And I'm afraid the "interview" segments with the likes of de Havilland and Blondell aren't working for me at all.
Still, it's enjoyable diversion, even if I can't always tell what to make of it, and intend to continue with the succeeding episodes (unless it goes off the rails and loses me). I feel it might benefit the enterprise, however, to take itself just a bit more seriously at times than it does.
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Post by OrsonSwelles on Mar 6, 2017 19:00:57 GMT
Well, the first installment was...okay. Entertaining but not riveting. If there's a major problem, it seems to be one of shifting tone: one minute, it's credible drama; another, camp; still another, something approaching satire. There's a sense of trying to be too many things, but not trying hard enough at any of them. Sarandon is coming off quite well, capturing Davis's gutsy, no-BS spirit without lapsing into caricature. At the other end of the spectrum, Judy Davis and Stanley Tucci, both of whom I admire, are wildly over-the-top in their respective roles of Hedda Hopper and Jack Warner. Lange as Crawford I can't quite make up my mind about yet, so I'll rate her somewhere in between, pending further developments. Molina's fine as the put-upon Aldrich, but he's having to do some fancy high-wire walking negotiating the varying tones to which I referred. And I'm afraid the "interview" segments with the likes of de Havilland and Blondell aren't working for me at all. Still, it's enjoyable diversion, even if I can't always tell what to make of it, and intend to continue with the succeeding episodes (unless it goes off the rails and loses me). I feel it might benefit the enterprise, however, to take itself just a bit more seriously at times than it does. Have you ever watched Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story? He seems to like to do too much in his shows. One scene plays dramatically, then camp, then comedy, etc. Everything including the kitchen sink, so expect more of the same 'style.' And in my opinion his AHS seasons all come precariously close to going off the rails but those are 13 ep seasons and I believe Feud is only 8 and since the story at it's base is non-fiction with a known end I think (hope) he'll keep his excess' in check. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on Mar 6, 2017 23:10:58 GMT
Well, the first installment was...okay. Entertaining but not riveting. If there's a major problem, it seems to be one of shifting tone: one minute, it's credible drama; another, camp; still another, something approaching satire. There's a sense of trying to be too many things, but not trying hard enough at any of them. Have you ever watched Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story? He seems to like to do too much in his shows. One scene plays dramatically, then camp, then comedy, etc. Everything including the kitchen sink, so expect more of the same 'style.' And in my opinion his AHS seasons all come precariously close to going off the rails but those are 13 ep seasons and I believe Feud is only 8 and since the story at it's base is non-fiction with a known end I think (hope) he'll keep his excess' in check. No, I've heard of it, but haven't caught any of those, Orson (I watch very little episodic TV), and I appreciate the input and knowing that my perceptions haven't been askew or peculiar to me. Efforts like Bette and Joan are always difficult to pull off, considering the built-in disadvantage of viewers being so familiar with the actual persons being portrayed. In spite of my criticisms, this one's really better than most. Incidentally, Mark Valley (whom I remember only from a quirky little show some years back called Keen Eddie), made a surprisingly effective Gary Merrill. Unexpected casting, but I felt it worked. That line of Sarandon's - something like, "He married Margo Channing and woke up with Bette Davis" - echoes a sentiment Davis expressed in her autobiography, The Lonely Life (published the year of WHTBJ's release): "I thought I was marrying Bill Sampson, and he thought he was marrying Margo Channing" (or something like that). |
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Post by gunshotwound on Mar 7, 2017 0:33:43 GMT
I watched it last night and I enjoyed it. Looking forward to the remaining episodes.
EDIT: I have seen all episodes as of March 26 (4th ep.) and I LOVE IT!!! |
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Post by OrsonSwelles on Mar 7, 2017 3:29:22 GMT
Have you ever watched Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story? He seems to like to do too much in his shows. One scene plays dramatically, then camp, then comedy, etc. Everything including the kitchen sink, so expect more of the same 'style.' And in my opinion his AHS seasons all come precariously close to going off the rails but those are 13 ep seasons and I believe Feud is only 8 and since the story at it's base is non-fiction with a known end I think (hope) he'll keep his excess' in check. No, I've heard of it, but haven't caught any of those, Orson (I watch very little episodic TV), and I appreciate the input and knowing that my perceptions haven't been askew or peculiar to me. Efforts like Bette and Joan are always difficult to pull off, considering the built-in disadvantage of viewers being so familiar with the actual persons being portrayed. In spite of my criticisms, this one's really better than most. Incidentally, Mark Valley (whom I remember only from a quirky little show some years back called Keen Eddie), made a surprisingly effective Gary Merrill. Unexpected casting, but I felt it worked. That line of Sarandon's - something like, "He married Margo Channing and woke up with Bette Davis" - echoes a sentiment Davis expressed in her autobiography, The Lonely Life (published the year of WHTBJ's release): "I thought I was marrying Bill Sampson, and he thought he was marrying Margo Channing" (or something like that). At the very least I'm going to enjoy all the sets, costumes, reenactments, etc. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2017 13:40:49 GMT
It's a little challenging because I'm familiar with the original actresses and their work. Well mostly Bette Davis, Crawford not as much. But my take thus far is that Sarandon has got "the look" down pretty well, and yes the gutsy attitude. But Davis was iconic for her voice, accent and mannerisms. Those were her signatures. Of all the things to skimp on, these are not them. Should have done more work.
Interesting side to Joan I haven't quite seen played up before, and need to see where it's going.
I think Hedda and Joan Blondell are merely expositional and I'm fine with that. It lends to the story.
The costumes, filming, palette, visuals, stylization,....spot on, and very enjoyable!
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Post by MiketheMechanic on Mar 7, 2017 17:45:18 GMT
Sarandon looked great but the voice and diction need work, seemed a little too cavalier. The style and visuals were great but some of the movie set scenes seemed more like they were from the 1940's than the 1960's.
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bd74
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Post by bd74 on Mar 7, 2017 18:42:52 GMT
Instantly, Lange was the MVP for me. I thought it was a good performance, and I was taken aback by how she transformed herself. Hard to believe this is the same actress who played the love interest in Tootsie. Even her accent was a fairly decent attempt at imitating Crawford. There was one scene where I heard her pronounce the word "been" as "bean", which is how Crawford used to pronounced that word.
Sarandon on the other hand, while similar to Davis in appearance, seemed as if she was just playing herself trying be like Bette Davis. She didn't even try to emulate Davis' tone of voice and accent. That said, it was not a bad performance at all. It's too bad though that neither actress wore blue contact lenses, as that would have made their portrayals a bit more believable.
Stanley Tucci was awful and over-the-top. Alfred Molina was pretty darn good as the film's director. Keep in mind he's British. I thought he nailed the American accent.
This was just the first episode, and overall it was decent.
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Post by jeffersoncody on Mar 7, 2017 19:23:59 GMT
Hugely enjoyable, can't wait to see the next 9 episodes. Ryan Murphy scores again.
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Post by OrsonSwelles on Mar 27, 2017 2:40:46 GMT
Tonight's episode reenacted Davis on the Andy Williams show. Sarandon or whoever's actually singing sounded too good.
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Mar 27, 2017 11:36:30 GMT
I knew Lange would be great, and now Sarandon has impressed me as well, at first I was not sure about her casting. Stanley Tucci is always over caffeinated so that didn't surprise me, it must be what they were going for if they hired him. Love Tucci, he's a welcome presence. Molina is great too. Lapping up every episode, this show is great for film fans.
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Post by politicidal on Mar 27, 2017 12:36:49 GMT
Hugely enjoyable, can't wait to see the next 9 episodes. Ryan Murphy scores again. It's great so far. I thought the series will be about just making the movie but now I guess it's gonna depict the aftermath as well. |
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Post by TheOriginalPinky on Mar 27, 2017 14:32:34 GMT
Tonight's episode reenacted Davis on the Andy Williams show. Sarandon or whoever's actually singing sounded too good. |
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Post by alexhurricanehiggins on Mar 27, 2017 21:35:20 GMT
It's better than expected.
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persephone
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Post by persephone on Mar 28, 2017 4:33:10 GMT
I have enjoyed each and every episode so far. Jessica has managed to make someone you really would not normally feel much sympathy for rather sympathetic. As soon as I heard that Sarandon was cast as Bette I could see it right away. She is doing a great job as well.
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Post by OrsonSwelles on Mar 28, 2017 4:50:19 GMT
I recall seeing that when it originally aired as a kid, as my mother loved Andy Williams! I think she did it spot-on! It was Sarandon doing her own singing. Wow you're old!  |
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Post by TheOriginalPinky on Mar 28, 2017 13:31:08 GMT
I recall seeing that when it originally aired as a kid, as my mother loved Andy Williams! I think she did it spot-on! It was Sarandon doing her own singing. Wow you're old!  |
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