CAT'S BREAKFAST

MOVIE
CATS
Francesca Hayward, Judi Dench
Director Tom Hooper
Review Ray Chan

THE movie version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running musical (based of course on TS Eliot's poetry) has finally made it to the screen, after much-publicised negative reaction to advance trailers.
    Using "digital fur" technology, the film turns its star-studded cast into singing, dancing kitties, a “weirdness” factor that caused most of the early uproar.
    Those of a certain vintage will remember a cartoon called Clutch Cargo, which superimposed live-action human lips over the animation. It caused me nightmares as a child, and watching this new creation had the cold sweats flowing once again.
    But if viewers can somehow overcome this unnatural countenance, they may actually find themselves enjoying the adventures of the tribe of cats called the Jellicles, who gather together for a (fur)ball and celebration.
    The rhythmic nature of Eliot's poems had long been considered excellent material for musicalisation, as the style was reminiscent of that used by popular lyricists. Lloyd Weber had first applied melodies to the words as a pet project back in 1977.
    If you’re not familiar with the story, the felines include the feisty Bombalurina (Taylor Swift), upper-class "fat cat" Bustopher Jones (James Corden), old Gus the theatre cat (Ian McKellen), lazy but agile Jennyanydots (Rebel Wilson), flashy Rum Tum Tugger (Jason Derulo), and formerly glamorous outsider Grizabella (Jennifer Hudson). Idris Elba adds some spice as the villainous Macavity, while Francesca Hayward plays the abandoned small white kitten Victoria, a newly-created character.
    Many of the Jellicles are vying to be selected by their matriarch, Old Deuteronomy (Judi Dench), to rise up to the Heaviside Layer, which is essentially what the cats consider heaven. To be considered, they participate in an Idol style competition, an annual ritual which provides the platform for the many song-and-dance routines.
    The most well-loved composition of course is the beautiful Memory, which Hudson screams out throughout the alleys as if she's trying to hack out a hairball, begging to be brought back into the clan and wet-nosing it profusely like a pampered puss in director Tom Hooper's preferred one-take-only style.
    The soundtrack also reminds this reviewer that despite the show’s long-running stage success, the music is not among Lloyd Webber’s best, with many discordant refrains not quite in the same league as the afore-mentioned showstopper.
    The actors generally don’t disappoint, although they have to make do with what they're given. It's hard to keep a serious face when a decorated thespian as McKellen starts to meow and laps at milk. Dame Judi proves she can carry a tune (and indeed had been cast as both Grizabella and Jennyanydots in the initial stage version). Bombalurina gets everyone high on catnip while riding on a glowing half-moon, and Bustopher cavorts through a garbage can and feasts on trash. 
    Wilson, meanwhile, does her acting resume no favours as she remains typecast as a plus-size, goofy, happy-go-lucky character. But she does feature in the movie's most disturbing moments: treating rodents with human faces as her own pets, and choreographing goose-stepping cockroaches, some of whom she actually eats.
    Mind you, the dancers' sensuous movements, throbbing tails and furry cat butts can create curious stirrings in the mind. The male dancers are for all intents and purposes naked, but have been digitally spayed, leaving nothing but flat nether regions. And, in trying too hard to emulate pussy proclivities, the actors gracelessly stick their legs into the air, thankfully not proceeding to rear-end sniffing and worse.
    Some observers believe that a Pixar-like animated version of Cats would have done the musical better justice than this experimental anthropomorphic exercise, yet bizarrely, this live-action interpretation is just so bewilderingly out of the ordinary that it has an allurement of its own.
    Not quite the cat’s meow and far from purr-fect ... but five paws out of ten for its sheer outlandishness.

#CATSmovie# #NBCUniversal#

STELLAR GREATEST HITS ALBUM

MOVIE
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, Mark Hamill
Director JJ Abrams
Review Ray Chan

I'M old enough to have caught the first Star Wars movie back in 1977, when, with three other intrepid souls in a near-empty Cinema City theatre (now defunct), I braved this space opera which no-one had heard of, curious to find out if it was any good.
    Was it ever. Within minutes of the opening crawl and being swept away by the massive Star Destroyer that covered the screen, I was hooked, like millions of others throughout the world were, introduced to the fertile imagination of George Lucas.
   It's almost hard to believe that now, more than 40 years later, the ninth instalment of the franchise brings closure as the Skywalker arc comes to an end, while new chapters unfold on TV streaming services, Baby Yoda and all.
    Even more than the last two entries, this one feels made specifically for the Star Wars diehards, who have long chided the use of complex plot twists to confuse and compound proceedings (as in the poorly-received prequels).
    Heeding their requests, director and Lucas protege JJ Abrams directs with tunnel vision, never wishing to experiment beyond what’s expected in a Star Wars story and running the risk of infuriating the fan boys.
    The result is a nostalgic and sentimental production that isn’t concerned with breaking new ground as much as it is with bidding farewell. It coasts along without portent nor provocation, keeping its eye on the prize, tying up loose ends and giving followers one last chance to say goodbye.
    You know how it begins: a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. The galactic rebels, in this case the Resistance, are evading the evil forces of the First Order, marshalled by self-declared Supreme Leader Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).
    Leading our heroes are General Leia (the late Carrie Fisher) and commander Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), who's given more screen time this time round than his compatriot Finn (John Boyega), who seems to have been shunted into the background.
    Meanwhile Rey (Daisy Ridley) has been secluded and continuing her training in the ways of the Force, on her journey to become a Jedi knight. But she’s pulled back into action by Poe, after a mysterious message of revenge is broadcast by a surprisingly resurrected Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), who also threaten's Ren's hold on power.
    For most of the time, this latest chapter does little to expand the story. Oddly, despite running for two hours and 22 minutes, it still has the feeling of being cramped, with Abrams rushing along to finalise destinies, giving us long foreshadowed showdowns and bringing back some cherished favourites who we know we will never see again.
    Many of the plot details are basically updates of old Star Wars elements. Indeed, the opening half-hour is an unapologetic mash-up of previous setpieces, characters and plotlines (the Millennium Falcon at light speed; dogfights around gorges; cute droids; banter over chess; military superiors with hands clasped behind their backs; giant subterranean worms). Palpatine has gathered a fleet of Star Destroyers now all equipped with planet-destroying lasers, able to annihilate planets like the Death Star used to do. And once again, the Resistance has to regroup to launch a massive last-ditch assault to destroy this and other dangers posed by the Order.
     All this is piled atop the key focus of the story, which is Rey’s continuing transformation from scavenger to Jedi, and her evolving clash with Ren, estranged son of Leia and Han Solo - who he killed in Force Awakens - and is tapped by Palpatine to become his new student.
    The special effects are fittingly stellar, CGI bombardment notwithstanding, including a lightsabre duel between Rey and Ren on the wreckage of a familiar landmark as enormous waves of water loom in the background.
    Abrams uses unused footage of Carrie Fisher from Force Awakens to depict the final moments of Leia: and her eventual departure, while abrupt, provides an affectionate exit for the character.
    The Emperor spends his time sitting in a dark chamber and later levitates before a coliseum filled with anonymous, hooded devotees of the Sith, who don’t do anything even as the world around them crumbles before the Rebels' onslaught.
    Like many a final sequel, the last act of The Rise of Skywalker is a mad rush to shut up shop, with a climax comprised of yet another gargantuan space battle, but Abrams finds space to include some hints of romance and drama, including a kiss that is the film’s great shocker.
    On the whole, the movie delivers spectacular sights and moments that will delight those who dearly love this world according to Lucas. And capping off the trip down memory lane is the return of composer-conductor John Williams, to score yet another Star Wars instalment.
    And so it's a fond adieu for Luke, Han, Leia and Chewie, and various allies many of us have grown up with. The ultimate scene in fact serves as a lovely homage to the Star Wars legacy, shot with the kind of nostalgic pleasure missing from the livelier moments.
    All in all, it's been a helluva ride, as this chapter concludes on an emotional high. But while it definitely ends with more than a whimper, it also begs the question of whether further episodes are needed.
    The book is finished. We really don’t have to visit this odyssey again. Although, cynically, when the box-office count comes in, these nine parts of the roster might well be extended to 12.

#starwarsriseofskywalker  #natashalouiseenterprises

PROS AND CONS

MOVIE
The Good Liar
Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen
Director Bill Condon
Review Ray Chan

WHEN a movie is titled The Good Liar, we already suspect from the start that things are not going to be quite what they seem.
    And within the first 10 minutes, it does seem pretty predictable how things might eventually wind up.
    Indeed, critics might even point out that the plot suffers from the way developments appear to be telegraphed, but ultimately there is really a deeper, more sinister side to the story, which unfolds like a set of Babushka dolls.
    The film starts with two strangers of senior years, Betty McLeish (Mirren) and Roy Courtnay (McKellen), out on a dinner date.
    Roy is in fact a con artist, and despite his charm, it’s quite clear that even while he claims piously that he “despises dishonesty above all else,” his life is one big lie.
    The genial, trusting Betty appears to be besotted by Roy, so much so that within days she’s let him move into the guest room of her suburban home, despite the protests of grandson Stephen (Russell Tovey).
    Along the way, Roy and his partner-in-crime Vincent (Jim Carter) conspire to convince Betty to transfer all her life savings into a joint account, which they duly expect to drain.
    But is the demure dame really that naïve?
    Agreeing to go on a holiday with Roy, she strangely expresses a preference for Berlin, and it’s on this trip to Germany that things start to get complicated, and the mood darkens so much it almost becomes another film.
    Ultimately, what makes the movie click despite its story shortfalls is the consummate and seemingly effortless performance of the two main leads, who are an enormous pleasure to watch, both individually and playing off each other on screen – almost unbelievably – for the first time in their decades-long careers.
    Mirren and McKellen never dither, and their eloquence, elegance and ability to register multiple subtle changes of emotion is consistently impressive.
    Indeed, they’re the best kind of liars: actors playing actors pretending not to be actors, and doing it with panache and professionalism.


#thegoodliar #buzzmarketing