Althouse: "If you touch me/You'll understand what happiness is..."

July 19, 2019

"If you touch me/You'll understand what happiness is..."

Happiness or horrowshow... you decide:

ADDED: I think what's disconcerting here is that they are naked and yet not naked.

59 comments:

traditionalguy said...: Thanks for the warning. And no grabbing them by the P----.; 7/19/19, 11:27 AM
Hippogryph said...: Well, that's more creepy even than I was expecting.

Makes me think a bit of the various Gremlins rip-offs from the 80s. But more musical.; 7/19/19, 11:28 AM
Darrell said...: Horrorshow.; 7/19/19, 11:29 AM
Darrell said...: Cinematic castration.; 7/19/19, 11:29 AM
richlb said...: It's the "Uncanny Alley".; 7/19/19, 11:30 AM
Gahrie said...: What's different from the Broadway play?; 7/19/19, 11:30 AM
Yancey Ward said...: What is the horror supposed to be? I thought the preview put the movie in about as good a light as possible. I am not a fan of musicals for the most part, but I liked Cats- I saw one of the very last of the Broadway productions before it closed in 2000 (I won't reveal what I paid for two tickets). I think, though, I was a bit biased- I have been in love with Streisand's version of "Memories" for 37 years- that song is one I can listen to over and over (I have it playing right now from YouTube as I write this).; 7/19/19, 11:30 AM
wild chicken said...: Some shows are better left onstage.; 7/19/19, 11:31 AM
Wince said...: A cinematic achievement for those who like their women hirsute.; 7/19/19, 11:36 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Good as insight into a person different from oneself.; 7/19/19, 11:37 AM
Mid-Life Lawyer said...: I watched it yesterday as soon as it hit the internet and the thought of creepy or scary or terror never entered my mind. I can't wait to see it. Probably the horrified have heard that none of the central cat characters are going to turn out to be gay/bi/trans or central/south Americans children who illegally entered the country and Trump is separating from their parents and taking them to the pound where they will be instantly euthanized, so it's horrifying. It will be some silliness along those lines.; 7/19/19, 11:38 AM
tcrosse said...: Toujours gai, Archie.; 7/19/19, 11:41 AM
Sprezzatura said...: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=qSqVVswa420; 7/19/19, 11:41 AM
Lucien said...: Why the Clockwork Orange allusion?; 7/19/19, 11:43 AM
rcocean said...: Ye cats. The holiday season? When does that begin?; 7/19/19, 11:44 AM
rcocean said...: I'll stick with real cats. Watching "Cats LOL" youtube videos will be more interesting. And its free.; 7/19/19, 11:45 AM
Rory said...: Nine lives of Judi Dench. Take me now....; 7/19/19, 11:51 AM
Amichel said...: Horrorshow; 7/19/19, 11:53 AM
Koot Katmandu said...: I liked it. I think I might see it. Why horror show? Do not see that at all.; 7/19/19, 11:55 AM
Nonapod said...: I can't help thinking about that scene in Team America: World Police when the protaganist told the story of how he was raped by Mr. Mistoffelees.; 7/19/19, 12:06 PM
JML said...: Bad rendition of the song. Horrid. I don't understand how they can be so tone-deaf.; 7/19/19, 12:07 PM
Temujin said...: Am I mistaken seeing that the good cat, the protagonist, is a white cat. And that the bad cat is a black, or dark cat? This cannot fly. Not in today's marketplace. I cannot believe they allowed this to be made in this way. Do they have no morals? What's more...are their binary genders portrayed by these cats? CisCats? WTF?

Look- I just watched the trailer for IT, volume 2. I think we can combine the two trailers and end up with a real smashing new movie. It, Chapter Two; 7/19/19, 12:09 PM
Dude1394 said...: I’m not sure. Cats is my least favorite of Sir Andrews musicals. But I didn’t think I would like les miserable on the screen but Anne Hathaway just blew me away.; 7/19/19, 12:11 PM
readering said...: Saw the original West End production in 1982 and Loved it. Was tempted to see it again when came to Broadway because the reviews said the quality of the dancing was much higher. But contented myself with listening to original London cast album a gazillion times. Unless the movie reviews are terrible I'll go.; 7/19/19, 12:21 PM
Known Unknown said...: Looks like the discarded sets from Batman & Robin.; 7/19/19, 12:22 PM
zipity said...: The complete lack of an anus is disconcerting.; 7/19/19, 12:22 PM
Rick.T. said...: Seeing Cats was the longest theatrically-related evening of my life with Miss Saigon a distant second.; 7/19/19, 12:27 PM
Rick.T. said...: PS - And I like cats (glancing at avatar).; 7/19/19, 12:28 PM
Ralph L said...: Judi Dench had memories of wearing fur again, and thank goodness she did.

If they don't change cameras every 2 seconds, it might be OK.; 7/19/19, 12:28 PM
Rob said...: Euthanize the lot of them. It’s the humane thing to do.; 7/19/19, 12:34 PM
rehajm said...: Andrew Lloyd Webber is pollution but I don't see the problem. The outfits look like the stage version with a (cat)nip of CGI (meow)mixed in...; 7/19/19, 12:40 PM
rehajm said...: Where the Hell are the singing cats?; 7/19/19, 12:47 PM
Shawn Levasseur said...: Judi Dench as Old Deuteronomy? Interesting take. I hated one touring company who cast a tenor in that role and felt that guy lacked the gravitas that baritones brought to it. We'll see how well she sings, but she will definitely have the gravitas, just by being her, never mind the gender flip.

Idris Elba as Macavity? Hmm.... At least he doesn't have to sing, but that's more of a demand on dancing skills. I dunno.

Ian McKellan as Gus, the Theater Cat? Casting so on the nose, he's essentially playing a cat version of himself!; 7/19/19, 12:53 PM
CJinPA said...: I couldn't last 20 seconds. But I hope people enjoy it. We're still supposed to enjoy musicals, right?; 7/19/19, 12:55 PM
reader said...: Judi Dench and Rebel Wilson in the same movie. Never thought I’d see that. My first thought was that Dench was playing Grizabella, but I doubt she’s singing Memories.

I will happily watch it thinking about my mom and our cat Bustopher Jones. Mom loved this play.; 7/19/19, 1:13 PM
Shawn Levasseur said...: Oh, wait... Does Macavity sing? It's been decades since I saw the stage show.

(I bring this up because I just saw another video that was a behind the scenes look at rehearsals, and it showed Idris Elba saying his big song was coming up, implying that he WAS singing..)

Or maybe it's something new added. Stage to Flim transitions usually include a new song or two to make the music Oscar eligible.; 7/19/19, 1:15 PM
Seeing Red said...: Queen Bey wishes she could have that role.; 7/19/19, 1:26 PM
John henry said...: Blogger Yancey Ward said...

I have been in love with Streisand's version of "Memories" for 37 years- that song is one I can listen to over and over (I have it playing right now from YouTube as I write this).

I love it too but Cats? Surely this is one of those rare times Yancey is wrong. (It could happen)

Nope, I guess you are right. What I was thinking was called "Memories" by BS is "Memories, light the corners of my mind. Mystery watercolor memories, of the way we were"

Not called Memories but "The way we were" I love that song. Memories and Cats music, meh.

I remember 3 things from the movie

1) It starred Robert Redford and BS
2) Redford was a Naval officer in WWII
3) The line "Like the country he lived in, things came too easily to him" Not sure why that stays with me but I'll bet it flits through my mind 3-4 times a year completely on its own.

I don't remember liking the movie much. OK, and at the time I liked a lot of BS movies, but not all that great. Last time I saw it was in the 70s in a theatre.

John Henry; 7/19/19, 1:47 PM
J. Farmer said...: And in a related story, this week marked the 5,000th performance of the Broadway musical Cats. It also marked the 5,000th time a guy turned to his wife and said, "What the hell is this?"; 7/19/19, 2:22 PM
Big Mike said...: I saw "Cats" on stage when the traveling company came to Washington. Wife and I also saw the 1998 movie, and my recollection is that the singer who did Grizabella could hold the high notes longer and better than Elaine Page did in the movie version. That actress seems to have been Diane Fratantoni (today Diane Sutherland).

I don't see why Althouse is upset that the characters seem to be naked -- nearly all of the costumes in the original "Cats" were tight enough to show every muscle move. And I rather imagine that UW-Mad coeds sunning themselves by the lake wear substantially less than any character in "Cats."; 7/19/19, 2:23 PM
Bilwick said...: I got verklempt.

But now I'm upset because it made me realize my two cats (a male and female brother and sister) are naked. Shame on them!

(Judi Dench naked. Yum, yum . . .); 7/19/19, 2:37 PM
MikeD said...: I paid yuge ticket scalper prices to see Cats on Broadway in the 80's. One of the biggest wastes of money in my life. On the plus side, it kept me from ever wasting another minute on anything involving Andrew Lloyd Weber.; 7/19/19, 2:44 PM
rcocean said...: 'I don't remember liking the movie much. OK, and at the time I liked a lot of BS movies, but not all that great. Last time I saw it was in the 70s in a theatre."

The Way we Were. LOL -what a chick fantasy. Only in Hollywood would a guy who looks like Redford fall in love with a Girl who looks like Streisand. But the funniest part is when Left-wing, pro-commie, Jewish Streisand feel out of place in WASPy 1940s Right-wing Hollywood.; 7/19/19, 2:45 PM
J. Farmer said...: But the funniest part is when Left-wing, pro-commie, Jewish Streisand feel out of place in WASPy 1940s Right-wing Hollywood.

It always amazes me how much modern pop culture stems from Jewish anti-WASP resentments.; 7/19/19, 3:10 PM
rehajm said...: There's no assholes when they lift their tails. Man up.; 7/19/19, 3:18 PM
Ralph L said...: the singer who did Grizabella could hold the high notes longer and better than Elaine Page did

Too often, stage singers show off their skills at the expense of the song. Then there are the pop singers who apparently can't hold a note at all.; 7/19/19, 3:26 PM
Bill Peschel said...: I wonder if a lot of the reaction to the trailer was due to the fact that no one under 30 has any idea what "Cats" was.

Maybe they clicked on it and said, "What video game is this from?"; 7/19/19, 3:51 PM
JAORE said...: Seeing Cats was the longest theatrically-related evening of my life

Ditto.; 7/19/19, 4:00 PM
reader said...: We went to New York (US Open Bethpage Black- yay) with family friends. While we were there we took the kids (our son and their son and daughter) to Phantom of the Opera. At intermission the two boys were up out of the their seats and nearly out of the lobby before my husband caught them. He was laughing so hard when he told them that it wasn’t done yet.

The boys got the Open. The girl got the American Doll store and the Phantom.

Boys had a blast trooping through the mud at the Open though.; 7/19/19, 4:22 PM
The Godfather said...: My wife and I walked out of the Broadway production way back when. Even for Dame Judy Dench I wouldn't go to the movie.; 7/19/19, 4:55 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: Les Miserables Cats!

the Russians wouldnt say horrowshow.

hillary as Grizabella??; 7/19/19, 5:04 PM
Quaestor said...: Many years ago I wrote a parody script called Cows. The signature tune was "Mammaries". and in the end, a giant flying hamburger descended to carry the Cows away to a paradise called McDonald's.; 7/19/19, 6:38 PM
Michael K said...: I saw it in London in the first season. The theater was small, a former TV studio.

It was terrific . A few years later I saw it with six teenagers. It was still great but had become a children's show. Parents would bring kids up to see old whatsisname on stage at intermission. It needed that small theater. The cats would wander through the audience. Rum Tum Tugger sat on one of the girl's lap.; 7/19/19, 6:54 PM
Bunkypotatohead said...: So Hollywood ran out of Marvel comics books to RIP off. Now they resort to Broadway?; 7/19/19, 9:16 PM
readering said...: Now? Where have you been for 90 years?; 7/19/19, 9:52 PM
William said...: If it's a freebie on Netflix or Amazon, I'll give it a shot. If the movie is successful, maybe they'll make a musical out of Prufrock. Probably a better fit for Sondheim than Webber though. It would make an excellent comeback vehicle for Spacey. There's so much T.S. Eliot that just begs to be sung aloud.; 7/19/19, 10:34 PM
Ken Mitchell said...: I watched the trailer, and I thought it was great. Of course, I've always loved the Broadway sound track, and I've been hoping for a movie version. This seems more like the cast being more outre than the show requires, but I have no objection to seeing nudity - or even a SUGGESTION of nudity - onstage or on the screen.

I haven't actually seen a movie in a theater until last fall, for "They Shall Not Grow Old", and I won't see this in a theater either - but I'll probably buy the Blu-Ray when it comes out.; 7/20/19, 1:32 AM
Michael K said...: I haven't actually seen a movie in a theater until last fall, for "They Shall Not Grow Old",

We saw that twice and "The Cold Blue" is somewhat similar and worth the trouble.; 7/20/19, 1:02 PM
Skippy Tisdale said...: Gahrie said...
What's different from the Broadway play?

In the stage version, they were all furries.; 7/22/19, 1:13 PM

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