Tom Hooper is just a gimmick director trying to be revolutionary by reinventing the wheel, not realizing it's round for a reason

@hasmiktumasyan846

3 жыл бұрын

this is the most accurate thing ive ever heard

@brendanmilburn9067

3 жыл бұрын

Funny that his best movie, The King's Speech, is just a straight well made drama film, no gimmicks or anything.

@atomicdancer

3 жыл бұрын

Quint: "Well it proves one thing, Mr. Hooper. It proves that you wealthy college boys don't have the education enough to admit when you're wrong."

@saxy84

3 жыл бұрын

... but also has literally no understanding about how the wheel is shaped or why it's shape is significant... 🙄

@G1NZOU

3 жыл бұрын

Simple but powerful analogy. Producers and Directors who want to change up well loved classics need to first truly understand what they're changing and know exactly why and what they're altering. Changing things for the sake of doing something different isn't enough. They did a similar thing with Ghost in the Shell, the director loved the anime and remembers some pretty iconic scenes, but in interviews he doesn't seem to grasp some of the deeper concepts behind the storytelling and the live action movie suffered as a result, it felt more like a collection of the amazing memorable scenes from the anime patched together with a generic Hollywood "antagonist is actually from the protagonist's forgotten past and the real antagonist was controlling the protagonist all along" plot.

I like how he’s just slowly getting angrier and angrier and by the end he’s in the verge of aneurism.

@teenytinyredhead3817

3 жыл бұрын

It's a better build up than the movie ever had.

@jellyriver9490

3 жыл бұрын

Yes

@I_Think_You_Should_Leave

3 жыл бұрын

@@teenytinyredhead3817 Lol

@aazhieryakes884

3 жыл бұрын

Totally a rehash of me, a Cats newb, watching this movie with my friend who actually liked the original and watching her slow boil over as it dragged on xD

@savannahs.5874

3 жыл бұрын

666th like

The whole lyrics-don't-match-the-story part, like when Grizabella sings "touch me" and she was already touched, really gets me because they treat these songs like ambience music instead of actual plot devices that forward the story. Yeah, memory sounds nice, but the lyrics actually matter, you know

@johntaylor7029

5 ай бұрын

Yeah, it's a mistake a lot of adaptations make, they treat the themes and elements of a story as just ambience or tonal choices. Always frustrating.

@isabelafreitas8438

5 ай бұрын

YES! Musicals are not just a story with a bunch of songs, it is the songs that make the story, they matter. Yes, I am here after 2 years cause this musical offense still make me angry and I love this dude

@starlesscitiess

4 ай бұрын

@@isabelafreitas8438oh my god same im just waiting for sideways’ comeback if it ever happens

@vanyadolly

3 ай бұрын

It's really amazing how they managed to fudge up every aspect of this really very straightforward concept. I mean there just isn't that much to leave out, but they managed. Song and dance? Remove the rhythm. A cast of interesting, individual cats? Can barely tell them apart. A story about a cat who's desperate to be touched? Not that important.

@AzureRoxe

3 ай бұрын

It's still funny how a song flatout has the lyrics of "a ginger cat".......so of course he's a black cat in this adaptation. Did they think no one would care?

When Rebel Wilson slows down to sing "I'm deeply concerned with the ways of the mice", she sounds completely insincere like she's a corporate representative giving a statement on allegations of cat-mice racism.

@MissEmi1y

9 ай бұрын

this would have made a funny skit

@itsplasticbabyofficial

8 ай бұрын

oh my god im wheezing

@maltesers1238

8 ай бұрын

This comment is literally funnier than any one of Rebel Wilson's lines in cats

@MyouMoorlord

8 ай бұрын

This is the greatest thing ive ever read!

@erikbihari3625

8 ай бұрын

Rebel Wilson was not come to this world to be funny, but to die a Virgin!

Dude, the movie was so bad that he made a movie about how bad it was.

@nem3sis.yt_

3 жыл бұрын

legit my tought

@brunop.8745

3 жыл бұрын

I would say "and it was better than the actual movie" but thats not exactly a *high* bar to jump over

@asterisk4540

3 жыл бұрын

@@brunop.8745 I don’t think you even need to jump to get over that bar

@barmanitan

3 жыл бұрын

@@asterisk4540 Yeah it seems like a bar that is quite far underground

@wjdyr

3 жыл бұрын

Dude did you even watch the film?

An essay about the Cats movie from a guy who actually likes Cats. This is different.

@vibevizier6512

3 жыл бұрын

It's absolutely POGGERS

@peacecorenathan556

3 жыл бұрын

As a Musical Theatre kid who is now studying music as a minor in college imma let you in on a lil secret......a lot of us actually enjoy Cats we just hide it because it’s one of the first Pop Musicals that normies watched

@bxp_bass

3 жыл бұрын

but musical Cats is actually great

@LeeannG

3 жыл бұрын

@caro I get the impression that he loves some parts of it, but thinks it’s just okay overall. I’m pretty sure his favorite musical is West Side Story.

@MogoPrime

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah! A good sidecar to this one would be Lindsay Ellis' video on Cats. I bet it's even in the sidebar of this one. She's great ♥

I never noticed this before but Grizabella in the stage play literally has a matted coat. In the context of her being a literal cat she's depressed and won't take care of herself and she's been isolated for so long no other cat has groomed her either (showing her affection, talking to her, "touching" her etc...) it adds even more to Grisabella's pain than I even thought before. But in the movie...it doesn't look matted. She just looks boujie and well kept, it honestly makes even less sense, maybe Victoria noticed how well kept she was and just assumed she was fine. Nonetheless what a shame this adaptation went THIS badly, and I don't even like Cats.

@ernie39

8 ай бұрын

omg I didn't notice that, what wonderful visual storytelling!! I agree; the more I understand about the play CATS the more I realize how much of a disservice the movie was (and wish we got a movie that did the source material justice)

@Lucifersfursona

6 ай бұрын

I like when people have the complaint of like, “I’m not even fucked about the story but the art of storytelling was debased here, characterization! Visual storytelling! The purpose of visuals beyond theater of the mind!” And I’m just like yeah you get it

@otter.mayhem

6 ай бұрын

I noticed this for the first time during this video, and it smacked me in the face when Grizabella literally belts "TOUCH ME". Cats are social groomers, so the fact she can't take care of herself yet the other cats aren't taking care of her just deeply emphasizes how ostracized she is! We cat moms know though lol Cats is truly a fantastic musical about weird cats for weird cat people lol

@randomcitizen3939

5 ай бұрын

Bingo!

@miss1of2

4 ай бұрын

​@@ernie39Cats barely uses the music to tell its story and I love it!!

It seems like Tom Hooper just has some weird personal vendetta against musicians. He seems to enjoy making their work especially hellish

@aspiringjoker2883

7 ай бұрын

Yeah that's one thing I felt. Like the whole story of how hooper treated his orchestra sounded abusive.

@otter.mayhem

6 ай бұрын

It's like he's trying to get some weird praise. Like as if he feels like he had this big vision and made it come true despite these super huge annoying hurdles like tempo lmfao. It's truly unfortunate he keeps being allowed to butcher some of the most gorgeous stage music ever, and then THATS the version people know.

@josephschultz3301

3 ай бұрын

@@otter.mayhem I'm just thrilled that it probably won't happen for Tommy-Tom-Tombo a third time. Sure, Le Mis (2012) _somehow_ stumbled ass-backwards into 3 Academy Awards, but the sheer embarrassing trainwreck that is Cats (2019) has all but ensured that he won't have this level of creative control over a musical again. They might let him direct another, but he'll have far less freedom to actively fuck-up everything. That's my bet and I'm placing it.

@uneasyanduncertain

3 ай бұрын

its like he thinks hes revolutionary, but doesnt realise nobody else is doing what hes doing because its just a bad idea

@georgethompson913

Ай бұрын

It sounds like he thought direxting an orchestra is no different than an actor.

"toUUCH MEE" "SHE LITERALLY JUST DID????" HELP I CANT I HAVE A COLD AND KEEP CHOKING ON MY LAUGHTER

@isawalker4469

3 жыл бұрын

Your profile picture I-

@yellowjellow5744

3 жыл бұрын

my dude your profile picture could cause people ptsd attacks lmao

@kyawya312

3 жыл бұрын

Are you sure that it's only your laughter?

@friendlywale

3 жыл бұрын

@@yellowjellow5744 what’s the pfp?

@WobblesandBean

3 жыл бұрын

Feel better soon!

Tomathy Hooper

@eclipsedbadger

3 жыл бұрын

Any time we get a Cats review, we realize Cats was the real MENACE all along.

@Tomfish3000

3 жыл бұрын

Why is Tomathy Hooper?

@jacklynthomas0

3 жыл бұрын

Ah, a cameo appearance Lindsay Ellis The Menace!

@elizabethhunley4020

3 жыл бұрын

Just... How?? Did this get all the way to theaters

@haraldisdead

3 жыл бұрын

You too got me into fucking Cats. Thanks a lot 🙄🙄🙄

YOU FINALLY EXPLAINED CATS IN A WAY THAT I CAN FINALLY UNDERSTAND ive been going off of my explanation as a kid of "theres a ton of cats who sing and dance. Theres also a cat who everyone hates. She ends up dying. Thats it."

@jbvader721

3 ай бұрын

"Hal...it's about cats."

“Butthole the cgi cat” is the hero we didn’t know we needed

@Misora7303

4 ай бұрын

He could have saved the movie if he was allowed 😢

@ChaiElemental

4 ай бұрын

That's my favorite line in this entire video. It always gets a laugh out of me.

@UnprofessionalProfessor

22 күн бұрын

The hero we didn't need, want, or deserve but got.

Sum up the problems with two words: actor worship. This movie was made for everyone to squee over these actors... that's why they sing about themselves instead of each other, why the music was performed around them singing instead of the other way around, etc. The musical numbers were just an afterthought to displaying the actors, which is why zero thought was given to the music or story at all.

@MonnyArcade

3 жыл бұрын

^^^ this is 100% IT!!

@browncoat697

3 жыл бұрын

Pretty much. That $200 million budget has to have mostly gone to securing huge names: Taylor Swift, Jason DeRulo, Judy Dench, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson, so on, these are all people who can demand a fatass paycheck because of their star power. I sure as shit know that if I'm Ian McKellen I'm not showing up and doing a half-removed impression of a character I already portrayed for 15 years while saying "meow meow meow" for anything less than the price of a new mansion. So to bring down the cost, you gotta accommodate the actors' egos too! That means that instead of being sung _about_ (the Gumby Cat section portrayed that pretty well, the Gumby Cat barely says anything about herself and most of the lyrics are delivered by the Andrew Sisters-esque trio), they have to sing it themselves, about themselves, about how awesome and cool they are, and then the music is bent to fit them instead of them bending to fit the music as every performer in history prior has done.

@tyranus1111

3 жыл бұрын

Lol yes show off the actors that we covered in cgi

@FelisImpurrator

3 жыл бұрын

Not even. It was all, evidently, a gigantic monument to Hooper's hubris and abusive devotion to overengineered technological spectacle. Man doesn't give a shit about actors, he made them all sing until their throats risked permanent damage on Les Mis. Make no mistake, this was just the Tom Hooper Can Do Anything show.

@designtechdk

3 жыл бұрын

Jason Derulo: "Jason Derulo"

"The actors made choices about the tempo" is such a great backhanded way to say "none of them were on beat."

@Apfelstrudl

3 жыл бұрын

No, non of them being in beat is the inevitable result of that decision.

@brendanmilburn9067

3 жыл бұрын

@@Apfelstrudl Except for the few who actually were on beat like Skimbleshankes

@6thgraderfriends

3 жыл бұрын

@@Apfelstrudl That's what happens when you cast mostly actors who don't have any professional singing and dancing experience. This isn't to say they can't ever be cast in a musical, but they're going to need training in that department instead of being told to "just do whatever."

@Apfelstrudl

3 жыл бұрын

@@6thgraderfriends exactly that.

@raymondthrone7197

3 жыл бұрын

Directors really need to get it into their heads (again) that actors, even expensive, well-awarded veterans, don't automatically come with all the skills needed to pull off your film. Whether it's pulling off stunts, learning an unfamiliar accent, or learning to sing professionally, you need to actually hire experts to coach your talent if you want them to be good, and especially if you want the performances to match.

I feel like this would have been INFINITELY better as an animated picture. Screw it, EVERY musical would be better served as an animated film.

@Manofevil

7 ай бұрын

Any OTHER musical. This one is based on the poems of T. S. Eliot and when Andrew Lloyd Weber first began writing the songs, he went to Eliot's widow who was still alive and she said, "Promise me you won't turn them into cartoon characters."

@kiwuwuwu

6 ай бұрын

Howard Ashman himself said that musicals work extremely well in an animated film while discussing The Little Mermaid.

@Tulipia5

6 ай бұрын

@@ManofevilWhy? Did she hate cartoons that much? And is that why this movie that was supposed to be animated end up like this?

@guitarbrother1234

6 ай бұрын

I don't know, An American in Paris, Singing in the Rain, Hello Dolly, those movies really worked on their own. They just need to learn why the methods that produced those movies worked, not just resign to dishing out amateurish visual feasts with no sense of composition or artistic cohesion.

@alexanderboulton2123

6 ай бұрын

@@guitarbrother1234 That's true. I think specifically when it comes to having stories with anthropomorphic characters, it should at least be partially animated, like some sort of Who Framed Roger Rabbit type of scenario.

“This whole show is ‘Memory’ and two-and-a-half-hours of justifying the existence of ‘Memory’”. Brilliant 🎉

A *_YEAR_* since Cats? It feels like just yesterday everyone was making fun of the terrible CGI cat people

@antsinminecraft6128

3 жыл бұрын

It was, because the movie was that bad that no one forgot it sucked.

@nerobernardino88

3 жыл бұрын

Perhaps making Cats has convinced God to torture us.

@TheSeriousPain

3 жыл бұрын

2020 was so shit we're just erasing it from our memory as soon as we don't have to deal with it.

@Superphilipp

3 жыл бұрын

Well, this year hasn't felt like a year.

@groofay

3 жыл бұрын

And yet at the same time it's felt like a decade.

This movie-length video by a KZreadr is more interesting than the actual movie made by a professional studio

@evfike01

3 жыл бұрын

Holy shit your right

@poweroffriendship2.0

3 жыл бұрын

You are absolutely right. The most unfair part is that CATS was originally going to be an animated movie directed by Steven Spielberg but later scrapped for unknown reasons.

@haraldisdead

3 жыл бұрын

I watched the whole thing, and I've watched Lindsay ellises video essay multiple times. I've never seen Cats. 😆

@jadeatrophis

3 жыл бұрын

Just like MauLer’s TLJ and TFA Critiques!

@Laife

3 жыл бұрын

I watched 50 minutes and then just realised I'd just watched 50 minutes

This video has taught me a lot but nothing is gonna stick with me more than the sentence “Rum Tum Tugger is rum tum tugging the harmonies.” 😭😭

I think part of the reason the original Cats musical worked is because a lot of people have real cats, and we know that cats are weird, so a story about the secret lives of cats would also be very weird, so we can suspend our disbelief and care about the Alice and Wonderland world the show creates.

@DiscoTimelordASD

6 ай бұрын

Agreed. Also, in a theatre it was just set in a simple junk yard - nothing distracting - which made it easier to focus on the performers and the story itself. The movie tried to create an over the top real world story that just took away the immersion.

@mastermarkus5307

5 ай бұрын

That's one of the reasons that I don't think of all the touching as too strange or even sometimes sexual like a lot of other people do because... that's just kind of how cats are.

@Aimi_Kaneko

4 ай бұрын

@@mastermarkus5307Thank you!

@c.w.8200

4 ай бұрын

​@@mastermarkus5307💯 That's why the toxic masculinity boys will proclaim how they hate cats, they are so openly affectionate in a more physical way than dogs, I think that's part of it.

@flickcentergaming680

3 ай бұрын

​@@mastermarkus5307 that's actually a really good point. Cats are always touching each other and the things they love. For example, my cat likes to be RIGHT next to you, and she'll fall asleep ON your feet.

I feel like sideways is kinda insecure that his audience won't care about all the nerdy music stuff, but rest assured that's what we come here for.

@Isa-lh2mw

3 жыл бұрын

@Mickenzie McGraw What I meant to say is that sideways thinks we only care about music when it's related to a movie

@QuikVidGuy

3 жыл бұрын

@@Isa-lh2mw fuck that, college let us down, explain everything with a personal angle!!!!

@ashikjaman1940

3 жыл бұрын

I don't know shit about music or most of the movies he's talked about, I just like hearing him talk

@rougedionisio2057

3 жыл бұрын

@@ashikjaman1940 I know right?! it's so weirdly entertaining for me to just listen to someone talk about something they're passionate about or even just someone who really knows their stuff 😂😂

@SquallLionhart409

3 жыл бұрын

@@rougedionisio2057 I think you hit right on what makes listening to him talk about music so engaging. The emotion, the passion, the fervor, its engaging. I could listen to Sideways go on musical tangents for hours upon hours. Pretty sure I've listened to him talk about Cats for over 24 full hours at this point, just playing this video again on a second monitor.

I know it's just because of copyright mutes, but "just listen to the clarinet trying to follow him" followed by *dead silence* was hilarious.

@chunky16

2 жыл бұрын

I HAD NO CLUE WHAT THAT WAS AND NONE OF THE COMMENTS WERE TALKING ABT IT

@chunky16

2 жыл бұрын

I THOUGHT IT WAS SOME SICK JOKE I DIDNT GET

@stingerjohnny9951

2 жыл бұрын

@@chunky16 lol nope, his old video got taken down for “copyright” so he edited it.

@FluffyDragon

2 жыл бұрын

I went and looked up a clip of that bit.. .. my god it was bad. After watching some of this video, it made me buy and watch Cats (the good one) .. and wow, just, the difference was crazy.. the Gus in the 98 one was sad and made me cry a bit, but I also liked how he started out really old, but then as the song continued, he perked up a lot and got more animated, as he relived his memories (gee, maybe a theme).. it was just great Then you got this one and it's like.. he doesn't get spoken for at the start, his paws aren't even particularly shaking like he damn says (not sings) they are.. and he just seems to sorta.. keep most of the same energy the entire song. Which I would describe as 'old'

@LegosheepIsAwesome

2 жыл бұрын

It's also not how copyright works. This is literally textbook fair use.

It's over a year later when I realized that there's *ANOTHER* character that the movie adaptation got so horribly wrong: Bombalurina. In the musical, 1: she has a friend in Demeter, and 2: she HATES Macavity. In the movie, she's helping Macavity by incapacitating everyone else. (Also, no Demeter.)

@vikaaaaaa

Жыл бұрын

I couldn’t agree more dude Like yes, Macavity the Mystery Cat is a very suggestive song but Bombalurina and Demeter both clearly don’t like Macavity. And getting rid of Demeter is so dumb it pisses me off to an unreasonable level. Like you have these two cats that are pretty damn different personality wise but still work well together, but nnnOOOOO Taylor Swift needs a solo 🥺🥺

@lmahu6627

8 ай бұрын

​@@vikaaaaaa Demeter is in the movie, but you wouldn't know it's her because they turned her into a Russian Blue for some reason. Instead of being Bombalurina's best friend, she now hangs out with Cassandra, who also looks completely different that she suffers the same problem with Demeter regarding her recognizability. I actually had to pause the movie to go to the wiki to check these two female cats' names because they looked so unremarkable.

@vikaaaaaa

8 ай бұрын

@@lmahu6627 yeah, I actually watched the movie recently, I never actually looked the character’s names up but I got a pretty good idea of who Demeter was. I’m glad she at least had a part, considering that she was pretty important to the original musical.

@jevil_owo

6 ай бұрын

I think it's supposed to be implied Demeter and Bombalurina are sisters and they have history with Macavity, which is why they do the song about him. Still, they definitely hate him so wtf movie

@t-topia4047

4 ай бұрын

and from a musical standpoint, they did taylor a huge disservice by giving her a duet to sing solo. ESPECIALLY because the mcavity song is not at all her style- i feel like she would’ve done 10x better if they just gave her a partner rather than try to piggyback off of her success (and i know i have a taylor pfp but it still stands!)

It is a shame to come back to this video years later only to find out that parts of the discussion had to be muted or have copyright-free music placed over it. The ENTIRE POINT is critique of these numbers & performances yet that's not fair use enough to save it from the march of the eternal nightmare machine that is the music industry.

@lazyspacecat2143

7 ай бұрын

And it’s a lot of parts where he is about to make a point, and then it just has to drop out.

@elykalontar3847

Ай бұрын

He should be allowed to use any music he wants!

It’s almost like the people who direct musicals should, like....understand music in some capacity.

@davidreynolds6718

3 жыл бұрын

Why start now?

@thomasgiles2876

3 жыл бұрын

[Monkey Paw finger curls] Granted, all musicals are now directed by late 90s and early 2000s music video directors

@wafflechest3555

3 жыл бұрын

Oh wow ya don't say

@ulisescarrillo2273

3 жыл бұрын

@@thomasgiles2876 this means michael bay is now back on crack Sorry i mean track

@random_meta

3 жыл бұрын

Imagine that

They really said, "We're going to copyright this guy for using our movie's music because if we didn't make any money off of it, he won't either."

@euwue

3 жыл бұрын

Is that why some places are silent and others have random music in place of the video/talking?

@DDoubleEDouble

3 жыл бұрын

@@euwue yes

@3twibles4sweetrevenge

3 жыл бұрын

I thought my device had a problem

@JCBug555

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I was looking through the comments for an explanation of the long silences and musical breaks. I thought my phone was screwed up a bit.

@ing8509

3 жыл бұрын

I see that everyone here didn't read the description

The rage that sideways unleashed upon 56:00 was phenomenal "Tombo... TREAT IT LIKE A REAL PERFORMANCE! WHAT THEY SHIT WERE THEY DOING IN THE REHEARSALS?!" All of that shit had me rolling. Five-ish minutes of sheer, embittered, unbridled animosity.

@verenabecker2724

3 ай бұрын

I will occasionally by sheer accident cheer myself up during moments of utter frustration just because "Hey Tom! Tommy! Tombo! MY MAN!" pops into my head. It's so fucking glorious.

@aspiringjoker2883

Ай бұрын

Lol my uncle is named Tommy. I've hit him with that before.

I'm impressed that you talked about Cats (2019) for an hour and didn't once mention how awful the sound mixing was. I could not hear Jennifer Hudson over the orchestra in Memory and the woodwinds were drowning out the piano at the best of times

@TheNumnutRandomness

2 ай бұрын

Watching the movie in theaters was the aural equivalent of _squinting my ears_

@seamusburke639

2 ай бұрын

The instrumentation is also very inconsistent. It can't decide between synthesizers or a full orchestra, frequently in the same song.

I am incredibly unhappy that parts of this video were muted presumably by the copyright owner, when this video is basically a masterclass in fair use.

@euwue

3 жыл бұрын

Is that why some places are silent and others have random music in place of the video/talking?

@allie2185

3 жыл бұрын

@@euwue Yes

@christophekeating21

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for pointing this out. I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my headphones.

@vampirewolf373

3 жыл бұрын

Well of course! He's not praising them so no one needs to hear they're music in his video! Especially since the pieces muted were the some of the worst and most disappointing numbers in the flick. At this point we're lucky they haven't tried to have it taken down. 😡

@BlindTruths

3 жыл бұрын

I kept trying to figure out what was wrong!! Omg it was driving me crazy. What’s funny is he played chunks of what they kept muting before in the video!!

Mulan 2020 and Cats 2019 may have both been absolute garbage, but i will slurp up all this youtube content tearing them apart for years

@realar

3 жыл бұрын

YUP.

@IssyCoonify

3 жыл бұрын

Along with Avatar and Eragon

@beccag2758

3 жыл бұрын

Legitimate rants are so cathartic to listen to😂

@MegaSuperjavier

3 жыл бұрын

same with star wars sequels and stuff i saw so many videos on those movies before actually watching them they just feel really satisfying

@IBG000

3 жыл бұрын

@@IssyCoonify oh we just pretend avatar didn’t exist

Dame Judi Dench as Old Deuteronomy is still one of the most baffling Hollywood casting choices of all time. The whole thing about Dench is that she is renowned at acting while not being much of a singer. It’s why she has one of the most iconic and definitive renditions of Sondheim’s Send in the Clowns - an “easy” song to sing that carries a lot of emotion in every word and line that Ms Dench is able to execute flawlessly. But the Old Dute role needs someone with a big showy voice who can make a nonsense song feel like a big climactic showstopper. The lyrics to the last song are basically a nursery rhyme, but with the sheer power of Ken Page’s voice at 34:32 , you absolutely believe it. We found the one song that Dame Judi cannot put any emotion into. It just comes off as awkward and very unintentionally camp. This ties into Sideways’ central thesis of the 2019 movie completely failing to get the point of the original while trading some misplaced sense of “authenticity” for actual good music in a fucking musical.

@Nadia1989

Ай бұрын

Her agent(s) did her SO dirty is criminal

@fuyutupx1437

6 күн бұрын

Judi Dench was the original cast for Grizabella way back. Unfortunately, she injured her foot during rehearsal. And then Elaine Paige got the role of Grizabella. So I get casting her as a nod to her history with Cats.

I got emotional whiplash from the back-to-back cuts between the movie versions and stage versions of these songs. It's like constantly jumpcutting between Johnny Knoxville in a shopping cart with fireworks in his ass, and an actual rocket launch.

@undercookedtoast1479

5 ай бұрын

Tbf both of those sound more fun to watch than cats (2019)

turning mr mistoffelees into an uwu shy boy is literally the worst crime in the history of theatre

@nikkita3746

3 жыл бұрын

i could not agree more

@soulslikefan6760

3 жыл бұрын

I think it could have worked. Him singing the song ruined it. If he was confident, him singing about how great he is would make him unlikable. The song would basically be: hey, I am so smart and clever, look at all this shit I can do. Have other people sing it (like in the show)and give him confidence to do the shit. Making all the songs be about the people singing them hurt a lot of songs. You could even have a small moment with Rum Tum if you want to acknowledge how gay they are in the show. You could still cut it out for China if you want to cater to people who are stupid.

@honeybee1256

3 жыл бұрын

Ikr! He’s not demure!!

@zepp8806

3 жыл бұрын

Ikr. I also hate how they took away Misto and Tuggers friendship. That’s made me so mad.

@semicolon.advocate

3 жыл бұрын

schjsdhfgmhtf agreed

are we not talking about how weirdly unproportionate the sizes of the cats are? they're too large inside the train but then have the size of hamsters while on the train tracks.

@sallyr8384

3 жыл бұрын

I noticed that too and it took me out of it more than the CGI because that is at least consistent. It's also really sad because I actually liked the set design but I couldn't focus on it.

@EvanCWaters

3 жыл бұрын

I think it's that they are cat-sized but when you then give them human proportions they look slighter and wispier than a cat at that size. They don't fit.

@lotti696

3 жыл бұрын

@@EvanCWaters but they're not cat sized in the dancing scene on the train tracks, right? they're tiny there!

@Ida-Adriana

3 жыл бұрын

what about the heads of the cats being so oddly proportioned?! on the movie version

@seasiren7700

3 жыл бұрын

They aren't alive. Its dream like because they're dead.

24:02 i had a music teacher explain it like this to me, I was doing a show and we had to sing this one harmony that 2 out of 3 singers were singing under their breath almost because they weren’t comfortable with it. After almost 10 mins of drilling it he said “A good harmony is like a ham sandwich. When you take out the bread on Top and the bottom, you just have fucking ham.”

i still can never believe that they put that clip of the director saying he needed a break in the special features, as if it makes the production look cool and not like they treated their staff like crap

@YelenaSkunky

4 ай бұрын

Damage control. It was well-known that he treated the orchestra horribly during the filming of "Les Miserables". I guess, Hooper's next special features would be about him being sweet and decent towards the CGI team.

@mammoneymelon

4 ай бұрын

i am BAFFLED that they kept in the director's frustrations as if it was some kind of brag

@YelenaSkunky

4 ай бұрын

@@mammoneymelon, he was suffering for the art.

Finally a critical analysis that isn’t just “cat people bad”, from someone who knows that the musical is weird but actually does have a story and distinct characters with motivations and personalities. Bravo sir

@firefancy9928

3 жыл бұрын

It took nearly 13 months since the release of the movie, but anything would have been better then the hundreds of videos of people having tantrums over the cgi.

@ILikedGooglePlus

3 жыл бұрын

Lindsay Ellis' video is pretty good too

@calebarsenault382

3 жыл бұрын

Lindsay and Maggie Mae Smith both have pretty good videos

@OpqHMg

3 жыл бұрын

I've honestly seen several great critiques of cats by several content creators

@sammy135_

3 жыл бұрын

@@ILikedGooglePlus that's also because Lindsey was a theater kid growing up, so she understands how musicals work and how cats didn't work. It seems only theater and music people can accurately describe the issues of this movie outside of "CGI bad" which makes sense since no joe schmo is going to put in the time to understand why they hate the music and then talk about it in detail.

Cats (the animal) legit touch each other to mark other cats, people, and things, as "safe". That's why they rub the corner of their mouth against your hand; it's a way of saying "this is safe, and now it smells like me, so it's extra safe". Grizabella wanting to be touched literally was just her begging for a friend. And now I'm sad.

@kingofthepod5169

2 жыл бұрын

Shoot. Now I am too.

@promienodrzutowysamuel790

2 жыл бұрын

Shit. I'm sad now.

@ButterflyKitten

Жыл бұрын

That’s so saddd

@MYLAR.

Жыл бұрын

sobs thinking of the matted little stray that bonks me when he comes by. i love that little man

@avangelinechatters

Жыл бұрын

AAAWWWEEEE I'm really sad now!!

So I had this really amazing experience in high school: my school band went to Anaheim for a band competition, we had tons of fun, got to go to Disneyland and everything. One of the best parts of this was that we got to go into the recording studio behind Disneyland and experience what it's like to play music for movies. One of the musical pieces we played was Patcha's journey home to his village. It was super cool. We got to wear headphones with a click track in one ear, see the animation on screen. And then after that, we got to watch the scene we just played, play out with OUR music overlaid. It was honestly such a wizard moment. I may not have continued playing the flute after high school but that experience honestly impacted me and made me appreciate soundtracks so much more.

@lisaroper421

8 ай бұрын

I got to do that too!! And one of the pieces we did was the flamingo thing from one of the fantasias. Funny part about that one, the click track *wasn't * even, but that was because the original orchestra hadn't been and the animation followed the music, instead of the other way round.

@Aqua_Marie

3 ай бұрын

My theater class got to this as well, but with vocals instead!

Slightly off-topic, but after studying for years as a Music Education major, it is so refreshing to have a analytical deep-dive channel that focuses on music themes on an entertaining way without speaking down to the viewers and just assumes we have basic understanding of music theory. It's surprising how hard that is to find and I love it.

I love how they still tried to copyright strike you even though; 1. This falls completely under fair use 2. The film is an absolute failure

@royal3809

2 жыл бұрын

I think it's even worse than a failure

@ssunsspott5170

2 жыл бұрын

@@royal3809 A disgraceful insult to the craft would be my take

@thecharlinator4066

2 жыл бұрын

They’re just trying to get some money that they didn’t get from the movie 😆

@Sam-vy8ye

2 жыл бұрын

What siedways is doing is criticism and review. Completely protected under fair use. It's infuriating that they were able to get away with copystriking considering: a. People often get away with a lot more b. Legally the studio is in the wrong for copystriking something which is not arguably, but *clearly* under fair use

@Rusznikarz

2 жыл бұрын

To be true it might not be 100% fair use. It would be without video though.

The Sideways Drinking game: Drink when you hear “I want” “I am” “Dies Irae”

@FelisImpurrator

3 жыл бұрын

I'd add "leitmotif" but I don't want people dying five minutes into every video.

@Graycata

3 жыл бұрын

That third one has a bit of irony to it

@teganhunter9977

3 жыл бұрын

Dies illa

@coldandghostly

3 жыл бұрын

His video on Sweeny Todd would be considered a murder weapon

@ingwerschorle_

3 жыл бұрын

@@teganhunter9977 solvet saeclum

Full respect to Steven McRae (skimbleshanks) for being the best part of the movie. His song is the most fun to listen to, and it’s fun watching him dance. Jason does good with what he was given as well. The two of them carried the movie. They couldn’t take it far. But at least there bits are bearable

I don't know if Elaine Page did this deliberately, but it stood out compared to other performers' Memory renditions... Page's highest notes sound just like a cat yowling at the moon. That's a really nice touch ❤

@GeekySquidoo

6 ай бұрын

fun little factoid, Page originated the role in the west end in 1981, she replaced Judi Dench 4 days before opening night! Which goes ot show Dench's performance is all directorial in this movie to boot! Jeeze he has somthing to answer for!

@hs4619

2 ай бұрын

​@@GeekySquidoo quick question, you do realise that factoid means false fact, yes?

@justinwescott8125

2 ай бұрын

"Factoid" has two distinct meanings, one of which might imply a falsehood, while the other does not: 1. Originally, "factoid" referred to a piece of information that becomes accepted as a fact, although it is not necessarily true or is outright false, simply because it is widely repeated and circulated. In this sense, a factoid is something that resembles a fact but is not factually accurate. 2. Over time, "factoid" has also come to mean a brief or trivial piece of factual information. In this usage, a factoid is not necessarily false but is a small, interesting fact. The CONTEXT in which "factoid" is used determines which meaning is intended.

You have explained the plot of Cats better than anyone I know

@KelciaMarie1

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed!

@MajorAfro

3 жыл бұрын

I’ve watched Cats with my sisters maybe a hundred times and we love it for its silliness. But I NEVER knew it had an actual story.😅

@ardinhelme687

3 жыл бұрын

I'm particularly fond of the Bowser's castle analogy

@jrpggolf

3 жыл бұрын

A cat cult gets together to decide which cat get sacrificed; what’s not to get.

@Rocksteady72a

3 жыл бұрын

Probably better than whoever explained the plot to the director of the movie apparently

1. This guy sounded like he was on the verge of crying from pure rage at times. 2. I finally understand the plot to this musical. FINALLY. Thanks for that. it's still bizarre.

@arianewinter4266

3 жыл бұрын

Well to be fair, most musicals are wierd and you loving it is what gives them sense

@mollymcdade4031

3 жыл бұрын

Only issue with the plot recap is that not all the cats (#NotAllCats) want to die. The majority of the younger cats (Mungo and Rumple, Misto, Rum Tum Tugger etc.) are just there as bystanders. The older cats like Gus and Bustopher Jones are the ones ‘auditioning’ to die, the other cats are just introducing themselves to the audience or each other (like Mungo and Rumple literally crash the party). But yeah even then it doesn’t really make sense. It’s not so much a plot as a framing device, mainly because apart from Memory all of these songs are TS Elliot poems that have no connection outside of being about cats.

@brooklynnking6652

3 жыл бұрын

yea... I've done Cats and there is basically no plot. We had to make our own little plots to try to drive our plots as specific characters, which was fun, but yea. Everyone asked what it was about and we just pointed to the front of the playbill. It's called Cats and its just about Cats

@stingerjohnny9951

2 жыл бұрын

@@brooklynnking6652 It’s about a tribe of cats deciding who will have the honor of being ritualistically sacrificed and reincarnated into the next generation. At least that’s what I read from it.

@brooklynnking6652

2 жыл бұрын

@@stingerjohnny9951 Yea lmao I've done the show but they mention it in the beginning and it doesn't come back til the end otherwise it's just songs describing cats

It's so depressing to me that this thoughtful analysis is often interrupted by copyright claim muting throughout.

@HadassaMoon144

5 ай бұрын

Doesn't he still have a link to a copy that isn't full of copyright mutes? In the description.

i think maybe one of the biggest problems with Cats (2019) is that it's a musical about how vanity and self-service is ultimately less important than compassion towards each other... and then they cast celebrities in it.

Singers not having the humility to just sing a fucking song is an epidemic in like all musical art at the moment

@cheer90099

3 жыл бұрын

stop speaking your lines!!! sing the song its a song a song for singing sing it!!!!

@doctorwholover1012

3 жыл бұрын

Yes ! I hate when people (singers or actors) act as if musicals as an art form/medium are below them, like, if you're not gonna commit to it, then DON'T DO IT. Hell, even if they want to do it mockingly, they can still go all out ! But no, it has to be all wink wink nudge camera cuts etc.

@KingOfElectricNinjas

3 жыл бұрын

Performative self-awareness is a bit of a plague, really.

As a former ballerina, I can’t IMAGINE someone telling me to dance to the music in my own time 😂

@sylven7236

3 жыл бұрын

Yes! Even IMPROV has more structure.

@leopoldsimmons4804

3 жыл бұрын

"just wing it, this is the guy who didn't care enough to make the paper rip at the timing in Les Miserables, so as long as you don't die during the dance he'll take it"

@QuikVidGuy

3 жыл бұрын

@@leopoldsimmons4804 he might take it if you do die considering how much he told his actors to tear up their bodies

@christmas8

3 жыл бұрын

THIS. I literally couldn’t imagine them giving you a dance to a piece of music but oh also do whatever the hell you want cos it doesn’t matter. I would actually die.

@flyingwind66

3 жыл бұрын

hello fellow former ballet dancer, I fucking can't imagine not have even a click track to dance to... fucking excuse me? dancing is moving TO music, not the other way around

In my opinion, it would be better if they make Grizzabella the main character and how we see her perspective as she sneaks in the junk yard to let us see the festival. And for Victoria, make a little sub plot for her with the solo dance and make her foil to Grizabella, done.

I cannot express how much joy "rum tum tugger's rum tum tugging the harmony" gives me

Hooper: reaches for a musical Everyone: NO! No! Bad Hooper! BAD! *squirts with spray bottle* No more musicals for you!

@donttalktome6878

3 жыл бұрын

Spray him down with hairspray as a dancer that shit hurts

@ezelfrancisco1349

3 жыл бұрын

Hooper: But I want to do Hamilt- Everyone: NOOOO! *Pulls Hamilton and every other musical that has no adaptation yet away from Hooper’s reach*

@Smorans

3 жыл бұрын

😂 this comment cracked me up

@darrylstrohl

3 жыл бұрын

Shake the can of pennies at him!!!!

@SnakeandBake1

3 жыл бұрын

Just duct tape him to wall he can’t do any damage if he can’t move

"You spent enough money to fund a quarter of a space shuttle." The outrage in that line alone is worth my patreon subscription.

@bemasaberwyn55

3 жыл бұрын

Sadly I don't have the financial resources to support Sideways, but I always love his vids

@kp4692

3 жыл бұрын

Can you give a timestamp?

@kswinton2666

3 жыл бұрын

@@kp4692 58:50

@kp4692

3 жыл бұрын

@@kswinton2666 thanks! I love that bit too lololol

@bemasaberwyn55

3 жыл бұрын

@@kp4692 58:50 ish

Thank you. I had forgotten Jemima’s role in the stage show. And connecting up the physicalness of Cats with the story of acceptance *by touch* is a thing I had understood, but could never articulate. So if the 2019 movie did nothing else good, it made you make this, and it is beautiful. Thank you.

The sound gets overwritten by free use music at 33:13, so I was laughing at the tonal whiplash

@mayspark9109

7 ай бұрын

IT HAPPENS AGAIN AT 47:13 AND IT SOUND LIKE ITS CENSORING A HEINOUS INSULT TO THE PERFORMANCE

Alternative title to this video: Reasons why the musical Cats is not as bad as the movie would lead you to believe.

@Soitisisit

3 жыл бұрын

On the contrary, this video made me hate the musical even more.

@emmyloveslosing4107

3 жыл бұрын

@@Soitisisit why?

@Soitisisit

3 жыл бұрын

@@emmyloveslosing4107 Better understanding of just how bad the musical is in the first place.

@OctagonCookies

3 жыл бұрын

@@Soitisisit There's a difference between not liking something (not to mention "hating" it which is a rather strong word) then that something being actually bad. I don't see how any of the things he said can make someone think the musical is BAD other then just being quite simple (which isn't bad).

@Soitisisit

3 жыл бұрын

@@OctagonCookies Alright, yes. Simplicity can be good. Simplicity can also be simply lazy. There's a difference between making something simple to be more poignant and connect with more people who might not have the time or brainpower to spare to pick apart a complex narrative and making something that's dumbed down because *you* didn't want to work hard. And Androyd Webber's Cats is definitely the latter. Musically speaking, it's competent and beyond what I can do as a composer, but for a broadway musical it's not great, not even par for the course. It definitely leans heavy into spectacle and using costumes and choreography to mask the lack of musical and narrative substance. The fact that so many people didn't even piece together what the plot even was without someone like Sideways explaining means that it fails to even be simple and therefore it's just stupid. Yes, there's a difference between hating something and it being bad, but by the same logic there's a difference between loving something and it being good. Just because something has mass appeal doesn't mean it's good or even competent. People are as inclined to go see something that's incompetent as they are to see something that's competent, especially when there's spectacle involved. And frankly, you could explain the mass appeal of cats with latent furry fetishes. Sex appeal doesn't really require any extra effort to sell. I'm not out to tell anyone that they shouldn't like the musical. It is a fun musical for a lot of people to turn their brains off to, but that doesn't make it good. I don't want to turn my brain off for a musical and I don't find it fun, I find it obnoxious. So it's not for me. But it's quite definitely bad as musical theatre, because it captures neither music or theatre very well. In terms of costuming and choreography... it's a pretty nice dance show. I wouldn't say ground-breaking, but it doesn't need to be because it's Cats and the fact that any hit was produced out of this at all is not the writer/composer's doing, it's the professionalism of the performers and directors. ( And a touch of luck, if we're being honest. All smash hits ever are right place, right time situations where they wouldn't have worked so well otherwise. ) Its badness as musical theatre is not the performers' fault or the director's. The entire fact that this video exists is down to great performers carrying a bad play and bad performers and a crappy director dropping a huge flop of a movie. That doesn't make Cats the play good, it makes Cats the movie even worse. Also, before you think I'm just mindlessly shitting on Androyd as a creator. I know he can do better because he has done better. He's a mainstay of that crowd for a reason. Now, I wouldn't say he's the guy to look up to because he's kind of a shitty guy who compromises integrity to make a buck. Just look up the time he plagiarized Pink Floyd. He's not above taking shortcuts by any means, he's out to make money. And Cats did succeed at that. So Cats is good inasfar as it did what its creator wanted it to do: Made a fuck-ton of money. In terms of artistic integrity or merit tho it's "meh" at best. It's not even Androyd's best work out of what's really his work. Ignoring the parts he plagiarized and repurposed from other material for Phantom, its a better work musically and dramatically. I can't say it's a better adaptation though, because Cats does beat Phantom as an adaptation of source material in fidelity and pragmatic adaptation, but like how many people even would give a damn about the source material these days if it hadn't been for his plays. Edit: KZread messed up my formatting for emphasis so I just removed it. :/

Before: Gee this looks interesting but I don't know much about musicals One hour later: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MUSIC, TOM HOOPER? Edit: Why is there music removed? This is criticism--doesn't that count as fair use?

@Promatim

3 жыл бұрын

We were sleeper agents for Big Musical all along. We have been activated.

@philipyates3194

3 жыл бұрын

It's like he used staples, STAPLES people!

@nancykerrigan

3 жыл бұрын

Right?! I thought I've seen all the reviews i needed to see about this movie but this took the cake!

@edba1.037

3 жыл бұрын

@@philipyates3194 What is staple? (Seriously)

@jonathandpg6115

3 жыл бұрын

Right he is so good at explaining things and it’s super interesting to learn about it as well.

The director while putting the orchestra through actual hell: "should we get a cocktail?"

everytime i rewatch this video a bit more of the music is gone and it gets funnier and funnier

@ellefrankiemack

7 ай бұрын

Just thought the same thing LOL

This is the first Cats video essay I've seen that actually says "the stage production is good, actually" instead of just "the whole thing is a mess and should never have been made" and I really appreciate that.

@Kabbaway

3 жыл бұрын

Definitely - the show itself is very misunderstood and dismissed because it’s more of a concept musical than the more conventional type with protagonists, plot etc. It’s great and unique 😊

@maggie5990

3 жыл бұрын

You should definitely check out Maggie Mae Fish’s video essay on Cats and T.S. Elliot.

@maikenzupancicdanko9377

3 жыл бұрын

Right? And it pisses me off so much because before the film came out, the stage version was generally regarded as a good musical, both by audiences and critics, it was a kind of a weird little classic. No one thought it was ugly, or attacked it for 'having no story', they understood that it was an odd, dreamy spectacle, and great at that.

@sandra-kq3mj

3 жыл бұрын

Lindsay Ellis video essay seemed like, while she didn’t personally get Cats, she still understood the why and where the musical worked where the movie didn’t.

@mcwyman7928

3 жыл бұрын

@@maikenzupancicdanko9377 In theatre circles, there are actually a LOT of snobs who dismiss and deride Cats, and Andrew Lloyd Webber's work in general, for being populist trash with no substance. And this was even before Cats the movie came out. There's been debates about this even dating back to when Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" beat Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods" at the Tonys for Best Musical in 1988. To many people both familiar and unfamiliar with musical theatre, Cats' success is dumbfounding.

as a lifelong CATS hater i can’t believe that you got me to not only understand CATS but appreciate the beauty of the story,,, im having an identity crisis now thanks

@marieraie

Жыл бұрын

NO BECAUSE SAME HAHA-

@liteflightify

Жыл бұрын

No, it’s still sh*t.

@marieraie

Жыл бұрын

@@liteflightify john🤧

@DinfarManshad

Жыл бұрын

the musical is actually pretty ok. I mean, their costumes are 100% better than the cgi stuff they did from the film.

@Toothachess

Жыл бұрын

Same

I've never heard someone say a more perfect line than "Rum tum tugger is rum tum tuggering the harmonies"

I'm just here, rewatching Sideways videos over and over, hoping they will return someday... someday...

The reason the vocalists follow the orchestra is the same reason that you stop a string of cars instead of the train at a railroad crossing. Christ have mercy

@QuikVidGuy

3 жыл бұрын

how is this the best analogy

@strawhatsmanager

3 жыл бұрын

This is the best way to explain the issue with this

@squishyghost2259

3 жыл бұрын

It also reminds me of how in early animation they used to finish the animations first and then have the voice actor do their lines, and that's why old animated movies sound and look like that, it's the voice actor trying to sync up with the drawing, not the other way around like it is now

@adjoint_functor

3 жыл бұрын

“Oh, but the crossing was built for the cars, you see. They should be able to make the creative decisions about who gets to cross.” - Tomathy Hooper

@scarlettrayzor78

3 жыл бұрын

@@christopherj.lechner4529 you're welcome!

Another issue no one talks about: in the original, most of the songs are about cats hyping each other up because they care for each other as a community. But the songs just... hit different when the cats sing about themselves instead. The biggest offense is Gus' song: when Jellylorum sings with him, it sounds caring and loving, she compliments who he was but still appreciates who he is. When he sings it alone in the movie, it sounds pathetic, like he longs for the past he can never get back and can only wait for death. It goes from respectful to pitiful. Same goes for other songs: when Rum Tum Tugger sings about Mr. Mistoffelees, he's hyping him up, saying "you're amazing, you can do this!". When Mr. Mistoffelees does it alone, it's like he's trying to convince himself he can do it but doesn't actually trust himself to at all until the end, it becomes awkward. When the trio of cats sings about the Gumbie Cat, they're appreciating her actions and she joins in for fun. When she sings about herself alone, it sounds like she's bragging. "Hell yeah, look how amazing I am, you are welcome for having me". It goes from fun to unsufferable. They wanted to give each actor a solo because they're popular, but with that simple change, they completely ruined the meaning of the songs for me.

@kiascenehe

3 жыл бұрын

so true!! this is exactly what i felt watching these solos. most of the time i was just embarrassed.

@UrpleSquirrel

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed! The only numbers that have the cats mostly singing about themselves are Rum Tum Tugger and Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser, which fits the characters - Tugger is pretty egotistical and wants to make sure everybody knows what he's like, and M&R are troublemakers who know that the only cats who 100% enjoy their exploits are each other so they sing a duet about the mischief they get up to.

@fairyflight8436

3 жыл бұрын

So true. I always felt like since the sing about eachother it gives it far more of a community than when they sing about themselves. It's "look how great this person is" Not "look how great I am" Rum Tum Tugger, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are able to pull it off for themselves because they seem egotistical and playful.

@Bealzabub

3 жыл бұрын

This 100%! The act of singing about your community (and occasionally yourself if you happen to be that kind of person) is not nearly the same kind of vibe as a show of people entirely singing about themselves. One of the things that I really like about the original musical is that it almost feels like you're an outsider peering into some strange fae festival that you don't understand.

@starkman78

3 жыл бұрын

@Simon Marshall the cats who sang about themselves in the original did well because those songs were written to be solo performances. It isn’t just that the changes ruined the meanings of the songs, but ruined the songs themselves. Losing the harmonies in the Old Gumbie Cat. James Cordon singing parts of Bustopher Jones that were meant for soprano voices. There are examples of that everywhere. It made the songs awkward and weak and the singers sound unskilled even the ones with decent voices.

Even without any particular musical knowledge just hearing the 1998 pro shot ost to the ost of the current movie, you can instantly tell the superior quality in the older score, and is not just the performers.

How they should've fixed this, if they INSIST on keeping Victoria as a protagonist, (which is stupid): - Have Victoria's 'I want' song about joining the Jellical Cats - Keep the other cat tjat realises Grisabella want to rejoin, keep Sunrise. - HAVE VICTORIA HEAR SUNRISE AND REALISE GRISABELLA WANTS TO REJOIN. - Memory performance - Victoria touches Grisabella BOOM That. Easy. Jesus christ.

I watched an hour's worth of roasting the Cats movie without watching the Cats movie and I enjoyed it

@pinkajou656

3 жыл бұрын

100 PERCENT YES AGREED

@chloeelimam3899

3 жыл бұрын

This but also I've never seen or heard the stage performance 😂

@rubykauffman8940

3 жыл бұрын

BIG SAMEEEE

@CrisisghostOM

3 жыл бұрын

What makes it better is that is roasting full of totally valid reasons and fundaments

@rebbecawitt581

3 жыл бұрын

@@chloeelimam3899 OMG SAME

jesus christ i literally got chills from the og cat's vocals...how could they ruin something that amazing

@stellabelikiewicz1523

3 жыл бұрын

Seriously! Especially Old Deuteronomy, whose vocal range is so varied and powerful! WHY, Judi, WHY?!

@thextremekittenmdj

3 жыл бұрын

@@stellabelikiewicz1523 exactly! i was wonder ing why they chose her because most of his lines are meant for a deeper voice!!

@rcslyman8929

3 жыл бұрын

@@thextremekittenmdj I don't necessarily think a change in the octave to support a female casting would be a bad one. It just would have helped if she actually... you know... sang.

@thextremekittenmdj

3 жыл бұрын

@@rcslyman8929 you're right, it would still be good. and yeah she really did not sing at all lol

@aprilblues3202

3 жыл бұрын

@@rcslyman8929 it’s not just the octave, it’s the sheer strength and volume. 2019 Deuteronomy is a nice old lady singing a lullaby, og cats Deuteronomy is belting out emotion

even after years of this video being out, i cant stop rewatching it. this is my 15th time. this is not a problem.

I come back to this video so many times and just watch the whole hour, just to hear Sideways yelling "Hey, Tom! Tommy! Tombo! My Man!" few minutes before the end, it makes me so happy to hear his rage in episode 5

I didn't think I need more "Cats is horrible" hot takes on cats, but I was wrong

@Imponderabilia995

3 жыл бұрын

This doesn’t seem to be a hot take at all 😊 maybe that’s what you needed ^^

@jbvader721

3 жыл бұрын

Hal...it's about cats.

@friend_trilobot

3 жыл бұрын

I agree. I feel like Cats 2019 required some explanation - its a monstrosity that needs exorcising - but most people explained it as "look at this obvious monstrosity, isn't it obviously monstrous?" Which isn't satisfying nor does it explain it. But this video actually provides an insightful analysis both for the musical's existence and the movie's horrors, beyond the obvious "uncanny valley" nature of the effects.

tom hooper just looked at a photo of the cast of cats and went "oh the one in white really stands out, shes the main cat right?" and noone corrected him

@MaskedReviews

Жыл бұрын

Seriously, has ANYONE told him 'no'? For ANYTHING!?

@caramelldansen2204

Жыл бұрын

People have always told me bourgeois culture is white supremacist, but I didn't know it was to this extent! XD

@alexlefay

Жыл бұрын

AND SHE DOESN'T EVEN STAND OUT IN THE MOVIE! ALL THE CATS LOOKED MUDDY GREY

@sadwasdead5065

Жыл бұрын

@@alexlefay seriosuly, in the original i could tell which was which, but here they all look the same (with only a few exceptions)

@TheRadioknight

Жыл бұрын

It feels like he never even saw CATS befor

56:13 For context, the soloist did not mess up here, the conductor messed up, they prepared the wrong song, one that came later in the competition, the soloist caught on 2 seconds in and played the song they were played. They asked him to return and wanted to make up for their mistake.

@WhiteWolf-lm7gj

5 ай бұрын

That is a really good "what the fuck" face though

4:12 there’s no way!!!! If you’re going to hire actors to be a part of a musical they should be the ones to learn the proper technique. The musicians have done this their whole life and they have to memorize the tempo of the actors? I’m shook

Dear KZread Censorship Bots: This POS movie isn't worth stealing Let my mans have his video

@OhhCrapGuy

3 жыл бұрын

Not only that, but this is the least questionable example of criticism and education imaginable.

@johnnyspeedboat6656

3 жыл бұрын

Bruh this is like when Nintendo canned those fan-made CDI Zelda Remasters.

@KyndaKold

3 жыл бұрын

@@johnnyspeedboat6656 They were trying to sweep it under the rug I suppose.

@FunnyFungus

3 жыл бұрын

wait - is THAT what's going on?! I'm sitting here listening to some of his points - and then suddently he's interrupted by some...8bit version of "The Girl from Ipanema"...-ish...

@Hoshiono

3 жыл бұрын

@@FunnyFungus I remember the first time I saw this video that one could hear the parts when Mr Mistofolees (please ignor the misspelling) and Gus singing/talking (yes, I mean you Mr. M) their songs. But the next time, they had either other music or just silence over them. And I can remember clearly that you could hear them before, because I remember reacting to what he said about Gus' song.

This man's righteous fury at the mishandling of CATS is much appreciated.

@thunderlighting2006

2 жыл бұрын

Agreed when it first came out some friends told me "it did a great honor to the musical" and I just walked away cuz I just couldn't

@shadelings

2 жыл бұрын

@@thunderlighting2006 You must be friends with Zach of the Try Guys because that's literally the only person I've ever heard say that they love the CATS movie.

@estebanquinones5918

2 жыл бұрын

Mishandling is not even close to being a strong word as to what they did with this movie.

@thunderlighting2006

2 жыл бұрын

@@shadelings i literally lost respect for Zach after he said that Cats was his favorite movie

@shadelings

2 жыл бұрын

@@thunderlighting2006 Yeah, love the Try Guys but not gonna lie, I kind of did too a little, at least I was extremely disappointed to hear him say it the first time I heard it. But still, he's definitely a quirky guy and I suspect he plays that up on purpose as he has brought up the fact that he loves CATS movie on other Try Guys episodes. But yeah, that's a flimsy excuse for him, I admit, but he's Zach, and I just have a hard time being mad at him. ;)

I just read an Author’s Note on a fanfic reminiscing how they watched this video, and used it as a springboard to watch the 1998-show and actually join the fandom. And then I remembered, that is the exactly same development I’ve been through. I’d never join the cats-fandom without this gem of musical analysis. I’ve listened to this video as a podcast while working, simply because I enjoy the voice, the complex musical-theory made easy(/ier) to understand and the snark when pointing out the 2019 worst mistakes (“hey Tom, Tommy, TombO, MY MAN” 57:08 and “badaBING badaBUM … and I didn’t even have to reinvent the wheel there” 57:25 XD) And I think it impossible that myself and the lovely fic-created aren’t the only two people entering the cats-fandom exclusively through this video, and I find that hilarious (And also, this video, with many of your others has filled my working days with joy and snark and musically knowledge in a perfect mix of intelligent and witty background noice I could listen to 29:12

The thing that really gets me is how the practical costumes offer more to each character than the CGI skins in the movie. I'm a big practical effects guy and that kind of movie magic is my jam. In the practical the detail work is distinct with each costume giving every character a unique profile. If you put them in silhouette they're all recognizable down to details. This is HUGE for designing memorable characters as you can pick them out in a flash even in the way the costume forces the actor to move. Then you have the skin suits. Oh god the skin suits! Uncanny valley and furry shit aside they're too smooth. Like I get the idea is that fur doesn't encumber an animal but it just makes all the actors glide across the screen without character. All the actors move the same because in reality they're all in green skinsuits. It's made worse by the fact that they're all pretty much colored the same. About the only thing recognizable is the actors face, not a good thing when the movie is mostly wide shots of dancing. This has been my ramble.

Another thing I'd like to mention is the fact that the actors in the musical actually seem enthusiastic, like they're enjoying their time onstage and having fun with the choreography. In the movie it looks like they're being held at gunpoint

@josephschultz3301

2 жыл бұрын

Hooper: "Hey, that's a great idea! Write that down, write that down!" *[Quietly, to himself]* "But can we hold the orchestra at gunpoint too?"

@imhappy7632

2 жыл бұрын

considering how the movie actors had to attend cat school, i can see why they were less than enthusiastic

@ArmindaAirth

2 жыл бұрын

@@imhappy7632 I’m sorry what

@ezelfrancisco1349

2 жыл бұрын

I think the only people who are enjoying the show are the people in the Skimbleshanks number.

@GuiSmith

2 жыл бұрын

@@ArmindaAirth Cat School, yes, it’s not as bizarre as you’d think. It’s training where the singers for the show do a form of pre-training to get the cat-like movements that they use onstage. What usually happens when you do a production of Cats for the stage is a few weeks of Cat School and then you do dance and song rehearsals. The Lion King and any show with puppets does similar stuff so you can master movements independently of what you need to do onstage. You don’t train in everything all at once; kind of like normal schooling where you learn things sequentially, you get time to train as a sort of being before training to be the character. However, it’s Hollywood, so what’s normally a very brief few hours for a few weeks was condensed into days on end in a week. With far more content and personal innovation, I might add, because of the new cat behaviours and the need to allude to the flicking ears and tails. I’m certain it was typical Hollywood steamrolling a normal musical thing, again. At least they were probably all hydrated in their weird skin suits, unlike certain actors I could mention.

God bless the musicians who had to try to deal with Tom Hooper’s bullshit.

@fearofowl5973

3 жыл бұрын

I would give anything to see their faces when he told them to "make it sound less romantic"

@skyeoak3

3 жыл бұрын

He’s that one high school band director that your band director asks to come “do a workshop”, and then after “the workshop,” your band director just says, “yeah, disregard everything he said, actually”

@CavinLee

3 жыл бұрын

@@skyeoak3 🤣 mine was a fucking creep and he’s still working at the school luckily not the band director but music theory and he’s the reason I don’t take it

i've never seen either version of cats but from what i saw in your video i think a huge part of why the stage worked better was bc the cast was SERIOUSLY talented- they so obviously had been rehearsing it nonstop. they were professional dancers and vocalists, makes rebel wilson's performance harder to get through lol

I watch this video twice a year it never gets old

Why does Tom Hooper, a guy who clearly doesn’t like musicals keep directing musicals

@atlasbradford6535

3 жыл бұрын

I think that he likes them because he knows they move people, and he, too, is moved by the originals. He's trying to alter the musicals for film in such a way that they move even more people than the originals did. However, he lacks any of the technical knowledge needed to take creative liberties with shows widely considered to be exceptional. It's like giving a toddler expensive paints simply because they love Van Gogh - while their dreams may be masterpieces, they still only have experience with crayons.

@OpqHMg

3 жыл бұрын

@@atlasbradford6535 I honestly don't think he likes them or gets them. I can't imagine anyone who likes them destroying the music like he does

@HimanXK

3 жыл бұрын

Maybe he thinks he can "fix" them

@allenl5960

3 жыл бұрын

@@OpqHMg He could just have a really bad ear for music. I love music, and I really like the music from Cats I find on youtube, but I can barely notice half the mistakes pointed out in this video without re-listening and paying really close attention to the beat and such. Heck, even most of the really obvious ones I can't really catch without having it pointed out first.

@outside8312

3 жыл бұрын

He needs to let it out, let it out, let it out I'm not sorry

"THE WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE REHEARSAL OF THE WORLD'S MOST BASIC MUSICAL" SAY IT AGAIN FOR THE TOMOTHY IN THE BACK

@caoisekamay1175

3 жыл бұрын

@@RuleroftheSandcastle he calls Tom Hooper Tomathy in the vid as a joke

@millermiller3439

3 жыл бұрын

I read this as he said it lmao

One of the biggest misconceptions about Cats, and one that Hooper put in his own version too, is that all of the cats are competing to go to the Heaviside Layer. The Jellicle Ball is not meant to be a competition (confirmed as far as I've seen by several actors from the stage prodcutions, the original choreographer, and ALW himself). The cats are performing and showing off simply because that is what is traditionally done at the ball. They sing and dance together to show affection and validate their belonging to the tribe, which emphasizes Grizabella's lack of belonging, and therein is the plot hook. They're not going "this is why *I* should be chosen". In most of the cases that doesn't make sense. Most of the songs about aren't even sung BY the cat that the song is about, but instead by another who is affectionately going "isn't this cat awesome? We love them." People are just desperate for there to be more of a plot than there really is. The musical is literally just cats dancing around and singing poems by TS Elliot. Once you stop overthinking it and embrace the absurdity, it's actually really lovely. Anyway the 2019 thing is still a dumpster fire though lmao.

As both a musical theatre performer and an orchestral musician I am SCREAMING at these films. THAT'S NOT HOW YOU USE AN ORCHESTRA!! Yes we are used to following a soloist but that's usually when we can hear the soloist and they can hear us in real time, not a rubato ing click track! And thanks for this video very well explained and I enjoyed it somehow :)

Should have been titled, “Sideways loses his shit to how batshit insane the Cats movie is”

@catalina7224a

3 жыл бұрын

I love you RiverDude!

@joncap6815

3 жыл бұрын

Hey, I know you! This is ... bizzare

@lesleygarcia2746

3 жыл бұрын

He really starts to lose his shit at 55:25 if anyone's curious.

@theresacherco3503

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah I feel bad for him that he lost it because of this movie

@benedictdwyer2608

3 жыл бұрын

The stage musical was crazy as well, but at least there it worked Edit: and it was done far better anyway

Movie: I need a protagonist. Jemima in the play: *drives the plot* (what little there is) *forward at every turn* Movie: So, Jemima is probably an optional character.

@stingerjohnny9951

2 жыл бұрын

It’s almost like Tom Hooper is a moron when it comes to musicals

@klaudiaosmalek6105

2 жыл бұрын

I feel Grisabella would have worked bwtter as a protagonist than what we got

@acookie7548

2 жыл бұрын

@@klaudiaosmalek6105 hell, the cockroaches would’ve worked better as protags than what we got

@DiscoTimelordASD

2 жыл бұрын

@@acookie7548 lol True

@max_x

2 жыл бұрын

I saw Cats when I was 9 years old in theatre and even then my 9 year old self picked up that Jemima was a main character lol

Back again for my umpteenth watch/listen through this stonking masterpiece of critical analysis. Hope you're doing well Sideways.

@musicyak3471

19 күн бұрын

Why did he leave?

I always wondered why, if they wanted to use CGI instead of costumes, they didn't just make the characters look like real cats (think Puss n Boots). There was no reason for these monstrosities.

@pinkdarkboy7127

6 ай бұрын

Because people won't come see the movie unless they can recognize Taylor Swift's face on the cgi cat abomination.

Can’t think the music is bad if I never saw the movie. *taps forehead

@justrecentlyi5444

3 жыл бұрын

Sideways had me convinced anyway less than 10 minutes into this video

@Callmekatielee

3 жыл бұрын

Wrong. You can watch this video. I, for one, will never watch the movie but especially after this video am plenty aware how bad it is.

@umno9830

3 жыл бұрын

@@Callmekatielee might be a joke

@jackh5761

3 жыл бұрын

This is soooooooooooooo 5 brain

@jenniferchough

3 жыл бұрын

My choir buddies sacrificed themselves for me on both Les Miz and this movie and saved me the trouble after their reviews.

“They all want the same thing: death.” I guess I’m also a jellicle cat.

@blueshell292

3 жыл бұрын

But were you there when the Pharaos commissioned the Sphinx?

@dysmissme7343

3 жыл бұрын

🥲

@benedictdwyer2608

3 жыл бұрын

@@blueshell292 were you blind when you’re born?

@sawyer6264

3 жыл бұрын

@@benedictdwyer2608 can you see in the dark?

@starfelled

3 жыл бұрын

@@sawyer6264 but dare you look at a king????

This video is a comfort video for me, I love seeing someone passionate and knowledgeable thanks so much sideways!

I’ve watched this video at least twenty times, because it is such an engaging breakdown of why Cats: the Musical works, and why Cats: the Movie doesn’t! Bonus, it got me into Cats (stage show version) to start with, and I’ve found myself loving almost every song after a few listens! Plus, as someone who loves music but doesn’t have much serious training/education, I love how much more I learn about composition and performance and theory from your videos! Learning about tempo rubato in this video was a MAJOR eye-opener! Long story short, thank you for this video!! Still one of my absolute favorites :)

Long Story Short: Tom Hooper is a HORRIBLE Director.

@thewonderlander1372

3 жыл бұрын

Oof lol

@foodyghost3178

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed.

@linaaviles1971

3 жыл бұрын

I mean, he has made some incredible films. Cats was just not good.

@randomdudeontheinternet9556

3 жыл бұрын

We could already tell that by how he treated actors for Les Mis.

@mariabelensolisbonastre8113

3 жыл бұрын

he id horrible doing musical

Someone asked Andrew Loyd Webber, the creator of the play, what he thought of the movie and he replied that he left the cinema and adopted a dog. The movie "Cats" made the creator one of the most famous Broadway musicals of modern times to become a dog person!

@stingerjohnny9951

2 жыл бұрын

That’s just…incredible. Webber is such a legend XD

@soupalex

2 жыл бұрын

why, was he a "cat person" before the film adaptation? you wouldn't know it from seeing the musical (yes, i know that the musical drew heavily from t.s. elliot, but webber is not blameless, and i doubt anyone who had anything to do with its production had ever actually seen or interacted with an actual cat in their lives)

@stingerjohnny9951

2 жыл бұрын

@@soupalex Would you please elaborate? I personally haven’t seen the play, so I wouldn’t know.

@vinetail5735

2 жыл бұрын

@@stingerjohnny9951 the Broadway show takes so much inspiration from actual cat movements, at least the choreographers for pretty much every choreo I've seen knows how cats move

@stingerjohnny9951

2 жыл бұрын

@@vinetail5735 what you just said is the polar opposite of what Soupalex said. Honestly the little I saw of the stage from this video shows the actors being remarkably cat like.

It's funny how the audio for the new Cats has clearly been hit with strikes later in this video because they clearly took the points made very personally. Anyway, wow, this makes the original feel like it's (almost) worth sitting through! Amazing work. Follow up: it was pretty pleasant. Still hate Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats though.

The obvious problem is Hollywood doesn't understand that Cats isn't a film; it's a theatre musical. Even Cats the Musical, which was released on DVD, was a theatre performance put on the screen, rather than a film. It's why The Musical worked very well, even with the bad editing, while The Film stinks.