Opinions on new Judy Garland film, Judy, with Renée (Renee ) Zellweger

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Lawrence Schulman, Jun 30, 2018.

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  1. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    Oh yeah..I remember that scene. Good one.
     
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  2. antoniod

    antoniod Forum Resident

    What MGM contractees weren't?
     
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  3. antoniod

    antoniod Forum Resident

    I think the problem I had with JUDY was the same problem I have with most new movies I see. They don't build. Nobody knows how to make a film with any momentum anymore!
     
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  4. signothetimes53

    signothetimes53 Senior Member

    Mr. Schulman, now that the film is out, I'd be very interested in your thoughts on the film, and on Renée Zellweger's performance. You are perhaps the most knowledgeable Judy Garland fan here at this forum.

    Apologies if you've already posted your thoughts in a different thread, if so, I didn't spot it.
     
  5. Lawrence Schulman

    Lawrence Schulman Senior Member Thread Starter

    Hi signothetimes53,

    I have not yet seen it. I live on an island in Maine, and would have to drive to Portland to see it. Portland is 3 hours away. I am going to Paris for the month of November and will surely see it there.

    Will get back to you...

    All best.
    LAWRENCE SCHULMAN
     
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  6. Mainline461

    Mainline461 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tamiami Trail
    I saw it yesterday. IMO it hit the marks; Zellweger pulled it off, she'll get a nomination for sure. Recommended, BUT, only if you're prepared to see a downer story … which of course her life was. Sad.
     
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  7. pghmusiclover

    pghmusiclover Senior Member

    Thanks to a Gort for updating the thread title to include Renee's name without the "é"! The search here doesn't find the thread with the "é"!
     
  8. If this is serious, it's one of the more absurd posts I've seen here.

    I'm not black, but I love the blues. I'm not British, but I love the Beatles.
     
  9. the pope ondine

    the pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia

    google 'friend of dorothy' :tiphat:
     
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  10. signothetimes53

    signothetimes53 Senior Member

    I feared seeing this film because it had the potential to be such a complete and total downer.

    Fortunately, I think the scriptwriters and the director threaded the needle very deftly, finding a way to inject enough of Judy's remarkable talents and her life story at the end, to make this a film that is eminently watchable and entertaining...when the very opposite could have happened. There were a couple of especially touching moments in the film. I hope they really happened in her life, and weren't just theatrical script gimmicks.

    Excellent background story from the woman portrayed in the film as Judy's handler: The true story behind 'Judy' from the woman who worked with Judy Garland
     
    Last edited: Oct 6, 2019
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  11. I see. News to me.
     
  12. the pope ondine

    the pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia

    lol, I figured
     
  13. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    These biopics are Oscar bait, an excuse for the star to show off. Some are better than others, but this looks dire to me.
     
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  14. Steve Carras

    Steve Carras Golden Retriever

    Location:
    Norco, CA, USA
    Having not had a chance to see it locally, I would'nt say, but I saw the live show.
     
  15. Tim Lookingbill

    Tim Lookingbill Alfalfa Male

    Location:
    New Braunfels, TX
    Not sure but was there ever a time when someone caught Judy Garland on camera sucking on a lemon, which is how someone online (or maybe it was Kimmel's "Mean Tweets") described Zellweger's facial expressions even when she's not acting. I'm not seeing Zellweger making a convincing Garland with that mug, but hey, it worked with Malek's bug eyes as Freddy Mercury on "Bohemian Rhapsody". Who knows.

    I will not be watching this movie.
     
  16. signothetimes53

    signothetimes53 Senior Member

    I respect the right each of you have to your opinion about the film and about Renee Zellweger's acting performance...and your right to not view the film.

    At the same time, your opinions about the film's worth are compromised at least in part by the fact that you are judging something you have not seen. I was very impressed by Zellweger's performance. The film isn't perfect, the 'flashbacks' to a teenage Judy portrayed by a young, different actress aren't very convincing, for instance. But I hope people considering seeing this film aren't dissuaded from doing so merely by 2 individuals who haven't seen it but still have a negative viewpoint of it. The reviews on Zellweger's performance are pretty good.

    Review: Don't call 'Judy' Renee Zellweger's 'comeback.' It's just one of her best performances ever

    Review: Renée Zellweger Captures Judy Garland's Dazzling Essence in Judy

    Renee Zellweger goes over the rainbow in Judy Garland biopic 'Judy'
     
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  17. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    Admittedly no one can give an informed critique of something they haven't seen, but I can gauge my level of interest in the trailer, which is a promotional tool meant to entice me to see the film. Having seen the trailer I can say confidently that I am not enticed.
     
  18. pghmusiclover

    pghmusiclover Senior Member

    Nice (and well-deserved) 4-star review of the soundtrack album (which IS available on vinyl, just not in the US at the moment):

    Album reviews: Gaby Moreno & Van Dyke Parks | Judy Soundtrack | The Darkness

    There is further escapist delight to be had in Judy, the soundtrack to the new Judy Garland biopic, which stars Renée Zellweger whooping up a storm in the title role as the older, weathered Garland. Judging by the soundtrack evidence, the all-singing, all-dancing Zellweger captures her zest and her sensitivity rather than trying to imitate the inimitable.

    She duets with Sam Smith on a buoyant Get Happy (Michael Bublé must have been busy), while Rufus Wainwright turns in an overly hammy rendition of the Yuletide yearning of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Zellweger doesn’t really need those guys – she is all over the showstopping For Once In My Life, a jubilant Trolley Song and the mature melodrama of The Man That Got Away.

    The orchestration is also spot-on with the Latin big band pzazz of Talk of the Town sustained through a dramatic, hectic and snake-hipped Rain or Shine.
     
  19. the pope ondine

    the pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia

    I don't know much but I think im jealous of your life. if you say you live in a lighthouse ill kill myself
     
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  20. Lawrence Schulman

    Lawrence Schulman Senior Member Thread Starter

    JUDY opens in Bangor, an hour away, today. I will see the film on Monday. And no, I don't live in a lighthouse, but in a home built in 1903 overlooking Somes Sound.
     
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  21. Propinquity

    Propinquity Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gravel Switch, KY
    LOL. I saw it in Portland yesterday. The place was rockin' for a Sunday night in October!
     
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  22. WLL

    WLL Popery Of Mopery

    ...I'm fixin' to see it, at the 9:30 show tonite:)! See ya:nauga:.
     
  23. Lawrence Schulman

    Lawrence Schulman Senior Member Thread Starter

    Just one reaction: This is a very ordinary movie about a very extraordinary individual. Zellweger hardly has much of a voice, so it is hard to see what all the excitement is about. Strange that Decca has released the CD soundtrack, when Judy recorded at Decca in the 1930s and 1940s. So, why not have used the original recordings? At least, we would have understood Judy’s incredible talents. DOREMI/Hallow released the remastered tapes from Talk of the Town, and I am sure the film’s producers could have purchased the rights. In the end, I am left indifferent from viewing the film. It is neither good nor bad. Historically, it is all over the place. There are far too many historical errors that should not be there. In the end, Judy was haggard at the end of her life, and if anything Zellweger is still the glamorous Hollywood star. I think it takes a Fellini or Visconti to do a film on Garland. Rupert Goold is not such a visionary. My infinite respect for Garland’s talents finds no match in this movie. People who are looking to find out what all the fuss is about Garland 50 years after her death will not find an answer here. I guess indifference is the worst feeling one can have in judging a film.


    Lawrence Schulman
     
  24. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Interesting comments. A movie like this is not like Rocketman and by its nature, should be very historically accurate.

    While I have not seen this movie, I would think that they should cast a singer who can act or an actor that can sing, since it is pertinent to the movie.

    I can deal with an actor playing Garland not having Garland's voice.

    What bothered my in watching a posted clip of Get Happy, was that from the moment I started watching it, it was instantly apparent that is now how Judy Garland sang this song. The timing and inflections were simply wrong.

    It would bother me to sit through a movie where Judy's signature songs were not presented correctly, as in the way that Judy would sing them.
     
  25. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    Dan Savage quoted one of my tweets in his podcast this week. I had praised something he said, that "if you make someone your closet, it ends up hollowing them out." That seems like something that might have been a source of misery in her life.
     
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