The Glorious Horror of CATS (And Why I'm Obsessed With It)

[@GoldenCycloneGaming]

Cats is going to end with a post credits stinger with Mike Myers’ Cat in the Hat saying “I’m hear to talk to you about the Feline Initiative”

[@JoergWessels]

He's gonna make an audible spelling error?

[@ThatOneGuy7550]

Lmaoooo But we need Swat Kats

[@willows861]

@@lucasaramayo9157 antonio banderas better be warming his voice up, can't have a feline initiative without puss in boots

[@Wired4Life2]

@@lucasaramayo9157 Including the mating scene that's immediately followed by Francis asking, "Who *are* you?"

[@csjcsj2906]

Holy crap, not far off since they're both from Universal.

[@TheMoonLayingLow]

Rachel: "Cats is a musical for perverts" Patrick [scratching chin]: "Yeah I simply *cannot* figure out what it is about this movie that compels me.. Obsessively."

[@Wired4Life2]

I picture, sitting at a table, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Bryan Singer, Jeffrey Epstein, Bill Clinton, Matt Groening, and others, all going, "We accept him, one of us, gooble, gobble, we accept him, one of us, gooble, gobble..." at Patrick.

[@whitneymouse]

I take issue with that explanation. I love Cats and I loved the musical since we saw it in music class in grade school. As a child. It has good music xD

[@sitcomchristian6886]

It's....really not a musical for perverts. I thought that was a bizarre way of describing it.

[@deadprivacy]

@@sitcomchristian6886 DEFINITELY FOR PERVERTS, REALLY DISTURBING FURRY PERVERTS

[@Jellyfishbrainz]

deadprivacy No, actual furries disowned this, nobody is going to buy a pinup of cat Taylor Swift. It’s not hot, it’s disturbing.

[@cygneturesounds]

There is a way to fix it... GIVE THEM CAT NOSES! Even the stage show got that right. Helping to disassociate with the human face.

[@elizabethashley42]

THAT'S what's missing. It's been bugging me.

[@DemonMage]

Holy hand-granade, you're right Batman. That's the other thing that's been bothering me about that trailer. Cat noses.

[@ro_the_lion]

YES! That and... give them back the face fluff? Part of the reason the stage cats look more approachable is that they're less polished, more fluffy and messy, just like strays. Their tales are strings of fabric and they have huge yak fur on their cheeks... there was a way to make this more like Chicago! (Honestly this is one film where full CGI would have been cool imo)

[@leGUIGUI]

Exactly! Saying the design can't be improved or that it can't made better is false.

[@PundaExpress]

Yeah that’s literally the only thing bugging me

[@tangledfish]

"Ok, we have to address the elephant in the room." That we all know a Cats reaction video is going to be the biggest Lindsay Ellis hit of the year and Patrick is muscling in on her gig before the movie is even in cinemas?

[@MariMari_1798]

tangledfish Are KZbinrs in competition in that way? When my faves cover the same content I still watch both people’s videos

[@ajax2985]

@@MariMari_1798 Unfortunately yes. While I'm the same as you and will eagerly watch videos from different channels on the same topics, many people are content with a single video. There is also the instance that viewers who aren't subscribed and just search for something will search for the most recent or most viewed video. In both instances, the result is a reduction of viewers for KZbinrs who aren't one of the first to post about the topic.

[@hillarywoo4977]

Thank you for being the only one to say what we were all thinking.

[@jliller]

I think you just took 20 minutes to say "I'm excited because this looks like a glorious trainwreck."

[@sosayweall_jpg]

I dunno man, he seems genuinely excited for it, with the context of "I hope these risks pay off". You might be projecting here a bit

[@tanguyen11]

I thought 20min to explain that there is a possibility that a terrible plot (if you could call it that) with a director he doesn't like, can produce something so wildly cinematically original that it could be gold

[@chumplafayette9561]

Seriously. He really pads out the runtime of these videos. Not all of then need to be over 20 minutes if you can say what you want to say in 5.

[@LaserMissionDan]

Sure, but these are video essays similar to books. Meaning, you can usually sum up a non-fiction book in a few sentences, but you're diving deep into the nitty gritty of your thesis.

[@columbus8myhw]

It's like a trainwreck where you'd hesitate to call it a train

[@goldiefatale]

i'm obsessed with the reaction people have to this movie.

[@clairepettie]

Same. I think we need a support group. For connoisseurs, aficionados, and obsessives of KZbin "Cats" Reviews.

[@annadushenkina3512]

Ha-ha, me too. I actually liked the movie and found it fun and harmless. And trying to figure out why so many people is so distressed by it.

[@jjsplay-hause6240]

Seriously agreed, good thing I usually fall asleep and I'm normal the next day

[@battleupsaber462]

Looks like Star Wars 9 is gonna be a huge flop guys, they wont stand a chance when they open the same day as CATS.

[@dragomcroy3072]

BattleUp Saber I'm gonna watch Cats w/ a friend before Star Wars tbh. I'll end up seeing both, but Cats is hype.

[@MichelleAlexandria-EM]

two completely different audences

[@BuckBumbleYT]

BattleUp Saber I’m not fucking around when I say I’m by far more interested in Cats. Like I’ll see Star Wars sometime of course but I NEED to see Cats

[@grumpykoala4796]

You stole my tweet joke lmao

[@ouroborosproductions]

This joke made my day

[@gregmcamp]

"Jellicle cats" is a corruption of "dear little cats" and "Pollicle dogs" of "poor little dogs"

[@Polisciandfries]

Wow! Thanks! Spent my life wondering this

[@Theyungcity23]

Htf do you get jelly out of dear little?

[@Polisciandfries]

@@Theyungcity23 say it like an old woman with a Cockley accent..."djear lickle cats"

[@tenlongfingers70]

Theyungcity23 Actually, the corruption from d to j is actually pretty common in English. We got Cajun from Acadian and injun from Indian. The tongue is basically in the same place for both sounds.

[@Polisciandfries]

@@tenlongfingers70 ugh I love language facts 👏

[@loferx]

As a theatre geek, it's kinda cute seeing everyone freaking out about cats in 2019, it's like seeing a younger brother going through puberty and losing its mind about something you lived through and made peace with years ago.

[@StormicusIII]

Yeah, I LOVE the cats musical, for all its weirdness and the trailer seemed perfect to me, considering the source material

[@itried8968]

While I can't say I love the cgi or character design, the sets look fantastic and I can't wait to hear all of my favorite songs be brought to a movie score. There are things I am enjoying about this whole experience over the movie so far, and I haven't even seen it!

[@CIDILIABRA]

Right?

[@jennym4882]

yeah most people seem to still be freaked out about the fact that they're cat people like that wasnt clear from the beginning (and they never met furries?) i'm just bothered by the faces, they lack more cat-like features, it looks all wrong

[@overworkedcna412]

Lo Fernandes Rofl THIS EXACTLY 🤣

[@eliquate]

“A style that signifies isolation and paranoia, so what purpose does it serve in The King’s Speech?” To signify isolation and paranoia.

[@beanstheclown]

Yeah, I kind of didn't get where he didn't get what was going on with those two films. I mean, I only watched the King's Speech when it first came out, but even I can remember that the main thrust of that film was about how isolated within his own family the titular king felt. As for Les Mis, chaos, disorder, off kilter worlds, and discomfort really seems an apt description of how the characters feel throughout that story as well as describing the feeling of pent up frustration and hopeful hopelessness in the rebellion.

[@12tone]

PATRICK I WILL FIGHT YOU FOR THE HONOR OF CATS THE MUSICAL Also my personal favorite fact about Cats: It uh... wasn't actually supposed to be a musical. At all. Webber wrote most of the songs as an exercise to see if he could write music to pre-existing lyrics and he only picked Eliot's book because he liked it as a child. Later on, he considered turning it into a song cycle, and when he went to perform it Eliot's widow showed up with some extra unpublished cat poems, including Grizabella the Glamour Cat, which had apparently been cut for being too sad, which inspired Webber to turn his series of entirely unconnected songs into a coherent story. "Musical" was literally his third idea for what to do with these songs.

[@Wired4Life2]

*THE MUSIC THEORIST HAS SPOKEN!*

[@ConvincingPeople]

12tone It would have worked so much better as a cycle of art songs than a musical. That said, I'm not even remotely a Webber fan, so I would have preferred a different composer to take it on, but still: The Book of Practical Cats set to music just as-is would be fire.

[@silvertamagachi]

Honestly that explains so much. As someone who's enjoyed Cats for years I had no idea there was a story, and while part of that can be attributed to my terminal case of Dumbass Disease, it makes so much sense that this wasn't really a *story* at any point.

[@darthbee18]

*gasps FightfightfightFightFIGHT!! 😏😏😏

[@dwc1964]

@@darthbee18 ;-) I'm here partly because 12tone recommended it in *his* video wherein he drops the knowledge hinted at in his comment above and more. Which you should totally check out. (also it was already in my recommends)

[@thespectralchannel]

I was kind of shocked by the backlash since I was totally obsessed with Cats as a kid - I had a VHS of it that I watched religiously, the book of all the costume designs and dragged my parents to see it twice in theatres. I had never really considered how batshit insane the whole thing is compared to most musicals

[@Hinatachan360]

I love the musical myself. It's entertaining and the singing and dancing is top notch. It's a whole lot of crazy fun.

[@UltimateKyuubiFox]

I think for the King’s Speech, the discomfort the King feels due to his speech impediment and his sense of isolation as a result is really greatly externalized via the cinematography. It’s slightly off-center, people aren’t directly looked at, and it all feels vaguely askew and stunted. Kind of like how the main character feels. Off balance, broken, and trapped in his own skin. It felt relatable. Les Mis? Yeah, that felt purposeless.

[@Silburific]

Really? I actually liked the cinematography of Les Mis. There are only two "hopeful" songs (unless you count Fantine's ghost comforting Valjean as he dies), the rest being about despair, hopelessness and the general shittiness of humanity. The closeups made it feel, to me, that the characters were so overwhelmed with the painful thoughts they were singing about that that's ALL the world was reduced to for them at that moment. They take up the frame in moments where there is nothing else to pay attention to- when everything is crumbling around you, the rest of the world stops mattering, the dutch angels skew the world because the world around the characters is an awful place that they really don't fit into. Of course, these are just the observations of a casual viewer.

[@MagusMarquillin]

Except for when it works. When you're right in Ann Hathaways face, about to drown in her tears, it's overwhelming.

[@Wired4Life2]

_Les Mis'_ technical achievement of *actually having the actors sing on set and on camera instead of recording the songs beforehand and lip-syncing to them on set and on camera* seems underrated nowadays. There's a reason why it won Best Sound Mixing that year.

[@Silburific]

@@Wired4Life2 I sincerely love some of the movie's renditions of the songs more than the Broadway ones. Just allowing the music to accomodate for characters sniffling and weeping for a second makes them more powerful than if they had to keep time.

[@derekpederson1952]

@@MagusMarquillin If you read Film Crit Hulk's essay, he also praises the cinematography in that specific scene. I think for most casual viewers, the great performances, story, music, and whatnot in Les Mis overpowered the bad cinematography choices. The latter point I think most people wouldn't notice (myself included, at the time) the effect it had on them, but the argument is that Les Mis would have been far more acclaimed if it weren't for that. Essentially, Hooper's failing upwards.

[@ambiguoussarcasm]

“Cats is plotless!” *Proceedes to explain the plot of Cats*

[@HannibalFan52]

All the while leaving out the most important points of acceptance, forgiveness, and redemption.

[@Ntyler01mil]

​@@HannibalFan52 - You left out euthanasia

[@HannibalFan52]

@@Ntyler01mil I didn't mention it because it has nothing to do with the show.

[@HannibalFan52]

@@JC-yy8iv Actually, it does have a plot, per Andrew Lloyd Webber himself, and it centers around Grizabella's hope to be accepted by the tribe again.

[@HannibalFan52]

@@JC-yy8iv Actually, it does. The Prologue is the exposition, when Munkustrap explains the Jellicle Ball. Every time Grizabella is rejected, that builds the tension (the rising action). Will she or won't she be accepted in the end? You don't actually know until it happens. The climax is not that 'climactic', I'll grant you, which is why people miss it. When Old Deuteronomy encourages Victoria to touch Grizabella, that heightens the tension again; when she actually does, and Grizabella closes her eyes in thankfulness, that's the actual climax. It's quiet, but it doesn't have to be overly dramatic. The falling action is her ascent to the Heavyside Layer, since the most important action (her acceptance) has already occurred, and the Ad-dressing of Cats is the denouement. It's all there; it's just not as obvious as in most stories.

[@_taylor_1604]

He’s a chaotic Neutral Wes Anderson

[@Torus2112]

Wait so what's normal Wes Anderson? Chaotic Good?

[@ChicaneryBear]

Wes Anderson is definitely True Neutral

[@MultiZelda13]

Isn't Wes Andersson already chaotic neutral?

[@fritzhanszirkel4185]

Schwinn D. He’s definitely not chaotic

[@daishoryujin95]

Neutral Good

[@ScottRawlings1138]

Love you, Patrick but as a stutterer I can see why Hooper made camera blocking that was isolating for King’s Speech.

[@andrewwashiku]

Finally, someone in this comment section who gets it

[@carrrich6193]

But why would the blocking also frame the therapist as isolated? Just had to rewatch it for a seminar and honestly, the framing felt really unmotivated...

[@Flowtail]

I just rewatched it and i do get why it started with the framing like that, but the lighting was so cold in the rest of the movie too that it felt a bit odd. Though not as bad as patrick made it seem, imo

[@WeirdNeville]

@@carrrich6193 I reckon to emphasise the class divide (and perhaps to foreshadow that the therapist is also a little out of his element, since he has no credentials).

[@Raidoven]

as uncomfortable as Hooper's musicals make me feel, at least they make me feel SOMETHING. unlike the live action Lion King or Aladdin musical scenes

[@L16htW4rr10r]

Maybe not popular opinion, but I like Aladdin Live Action

[@MultiZelda13]

YUP

[@BlueCanary7]

@@L16htW4rr10r I really enjoyed Live Action Aladdin too: maybe not one of the great masterpieces, but a gorgeous film, some really lovely performances, (I loved their Aladdin and Jasmine), and most of the little tweaks and additions were actually great, especially the new character Dahlia. They could have gone further with bringing in new material, but to me, this one was far from "souless." (Lion King remake, one the other hand? Ouch...)

[@malindarusse6527]

@@jazzycat8917 The live action remakes are the same same soulless self pimping prostitution that the sequels in the 00s were.

[@K.Marie119]

@@BlueCanary7 I'll give Aladdin 2019 this: the vocals are at least competent. Unlike Beauty and the Beast where the vocals kinda killed the entire movie. Naomi Scott can definitely sing, unlike Emma Watson who ended up being autotuned to death. Mena Massoud and Will Smith were passable. Even though Smith's performance kind of fell flat for me and the autotune can get to be a a bit much at times. I wish they'd get over this thing they have about hiring big name actors that can't sing and go for the Broadway veterans, like Lea Salonga and Paige O'Hara (Original Belle and Mulan.)

[@thetramp123]

The King's Speech is shot with a lot of negative space and often isolating its subjects because it's only superficially about overcoming difficulty speaking. It isn't really an inspiring overcoming adversity movie, but it's a film about class differences and coming together in the end, first clashing and feeling alienated when out of their familiar setting, thus when Prince Albert goes to Lionel's home or when Lionel visits the royal family. The intent is to isolate these men to accentuate their possible discomfort in unfamiliar territory while the film is going about its real agenda, expressing the need to come together as a nation in their declaration against the rising Nazi threat in Europe. And I sort of get what he wanted to do with Les Mis. I don't like it, but I can kind of guess what his intent was. I think it was about wanting to really get a close personal emotional realism to their performances (ironically enough even though those wide angle lenses distort those close-ups), but paired with his decision to record vocals on set and on day with raw and unrefined vocal performances I think his intent as to try and capture some of that raw emotional weight to those characters and those performances, and the use of the close-up as the obvious closest window into that. It's just without much breathing room those sequences become unrelenting and those wide angle lenses distort those dirt smeared faces, which works to the film's detriment.

[@HannibalFan52]

Actually, 'The King's Speech' *is* about overcoming speech impediments, and some of the possible causes. (In this case, being forced to be right-handed was a contributing factor.) David Seidler had a speech impediment when he was growing up, and learning about Bertie's struggle was inspirational for him. He approached Queen Mother Elizabeth about making the movie, and she agreed that it was a story that needed to be told. However, she asked that Seidler wait until after she had died, as, in her words, the memory was too painful for her. And that's exactly what he did. By the way, including Derek Jacobi as the Archbishop of Canterbury was an inspired in-joke, as he came to international attention as the limping, stuttering Claudius in 'I, Claudius'.

[@WeirdNeville]

Yep, I think he was unfair to the kings speech here: the uneasy framing clearly imparts the kings unease in being in unfamiliar settings and undergoing another belittling process to try and correct his stammer. It pits the audience in his frame of mind, looking at blank walls, feeling like a fish out of water. I think it works well.

[@gedbyrne8482]

Why make a film about two people becoming friends in a way that emphasises isolation and paranoia? Is it possible that, with the Kings Speech, Mr Cooper is teaching you how it feels to be British?

[@mariakelly5]

@MrCgraham89 Thank God for antipsychotics AND antidepressants!

[@luigivercotti6410]

@@mariakelly5 And for Her Majesty, as well. And Jim Sterling

[@HoovyTube]

The way you pace those videos, its so entertaining, informing and funny.

[@GitShiddy]

I'm glad they made Cats look like this. Not only because it's fucking weird & therefore interesting. But because in a world where they reanimate the Lion King to be a lifeless National Geographic aesthetic, It's important to do the exact opposite. Also it'll be less jarring when they do pretty much the same thing for Cheetah in Wonder Woman & give people a "well it's not as weird as Cats" defence.

[@mar-rv2qb]

I'm mad because they didn't go far ENOUGH! it still looks too realistic when the best part of the stage show was that they had exaggerated cat makeup and big fluffy faces and ears

[@skywalkerhunterarchive]

if you say 2019 lion king and the need to do the exact opposite, then we need to make cats a 2d animation instead of this😂

[@1SevenCirclesDesign]

Or just go full costume theater aesthetics to get rid of the uncanny valley, everything-must-be-CGI vibe

[@HydraSpectre1138]

Toho was one of the studios involved in the production of this film. They made blockbuster anime like Your Name. and My Hero Academia, as well as Godzilla. Toho should've had more involvement in the film and made it an English-language Japan-made 2D anime with cute anime cat people (especially Taylor Swift as an anime catgirl, who would instantly become my anime waifu) instead of a "realistic" CGI film that looks worse than realistic games like Death Stranding and The Last of Us Part II. Maybe get Studio BONES (My Hero Academia), Studio Trigger (Promare, Little Witch Academia, BNA), Orange (Beastars, Godzilla: Singular Point) or Makoto Shinkai (Your Name., Weathering With You) to do it. That or they should've made it a high budget practical effects tokusatsu film from Shinji Higuchi (SFX director for the Gamera Heisei Trilogy and director of Shin Godzilla and Shin Ultraman alongside Hideaki Anno, he also directed the live action Attack on Titan films but we don't talk about them) with actors in high quality fursuits that are basically higher quality versions of the stage costumes and oversized sets (basically the opposite of usual tokusatsu filmmaking).

[@morbid1.]

Kajit are cats, they have cat face, cat paws but they walk on 2 legs... in "cats" they have human face and human limbs... they are like CRISPR trial runs

[@jennym4882]

yeah thats the big difference for me, the Khajiit still have cat heads with slightly humanized featured to help them emote, while these CGI monsters are just hairy humans and it looks wrong

[@aadityabhattacharya]

I was waiting for this video, Tom Hooper is Michael Bay of Oscar Bait movies.

[@aadityabhattacharya]

@Mattbrain I really liked The king Speech too

[@fathel9221]

Tom Hooper is the stupid man's Alfonso cuaron

[@EbonyPenmarks]

@@fathel9221 🤣 it's funny but sad. I kinda wish Alfonso was given more work. At least he made Roma. Roma was beautiful.

[@muddi900]

Michael Bay would have to work a lot less harder to Tom Hooper

[@esquibelle]

Love your comment. I could not stand "A King's Speech :)

[@thegillmanedits]

That CATS "expert" is nothing short of an abominable source for information. The cats in CATS are analogs for different types of people (which, btw, inadvertently excuses the cat/human look). The last song in the show makes it clear that cats are like us and should be respected the same way to really clear this up. Anyway, all the cats at this gathering are vying to be the next person to be chosen to move on to another life which is why there is so many cat introductions. Each one is "stating their case", as it were. Some speak for themselves, others are spoken for, and some are even spoken against. Each cat shown reflects a particular portion of human society. The show seems plotless and meandering because of all these introductions but, in reality, this is part of the point it's making. That point is one of inclusion, redemption, and forgiveness leading to true happiness. Grizabella is the only cat that is introduced that shows a lack of attachment to the physical or material world and a true desire to move on. She has led a life that has taken her from comfort to being an outcast and thus gone through the gamut of life's experiences only to find that shallow pursuits are ultimately worthless and pointless (even ruinous). She craves forgiveness and bigger things (shades of the spiritual abound here) Every other cat vying for the spot is wistful for the past or, worse, involved in their ego and showing no desire to leave that behind. Grizabella herself sings about happiness being found in forgiveness which she ultimately is given and she moves on. She was worthy. The message of Cats is ultimately a very positive one and the key to it's "plot".

[@ro_the_lion]

Thanks so much for being a voice of affection for the show! It really affected me as a teenager, as both a performer and visual artist, it's so appealing on many heartfelt levels, and you really have outlined it beautifully.

[@thegillmanedits]

@@ro_the_lion I know this show has a lot of people that love it and actually are moved by it. It kinda ticked me off that they picked a person with absolutely no idea of what was going on just for the sake of coloring the opinion even more.

[@mirandac8712]

I noticed the same thing. You can argue about the merits, but there's nothing strange about it - it's pastiche. Opera companies used to pay their rent with this kind of stuff. (Of course, to know that, you would have to venture outside of today's pop culture.) Also, what's so inexplicable about Eliot's book? It's light verse. ? As for the theme of the sacrifice of the chosen one, that's pulled from the most important stage work of the 20th century, Stravinsky and Njinski's The Rite of Spring.

[@smooothiebomb]

@@thegillmanedits thanks for this! i've been obsessed with this musical for over 20 years and while i'm excited for this nonsense screen adaptation, it's nice to see a quality comment about the show's merits (because they DO exist!)

[@IAmRachelQuirky]

The Gilman facts, she’s the WORST! its like she didn’t obsessively watch the west end production on vhs and feel it was more fun to give this property she deeply enjoys a loving, light hearted send up. So I guess her good natured ribbing of a property that has made more money than she will every know is just for her.

[@TheHopperUK]

I mean - the cat names sound funny, yeah. They're from humorous poems for literal children.

[@DekuOfPower]

How is anything about this musical for children?

[@TheHopperUK]

The *poems* were for children, and that's where the names come from. I'm half-heartedly defending TS Eliot, not Andrew Lloyd Webber and certainly not Tom Hooper.:)

[@ro_the_lion]

Yeah exactly. Making fun of names in kids' media is a bit of a lazy shot.

[@lwcaexii]

@@DekuOfPower My friend LOVED it as a kid, and I remember that I liked it, too. The dancers were energetic, playfully costumed, and the plot itself was whimsical but simple enough to hold a child's interest.

[@angies8377]

I can't stop watching reviews for this movie

[@bentn13]

Ok, so all of this, is why I've been obsessed with this movie. Also Lindsey Ellis' enthusiastic excitement also helped, because damn, she convinced me with her tweets about something I had absolutely no opinion or excitement about.

[@qwertyTRiG]

She's been tweeting about it? Maybe I should look at Twitter occasionally.

[@user-pg9sw2td7w]

I liked the uncomfortable feeling in les mis. Poverty is uncomfortable.

[@fearofowl5973]

then why is it used for scenes without poor people?

[@theaddictofgaming9174]

Fortnite is going to steal dances from the movie.

[@Flackon]

Well, Fortnite is a smidge up the ladder from "musical for perverts" so at least they have that going for them

[@RafaelRodrigues-rx9ry]

You know, when something is so weird you can't look away.

[@f.i.r.e.5119]

Naturally.

[@thatmilk3655]

I’m not going to even try to explain this is an avant-garde ballet

[@Oonagh72]

The King’s Speech was very much about feeling isolation. A King with tan almost debilitating speech impediment. Being a King is isolating enough, considering every other person who has been in his position is dead. So he has no true peers. Then he avoids people as to not expose his “weakness”. Loved it.

[@Patricia_Taxxon]

Clearly what should have been done is something like Pom Poko, where the cats look like real cats but transform into something more like the stage show when it's time for a song. Like, the cats in the stage show are clearly meant to be symbolic representations of real cats that do cat things, the movie could have taken the step to show both sides of that.

[@bendemolina]

Chicago did this really well.

[@pheonixrises11]

it could’ve been a traditionally animated movie...

[@Patricia_Taxxon]

@@pheonixrises11 that too

[@dyonlemmen713]

People don't give the musical Cats enough credit. It has a story but people just want to hate on it, so they say it doesn't.

[@Hinatachan360]

I agree. Munkustrap summaries the plot in the beginning in song. One should just listen to the lyrics and get the gist of the story.

[@JokerL1000]

I always wanted cat girls to exsist. But not like this. *never like this*

[@MagusMarquillin]

Just plunge in. Once you've had cat, you never go back. Never. never. _never._

[@lawtonaaj]

Science asked if we COULD make cat girls. It should have asked SHOULD we make them.

[@MagusMarquillin]

@@lawtonaaj Condors! Condors are on the verge of extinction. No, if I were create a flock of Condor-woman hybrids, you wouldn't have anything to say!

[@bacht4799]

Anime .. it exists for a reason 😁

[@DemonMage]

Well, Taylor Swift as a catgirl is now going to be a very dark spot on my blackened soul. Pretty sure this is the one that's keeping me out of heaven. Not the 47 clowns buried under the pool. No, this is what's going to make St Peter gouge out his eye balls and give up on his faith in human potential. Thanks T-dawg. I'm personally dooming all future generations of humanity and it's only partially your fault.

[@johnnye87]

Why imply "isolation" in a movie about "two people becoming friends?" ...A fundamental point of the movie is that one of those people doesn't have any real friends due to the burden of leadership and responsibility he feels has been thrust upon him against his will, and the walls of class and etiquette that creates which the other guy has to tear down to try and make a connection with him. The guy also happens to have a communication disorder that makes it nigh-impossible for him to be taken seriously in that very same job. "Isolation" is just... a huge theme of the movie?

[@jaysonakridge]

Patrick, I cannot tell you the sheer glee and satisfaction my husband and I felt the moment we realized you were taking on the o BAFFLING direction of Tom Hooper. specifically Les Mis. You have somehow managed to gift wrap the catharsis we've been searching for these past 7 years.

[@mostamazingrace]

I kind of get why the weird, uncomfortable direction works for The King's Speech. It gives me a sense of anxiety, which makes get a sense what the king is feeling.

[@Asocial-Canine]

"Linsay's killing it with Game of Thrones" Up Next: *We Need to Talk About Game of Thrones I Guess* Lindsay Ellis Recommended for you

[@dennile_7355]

The whole point of this video is basically “This is going to be a M A S S I V E dumpster fire and I can’t look away”

[@originlollol7]

I didn't see the trailer. I could've gone my whole life without seeing this monstrosity. I want the past back.

[@ThexDynastxQueen]

The existence of the Cats movie is going to be the reason why humanity figures out time travel. Climate change? Meh. Endless war? Whatevs. Creepy ass anthro-cats? START UP THE DELOREAN!!!

[@richardcorso7187]

I always found the cinematography, lens choices, and angles of both King Speech and Les to be my favorite parts about them. Didn't know those choices were hated. Off, sure. But I think that's why I enjoyed them.

[@harrietpotter649]

_"...Musicals had a resurgence with the two forms of the genre that would dominate the 21st century"_ Isn't it a little early in the 21st century to be making statements like this?

[@sosayweall_jpg]

jiminy christmas, Harriet. the 21st century *up to the point we're at now* is what he means, you're being willfully obtuse with that

[@harrietpotter649]

@@sosayweall_jpg yes, almost as if I was making a joke

[@nikhilsilva5244]

You're a witch, harriet

[@sullgames]

@@harrietpotter649 as a regular consumer of internet meme culture, I did not read that as a joke at all. There's too much truth to it for the sarcasm to be obvious.

[@harrietpotter649]

@@sullgames I can only apologize.

[@Irish_Soc]

I had to study The King's Speech in secondary (Irish high) school, and I honestly don't think Hooper's techniques are just there for the sake of it. The shallow focus and negative space is used often to show the discomfort and isolation felt by the characters, but there is a definite humorous angle that felt completely intentional.

[@boundbythecurve]

Patrick, I've solved it. It's just a simple math problem. You're multiplying two negatives, which will come out as a positive. Let's go Cats 2019

[@coolvids841]

I have to respectfully disagree about the camera angles not making sense for Kings Speech. I agree that Tom Hooper is generally pretty bland, but I think the angles served to show how uncomfortable King George really was. The wide angle lenses warped the images and helped show how terrifying and overwhelming the task of speaking was for him. I distinctly remember there being a close up of a microphone with the edges of the frame bowing outward, with the space of the scene accentuated to show how large imposing the microphone seemed to him. Framing him in the corner gave a sense of isolation, as it does in Mr. Robot. While I agree that the story of the film is fairly typical, I still think the visuals paired well with the performances to give a good visual representation of the emotions at play. Just my two cents, love your work!

[@cambriakilgannon12]

TEACH ME, JELLICAL DADDY

[@Kaixero]

That you couldn't see the purpose of the shot framing in The Kings Speech is kinda wild, but other than that, yeah, I am 100% on board with this strange nightmare hellscape feline fever dream movie. If nothing else, it's ballsy. I am at least going to feel strongly about it.

[@nylethecinephile3656]

Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again are modern masterpieces and no one can dispute this fact

[@realar]

Their scores are BAD. I can say differently.

[@sunscream2112]

Dot dot dot fun

[@gorimbaud]

people replying to you trying to dispute this fact, but it's truly indisputable.

[@sunshinepurple1043]

As a person who has stuttered her entire life, 54 years, the work in "The King's Speech" makes perfect sense. The movie isn't about a friendship but the frustrating and, at times, dehumanizing therapy techniques and ableistic attitudes people who stutter endure everyday the weird camera angles are perfect.

[@vibe-fi]

Left out 2 of my favorite 2000’s musicals: ACROSS THE UNIVERSE and HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH.

[@jennym4882]

hedwig didnt escape east berlin and become an internationally ignored sensation to be treated like this smh

[@mariakelly5]

I LOVE The King's Speech!

[@travisspazz1624]

The practical cat makeup in that Doctor Who episode is better!! So when is Hooper giving Fincher the Oscar he stole from him??

[@HeatherHolt]

Travis Spazz preach! 👏👏

[@dustywaynemusic6297]

Never realized just why Les Mis didn't work for me. Thanks. Side note: I refer to that film as Les Incompetentes

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

Was... Was that a Home Alone reference?

[@dustywaynemusic6297]

@@eldorados_lost_searcheran attempt at one, yes

[@pinkajou656]

@@eldorados_lost_searcher I’m not sure

[@Rubber_Monkey]

Remind you that this movie comes out on the same day as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. So to those of you who are so desperate to boycott TRoS for whatever reason (other than TLJ "ruined" the franchise), Cats is the movie for you! P.S I know all of those people are still gonna go pay money to go see Rise of Skywalker, anyway. 😂😂😂🤣

[@jackninivaggi507]

More like the best double feature ever!

[@KingArthur39]

Thats unfair... Cats is gonna destroy Star Wars in the box office, Road to number 1 best selling move baby

[@jm-ul4jt]

Escoteiro We should just give that movie all the Oscars rn, we all know it’s gonna get them anyway

[@Feasco]

Boycott star wars K, lemme know how that pans out

[@L16htW4rr10r]

@Louise C 1917 does look very good

[@ceedubelu]

17:14 Oh so we just gonna ignore the Step Up film series, huh? The disrespect.

[@rowanwax]

+

[@vitotamito]

I don’t know anything about Cats other than it looks nuts but I’m ready for this video

[@vitotamito]

I now know more about Cats and this video was good.

[@BigTonyPhoenix]

I think the reason why Hooper used shots to convey isolation is because George VI never wanted to be king, he was terrified once he learned he was taking over after his brother abdicated, so in a way he felt isolated - it put him on the spot on top of not having a good public speaking voice due to his stammer, and the nerves that came along with all that.

[@siniquezu]

I'm surprised you didn't discuss actual musicals that have gained popularity in recent years starting off with wicked, and including Hamilton and book of Mormon

[@jennym4882]

bless u

[@drewdeviller7754]

OMG, I think I figured out why it is so disturbing...they have gone into the Uncanny Valley from the opposite direction of video games

[@TheSchaef47]

9:00 this is exactly why I was okay with Joel Schumacher doing the Phantom adaptation. But then, talk about a guy who loves his Dutch angles more than the reasons why they're employed...

[@elphaba4674]

I would like to see the credentials of your "catspert"

[@paulbrown638]

Every time I see James Corden as Bustopher Jones I hate it more. He is so completely wrong for that part. Ian McKellan as Gus, though... that's perfect! 😝

[@adamlevine1914]

"Seriously, what's a jellicle cat?" "Nobody knows, we think TS Eliot was high." That was the best moment in the video. Perfect set up, perfect execution, perfect joke. And probably true.

[@9148H2]

I have so many problems with Hollywood, but one of the main things that piss me off about this industry is that they are willing to piss away five hundred million dollars on a movie about cats or a robot that can turn into a truck, and yet they cling to their purses when it comes to horror, because they are too afraid to take risks. What a joke the entertainment industry has become.

[@realar]

Because horror is niche. I really don't like horror to be honest.

[@sonjaimmonen6610]

Horror is one of the few genres where people either love it or hate it. There aren't a lot of people in between. For a horror movie to be so successful that major studios want to go for it, it has to defeat the paradox that it needs to be proper horror to get praise from the horror movie fans (small, but passionate group of people) , but also marketable enough to get the non-horror-fans to see it. The problem is that horror fans usually love them for the reasons others hate them.. Also the most successful horror movies are (to my understanding) ones executed on a crazy small budget, so it has been proven that the genre can thrive in indie- and small budget format. Also not having major studios protecting their investments allows the creators to go further into the genre and create amazing horror.

[@lisah8438]

Because no one likes horror.

[@lisah8438]

It was a lame attempt to be funny and make fun of the musical.

[@711Rod]

Well if there's one thing I definitely agree with you, is that Hollywood needs big budget risks Also: Baby Driver is a musical. The only good one I've seen that isn't animated too

[@ShadowRubberDuck]

“Then there’s CATS...” “HERE WE GO HA HA!”

[@sarasamaletdin4574]

I loved Hoopers Les Mis and I think his choiced made it feel more ”real” and modern, not something meant for a stage or what was an adaptation of an adaptation but something that was his own.

[@JustWrite]

CATS!

[@dwiskus]

CATS!

[@jakfan09]

KITTENS

[@Carina5707]

Hey Patrick! Just thought I'd drop a comment on how I appreciate your unique approach to video essays. They're a really nice blend of KZbin genres. Vlog, skit, and essay. And your thumbnails are simple but the yellow bar instantly makes you stand out. Even with topics that countless others also approach, I never really know what to expect from you. And I really like that. Keep it up! Good work. Cheers xx

[@KoolWithAQ]

Saw the film today ... and all I can say is OH WELL I NEVER! WAS THERE EVER A CAT SO CLEVER AS MAGICAL MISTER MISTOFFELEES!!

[@hurricaneofcats]

I went to see this with a friend knowing it was terrible. We were no kidding, the only two people in the entire theatre. Never in my life have I seen a theatre that large so empty

[@anachronisticlaserbeams4820]

Hedwig and the Angry Inch not on your whiteboard of 2000s musicals. 2/10

[@targard.quantumfrack6854]

Thanks to you i rewatched it, great movie. Now, i'm going to rewatch velvet goldmine and RHPS! thanks :)

[@uptown3636]

Patrick Willems is the only person on youtube who can make a Skillshare ad interesting. Still not going to try the free trial, but I didn't click away as soon as the plug started--I watched every second of it.

[@GoblinHero]

"I don't know, noone knows, I think TS eliot was high" Yup welcome to the musical theatre fandom

[@matthewwynne939]

The thing I found odd about the musical is how most of the songs had a generic "showtune" sound and the one hit song sounded nothing like the others.

[@lawrencecalablaster568]

OH MAN I FORGOT THAT HE MADE LES MISERABLES I loved that.

[@scifikoala]

I had to watch a filmed version of the musical in Elementary school music class and it was by far the most baffling piece of media I had ever seen up to that point. Until the movie trailer, I could've been convinced the whole thing was a childhood fever dream

[@spielberg14]

Was expecting Rachel to say “musical for Furverts”

[@tomkkemp4191]

i just woke up from a dream in which Patrick H Willems and I were at a busy party. He was being extremely effusive and entertaining. His big crowd pleaser was to run to one corner of the room and do a Balducci levitation trick, facing the wall and shouting 'I'm floating! I'm floating!'. He would then immediately run over to a sofa in the room and jump up and down on it like Tom Cruise, shouting 'Now I'm couching! I'm couching!' This stunt was hugely popular, and he continued to do it all night as I looked after his baby daughter.

[@Eu-ur4dz]

There are jellicle cats and pollicle dogs, the first derives from "dear little cats" and the latter from "poor little dogs" 🐈🐕 But really if that girl was a Cats expert she'd know about this

[@ClarenceDass]

OMG this is such a great video. I've always loved The Kings Speech and I could never put my finger on why. Just as a reference point, I spent the weekend watching Swamp Thing and Swamp thing returns. I love 80s horror/ sic fi and weird off beat flicks like Mandy or Under the Silver Lake (which is my favourite film right now), but the Kings Speech just entertained me and when the other day I was telling the story of it to my GF and she was like "that Sounds dull", but it wasn't! Hopper made it interesting. I know now why i liked it: He's like, a horror thriller director making "Grown up" movies.

[@MeetDannyWilson]

Every video should cut to a quote by Werner Herzog.

[@kes6628]

"Cats is somehow my most anticipated movie of the rest of the year, and I wanna know. Why?" "H I ! Vsauce Michael Here. So what is, CATS?"

[@ViveLRoi]

Also, in your outline of American musicals of the 2000s, you forgot Hairspray.

[@gorimbaud]

As a remake, it wouldn't have been any kind of notable exception to the examples already given.

[@DragonMama-yt3zs]

1. The word is Jellicle not Jellico. 2. Cats is not plotless, the plot is explained in the opening sequence at least in the 1998 stage play.

[@andrewpragasam]

Tom Hooper is the pretentious art-house version of Michael Bay.

[@KlingonCaptain]

Wow, that really makes sense.

[@grenbaygrl1]

bruh.

[@brianbrush5107]

100th like And accurate

[@serenacelestine]

I see what you’re trying to say, but no. Their filming styles are nothing alike.

[@UnnamedAndUnindicted]

I think its really unfair of that lady to say Cats is for perverts. Everyone that I know that has seen and loved Cats was introduced to it as a child.

[@KateeAngel]

Yeah, cause kids don't have critical thinking skills yet

[@acoasterbro]

I think it's really naive to assume something for kids wouldn't have perversions 🤷

[@valkyrie-randgris]

@@KateeAngel As someone who likes Cat's, and was introduced to it as a child, I completely endorse this comment. (It's just so surreal and goofy and out there tho. It's fun.)

[@MirthandirRose]

isn't there a thinly veiled orgy scene in the first act

[@creepyscrawly113]

Lia Luna what so sex is inexplicably perverted? Grow up.

[@Picnicl]

Every video that I've seen by Americans/Canadians, including this one, refer to there being a song called 'Memories' in Cats. It's just 'Memory' (and the word 'memories' doesn't feature in the song either).

[@SSStephen_o7]

6:50 I had always interpreted Hooper's use of isolating shots to represent the Prince/King's feeling of loneliness due to his struggle with a basic human function, communication. Which in turn made Albert feel ostracized from his subjects, his family, and his friends, or the lack there of. I also think his use of isolated shots during Rush and Firth's interactions helped visualize a juxtaposition between their characters. One character is a proper gentleman of royalty and the other a whimsical, goofy commoner.

[@avianlord2779]

I love this musical And I'm excited about the advancements in 'cgi' and how they built every single set by hand But how the characters look I can't

[@onwardmaster27]

Nice to see a shoutout to corridor crew.

[@Fantafaust]

Supposedly, jellicle is TS Elliot's niece' inadvertant contraction of "dear little". ie 'deuh liccle cats'

[@MariaVosa]

If you and Lindsey don't do a joint video about your reactions to seeing Cats, the internet will have failed us.

[@KingOfMadCows]

A Jellicle Cat is a hardline Starfleet Captain who's able to outsmart the Cardassians and rescue Captain Picard.

[@Redrally]

Hmmm, I don't think Jellico cats exist...

[@Sideshowxela]

Patrick I am so with you that I seem to have come to these same conclusions three weeks ago when I couldn't stop thinking about it. Glad to see that I am not crazy--or at least, in good company.

[@brianng7929]

I’m surprised no one gets this. Jellicle Cats is a play on the British Pronunciation of Dear Little Cats

[@timothylockwood3042]

The word jelical comes from TS Elliot’s nephew trying to say “dear little cat” when he was very small and pronouncing it jelical by accident. My dance teacher was in one of the original London productions so that’s my source 😊

[@travisanderson399]

Rocketman is almost certainly a musical, considering that unlike Bohemian Rhapsody it has dance numbers and more of a fantasy style to it rather than a grounded biopic.

[@kingotime8977]

I think I'm going to watch this movie when it comes out. Firstly because it looks intriguing (like Patrick said). And secondly I want to support studios taking risks, especialy in times like this where the big releases almost never bring something new to the table.

[@oliviastratton7097]

I think the problem with the fur effects are that the heads aren't fluffy enough. It makes the faces look too large in proportion.

[@deckarde4919]

This might be the most Willems-ian video yet. The "Cats Facts" gag is brilliant.