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Post by harlequinade on Mar 23, 2017 10:49:14 GMT
So anyways... Really liked this episode. But Lange is not really that great in it however it may be AHS fatigue for me. Haven't seen Sarandon in anything for a while and for me she is MVP though Molina's desperation is hilarious
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Post by marvelass on Mar 23, 2017 19:09:59 GMT
^^^ Mary, Mary, quite contrarian.
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Post by urbanpatrician on Mar 27, 2017 7:06:42 GMT
Jessica Lange is indeed playing Lange, and not Crawford here, but she adds yet another fun rendition of a pushy old coot into her resume. Love Sarandon, Davis, and Lange.
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Post by quetee on Mar 29, 2017 4:21:15 GMT
Susan's been really good as of late. It's funny, if you look at Bette's and Joan's post Baby Jane's career, Bette had way more success. Joan must have been furious at her.
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Post by marvelass on Mar 29, 2017 12:38:55 GMT
quetee Joan became more selective as she aged (due to vanity), and Bette took any work she could get (which was mostly crap), because she was also funding the luxurious lifestyle of her lazy, ungrateful, spoiled daughter BD and her deadbeat husband.
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Post by bobbystarks on Apr 3, 2017 19:38:31 GMT
Mamacita is the best television character of all time.
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Post by JangoB on Apr 5, 2017 12:01:17 GMT
Yeah, I thought the previous episode was a bit of a mixed bag (mainly due to the writing which was as subtle as a hammer to the face) but the Oscar one was highly entertaining. I didn't even mind the very obvious showing off from Ryan Murphy with that long take after Lean won Directing. And to be fair, it was rather skillfully accomplished.
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Schiggy
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Post by Schiggy on Apr 5, 2017 20:19:05 GMT
Just for irony's sake, I'm hoping Sarandon gets nominated, but Lange doesn't. Then Sarandon loses a "guaranteed win." Lange accepts on real winner's behalf, etc.
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Post by harlequinade on Apr 6, 2017 5:52:56 GMT
I think Sarandon has a better shot at a win than Lange. She's also imho, simply better than her. Saw the last 2 episodes last night and loved them so much that long take of Joan walking through the theatre was superb
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Post by marvelass on Apr 6, 2017 18:45:28 GMT
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Post by marvelass on Apr 12, 2017 16:58:30 GMT
I'm about to give up on this show. It's too Joan Crawford-centric, but at the same time very anti-Crawford. A show that's better described as "the Joan Crawford show," telling the story of how Bette Davis was an artist and professional who wouldn't hurt a fly, but damn that Crawford girl wouldn't stop poking around and provoking her. I have a theory that Ryan Murphy's purpose for this show was to let his current queen (Lange) shine in all her batshit craziness (as she's wont to do in Murphy's shows), while letting his other queen (Bette Davis) almost completely off the hook and smelling like rose.
Seriously, the feud seems so one-sided. We've seen almost all of Crawford's crazy tactics, but hardly any of Davis'. Sarandon's last scene in the Oscar episode would've been a great moment to bring up the incident where she threatened her friend and producer Bill Frye with a knife, after he had the gall to compliment Crawford's appearance that night. But, nooooooooooooooooo! Also, they didn't show this on the most recent episode (surprise, surprise), but not having someone at the airport to pick Joan up and the shitty room she was assigned were actually Davis' doing. But you wouldn't know that from the show. With two episodes left, I'm not getting my hopes up that Murphy will be faithful to the events surrounding Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, because it should present Davis in a very unflattering light. In short, she was a See You Next Tuesday! That's when Davis got her petty revenge on Crawford (i.e., messing with her mind and turning the crew/cast against her).
Furthermore, it isn't just the writing; Susan Sarandon comes up short, too. I used to think this woman was a good actress, but she sucks on Feud. I'm not referring to her not sounding exactly like Bette, but she seems bored/afraid/uninterested in the role. Like the saying goes: "There are no small parts, just small actors." Susan has had plenty of opportunities to inject many aspects of Davis personality in her scenes (e.g. the Baby Jane re-enactments, the singing number, confrontations with Hedda, Aldrich, and Crawford) and she simply plays it safe. Between both Murphy and Sarandon, they had left the entire set open for Crawford to take over. Honestly, at this point, Sarandon should just go Supporting.
In next week's preview, they show Crawford screaming in Bette's face about her ugliness, but all she can manage is to stoically retort in almost a whisper (while teary-eyed, no less), "I'm a character actress..." WTF? Bette would NOT have taken Joan practically spitting in her face like that. I'm starting to agree with those who'd suggested that Judy Davis would've made a far better, more interesting, three-dimensional Bette Davis. Missed opportunity.
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Post by marvelass on Apr 12, 2017 17:00:36 GMT
BTW: With so much Kathy Bates/Joan Blondell in previous episodes, I was disappointed that she wasn't worked into the Strait-Jacket storyline, since she was the original star of the film but had to drop out due to an injury. I figured that was why she was on Feud. Now it just seems like Ryan Murphy just wanted Kathy Bates to have a part.
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Drish
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Post by Drish on Apr 12, 2017 17:22:12 GMT
I'm about to give up on this show. It's too Joan Crawford-centric, but at the same time very anti-Crawford. A show that's better described as "the Joan Crawford show," telling the story of how Bette Davis was an artist and professional who wouldn't hurt a fly, but damn that Crawford girl wouldn't stop poking around and provoking her. I have a theory that Ryan Murphy's purpose for this show was to let his current queen (Lange) shine in all her batshit craziness (as she's wont to do in Murphy's shows), while letting his other queen (Bette Davis) almost completely off the hook and smelling like rose. Seriously, the feud seems so one-sided. We've seen almost all of Crawford's crazy tactics, but hardly any of Davis'. Sarandon's last scene in the Oscar episode would've been a great moment to bring up the incident where she threatened her friend and producer Bill Frye with a knife, after he had the gall to compliment Crawford's appearance that night. But, nooooooooooooooooo! Also, they didn't show this on the most recent episode (surprise, surprise), but not having someone at the airport to pick Joan up and the shitty room she was assigned were actually Davis' doing. But you wouldn't know that from the show. With two episodes left, I'm not getting my hopes up that Murphy will be faithful to the events surrounding Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, because it should present Davis in a very unflattering light. In short, she was a See You Next Tuesday! That's when Davis got her petty revenge on Crawford (i.e., messing with her mind and turning the crew/cast against her). In next week's preview, they show Crawford screaming in Bette's face about her ugliness, but all she can manage is to stoically retort in almost a whisper (while teary-eyed, no less), "I'm a character actress..." WTF? Bette would NOT have taken Joan practically spitting in her face like that. I'm starting to agree with those who'd suggested that Judy Davis would've made a far better, more interesting, three-dimensional Bette Davis. Missed opportunity. I'm really liking Sarandon as Davis but holy hell I completely agree on other things you said. It seems totally anti-Joan and presents her as some mediocre actress in front of Bette Davis, which is false imo. She might be a movie star but Joan was also a great actress but somehow this show seems to not emphasize on that right from the beginning apart from that one scene with Bancroft. And yes, we haven't seen a single Bette Davis 'act' yet, there are so many stories of her but the show just seems to focus on how much of a shallow bitch was Joan and how much a saint Bette Davis was which is annoying me, really. I'm still on the like side for this show mainly because of that stunning Oscar episode and the performances but it just feels way too unrealistic to me and a bit disrespectful towards Crawford. :/
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Post by MsMovieStar on Apr 19, 2017 7:31:01 GMT
Oh honeys, I'm glad they are finishing this at 8 episodes as it is becoming less and less interesting... I'm finding that I don't really care for the characters (and there is not enough Judy Davis).
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Post by Mustard_Supreme on Apr 20, 2017 16:50:58 GMT
So I was clapping at the end of episode 7 with Davis getting revenge on Crawford, ruining her. This show made me hate Joan Crawford, she probably wasn't even that bad. The show has made Davis seem like the good guy in the end.
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Post by marvelass on Apr 20, 2017 17:22:54 GMT
Mustard_Supreme, they were both nasty, with Bette usually being the instigator. But Murphy didn't want to show his queen* in a negative light, so he has, more or less, defanged her, which really does a disservice to Bette's character(ization). This whole series has been a bust, for me. It's too one-sided. For instance, Bette got really nasty with Joan on the set of Charlotte, but you wouldn't know that from watching the latest episode, where you see Bette push Joan's buttons but not go completely all out. The whole series, it seems, has been a showcase for Lange, but at the expense of Joan Crawford, who wasn't a saint, by any means, but it really irks me that only one facet of the feud is being explored.
*Remember, he had a longtime correspondence with Bette and even visited her home before she died.
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Post by ingmarhepburn on Apr 22, 2017 15:40:49 GMT
I just watched the first two episodes online (my initial intention was just to see the pilot, but I was compelled to watch the second episode right after). It's a really interesting show, I can see myself going back to it and watching it until the end. Great recreation of the period as far as sets, costumes and hairstyling are concerned. And the cast is stellar. Somehow I still have troubles finding Lange adequate for the role of Crawford, as she lacks her face shape and highly expressive eyes, and she also looks too old for the part (sorry), but despite that, I can see she's doing her best with the role and I give her credit for that (I still think Sigourney Weaver would have been a much better choice ). Sarandon is fun to watch, I wish she could have worked her voice a little bit more, but she really looks a lot like Davis and whenever she's off screen I find myself wanting to see her again (the scene where she does her rehearsal of 'I've Written a Letter to Daddy' with Alfred Molina is probably my favorite scene of the second episode ) And Alfred Molina is excellent as always. I always thought he had a lot of talent, and I'm glad that the industry still recognizes such by offering him great roles as this one. It's also really nice to see Zeta-Jones back to the limelight again after such a long time, she still looks gorgeous. Looking forward to the next episodes.
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Post by doddgerhardt on Apr 24, 2017 3:18:39 GMT
While the show had a bit of rinse and repeat style to it, it concluded strongly with probably the best episode in the season.
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Schiggy
Full Member
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Post by Schiggy on Apr 24, 2017 4:40:37 GMT
Best episode so far. It had a lot of plot developments and felt more like it was an hour long (but not in a bad way). Glad to see that Mamacita stood her ground.
I have never seen Hush...Hush but read the other day about how Davis was impressed with how Joan Crawford did that scene in one take. But it felt pretty anticlimactic and really brief. Not sure if the scene in the movie is that long, but it didn't seem anything noteworthy.
Also, did they ever release Crawford's scenes from that movie? I assume it would be in some vault somewhere; not sure if they destroyed it or something.
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Post by taranofprydain on Apr 24, 2017 6:45:24 GMT
The final episode was stunning and heartbreaking. The best episode of the aeries, and I think that Lange just clinched the Emmy.
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Post by ingmarhepburn on Apr 25, 2017 10:43:16 GMT
Just finished watching the fifth episode. Gosh, watching all those actresses from the 60's being played by modern actresses is really damn exciting This was the most entertaining episode so far. Beautifully shot as well. I agree with what someone said here about Feud being a Joan Crawford-centric and at the same time anti-Joan Crawford show. Despite their attempts to portray her as a woman hardened by her insecurities and by the way how Hollywood had treated her, it's really her cold, scheming and more revengeful side that come out the most during the show and especially in this episode. Now I'm convinced that Lange is going to be nominated for (and maybe even win) the Emmy simply because she has more to do with her character, she has the meatier/flashier role. It's like Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, but the other way around! Not enough focus on Davis, and when that happens, I feel that they are being too soft in in the way how they portray her, or at least softer with her in comparison to Joan.
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Post by MsMovieStar on Apr 25, 2017 14:07:58 GMT
Just finished watching the fifth episode. Gosh, watching all those actresses from the 60's being played by modern actresses is really damn exciting This was the most entertaining episode so far. Beautifully shot as well. I agree with what someone said here about Feud being a Joan Crawford-centric and at the same time anti-Joan Crawford show. Despite their attempts to portray her as a woman hardened by her insecurities and by the way how Hollywood had treated her, it's really her cold, scheming and more revengeful side that come out the most during the show and especially in this episode. Now I'm convinced that Lange is going to be nominated for (and maybe even win) the Emmy simply because she has more to do with her character, she has the meatier/flashier role. It's like Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, but the other way around! Not enough focus on Davis, and when that happens, I feel that they are being too soft in in the way how they portray her, or at least softer with her in comparison to Joan.I couldn't agree more. I watched the final episode last night and by the end of the series every ugly and outlandish rumor about Joan Crawford had been aired (I don't think they missed any) while the more unpleasant side of Bette Davis was only lightly touched on. Years ago, TCM use to make these wonderfully long documentaries on movie stars and the Bette Davis one, Stardust, was quite a sad revelation as there were so few people on it that had anything nice about to say about Bette. It was also alleged that Davis who was privately, equally a violent drunk as Crawford, accidentally caused the death of her second husband during a fight and this had to be hushed up by the studios - as well as exes, kids and co-workers proclaiming just was a bitch she was, some of the nicer ones saying that she was 'difficult and misunderstood'... None of this was covered and yet the dirt on Crawford stacked high - I agree with the others who have pointed out how one sided the depiction is. Was Crawford also so lonely at the end of her life? The Crawford depicted here never seems to have any friends and yet wasn't she pally with Barbara Stanwyck and Rosalind Russell? I'd also read or heard somewhere that she regularly used to cook for Franchot Tone, her second husband at the end of his life and that she buried him. On another note, I'd give an Emmy nom to Sarandon as Davis. She deserves a whole movie as Bette Davis, if only Davis was interesting enough. Aside from costume and hair, I didn't really find Lange played Crawford at all - vocally she didn't even attempt the voice. In some scenes she'd resorted back to sounding just like big Edith Beale from Grey Gardens.
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Post by JangoB on Apr 25, 2017 19:24:48 GMT
Yeah, Lange totally stole the last episode. A tremendous performance.
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Post by urbanpatrician on Apr 25, 2017 19:26:11 GMT
Lange is godly, let's just admit that. This might be her 2nd best performance besides Frances. Who knew it'd come so late into her career?
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Post by marvelass on Apr 26, 2017 7:50:31 GMT
Bullshit series. Weird how Murphy did a 180 in the very last episode and suddenly turned Joan into a saint. (Heh, Saint Joan.) Anyway, he wasn't kidding when he said he wanted to rehabilitate Joan's reputation. He really beat you over the head with what a great mother she supposedly was. And bullshit on that postscript at the end: "Many of Crawford's friends and co-workers denounced the book." Bullshit. Some like Myrna Loy, Ann Blyth, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. did criticize the book, but others like Bette Hutton, June Allyson, and Betty Hutton backed up Christina's claims. But most stayed silent and kept out of it. Lana Turner's daughter, Cheryl, said it was an open secret in Hollywood that Joan was abusive to the kids but didn't want to interfere with one of their own. Also, funny that he went out of his way to say that Crawford's twin daughters denounced the book but no mention of Joan's other child, Christopher, who did confirm his sister's claims. Murphy is a hack and a revisionist asshole!
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