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This is my Oliver! Named as such because we found him abandoned by his litter and he was basically a little street rat (Aladdin was also a name we considered). We got him exactly 2 years ago and he went from looking like he was days away from dying to this beautiful perfect healthy little asshole.

They so Disney-fied the shit out of this that it literally took me being in my 20s to realize this was based on Oliver Twist. Whoops. I think I was at work and I had just gotten my Oliver (pics coming soon I promise) and my coworker asked if I named him after Oliver & Co and I said "No, Oliver Twist..." and he just stared at me until it clicked and I went "Holy fuck I'm dumb" lol!

I don't know why, but I was crying when he's in that box by himself. And I'm thinking "am I going to spend this entire movie upset?"

Do you guys think the only reason Oliver was not chosen over his brothers and sisters was because he's ginger?

Yep. I heard the song and thought "This sounds like Huey Lewis. I thought this was supposed to be Billy Joel music." You're right. It has some places where the animation isn't great. When it's good, it's really good though. I kind of like the unpolished feel of it though it's not as unpolished as say Aristocats. I'll also confess I watched most of this while making supper. So, there was a fair amount of just listening and not watching the screen intently and might have missed some of the flaws.

I can't figure out why he was left behind at all! Orange tabbys are universally beloved! Black cats are the ones that have the hardest time getting adopted and left behind (which is why I'm so protective of my own), so it may have had more meaning if Oliver had been a black cat? But then again the animation may have looked more flat if he was one solid dark color.

I was too. When the box fell apart in the rain I almost lost it. I guess it's because I got kittens a year ago and now can relate much more to his plight.

The initial song was very different to me than the rest of the movie. I thought the movie was going to have a completely different tone. I'm not complaining. I watched this three times over my 3-day rental period so you know I liked it anyway.

Also at first I did not realize that Dodger was Billy Joel and thought it was Michael J Fox trying to do his best New York accent for like the first 20 minutes or so.

I really miss this kind of animation. Not just 2D hand drawn but the fluidity and style. It looks great. I mentioned this on letterboxd but I'm not entirely sure why people talk so much about Billy Joel in this movie. He's perfectly adequate which isn't a ringing endorsement but the vast majority of popular animated movies use celebrity voices that are equal to Billy Joel's performance here without getting the same level of criticism. I'd certainly complain about Cheech Marin more than Billy Joel. I just don't get it as a common criticism. I wouldn't have even noticed it as a possible point of complaint if I hadn't heard so many "lol Billy Joel" kind of stuff about this movie.

Wow, those are some horny dogs... We watched:

Ah, that could be. I thought she was getting her hooks into him because of how Bill and Lloyd were fighting during the rehearsals. Bill, who knows about her attempt to come on to him and what she was doing to Margo, reluctantly accepts the directing position. His contempt can not be fully contained so he is extremely harsh with Eve during production, yet Lloyd was seemingly fighting for her choices. To me that was the sign that she was working her magic on him. Granted you could argue that he was just passionate about his play and trying to get it the best it could be and didn't want Bill's feelings for Eve to get in the way. That said the way he talked about what a spirit Eve brought to the part and comments to effect combined with Karen's observation that she'd never seen Bill and Lloyd fight so much before. This to me implied that he was somewhat bewitched. How far down that road I'm not sure, but he was on it for sure even if for a short while.

Look how fat that eggplant is! Interesting. I thought Eve made up the story (or at least heavily embellished) the Lloyd affair. I thought she "spilled her beans" to Addison, thinking he would publish it in his column and really breakup Lloyd and Karen's marriage.

I didn't even recognize it was Huey Lewis. I remember when this movie came out and everyone was making a big deal about Billy Joel being in it. Yet Bette Midler has a large part as well and I never knew she was in it!

YES! That's why I thought Eve's blackmail plan was a little half baked at first because I was sure that if Karen came clean to Margo about it all she would forgive her. Margo at that point seems to be the kind of person that would hold a grudge no matter the intention. But in the restaurant she does seem changed as a person, a little more open and forgiving as she's worked through her demons. I think this change in attitude combined with her deep love for Karen would make forgiveness a little easier on her part. I am more wondering why Karen would stick by her Lloyd after everything. I mean he put her through the ringer, and while it might be easy to chalk things up to "oh Eve was manipulating him" considering he was going to run away with her and they were having some sort of affair, Karen sticking by him and Margo and Bill sticking by him is more questionable to me. I guess if they can forgive Lloyd then Margo can forgive Karen.

True. By the time Dodge shows up the backgrounds get a little more consistent to the style.

Another thing - do you think Karen ever came clean to Margo about the car? On one hand, they're best friends and I'd imagine keeping a big secret like this would be a burden on Karen, but on the other hand, if Margo ever found out, I don't think she would forgive Karen - or at least it would take a long time before Margo came around. And I can't post a ss of this scene, but in the scene where Karen was painting, did anyone else catch that she was doing a still life of a bowl of bananas and a big fat eggplant. That made me chuckle.

Personally I thought a the animation for the was inconsistent. The matte backgrounds at the start of the film were in such a different style as the animation it just looked odd to have them together. It got better as it went along and sequences like Rita's song everything was clicking together but there were just bits here and there were elements were at odds. Another scene when the butler was driving in the car there is a very harsh line between his face and the animated background behind it. Maybe I'm just being nitpicky considering that The Little Mermaid came next and this was at the same time as Roger Rabbit so I was expecting a bit more.

Good point. Perhaps its more accurate to say I'm bummed that it seemed that marriage was tipping point in her character arc. On the other hand, I could write a novel about the feels I have about Margo and Bill's relationship. It feels really genuine to me in a way that movies of that era usually don't. Maybe it's the chemistry they had on screen, but also the script. She says that Bill is in love with "Margo" the actress, not Margo the person, but she's wrong. He sees her for who she really is, like when he tells her that he loves her because of some of her traits and in spite of others because they're "her tools" for navigating the cut-throat stage world. He's notably younger than her, but he's not a plaything to her. The really respect each other. They fight a lot, but they communicate. They're honest. I love that about the two of them. For all of the acting and performances and airs that people put on both on the stage and off, they seem most genuine with each other. I'm just in love with the two of them in love with each other. And relevant to nothing, I also loved the whole "incomplete forward pass" line. Great turn of phrase.

I ain't scared of you [expletive/redacted]. What's the deal with Windex? I tried spraying it in my hair and the wind still came and messed it all up... It had no effect at all. Kick it! This is just a peak at my new character. It's a mashup of stuff that turns out not being so good, but I still do it 'cause I just do what I do. Epilogue: Henry's new character died immediately after posting this. He is survived by all those who knew and loved him.

I don't understand why this movie needed to be a more painful viewing experience than most others, or why Paul provided a music-free cut of the film to help us get through it. You're watching a Pavarotti movie; the singing is the whole point! Especially the week after Paul talked on his other podcast about how opera in films like Shawshank Redemption and Pretty Woman is a shortcut to understand that a character has depth. The plot/acting is the painful part that you should fast-forward. You don't skip the breakdancing in "Body Rock", or the BMX racing in "Rad", or the splits and kicks in a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie. Maybe opera isn't for everyone, but then neither is bicycling, martial arts, or Neil Diamond. If you skip the arias and songs then you're missing out on the one thing that Pavarotti was known for. (Actually, scratch that...you would still get the womanizing and the eating. Let me rephrase: if you skip the singing then you're missing out on one of the three things that Pavarotti was known for.) But the singing is what the movie claims is Pavarotti's get-out-of-jail-free card. His voice is the reason for the bottomless adulation he receives. No one ever compliments him on anything else other than his singing, or relates to him as a person. It's all about his greatness because of his singular talent, and it entitles him to act like an entitled creepy stalker. The movie fails because it takes for granted that the singing will sell Giorgio as a sympathetic character; we'll fall in love with him just as Pamela does. The problem is that the music itself only exits to serve Pavarotti's ego. Opera novices like June won't be more inclined to like opera any more after watching this movie, because each vocal performance only inflates the image of the man who exhibits narcissistic personality disorder even when he's not singing. Not once does Giorgio speak about opera as an art form, or the craft of singing, or the emotion of music. Each song is either a vehicle to show off his physical stamina, or a call for everyone in the vicinity to gather around him in adulation, or a vehicle for him to cynically manipulate and flatter his groupies and fans. The final line of the climactic aria "Nessun dorma" is "Vincero!" - "I will conquer!" - which is basically the theme of the film. It's all about him. He can do whatever he wants: have an affair but stay married with no consequences, destroy a kitchen's worth of food, return to the Met Opera after a self-imposed exile provoked by a hissy fit, soldier on even after his lover leaves him. The craziest part of the whole movie is that "Nessun dorma" is sung twice! There's still about 30 minutes left to the opera. So the movie effectively gives Giorgio an encore that no one asked for. There was no doubt that "Nessun dorma" would be the climax of the film, but do we have to hear it twice in its entirety, both verses? Apparently yes, so Pav can sing the high B even longer the second time (6 seconds the first time, a whopping 10 seconds the second time). I think it's musically thrilling, but the movie definitely pushes the audience as far as they can go to the point of admiring the singing and not caring for anything else. Especially nowadays, when the #metoo movement and general impatience for diva-ish behavior has finally caught up to the opera world that created the likes of Pavarotti.

Scarabocchi

I would also throw in Sean's freestyle ramp ups. "Here we go... Gonna start it... Keep the beat going... Here we go... 1 and 2 and 3 and here it comes..." etc

theres lots of great hh clips on youitube, but i specifically want a supercut of sean singing pop songs. maybe also one of hayes beatboxing. anyone have that?