Craig Gillespie’s Cruella looks like what Tim Burton’s version of The Devil Wears Prada may look like- especially if both the sorcerer and the apprentice roles (nemeses as well) were able to dial up their performance like Meryl does. Emma Stone plays the apprentice and titular character- Estella Cruella. She gets the deliciously sardonic George Sanders or Jeremy Irons-like voice over. Emma Thompson plays The Baroness. And certainly, one of the film’s strengths is the pleasure of watching these two great actors crow. Thompson has a hilarious scene where she’s holding her reading glasses about a yard away. She also unexpectedly throws food out the window of a moving vehicle that is comic gold as well.
The film is about costume design-and Gillespie and Disney should get some credit for getting Jenny Beavan for the tall task. Beavan has worked on Mad Mad: Fury Road, The King’s Speech, Gosford Park, and just about every good Merchant Ivory film in the 1990s and 1980s (including Howards End).
The Project Runway-like costume work is the show- but secondarily, if it isn’t the two great actors doing big, diva work- it is the curated pop/rock soundtrack that deserves praise. The Rolling Stones are here with “She’s a Rainbow” and then “Sympathy for The Devil” near the end but there is not an opportunity missed by the team putting this together.
Paul Walter Hauser is back working with Gillespie (2017’s I, Tonya) – he’s doing a sort of Bob Hoskins-like Cockney accent.
@Drake – have you been able to watch Vllleneuve’s Dune yet?
@RK- I have, I was lucky enough to catch it in theater a few weeks ago. I want to try to see it again before making a page for it.
@Drake
Hey! Have you seen Spencer? I’m going to watch it next week probably and I was curious what you thought of it.
@George- I was able to catch Spencer- very strong film. Hopefully I’ll have a page for them soon.
@Drake – Great! Thanks for replying. I can’t wait to watch it. By the way, what about The Last Duel? Do you think it’s archivable?