iTunes Exclusive Episode Beauty And The Beast

If you are hearing the sound of my voice right now, it means the following conditions have been met, at least once in your life you have listened to the clubhouse podcast, your one-stop shop for all things pop culture live every Sunday night, 7 Eastern, 4 Pacific, or it also means that you subscribe to the show on your favorite podcasting app because it's time for another. Number 270 The numbers keep climbing, brother, welcome. My name is Rob, I am the executive producer of the clubhouse podcast and sometimes I feel like I am a tune as old as song.

But I'm not alone for this particular episode, joining me across the desk as he tends to do from time to time is the official fact checker of this show and a man who knows what beast mode is but he doesn't like it when it happens against his Steelers. You may know him as fun, don't go but his Mum and even Don Ford, I'm going to call him Don Ford. How come people say I smell like a beast a lot?

I've never said that. Well, not you but other. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I actually didn't even have to worry about Beast mode anymore because he retired. Whatever we do one of these bad boys, it is to review something. This is no different.

You may have figured out by now that I tuned, I tuned, I tuned JxClosion. Number 270 Is about the brand new live action Disney version of Beauty and the Beast. For which I have the whole thing.

Yes, we have to thank some of our favorite people. We love them. Susan, Jenna, everybody at Susan Jacobs and Disney.

For the chance to see Susan, she was at the screening. She's right behind me. Big fan.

We love them all. And Jenna is so great to us. So give us the chance to see films before they come out.

So we can tell you about what we think of them. This was directed by Bill Condon. He directed movies like Chicago.

He directed a couple of the Twilight films. Well, you know, I mean, the guy's got skins on the wall. He's got a lot of directing.

He did dream girls. Yeah, of course. You know.

So he knows how to do musicals. Yes, he does. 1991.

Did you Chicago, too? I think he said that. I said that.

In 1991 Disney did the animated version. This was part of the new era of Disney animation that started off in 1989 with the little mermaid. I have very specific memories of beauty in the beast.

The 1991. It came out in November. I actually saw two movies in one day that day, a two separate theaters.

Not going to go into everything. Just know that this film, while they very, very special place in my heart. And when I found out that they were going to, they had already done the live version of Cinderella and the live versions of the jungle book, and this was the next one on the docket.

I was a little concerned because it's a classic. Right, and they added 30 minutes to it. Yeah, and not so you had to add the other part that you know, they made a live Broadway show, which we saw last year.

So going into this screening, I was a little concerned about what was going to happen. You've got Emma Watson playing Bell from Harry Potter fame, always. You've got Dan Stevens, who many people would know from Downton Abbey.

Currently, he is the main character on FX's Legion, which I am watching. He's playing Beast. You've got the great Luke Evans is Gaston.

You've got Josh Gads is Lifu. You've got Kevin Klein is Maurice. And then you've got voice actors Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, you and McGregor, Audra McDonald, Google Mbatharaw, Stanley Tucci.

I mean, I think to yourself, you know what, there might be something going on here. Yeah, because good cast, incredible, I mean, you've got some icons in there. But I was still a little concerned going in because again, this is also, which is low, the following fact is actually located in both of our written reviews, conveniently located at www.theclaphousepodcast.com, which is our website.

The 1991 film is the very first feature length animated film in history to be nominated for Best Picture. And so because, you know, and you add that to it. So going in, I mean, we saw an IMX 3D, so I was a little excited about that, so you have a high bar.

The bar is set high. I am pleased to report that I very much enjoyed this film. Me too.

I was very impressed. I like how some of the shots in the film were directly out of the animated version. I liked how it didn't try too hard to be the animated version.

There are certain little tweaks they made to it that made it its own thing. You could definitely tell some of the newer songs because the songwriting styles a little bit different. But it's still done by Alan Minkett, who did the original, but they had to add some stuff to add to the extra time.

But they still had some of the classics. No, no, all the classics were there. Yeah.

Even the theme song, which in the original was done by Celine Dion on Pebo Bryce and Celine Dion still on this soundtrack, she sings a song over the end credits. Like this time around, it's done by Ariana Grande and John Legend. This concerned me.

Because I make no bones about the fact that I'm not a huge fan of the Ariana Grande. She oversees everything. Huge fan of the John Legend.

Always have been. Yeah, of course. Well noted, but you know what?

This version of the theme. Not bad. They both kept it on the rails, which made me happy.

I really enjoyed this film. I really, really did. I was worried a lot going in.

Again, the runtime at two hours and five minutes, almost two hours and ten minutes, was a little concerning. But it was very, the pacing was great. Watch gauge?

40 minutes. Well, that's almost record. 45 is your record.

45 is the record. This was 40. So I didn't feel like it dragged at all.

There was a couple of points where I was kind of like, it got a little wonky for me, but the wheel's got back on fairly quickly. Emma Watson is great as Bell. She plays a part perfectly, I think.

And he was kind of puts her own spin on it. I know, but I think she's a good, a good person for that role, that she did this. I don't think maybe one or two actors in Hollywood who may have fit the role as well as her, if that.

So I mean, this was that, but she is, she's like a good, incredible, smart pick. And just so that we're clear, in case you just joined us from the bunker, it is the story of a young lady in France, it lives in a village who winds up being imprisoned by a beast who's actually a prince that's under a curse that the curse won't only be broken when he learned how to love because he was very selfish. That's what you need to know.

Because I was like, we didn't talk about the films about, but there's like nine people on the planet that may not be for my or the story. We want to make sure everybody's caught up. It just Disney does what Disney does.

You know, you remember what I said when we saw the jungle book? I don't know how Disney found a bunch of talking animals, but they did it. You know, they also did Pete Strack in this past year.

A lot of people have been giving Disney gear fits like you're all you're doing is you're remaking your movies, but they're doing it well. So where's the complaint? If it's entertaining and it works, like you couldn't have pulled this off 25 years ago.

Oh, no, visually there's no way because visually this thing is gorgeous. It's absolutely beautiful, but now that you have the technology because I don't know if you know this, but Dan Stevens was really the actor playing the beast from his neck down. Yeah.

That was his actual clothing, his face was CGI. Okay. They originally wanted to go completely practical, but they realized the CGI looked better for his face.

So it wasn't like it was just a bunch of stunt people doing this stuff. He was there on set and there's a great attention to detail in this film. There are some changes made and there are some alterations, but nothing made me go, you know?

Okay. This all worked. Here's the thing.

You would kind of, I don't have the Greek cred, that is well documented, and I remember beauty in the beast. I remember the main stuff. It's not like I know this story or the original cartoon scene for scene like I do aliens or the breakfast club.

That is true. Okay. Some kind of that main stream kind of guy, but you didn't see the musical last year, so it was still kind of fashion.

Yeah, and I still seen it. But not the every detail, everything like, you know, some people do, correct it. Going in, I was kind of worried like, you know, do they have to, they have to, it's still kind of worried me.

You know, you know, my feeling is I'm Pete's right and so different, but Jungle Book to hit out the park in my opinion, we all agree on that, and we've also coming up, we've got the Lion King, we've got Mulan, we got the Jungle Book sequel coming up, so this is going to continue on. They got the little mermaid in the works, possibly, and all that, yeah, yeah, here's my thing. Now, if you go, the big thing is, the big difference is, it's live action.

It is. That's the only big difference. And as a normal mainstream person, the only big difference is, from knowing the main plots is that it's live action, okay.

If you go to my rate of the WWW, that the club has podcasts.com, I was blown away, you were visually, you were, there were so many times, I'm going to say this, the, the dining room scene. Look, colors, for me, they for me, that is so beautiful, this is visually gorgeous on every level, the CGI, it's CGI, we know that, but after, for a couple of minutes, you don't even think of it as CGI, you even didn't know what CGI, because the technology is so good at blends with it, with the pride of stuff, real like, the clock, the candle, the candlestick, all those character, loomy and very cognizance worth, and Mrs. Cops, which is in chips and all that, they worked, I was blown away by the clock, that clock's worth, that's right, clock's worth was beautiful, that was, I'm sorry, clock's worth was, it was you and McGregor, I'm sorry, let's try again, clock's worth is Ian McKellen, you and McGregor is loomy air, Stanley Tucci plays my stroke of Denza, I've really got to learn how to do that, and then you go to the scenery, not just as scary, just as scenery, some of the shots of the castle, the beast castle, beautiful, some of the shots of the home village in France, beautiful, so the big question on this, does it work visually, absolutely, I was forced, and you know, we got to see this in three, we did, and I'm max 3d, I'm not 3d, again, thank you to Susan, everybody there, because they're amazing people, and we're fans, we're fans, big time, this, my girlfriend faith, took her to that she is my plus one, the screenie, she's normally, this was her first film she's ever seen in 3d, really, loved it, good, loved it, excellent, we were both leaving that thing going visually, visually, beautiful, I just, that's the big difference, does it work, especially visually, and it absolutely does, beyond, absolutely does, out of the park, grand slam, out of the park, out of the state, you know, out of the country, on this hit, the story works still just as well as well, everything works here, it's the plot that you know, I tell everybody, you know, it's the story that you know, but it's live action, that's the big thing, I, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful visually, and he critiques of it, it did seem a little long, did they really need to add a little too much extra name, I can say, acting, beautiful, great job, my, my shadow goes to climb, you were a big fan of, can I climb this, yes, because the way he, the way he, his many rhythms when he walked into the castle that first time, and he kind of, he just played that old man very well, when he's driving the cart with the donkey, you know, he just had that roll down, so he got my shadow on that, but Watson did good, everybody else, if I have any critiques, I liked Luke Agavins as Gaston, but there was still something missing for me.

He definitely took the character a little darker than we were used to, which didn't really bother me, but something was missing, and I thought that Gad was a little over the top, more than he normally is, because I'm a huge Josh dad fan, of course, this was a little weird for me, but it wasn't enough to take away my enjoyment of the film. So, to ours, five minutes like you're saying, two, five, two, ten, it did seem a little long, but still paste well, went well, overall, but just seemed maybe it tapped it, they have to add those extra 30 minutes, maybe 2015 minutes could have been added. It didn't bother me that much, but I could see how you'd see that.

If I had a critique on that, but still, you know, here's one of the things that I are questioned. We sat in 3D. We did.

Is it worth the extra cost? See, I go back and forth on that with this film, because certain parts of it, I was like, ooh, but certain parts I was kind of like, it wouldn't offend me if somebody said they would pay the 3D for it, but I also wouldn't go out of my way either if that makes any sense. Like, it's good, but I don't, I don't think it's require 3D.

Like, I felt Dr. Strange like in the IMX 3D, like that, if you were going to see that in the theater, that was the way to go. With this one, it wouldn't bother me, but it wouldn't, it wouldn't be my default of that make, if that's okay.

My question to you, if they, if they father wants to take him his wife and the two kids to, let's say, the matinee showing of this or the twilight showing, and they got the choice of the regular or a 3D, do they pay the extra cost of about with 4 people, maybe $12 extra dollars? If it'll bring it to bank, no, but if you can afford it, go ahead. Okay.

Now, I will say there has been a little bit of controversy around this film and around one of its characters. I had a conversation about that with one of my co-workers who has young children, and he asked me if it's that big of a deal. In God that doesn't have kids, I would say no, but here's the caveat.

If you are a parent and you're concerned about said things, I would say go see this yourself first, and then come back and say and make that call. Maybe go catch a matinee, sit through it, say, is this kind of thing something that I would have to talk to my kids about? You know, that one, not 3D, but if they say, hey, go for it, then bring that call.

Exactly. I would say make the call on your own, because I'm not one of the committee either way on this, because I see it from both sides. But again, I don't have kids, so maybe I don't see them through the proper lenses.

So, there's that. Anything else to get to the final analysis? No, I think we can't from the most.

All right. The way we do the final analysis on this show, we're not going to give you thumbs up, thumbs down, we're not going to give you two paws up, anything like that. The way we do that on this show, we're going to ask two questions.

Question number one, is would we see this film again? If the answer is no, we're done here. But if the answer is yes, then we want to know how would you see it again?

Here is the spectrum from top to bottom, full price at the theater, then down to Twilight, down to a matinee, down to early morning, down to second one at the dollar theater, down to red box, down to Netflix, down to cable. Don't, would you see this again? Definitely.

How far you wanted to go? I would recommend this even for the, for the family. I would recommend this as either the Twilight or full price in between the two.

So, you're right there on the page. And I am saying add the 3D, the 3D is worth the cost. Okay.

I'm going to go matinee. I think this is a good matinee kind of on a Saturday, take the kids and then go do something or do something before go see this and then do something after. But the big thing is the visuals and I think the 3D really enhances it.

This is one of the few times where I say yes, pay the extra for the 3D. We have another fun. Yes.

Yes. So again, we have to thank Susan, Jan, everybody. Susan Jacobs is in a great Disney people for the invite to this thing.

We will never be able to repay them for everything they've done for incredible people. It is the brand new live action version of Beauty and the Beast directed by Bill Condon. Let us do the plug, shall we?

Totally. Visit our website, please. The aforementioned www.theclubhousepodcast.com.

Find out everything you need to know and some stuff you don't. You can make sure you follow us on social media. Our Twitter feed is at clubhouse show.

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You can follow me on social media. If you'd like, I'm located at yes, that Rob Irvin that is spelled ERV. I and my normal co-hosts for this show is Chad Womick.

You can follow him on social media at chat npg69 and have that fun. Don't go and you can email me at Don at the clubhousepodcast.com. Email Don for information how we can come to a live show for you.

We've got a lot of live shows coming up. If you're listening to this like as the movie has released, we're very excited about all of our live shows. You can email me if you'd like questions, comments, concerns, tell me to go pound sand.

I am Rob at theclubhousepodcast.com. Chad is Chad at theclubhousepodcast.com. Charlotte Parker is on Pinterest because we are morally obligated to say that.

And Jules Womick, well, she's married to Chad. So she's probably wherever he is. Our normal show every Sunday night, seven Eastern, four Pacific is your one-stop shop for all things pop culture or just keep subscribing on your favorite podcast app and you get cool stuff like this.

So until next time, for Don for the Empire, I'm Rob. Clubhouse is closed. I mean,