Halston On Netflix

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 3:46am

Did anyone watch? Thoughts?

[Huss417]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 9:25am

I plan on watching it this week. 

How was it?

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 5/16/21 at 11:37pm

I’ve seen two fairly recent documentaries on Halston. I binged the Netflix series in two sittings this weekend.

While the documentaries gave me the “facts” of Halston’s career (not necessarily his life), this series humanized the man; not that he was a particularly likable person. Ewan McGregor’s performance somehow holds the whole thing together in this, one of Ryan Murphy’s best outings. There’s just enough here to make one feel genuine sadness as we watch Halston’s world crater in the final two episodes.

All of the characters in Halston’s world are played with enough truthfulness to make us believe them. Liza Minnelli is genuinely portrayed as Halston’s muse and, most likely, best friend. Real Liza fans may nitpick at the performance as not being Liza-enough, but the essence is there and by the end, you will believe how close they were. The characters Elsa Peretti, Joe Eula, Victor Hugo Rojas and David Mahoney are all played believably and well.

Production values are high. I approached this dubiously after Murphy’s HOLLYWOOD last year, but this 5-episode piece, to me, was right up there with his Versace project from 2017. 

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 5/17/21 at 3:36am

As far as Murphy projects go, I found it to be somewhere in the middle with the OJ and Versace series being at the top. My main criticism would be that the script was somewhat standard as far as biopics go and the main character was two dimensional, self centered and hallow which made him unsympathetic. McGregor’s performance bordered on caricature. I think when a character chain smokes and constantly snorts coke it sets limits. Admittedly he was walking a fine line,  given that the script insinuated that Halston created himself and nobody knew who he really was. McGregor handled the caustic wit quite well and I did chuckle out loud at some of his banter with supporting characters. The supporting actors were solid and the actress who played Liza did not try to imitate her which was a wise decision. She captured her essence and the physicality was spot on.

It was nice to see David Pittu get a good sized role. David has paid his dues and then some playing every corner of the country. He had a good rapport with McGregor.

There was probably a more creative way to tell the story, but I stayed with it and it was fun to revisit the fashion trends and the sensibilities of the time periods.

Updated On: 5/17/21 at 03:36 AM

[Huss417]

Posted: 5/17/21 at 1:17pm

I really look forward to watching it this week. Thanks for the reviews. :)

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 5/18/21 at 5:23pm

I made the very unwise chose to begin watching this at 9 pm on a "school night". WRONG MOVE. It was so utterly fascinating that I was hooked from the "get" and could not stop watching it until I devoured the entire thing. By this time it was almost 3 a.m. and I was cursing myself as I had to go get SOME sleep before work. 

It was fun seeing the costumes, the name-dropping, the glimpses of celebrities portrayed in the background (Bianca Jagger and Divine) not to mention Krysta Rodriguez' performance as "Liza with a Z" - which she does perform in this series - in it's entirety. 

The production design was top notch, the research was spot on. They even threw in Joe Eula's involvement in that infamous 1979 Broadway flop, "Got Tu Go Disco" in the mix - AND played the show's song in the background. 

Speaking of music, I loved the choices they made for this show. 

I just loved, loved, loved, loved it. 

 

 

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/19/21 at 8:54am

Any show that mentions both Got Tu Go Disco and Moose Murders get an A+ in my book. Loved the entire series.

[DAME]

Posted: 5/19/21 at 3:09pm

I thought it was pretty fabulous. I also thought the actor playing Victor was excellent.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/19/21 at 11:15pm

I'm two episodes in and I am enjoying it. I agree that it is painting him with broad brushstrokes and tropes, but it's very well done. I think Krysta is great and imbues Liza with a grounded humanity we rarely see. We typically see the drag queen type mugging and giggles. I love her choices. I'm over the moon that Shawna Hamic from Orange Is The New Black is playing Pat Ast. Any show that features Pat Ast is a winner in my book. Also great to see Pittu, who is one of the finest actors I've seen on stage in a featured role. 

I think Euan is doing great and really pulls off a convincing Halston without having to do much.