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Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 6:37 pm
by The Narrator Returns

Re: New Films in Production, v.2

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 6:41 pm
by soundchaser
Interesting choice. I think it's a pretty underrated Sondheim, and the final number is an absolute heartbreaker. Guess I've got something to look forward to in 20 years.

Re: New Films in Production, v.2

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 6:48 pm
by swo17
Better shoot an alternate version with understudies in case anybody dies

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 7:29 pm
by brundlefly
Richard Linklater, our last optimist.

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 7:31 pm
by Timec
Well, that's... Unexpected.

I love the score, but I've yet to see an entirely satisfying production of the show. Perhaps the 20-year conceit can bring some added resonance to what feels a bit contrived on stage.

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 7:41 pm
by Nasir007
Scorsese, Fincher and Marvel looking at Linklater and thinking - noob.

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 7:45 pm
by domino harvey
Once is a novel gimmick, twice or more is just sad

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 7:48 pm
by Roscoe
I suspect satire. Or not. Looks like it's true. Was he serious? It's a pretty bad show, with some admittedly good songs in it.

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 8:07 pm
by Timec
My first thought when I read the headline was that it was some sort of parody.

Either way... Boyhood notwithstanding, I kind of doubt this film will ever actually be completed.

Re: New Films in Production, v.2

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 8:23 pm
by The Fanciful Norwegian
swo17 wrote: Thu Aug 29, 2019 6:48 pm Better shoot an alternate version with understudies in case anybody dies
Linklater himself would be pushing 80 by the time this is finished.

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 8:25 pm
by mfunk9786
After discussing with my Dad this weekend why he doesn't want to get another cat in place of one that just had to be put down (fear of being dead before the new cat), I greatly admire Linklater for having the existential stones to even get something like this going at his age. It sounds like something I wouldn't see if it took 20 minutes or 20 years to make, but hats off

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2019 8:25 pm
by J Wilson
I enjoyed Lonnie Price's recent documentary about the show more than the show itself, to be honest.

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 6:19 am
by tenia
domino harvey wrote: Thu Aug 29, 2019 7:45 pm Once is a novel gimmick, twice or more is just sad
Isn't this quite a hyperbolic statement ? It's not as if Linklater is the first filmmaker to take a liking for specific concepts that recurringly appear in his movies, while the other way around would mean lots of sad filmmakers around.

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 7:17 am
by domino harvey
No (I will complete the rest of my defense of this opinion over the next twenty years)

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 9:54 am
by MichaelB
domino harvey wrote:Once is a novel gimmick, twice or more is just sad
So the bulk of the great Czech documentarist Helena Třestíková’s work is “just sad”?

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 11:53 am
by HitchcockLang
Was there this much advance notice about Boyhood existing? I recall becoming aware of that film's existence about the time the trailer rolled out.

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:17 pm
by agnamaracs
Since the story is done in flashback, it would be easier to film it in the last 20 years.

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:37 pm
by knives
HitchcockLang wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 11:53 am Was there this much advance notice about Boyhood existing? I recall becoming aware of that film's existence about the time the trailer rolled out.
It had an IMDB page and was announced and what not a good nine years or so before it premiered at least.

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 2:45 pm
by domino harvey
MichaelB wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 9:54 am
domino harvey wrote:Once is a novel gimmick, twice or more is just sad
So the bulk of the great Czech documentarist Helena Třestíková’s work is “just sad”?
Are you under the impression that this narrative musical adaptation is a documentary?

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 2:49 pm
by swo17
Wasn't Boyhood already Linklater's second time performing the gimmick?

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 3:49 pm
by Glowingwabbit
swo17 wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 2:49 pm Wasn't Boyhood already Linklater's second time performing the gimmick?
I mean although it wasny planned ahead and its not a single film, The Before Trilogy is basically the same kind of thing. I'm not sure how its a gimmick when Linklater has spent most of his career on themes related to the passage of time.

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 3:53 pm
by domino harvey
Filming continuations following the same characters and releasing them as they’re individually shot is not the same thing, unless we’re ready to call the Ernest films a similarly multi-year epic

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 3:56 pm
by Glowingwabbit
domino harvey wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 3:53 pm Filming continuations following the same characters and releasing them as they’re individually shot is not the same thing, unless we’re ready to call the Ernest films a similarly multi-year epic
Linklater also shot Tape in real time which I guess could also be considered a gimmick. Does that mean hes never allowed to do that againl without being written off?

Edit: also if you've ever listened to him talk about doing the later films in the Before Trilogy his interests were very much the same.

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 4:03 pm
by domino harvey
Look, you all can love Linklater with all your heart and be excited for this film and still recognize he’s returning to the very specific and unusual well that brought him the most media attention / awards recognition precisely because it was a then-novel approach. This all reads like stumbling onto a Community message board where fans are arguing for the individual merit and integrity of the paintball sequel episodes

Re: Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2019 4:12 pm
by swo17
I mean, telling stories where characters age is incredibly common and the tools typically used to achieve this (makeup or CGI) have an unavoidable artifice about them. I find Linklater's drive to capture this authentically refreshing. It's only novel because it's so risky and logistically challenging.