MovieChat Forums > The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again (2016) Discussion > I can see why Richard O'Brian said this ...

I can see why Richard O'Brian said this was badly miscast!

posted 8 years ago by Londonlad2001221
17 replies | jump to latest

He didn't go into the detail in the interview I read but I can see parts of the movie why he could think that way..

http://www.thisiscabaret.com/richard-obrien-new-rocky-horror-film-is-misconceived-and-badly-cast/

Watching a few of the performances especially full videos of "Time Warp" and "Sweet Transvestite" and "Hot Patootie Bless my soul"

From what I saw in those the direction of remake is way off, Take Time Warp, dance choreography was way over the top then it needed it to be it just seemed completely unnecessary with the extra moves added to the time warp routine!

The only thing that shine that segment of the movie was the woman playing Columbia, Riff Raff on the Electric Guitar just didn't work for me...

Before I get responses saying I don't like Laverne cox for whatever reason, I actually like the woman, She an talented actress, Especially in the orange is a new black but I really think she was miscast in the role as Frank N Furter. Something just didn't sit right with me, Her singing wasn't the best and the performances was flat.

But for me what ruined the show from what I saw was the over the top acting, At one point I thought the actor who played Riff Raff at was going to have mental breakdown at the start of the Time Warp segment. The terrible dance choreography and some of the costumes were silly

[–] ForbiddenArms 8 years ago

You have a problem with over the top acting on a movie that is suppose to be a parody of B-movies from the 50s? Even Richard O'Brian will tell you that Rocky Horror is suppose to have not very good acting.

[–] mtdman-90-390951 8 years ago

They tried way too hard.

[–] bettinahooper 8 years ago

They did indeed try too hard. Fun is almost tangible when a cast is enjoying their work (like Fox's Grease)- other than Curry, there is no fun evident in the entire production.
It was the most self conscious ensemble I've ever seen.

Plus it WAS miscast. Cox may well be an flashy entertainer, but she simply does not have charisma- and certainly not that of Curry.

[–] Londonlad2001221 8 years ago

You have a problem with over the top acting on a movie that is suppose to be a parody of B-movies from the 50s? Even Richard O'Brian will tell you that Rocky Horror is suppose to have not very good acting

Well I recently watched the 2015 British stage play version that was screened live on TV and across Europe last year and O'Brian was involved and that was better acted and the singing was absolutely outstanding compared to this version they didn't have to add fancy dance choreography either or change the tone of the music they stuck with what worked..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIPckPtYmXk check it out for yourself

The guy playing Riff Raff in the stage play version portrayed the character very much like O'Brian did but the actor in the TV movie was terrible, He didn't have the voice, his performance and very was awkward to watch...

[–] missscoobyca 8 years ago

I saw that as well. I was all set to be grumpy and hate it because if it didn't have Tim Curry doing Frank, it wasn't going to be good. But, I was really pleasantly surprised! In my opinion nothing can compare to original, period. However, I really felt that guy did do a helluva job! I ended up really enjoying that production! =)

[–] darogr 8 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIPckPtYmXk

[–] zinjo00-587-975183 8 years ago

OBrien said volumes with so small a comment. With laser precision he hit the failures of this effort. If Fox truly wants to make money with this property, showing it on mainstream TV is not the vehicle. Choosing a director who simply doesn't get the show didn't help.

[–] Merrida 8 years ago

Yep. I made a few similar posts as well about the same thing. It's too forced, it's over-acted, and they changed some of the very core aspects of Rocky Horror.

We can all banter and wax philosophy about this being a tribute or homage or whatever one wants to call it, but it was dreadfully acted and woefully miscast. Part of the charm of the original is the costume, the dance (which this is even named after), and the personalities of the characters. They changed everything!

______________________________________
Sic vis pacem para bellum.

[–] joisepeterson 8 years ago

In the original the acting was naturally supposed to be bad as they were doing parodies of old Hollywood classics. The whole cast bounced off each other because the majority (excluding Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon)had worked on the stage production for a few years together hence why the characters came so naturally to them.

This production of 2016 it was like watching a very bad high school production. They were trying to hard to be like the original actors. Laverne was badly imitating Tim Curry's performance and vocal tones.

At first I was trying to be upbeat and positive about it but after seeing clips of the remake/tribute on YouTube it was a disappointment. The only thing that got me excited was seeing Trixie.

[–] delerium76 8 years ago

The time warp was horrible in this version. Riff-Raff screamed every line of the song, which made the part where he actually was supposed to scream feel empty. The song is supposed to build up, and he ruined that completely. Not to mention him bouncing around like an epileptic in the beginning just looked ridiculous. I don't mind it being different, but this was different in a bad way.

[–] ms-217-169818 8 years ago

Loved Riff Raff in the remake ( and while I think they could and should have done a better job with the Time Warp I don't think it was that horrible) but I completely agree with the 'epileptic' thing. What the hell was that?! lol I mean, why not let that poor actor move around the set a little instead to make him to do that?

[–] delerium76 8 years ago

yeah, I re-watched it, and I stand by my original statement. Ruff ruff was just plain bad. He can carry a tune, but he had no sense of how the song was constructed, because it seemed he was too interested in showing off his singing flair to be concerned with how the song needed to build. It was like taking Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and having the same loud projection in at the beginning of the song as you do in the middle. It's just bad.

[–] joisepeterson 8 years ago

Seemed like the whole lot of them were screeching the song and holding the screeching high notes. They didn't really get the songs at all.

[–] delerium76 8 years ago

Sadly a common theme with these Disney/Nickelodeon/Twilight actor base. That's why you don't cast them in the first place.

[–] ms-217-169818 8 years ago

Oh,I completely understand and respect your opinion, as I said I have my issues with the song too, the fact is that IMO the problem is not the actor. He couldn't go all Richard O'Brien on this arragement nor he could try to go the Roxy way. And I think he did the best he could to give the song "movement" with what they gave him ( what made me like him is the fact that, unlike others, he did manage to express what he was singing - definitely not with the same power or impact of the original but he got it ).

Also, another big problem the song has and basically ALL the songs of the remake have (and again I don't blame the actors for this because that is not something they have control over) is that they are done as ... songs - overproduced songs. I don't know how to explain this ..it is like they interpreted them ( some better than others) not *acted* them.

So many bad decisons that doomed this project since the start....

[–] delerium76 8 years ago

Ok, yeah I can agree that riff raff definitely committed to the role and went all in, and for that I can respect his singing, and I agree it wasn't as good as the original.

Your second paragraph is spot on. I believe it's ultimately the fault of the director FOX chose for this, who happens to be responsible for the High School Musical series. It really showed, which is why I consider this RHPC - High School Musical Edition.

[–] IveGotASecret 8 years ago

The costumes weren't that good, either.

What was with Rocky in the basketball shorts, then finally dressing him like he was supposed to be dressed for the entire movie in the floor show. And what was with the outfits for the floor show?

This production misfired on so many levels.