🍿25: House of Gucci

This week's dose of SP comes packed with chic deceit, and a Spidey-fact you probably didn't know...

Dec 02, 2021

“I’ll stop wearing black when they make a darker colour.”
~ The Addams Family, 1991

Let’s get to the good stuff…

I’ll keep this week’s intro fairly short as there’s a lot of good stuff below that I wouldn’t want you to miss, including the trailer for Swan Song and a pretty cool fact about the 2002 Spider-Man.

Also, The Critic’s Cut has made a quick comeback, partly thanks to the people who have asked for its return (you know who are) and partly due to there being a lot to say about this week’s feature film, House of Gucci.

It’s been decided however that The Critic’s Cut will only feature when there’s really something to say that might include spoilers for the feature film, rather than being an ever-present part of Salty Popcorn.

As always, if you’ve got ideas on how to help improve Salty Popcorn, please do let me know in the comments.

Upcoming Releases

Swan Song

UK: 17 December // USA: 17 December

Set in the not so distant future, terminally ill Cameron Turner (Mahershala Ali) is presented with an experimental solution to shield his wife (Naomie Harris) and son from grief.

The Outfit

UK: 25 February // USA: 25 February

Expert tailor, Leonard (Mark Rylance), must outwit a dangerous group of gangsters in order to survive a fateful night in Chicago.

Fact of the week

You might remember a scene in the first Spiderman film starring Tobey Maguire, where Peter Parker saves MJ (Kirsten Dunst) from slipping on OJ while miraculously catching her lunch at the same time.

I’d never given this much thought before, but it turns out no CGI was used in making the scene and Maguire really did catch everything on the tray - it just took 156 takes for him to do so.

Review: House of Gucci

Star rating:

4 (out of 5)

Where to watch:

USA: Only in cinemas

UK: Only in cinemas

Runtime:

2hr 38m

Director:

Ridley Scott

Blurb:

When Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga), an outsider from humble beginnings, marries Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), her unbridled ambition begins to unravel Gucci legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge, and murder.

The review (NO spoilers):

While it’s rare to see a glossy period drama that prioritises its plot as much as it does a chic wardrobe department — style often comes before substance — there’s enough treachery in the House of Gucci to make even the Borgias blush.

There is, however, more to this film than fashion and amped-up drama. With its all-star cast and a soundtrack that will have you humming long after you leave the cinema, this delicious tale of deceit will have no trouble keeping your eyes glued to the screen.

As for the cast itself, despite the ensemble of Hollywood heavyweights, Lady Gaga steals the show as she embodies the role of Patrizia Reggiani. It’s not just the fact that she demonstrates her range, it’s the fact that there’s a very clear character underneath the surface of everything she does.

On the flip side, there were moments where Jared Leto’s, Paolo Gucci, felt overbaked. As the black sheep of the Gucci family, he is the comic-relief character but it’s hard not to laugh at him even when it feels like we shouldn’t.

While Leto’s performance has divided audiences, Ridley Scott has defended him, saying: “There’s not a lot of Paolo on camera talking. And so that had to be, to a certain extent, imagined, but clearly, Paolo was a very colourful and flamboyant man.”

Though I admit that once you get used to Leto’s flamboyant costumes, which are less offensive than his Italian accent, he’s not too distracting. I do, however, feel a tug of sympathy for the real Paolo Gucci, who I suspect wasn’t the total imbecile Leto makes him out to be.

The greatest shame though is that Scott’s October release, The Last Duel, has been completely overshadowed by Gucci. Although it bombed at the box office (and cost $25m more to make), Duel has been applauded by critics. It’s not as easy a watch as Gucci — and certainly not as glamorous — but I daresay it packs a bigger punch.

“So why did it flop?” I hear you ask… Well, Scott is blaming millennials — as most 84-year-old men do — while everyone else points their finger at the abysmal marketing campaign (or lack of). Whatever the reason, trust me when I say that Duel is well worth a watch - as is House of Gucci.

Scroll down for The Critic’s Cut and to see what’s in the next issue.

If you liked House of Gucci…

I, Tonya

2017 | UK: Amazon Prime (£2.49) // US: Hulu (free)

Based on the unbelievable, but true events, I, Tonya is a darkly comedic tale of an American figure skater, Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) and her involvment in one of the most sensational scandals in sports history.

This is among my favourite of Robbie’s performances and I get the feeling it fell under the radar for many when it was released nearly five years ago.

In the next issue:

Don’t Look Up

UK: 10 December // USA: 10 December | Watch the Trailer

The Critic’s Cut 🚨SPOILER ALERT🚨:

There’s one moment that really stood out to me in House of Gucci, which is when Patrizia (Lady Gaga) met with her would-be assassins… As she was waiting for them to arrive she was holding a cigarette and her hands were shaking.

It’s a small detail but it struck me that such details often go unnoticed, either by the audience or the actors, who don’t always go to such lengths to make these details a part of their performance.

When so much of what the audience sees on screen is the actor’s face, we hardly notice their body language. Even when their whole body is in-frame, their face is often all we’re really looking at. Sure we’ll notice if an actor does something obvious like point, clap or punch, but one of the keys to measuring a performance is watching how an actor does nothing.

I’m reminded of an interview that Sir Ian McKellen gave in 1981, who better explains the context of what I’m trying to say here. But, the bottom line is that Gaga’s shaky hands are a testament to the magnitude of her performance - yet most people probably won’t notice.

Salty Popcorn