Just when 2019’s movie offerings couldn’t get more complicated, the end of the year has brought a pop culture showdown for the ages: On the one hand, J.J. Abrams’ conclusive “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” is far larger event movie than “Cats,” Tom Hooper’s adaptation of the outlandish Andrew Lloyd Webber show.
But both movies are effects-driven commercial propositions released just in time for the holidays, and they’ve faced a fair amount of critical derision over the past week. So which one is more worth your time? In this week’s episode of Screen Talk, Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson debate both new releases, puzzling over what works, what doesn’t, and what they both say about the state of the industry at the end of the year.
Listen to the full episode below.
Screen Talk is available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Soundcloud. You can subscribe here or via RSS. Share your feedback with Thompson and Kohn on Twitter or sound off in the comments. Browse previous installments here, review the show on iTunes and be sure to let us know if you’d like to hear the hosts address specific issues in upcoming editions of Screen Talk. Check out the rest of IndieWire’s podcasts on iTunes right here.
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