Moulin Rouge! The Musical is less wild and more conventional than the film, and suffers for it

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Open this photo in gallery:Robert Petkoff as Harold Zidler and the cast of the North American tour of Moulin Rouge! The Musical.Matthew Murphy/SuppliedTitle: Moulin Rouge! The MusicalBook by: John LoganMusic and lyrics by: Various artistsDirector: Alex TimbersActors: Arianna Rosario, Christian Douglas, Robert Petkoff, Nick Rashad Burroughs, Andrew Brewer, Danny Burgos, AK NadererCompany: Mirvish ProductionsVenue: CAA Ed Mirvish TheatreCity: TorontoYear: to Jan. 12, 2025Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 musical film Moulin Rouge!, starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, was a deliriously decadent, supremely silly mash-up of 19th-century French literary tropes – the bohemian artist in the garret, the consumptive courtesan – with 20th-century pop songs by the likes of Elton John and Madonna.Reimagined as a stage musical two decades on, it’s still as decadent and still as silly, but it now flaunts an enlarged and updated score that also includes hits by Beyoncé, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, among others. Add to that playlist snippets of songs by everyone from Edith Piaf to Talking Heads and you have what may be the ultimate jukebox musical.The problem with Moulin Rouge! The Musical, now playing at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto, is that this embarrassment of pop riches turns into a running joke – which eventually grows tiresome. There are only so many times an audience can giggle with recognition when actors begin spouting lyrics heard 100 times before. The incongruity of their characters being the denizens of fin-de-siècle France also affords only so much amusement.On the upside, the numbers are sometimes given an inspired treatment, whether taken from the movie (the exuberant Lady Marmalade cancan, the fraught tango to the Police’s Roxanne) or newly created by director Alex Timbers and choreographer Sonya Tayeh – especially a sizzling second-act opener danced to Bad Romance.Toronto is seeing the North American tour of the Broadway show that opened in New York in 2019, fell prey to the COVID-19 pandemic’s great shutdown of 2020, then returned to reap 10 belated Tony Awards in 2021. A tranche of those went to the design and there’s no question the production offers a stunning evocation of belle époque Paris.Derek McLane brings endless changes to his vision of the show’s titular Montmartre cabaret, conceived as a series of heart-shaped archways swathed in luscious red velvet. He’s helped by the equally sumptuous lighting of Justin Townsend: When the show’s bohemians go on a drinking spree, he turns the entire set an enchanting absinthe green. Catherine Zuber’s ravishing costumes run from bejewelled bustiers and filigreed fishnets for the naughty Moulin Rouge dancers to a Renoir-like pastel wardrobe for the cool upper classes promenading on the Champs-Élysées.The story is also pure belle époque. Christian (Christian Douglas), a young American poet, arrives in Montmartre and is quickly embraced by two fellow artists, the disabled painter Toulouse-Lautrec (Nick Rashad Burroughs) and the Argentine gigolo Santiago (Danny Burgos). They’re creating a musical for the Moulin Rouge – called Bohemian Rhapsody, of course – and they need a songwriter. They also need a star, so they send Christian to woo the courtesan Satine (Arianna Rosario), the cabaret’s dazzling headliner.But at the same time, the Moulin Rouge’s manager/MC, Harold Zidler (Robert Petkoff), is urging Satine to make nice with the wealthy Duke of Monroth (Andrew Brewer), so the latter will save the financially ailing venue.As rehearsals begin, Satine is torn between Christian, whom she loves, and the jealous Duke, who can lift her out of poverty. However, we can see by those telltale blood spots on her handkerchief that this demimondaine, like her more famous sisters – Mimi of La Bohème and Marguerite of Camille – won’t be around long enough for a happy denouement.Adapting Luhrmann and Craig Pearce’s original screenplay, John Logan makes many minor changes but preserves the movie’s zany spirit. That is, until Act 2, when he, or director Timbers – or both – have decided to suddenly take it all seriously, treating this ersatz tragedy as if it were the real thing. The mood becomes ponderous as we’re asked to be moved by a gallery of stereotypes expressing themselves with borrowed tunes.It might almost work if there were outstanding performances, but unfortunately that is not the case. This touring company is filled with solid talent, but no one is exceptional. Rosario’s Satine has her moments – I liked her nuanced take on Katy Perry’s Firework – but if she’s the alleged “diamond” of the Moulin Rouge, she’s not of the first water. Douglas’s Ohio-bred Christian comes off too much like a slack-jawed hick and only rises to the level of a romantic hero later, with his passionate rendition of the film’s signature (and rare original) song, Come What May.Petkoff is spot-on as the jovial Zidler, but he can’t hope to match the over-the-top gusto of Jim Broadbent in the movie. Brewer likewise nails the role of the reptilian Duke, a part that has been fleshed out through some choice songs that he uses to seduce Satine – first a Rolling Stones medley and, later, a slick repurposing of Rihanna’s Only Girl (In the World).Rashad Burroughs evolves from goofiness to gravitas as Toulouse-Lautrec, who carries a torch for Satine – although his lament that he’s unloved because he’s misshapen seems a bit much considering he simply walks with a limp.The ensemble executes Tayeh’s high-kicking choreography with flair and the whole show delivers the kind of glitzy spectacle synonymous both with Broadway and the real Moulin Rouge itself. I had hoped, though, to be transported by the same surreal lunacy that drives the Luhrmann film. Instead, Moulin Rouge! The Musical opts for something less wild and more conventional. But then, to quote the title of one of its gazillion songs, you can’t always get what you want.In the interest of consistency across all critics’ reviews, The Globe has eliminated its star-rating system in film and theatre to align with coverage of music, books, visual arts and dance. Instead, works of excellence will be noted with a critic’s pick designation across all coverage. (Television reviews, typically based on an incomplete season, are exempt.)

Remembering Scott Atthowe, who founded international art handling business

Business News

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Scott Atthowe installing Louise Bourgeois’ sculpture Crouching Spider on the Embarcadero, San Francisco, 2007. Courtesy: Atthowe Fine Art ServicesEditors’ note: This obituary first appeared on the Other Minds website and has been republished with permission.When the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened in 1936, the way of life of Northern Californians changed irrevocably. For artist Scott Atthowe, this signal event would provide a bridge to the invention of a completely new occupation, destined to modernize the work of museums, galleries, and artists worldwide.Atthowe died peacefully at his home in Point Reyes Station, California, overlooking Tomales Bay, on Oct. 31, 2024. The cause of death was complications of Lewy body dementia. He was 80. His beloved wife and partner of 44 years, Patricia Thomas, and his sister Sherill Ladwig were at his bedside.Installing Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker at Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, 2012. Courtesy: Atthowe Fine Art Services

Portrait of Scott Atthowe. Credit: Patricia Thomas

A 1902 portrait of Auguste Rodin, to whom Atthowe bears a resemblance. Credit: George Charles Beresford.Born in Berkeley on Oct. 15, 1944, Atthowe grew up in the Berkeley Hills in the home his parents built in 1942. He spent much of his childhood roaming Tilden Park, which was practically in his backyard. He was an entrepreneur from an early age, loaning his lunch money to his Hillside Elementary School classmates. He attended Garfield Junior High and Berkeley High School. In the 1960s Scott and a friend had a small business dealing in Packard car parts.@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 100px;}}
As the founder of Atthowe Fine Art Services in Oakland, Atthowe parlayed an art moving business that he started in 1970 in Sacramento with a single three-axel truck into a thriving multi-faceted business, founded on the principle that the business of moving art was best left to artists who had direct experience handling the materials they would transport. Mark di Suvero installation, Oakland Museum of California, circa 1978. Courtesy: Atthowe Fine Art ServicesInstalling Bruce Nauman sculpture at Fort Mason, San Francisco, 1986. Courtesy: Atthowe Fine Art ServicesHis international business now caters to a broad array of museums, artists, and collectors for whom he provides storage, fine art and large-scale sculpture installation, packing, crating, and transport.Former SFMOMA Director Neil Benezra commented, “The Bay Area art world has lost one of its key pillars with the passing of Scott Atthowe. One could always have complete confidence in the standards with which Scott and his team worked. At SFMOMA we often undertook unorthodox and challenging installations and Scott was always up to the adventures we created. He was an absolute treasure and he will be missed by all who cared about art in our community.”Atthowe’s crowning accomplishment was one of those unorthodox projects — the years-long process of removing the giant Diego Rivera fresco mural, Pan-American Unity, from San Francisco City College and installing it in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2020–21. Its 10 plaster panels, measuring 22 by 74 feet, weighed over 60,000 pounds. This monumental task, including strategizing with experts in Mexico City and the closure of miles of San Francisco city streets, was documented in a public television special by PBS station KQED in San Francisco.Locally, Atthowe has been entrusted with the very largest and most complex art moving projects. When the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art relocated from Van Ness to its new headquarters on Third Street, Atthowe Fine Art shipped everything in the museum to storage in South San Francisco, then to the new building on Third Street for its grand opening. This process also was repeated for the de Young Museum, the Palace of the Legion of Honor Museum, the Pacific Film Archive, the Bancroft Library Papyrus Collection, portions of the Asian Art Museum, and the rare books of the Law Library (formerly Boalt Hall) at the University of California.Atthowe Fine Art also performed multiple fine art installations at the San Francisco International Airport and the Olafur Eliasson Seeing spheres (2019) in front the Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors basketball team.@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-2{min-height: 100px;}}
The large and notorious Beat-era painting by Jay DeFeo, The Rose, eight inches thick in some parts and weighing a full ton was painstakingly removed from the San Francisco Art Institute, conserved by numerous experts, then moved to the Whitney Museum in New York. Atthowe was called upon several times to hang the piece and eventually taught the Whitney staff how to do it themselves. Video documentation shows the tall energetic hippy, as always resplendent with his signature long beard and smiling eyes, directing the high wire act of craning the painting out of a window at the Art Institute.Historically, the Atthowe family had been at the center of the transportation business. Scott’s grandfather John Atthowe, a tugboat captain, began running barges in 1928 to transport materials to and from land masses now connected by the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge. When those structures opened in 1936 and 1937 respectively, barges no longer were essential, so he turned his attention to the trucks that had been used to deliver to and pick up from the barges. That business, East Bay Drayage, was passed on to Scott’s father Charles Atthowe who continued to run the company until his retirement in the 1960s.In the early 1970s, Scott, by then a working artist in need of moving his own large-scale sculptures in metal, concrete, and laminated wood from one point to another, purchased the trucking authority from his father and began also assisting others. Having grown up around commercial vehicles, drivers, and mechanics, he naturally was suited to fulfilling his colleagues’ transport needs, even for their most unwieldy large works, then newly in fashion among modernist sculptors and painters.Up until that time, art shipping had been handled mostly by household goods movers, blanket-wrapped or crated, and moved like furniture. Atthowe felt that the added weight and expense of crating could be mitigated by soft-packing in plastic, cardboard, bubble-wrap, or even packing blankets for shipment in specialized art trucks driven by pairs of trained art handlers (often artists themselves). He was able to offer a higher quality service with reasonable rates to museums and galleries nationally. Atthowe also initiated cross-country trips to East Coast institutions and became known and trusted for the reliability of his services. Another innovation was his use of temperature-controlled trucks to achieve optimum preservation of painted canvases and other delicate objects.In addition, Atthowe offered temperature-controlled, high security storage for artists and collectors and museums with more art than wall space. He wisely invested in large industrial buildings in Oakland where he could rent out storage space to customers to preserve their collections of fine art. This service provided his company with a steady income stream to offset the inevitable fluctuations of requests for moving services. Rather than rent buildings to accommodate his clients’ storage needs, he purchased them, expanding from one structure to five as he acquired more clients. This ensured financial stability for the company’s growing operation, now serving museums nationally and providing the transportation as well as expert installation of large works, including public sculptures.Installing Bruce Beasley sculpture at Kunsthalle Mannheim, (Staatliche Kunsthalle), Germany, 1985. Courtesy: Atthowe was never one to turn down a complicated project. His remarkable ingenuity, with an architect’s sense of spatial relationships and an artist’s sensitivity to the value and fragility of art, led him to solve uniquely puzzling assignments. In 2010, when the People’s Republic of China lent the United States a 15-ton statue of copper and steel measuring 26 feet in height, the work arrived disassembled into four shipping crates with no real instructions. Atthowe and his team reassembled Three Heads and Six Arms which went on display in San Francisco’s Civic Center for over a year. Among hundreds of projects here and abroad, he installed large sculptures by Bruce Nauman at Fort Mason, Mark di Suvero at Crissy Field, Bruce Beasley in Germany, and a monumental spider by Louise Bourgeois on the Embarcadero. Atthowe also installed the European tour of the California Sculpture Show 1984–85 in France, Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom, featuring works by Robert Arneson, Fletcher Benton, Robert Hudson, Manuel Neri, Sam Richardson, and DeWain Valentine, among others.@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-3{min-height: 100px;}}
Scott Charles Atthowe was the son of Jean and Charles Atthowe. He began studying architecture, then earned a bachelor’s in art at California State University, Hayward, and a master’s in art at Sacramento State University. His interest in visual art originally was encouraged by his mother, who was an accomplished textile artist. He then planned to become a sculptor, working in large scale metal and concrete.“Getting into this business was sort of a sideline,” he said. “The idea was to work part-time at this and also work in the studio.” In reality, Atthowe found his fullest expression in the management and growth of his business. He hired working artists almost exclusively, allowing them flexible schedules so they still could devote part of the week to their studio work. Their natural aptitude for handling artwork and creative problem solving made them a good fit for the business, and Atthowe provided personal training in the trade and gave every one of them high-quality health care coverage, instilling a loyalty that is reflected in the long tenures of their service. Furthermore, men and women were paid equally. Before it came time for Atthowe to retire in 2021, he worked for two years with his devoted staff to pass on the business to them as a co-operative, employee-owned venture.Loyalty similarly has been a feature of the company’s clients. They have come to trust their most important projects to Atthowe because of an outstanding record of success. “This is a business where accidents maybe might happen, but mistakes are not allowed,” said Atthowe. “We take our time and always work in teams. You have to be 100 percent on.”Atthowe was highly regarded for his great generosity, loaning funds even to competing businesses to support the infrastructure of art world businesses. When KPFA Radio in Berkeley needed to offload 4,000 tapes of music programs and offered them to the San Francisco music nonprofit Other Minds, co-founder Charles Amirkhanian, formerly the Music Director at KPFA, called his longtime listening fan Atthowe to appeal for help. Not only would it be a major moving job, there was no place to store the tapes safely. Atthowe quickly organized the boxing and transportation of the tapes to a suitable storage room in his own facility. The Hewlett Foundation stepped up to pay the movers for the packing and transportation. And Atthowe selflessly donated the storage space rent-free to preserve these and other materials for Other Minds. Most of the recordings now have been digitized and are available to the public free of charge at the Other Minds website.Scott and his wife, Patricia Thomas, a visual artist, lived in Oakland above the business for many years before developing their West Marin home and art studios of 20 years. They have been avid supporters of the art community, including SFMOMA, the Oakland Museum of California, and Oakland’s Creative Growth Art Center.Atthowe was also devoted to environmental issues and very early on ran his business with an array of solar panels, electric vehicles, recycling, and renewable sources of energy. His belief was also personal and he regularly donated funds to causes for a healthy environment, world peace, civil liberties and civil rights.@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-4{min-height: 100px;}}
Atthowe is much-admired for his innovations in combining art and business. His integrity, kindness, and savvy will be sorely missed by his colleagues and acquaintances throughout the world, as attested to by condolences to the company staff that have arrived from Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Italy, India, and around the U.S. In the words of fine art conservator Anne Rosenthal, “Scott Atthowe’s death represents the passing of an era.”His first marriage, to Janice Barbary with whom he started his company, ended in divorce. Scott Atthowe is survived by his wife Patricia Thomas, his sister Sherill Ladwig, his sister-in-law Charlene Kramer, and cousin Helen Atthowe.
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The Trillion-Dollar Problem Of Tech Debt: Why Automation And Consolidation Matter

Technology

Charles Crouchman is the Chief Product Officer of Redwood Software, a leader in automation fabric solutions.

Tell me if this scenario sounds familiar: You’ve joined a new company, excited to bring your expertise in overseeing critical IT functions and help the organization level up. However, as you settle in, you quickly realize the magnitude of the task ahead.

The company has not consolidated its many process schedulers into a single platform, causing it to run nearly two million job executions a month across myriad on-premises and web-based systems. The team has also resorted to ad hoc solutions over the years, with no single source providing end-to-end visibility into IT and business processes. As a result, you lack insight into process statuses and failures, and worse, you’re still in need of more people to keep your department and the business going.

A Trillion-Dollar Global Tech Problem
A study examining the increase in tech debt from 2012 to 2023 across industries and regions reveals global tech debt has nearly doubled over this timeframe, increasing by around $6 trillion. In the United States, three sectors are responsible for 64% of the estimated $2.2 trillion rise in tech debt: banking and investment services; communications, media and services; and government.

This heavy accumulation of tech debt ultimately leads to decreased organizational agility and control. As more human intervention is required to monitor and manage processes, more mistakes are made and contributions to missed SLAs and strategic business projects falter. Due to this, only 16.2% of projects are completed on time and within budget. These incomplete projects may include untested modules, postponed integrations or delayed system upgrades, ultimately resulting in hidden costs and operational inefficiencies within your organization.

You’re now limited in your ability to scale, forcing your organization into a reactive position, halting business operations to handle overdue infrastructure or software improvements.
Disconnected Tools Leading To Disconnected Processes

Tech debt often arises when companies layer multiple platforms and automation solutions onto an already complex tech stack, failing to connect critical processes end-to-end or integrate seamlessly with their enterprise resource planning tools.

Due to limited integrations with applications at the time of deployment, departments often select different tools to address specific processes and function needs, whether it be scheduling, inventory management, order processing or delivery fulfillment systems.
For example, your product team may use one platform to automate project tracking, while your data team is still manually pulling analytics and reports. The entire process was never fully migrated to a newer solution, causing frequent delays. At this stage, many organizations frequently adopt additional infrastructure management and new automation solutions to optimize and monitor their processes.
However, these tools can sometimes struggle to integrate seamlessly with existing systems or monitor specific platforms, process frequency and dependencies effectively. When automated processes operate in silos or are only partially integrated, the processes and oversight can become more complex, have a higher likelihood of failing and be more expensive overall.
As the lack of visibility continues to grow, many companies become vulnerable to errors and noncompliance and lack the scalability to remain competitive.
Steps To Success
To maximize the benefits of automation and streamline operations, organizations must first focus on building a clean, consolidated tech stack.
Start with a thorough audit of existing tools to identify redundancies and critical systems. Develop a phased roadmap that allows gradual consolidation while minimizing disruption. With fewer vendors to manage, the IT department can devote more time and resources to building stronger relationships with key vendors. This can lead to better communication, faster issue resolution and more effective collaboration.
Your employees must also see that the benefits of moving toward a unified system outweigh the short-term discomfort of change. Share with them how they’ll be able to focus on more strategic initiatives, such as investing in new technology solutions or enhancing IT and business process consistency to drive revenue growth.
Once processes are consolidated, automation fabrics can then unify disparate systems by connecting tools that once were automated in silos, allowing for smoother data flow, integrated end-to-end processes and real-time monitoring capabilities.
Tool consolidation should be seen not as a one-time fix, but as an ongoing process integral to maintaining your operational efficiency and competitive advantage. Regularly assess the connection of all SaaS and legacy automation applications with your ERP system.
Ask yourself and your team questions such as, “Am I able to create new automation quickly and at scale without extensive programming resources? Can I monitor and control the myriad processes in real time and have confidence that the processes will run to completion? Can I predict, manage and take action on performance?”
By reducing tech debt and streamlining your tools and automated processes, you can achieve significant financial savings, enhance productivity and improve your ability to respond quickly to market demands. IT teams will stay informed about mission-critical processes and receive early alerts if deadlines or performance thresholds are falling behind, allowing the team to address potential issues before they impact the business.
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Sam Heughan And Caitríona Balfe Revealed What They Took From The “Outlander” Set, Their Favorite Romance Movies, And More While Playing With Puppies

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Outlander returns with Season 7B and picks up right where the first half left off, with Jamie (Heughan), Claire (Balfe), and Ian (John Bell) returning to Scotland after several years away. Meanwhile, Roger (Richard Rankin) is on a mission to find his and Brianna’s (Sophie Skelton) son, Jemmy (Blake Johnston Miller), after he’s been kidnapped.

Sam Heughan And Caitríona Balfe Revealed What They Took From The “Outlander” Set, Their Favorite Romance Movies, And More While Playing With Puppies

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Outlander returns with Season 7B and picks up right where the first half left off, with Jamie (Heughan), Claire (Balfe), and Ian (John Bell) returning to Scotland after several years away. Meanwhile, Roger (Richard Rankin) is on a mission to find his and Brianna’s (Sophie Skelton) son, Jemmy (Blake Johnston Miller), after he’s been kidnapped.

The best films of 2020s so far ranked by critics and Top Gun Maverick has been robbed

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

We’re now halfway through the decade, and 100 film critics have been asked what their five favourite movies released between 2020 and 2024 are.Polled by World of Reel, the result is a Top 21 films of the 2020s, with only the Top 5 not having tied in the voting.Criminally, Tom Cruise’s critically acclaimed box office smash, Top Gun Maverick, scraps the list with just seven votes, coming in joint 10th with Barbie and Killers of the Flower Moon.In 9th place on eight votes each are Anora, The Fabelmans, All of Us Strangers, The Worst Person in the World and RRR.Licorice Pizza, The Banshees of Inisherin, Promising Young Woman and Aftersun are joint 8th with 9 votes, behind The Power of the Dog and Past Lives in 7th with 10 votes.Meanwhile, 6th place goes to Anatomy of A Fall and Poor Things and then we get to the Top 5 who are well ahead of the pack.

The best films of 2020s so far ranked by critics and Top Gun Maverick has been robbed

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

We’re now halfway through the decade, and 100 film critics have been asked what their five favourite movies released between 2020 and 2024 are.Polled by World of Reel, the result is a Top 21 films of the 2020s, with only the Top 5 not having tied in the voting.Criminally, Tom Cruise’s critically acclaimed box office smash, Top Gun Maverick, scraps the list with just seven votes, coming in joint 10th with Barbie and Killers of the Flower Moon.In 9th place on eight votes each are Anora, The Fabelmans, All of Us Strangers, The Worst Person in the World and RRR.Licorice Pizza, The Banshees of Inisherin, Promising Young Woman and Aftersun are joint 8th with 9 votes, behind The Power of the Dog and Past Lives in 7th with 10 votes.Meanwhile, 6th place goes to Anatomy of A Fall and Poor Things and then we get to the Top 5 who are well ahead of the pack.

One of the greatest British World War II films of all time is on BBC Two this weekend

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Niven stars as a British Air Force pilot on his way home from a bombing mission when his aircraft is badly damaged. Before bailing out, he radios Kim Hunter’s Allied operator to share his final moments. Yet after surviving, he finds her back home, and they fall in love. That is before Marius Goring’s divine messenger arrives to take the pilot to heaven, as it turns out he shouldn’t have survived the plane crash after all.A Matter of Life and Death is on BBC Two this Saturday at 12:35pm and will be streaming on BBC iPlayer for a limited period afterwards.

One of the greatest British World War II films of all time is on BBC Two this weekend

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Niven stars as a British Air Force pilot on his way home from a bombing mission when his aircraft is badly damaged. Before bailing out, he radios Kim Hunter’s Allied operator to share his final moments. Yet after surviving, he finds her back home, and they fall in love. That is before Marius Goring’s divine messenger arrives to take the pilot to heaven, as it turns out he shouldn’t have survived the plane crash after all.A Matter of Life and Death is on BBC Two this Saturday at 12:35pm and will be streaming on BBC iPlayer for a limited period afterwards.

Ben Stiller “thought something was wrong” while filming new Christmas movie

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Ben Stiller has stepped out of his comfort zone for his new Christmas movie, starring alongside four young brothers who have never acted before.In Nutcrackers, the Hollywood star plays Mike, a “strait-laced and work-obsessed” real estate developer from Chicago who is forced to visit his late sister’s farm in Ohio, playing temporary guardian to his four rambunctious nephews. As they have become orphans in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and Mike refuses to become their permanent caregiver, he tries to find a new home for the boys.The nephews are played by the real-life Janson brothers, Homer, 13, Ulysses, 11, Atlas, 8, and Arlo, 8. The idea for the film came after director David Gordon Green—who directed the recent Halloween trilogy, Pineapple Express and The Exorcist: Believer—met the four spirited young boys, who are the sons of an old friend.What has resulted is a film that allowed the brothers to play versions of themselves, with Leland Douglas’ screenplay leaving space for a lot of improvisation from the young actors and Stiller. Adding to the authenticity of the movie is the fact that it was filmed on the real farm that the boys live on with their parents.

Ben Stiller attends the photocall for Hulu’s “Nutcrackers” at The West Hollywood EDITION on November 20, 2024, in West Hollywood, California. In the film, the Hollywood star plays Mike, a “strait-laced and work-obsessed” real estate…
Ben Stiller attends the photocall for Hulu’s “Nutcrackers” at The West Hollywood EDITION on November 20, 2024, in West Hollywood, California. In the film, the Hollywood star plays Mike, a “strait-laced and work-obsessed” real estate developer from Chicago.
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Maya Dehlin Spach/WireImage
Newsweek spoke to Stiller, Homer and Arlo about what it was like working on the project together, with Stiller sharing the realities of filming on a functioning farm.”David Gordon Green is such a great filmmaker, over the years he’s done so many different kinds of movies and he just creates an atmosphere where you’re just there to try and, kind of, be in the moment and allow things to happen, allow surprises to happen,” Stiller said.”Every day in the house was another surprise. Honestly, like the first day we had the scene with the hogs [Mabel and Daisy].”Stiller and Homer then went on to explain that one day while shooting Mabel was making unusual sounds, which had the Hollywood star concerned for her wellbeing.”She was being naughty,” Homer explained, before Arlo added: “It’s ’cause of those cheese balls.”Stiller continued: “Yes, they were feeding her cheese balls. Anyway, I thought something was wrong and I was like, ‘Is the hog OK?’ and you were like, ‘[She’s fine], it’s just a hog.’ … So it was a lot of that going on, and every day it was fun.”The comedy legend, known for early 2000s classics such as Meet the Fockers, Zoolander and Along Came Polly, has had a stellar career, working with everyone from Robert de Niro to Owen Wilson. However, this was his first time working with people with no acting experience. While some actors might find that process difficult, Stiller enjoyed being able to help guide the young boys—and he was also impressed with their work ethic.

A still of Ben Stiller and Homer, Ulysses, Atlas and Arlo Janson in “Nutcrackers.” Stiller was impressed by the talent and work ethic of the young boys.
A still of Ben Stiller and Homer, Ulysses, Atlas and Arlo Janson in “Nutcrackers.” Stiller was impressed by the talent and work ethic of the young boys.
NutcrackerProductions LLC | Hulu
“I mean, I hadn’t ever worked with four people who hadn’t ever been in a movie before, who were the leads in the movie, and I think I was just kind of amazed at how they were able to just, sort of, take in the process and learn as they went along,” he explained.”And you know, movie sets, there’s a lot going on, and you have to all of a sudden try to be natural in front of a camera, right? Some days we get to, like, 3 or 4 in the afternoon, you guys would be like how many more times do we have to do this?”Stiller praised his young co-stars, pointing out their talent and their lack of cynicism. He continued: “They’ve never really done a movie before, but they dance every day and they work on their farm and they’re just so open and loving. And the experience of making the movie was just very, very special for us. So I think it was coming from a really good place from the beginning.”The star hasn’t led a major movie in seven years, as these days he is more often found behind the camera as a director and producer. He revealed at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, where Nutcrackers was the opening night gala premiere, that a few years ago he decided to only say yes to a project if it really spoke to him—and Nutcrackers did just that.”It definitely felt organic because David came to me and said, ‘I’ve written this movie for these kids. I know these kids, they live on this farm, I want to shoot it on their farm,’ and he was inspired by you guys. That’s pretty cool, right?” Stiller asked Homer and Arlo.”I’m just so appreciative of that and I mean the characters are like how it actually was, except [Stiller is] less grumpy and his name is Ben. He comes out on our farm, we show him our way and we all find a way to love each other in the end,” Homer responded before Arlo quipped: “It was like a big Christmas surprise.”

A still of Ben Stiller and his co-stars in “Nutcrackers.” The movie was shot at the real-life farm belonging to the boys and their parents.
A still of Ben Stiller and his co-stars in “Nutcrackers.” The movie was shot at the real-life farm belonging to the boys and their parents.
Nutcracker Productions LLC | Hulu
The movie was beautifully shot on 35mm film, which produced a natural-looking grain and a more organic look compared to digital. While Homer pointed out that this created more “pressure” considering there were limited supplies, Stiller said the boys “rose to the occasion.””Since we were in their house and in their environment a lot of the time, it felt like the movie was sort of mirroring real life,” he explained.”I’m not really a farm hand, so these guys would show me how to do stuff and introduce me to the animals. They’re so amazing with the animals and their family, there’s just so much connection and so much love there that every day just felt like we were kind of just trying to capture that. And David really made it a point to just kind of allow things to happen.”This meant that there was a lot of improv while filming, which is what allowed certain dialogue in the film to feel natural and unstaged. There is one scene in particular, where the children are discussing the topic of sex education, where a lot of the lines are unscripted.”[There was] lots of improv and having fun,” Homer shared. “If we mess up we just get back into it and you put some of the scenes we messed up in and this reason that they’re so good in the movie. It’s because it was raw emotion put into it … the best scenes are when we made up as we get along.”For Stiller, the best situation as an actor is when you don’t have to act, as he explained: “With these guys, I felt like that all the time, where I was just sort of reacting to what they [were saying], this real stuff that they were giving me.”It wasn’t a big crew because it’s a very small, little movie but every morning we’d get there was so beautiful. The sun would be rising and it’s just such a special place, so every day was sort of, we were just discovering more about your [farm], right?”Homer added: “Yeah, and having fun together.”Nutcrackers will begin streaming exclusively on Hulu on November 29th.