Halston - General Discussion

[TexasGal]

Ewan McGregor stars in this limited series that tracks the meteoric rise and fall of the first American celebrity designer.  From Ryan Murphy.

[Sew Sumi]

What channel or service?

[TexasGal]

It will be on Netflix, but not scheduled until 2021.

[Sew Sumi]

Thanks! 😊

[TexasGal]

Bumping this up as it is scheduled to start streaming May 14, 2021.

[BetterButter]

 

[Spartan Girl]

What the hell, I’ll give it a shot.

[cpcathy]

I like Ewan, and I watched the CNN documentary awhile back. I did think that if he was still with us and if this series was made  at least 25 years ago, Phil Hartman could have played Halston. The resemblance was uncanny.

[AngieBee1]

It was a brisk watch but could have easily been 3 episodes instead of 5.  There's only so much egotism and self-sabotaging one can take before it becomes too repetitive.  The performances were good and the recreations were great, but I came out of it learning nothing more of Halston than I already knew. 

[khyber]

I'm a geezer, so flashing back to those clothes is amazing. Ultra-suede, I haven't heard that word in years. 

[txhorns79]

I feel like the Versailles show itself could have been a mini-series.  All those different designers and personalities, Kelly Bishop awesomely running around reducing Halston to a child complaining about having to share his friend Liza with everyone, the falling down palace and generally campy nature of the event, all seem to make a more interesting story than Halston himself does in this series.

On the positive side, Krysta Rodriguez is great.    

[AngieBee1]

Quote

I feel like the Versailles show itself could have been a mini-series. 

The Battle of Versailles episode was one of the better ones.  I loved  when the series focused on the creations and the teamwork. Very disappointed how little Joel Schumacher featured in this.  I assumed he would feature more. 

Halston's family should not be disappointed about not being consulted and calling it an inaccurate depiction. The book that inspired the mini was filled with interviews with Halston's friends and colleagues; they have a better insight on Halston than his family who he seemingly kept distant from.  And even if he was close to his family, it's highly unlikely they would know the minutiae of his life. Surely he's not telling them of his exploits at Studio 54 or with Victor Hugo.

 

[MerBearHou]

I watched the first episode and was supremely underwhelmed and bored.  Not going to continue watching ... too many other good options.

Edited May 17, 2021 by MerBearHou
changed from maybe to definitely not

[Guest]

What a hot steaming pile of shit this series is. Had I not been on a plane and downloaded three of the episodes to keep me occupied during the flight, I'd have lasted only midway through the first. 

Ewan McGregor is ridiculous -- I couldn't unsee him as Phil Hartman impersonating Mike Myers in character as Dieter from Sprockets. He has none of the panache and swagger Halston did -- and none of the litheness of the man. Everything was so superficial and ridiculous including each character having to announce who they were, "I'm Victor ... Victor HUGO!" And the Liza numbers ... oh, lord the full, complete, painful Liza numbers as if this were a Liza Minnelli mini-series. 

Typical Ryan Murphy garbage. All flash, no substance. 

Edited May 16, 2021 by Guest

[PJ123]

Yeah stick to the CNN doc.  This is disappointing.

[BlackberryJam]

I would know more about Halston from reading his Wiki entry than watching this. What a waste of acting talent and costumes.

[Spartan Girl]

I watched the first episode and skipped right to the final one after. That’s how I uninvested I was.

On 5/13/2021 at 8:35 PM, cpcathy said:

 I did think that if he was still with us and if this series was made  at least 25 years ago, Phil Hartman could have played Halston. The resemblance was uncanny.

I miss Phil.

[Cementhead]

I watched this on the weekend and then immediately forgot about it.  I enjoyed the little bits of fashion trivia and references that would pop up in their conversations and I enjoyed looking at the fabulous disco-esque gowns that would have been the ideal thing to wear to Studio 54.  His dresses very much represented a specific moment in time and I bet women felt fabulously sexy wearing them. 

The man himself was seemingly very unpleasant (read: an asshole) and Ewan McGregor's Halston looked a hell of a lot like Bryan Cranston to me and once I saw it I could not unsee it. 

I'm not sure why this was made and I'm not sorry I watched it but, ok sure.  🤷‍♀️

[Glade]

On 5/15/2021 at 1:46 PM, AngieBee1 said:

Very disappointed how little Joel Schumacher featured in this.  I assumed he would feature more.

I was also waiting for Joel to show up again...but I guess forgetting the time period, I just thought he was once called Schumacher as a pun on his name...didn't realize it was actually supposed to be him until this thread. 

Overall, this was pretty underwhelming and paint by numbers.  I never heard of Halston before but I already knew every beat of the story anyway.    I wish they did devote this series to making a spectacle out of the Versais battle, it would have been fascinating to recreate all the designers presentations and the backroom drama...maybe end on a high note for Halston with text on a black screen describing his future instead of watching him snort coke and be unpleasant and delusional for four more hours.  I did like the way Halston dressed though; seeing Ewan storming about in black pants/turtleneck and an oversized, flowing vermillion trenchcoat was glam. 

This version of studio 54 was 100% lacking in Ryan Phillipe, and that is not okay! 

[Irlandesa]

I saw the preview for this and it looked really good.  But I was worried that the trailer would be better than the actual series and after reading your posts, that appears to be the case. 

Bummer.

[Jordan Baker]

I can't help compare this series to another Ryan Murphy production--"Hollywood." 

I almost gave up "Halston" after the first episode because it reminded me of some of the things I loathed about "Hollywood." But I forged on and found that I liked each episode more than the last. It's not great, but I thought it did improve.

"Hollywood," on the other hand, started pretty well and then went down hill fast. I hated the final episode and thought that, while the ideas were  interesting, the execution was awful. I would give the overall series low marks.

I'd give "Halston" mixed reviews. I'm old enough to remember the Halston phenomenon, but I really didn't remember much about his life or career. The one thing I remembered is that he sold a line at JC Penney.  Now, at least, I know there was more to him that that.

[sugarbaker design]

On 5/20/2021 at 6:22 PM, Jordan Baker said:

I can't help compare this series to another Ryan Murphy production--"Hollywood." 

Very apt comparison.  Sleek production, great actors and shallow as fuck.  It would've been much better as a 2 hour movie.

[Thumper]

Watching tonight.  Do not remember much about the actual Halston, but I remember the perfume and I HAD THAT BOTTLE!!!!

I like the show.  Interesting to see how much Liza figured into his success.

Edit:  haha who knew the scent had “jockstrap” in it!  😂😂😂

Edited May 30, 2021 by Thumper

[pasdetrois]

I remember this era - I had a knockoff ultrasuede shirtwaist dress that I could throw in the washer. I worked with another young woman who was a single mom with two children and not much money. She bought a JC Penney Halston dress and flashed the label to everyone. She was so proud of that dress.

I would have liked to see more about Halston dressing international jet setters - more of the fashion, less of the overdone debauchery.

[chocolatine]

I enjoyed this because I love fashion and Halston's designs are legendary, but I agree that there wasn't much depth to the show and that it was boring at times. During the Versailles episode I was wishing the show had been about Oscar De La Renta instead. 

I also didn't love Ewan MacGregor in this. His accent was off and he didn't quite capture Halston's mannerisms. I'm comparing him to Edgar Ramirez playing Gianni Versace on American Crime Story, and Edgar did a much better job IMO.

[SunnyBeBe]

I just watched this and thought it had potential.  Was Halston really that much of a jerk?  Omg, if I were Liza, I’d be embarrassed to be such a close friend of someone that horrible.  His lover with dark hair and mustache was horrible too.  There were so many annoying gross people.  It was easy to see why he made such terrible decisions.  I couldn’t muster any sympathy for him.  Were there any good things about him?  Besides, his talent.  
 

And, I didn’t like the Liza actress in that role.  It was like she had a southern accent.  It wasn’t like Liza to me.  The singing was better than the talking,  

At the end, they implied that Halston was envisioning clothes….really?  People think of outfits as they pass away?  Odd.  
 

I have a bottle of Halston fragrance in a drawer!  I have no idea if it’s still good.  
 

[Cinnabon]

2 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I just watched this and thought it had potential.  Was Halston really that much of a jerk?  Omg, if I were Liza, I’d be embarrassed to be such a close friend of someone that horrible.  His lover with dark hair and mustache was horrible too.  There were so many annoying gross people.  It was easy to see why he made such terrible decisions.  I couldn’t muster any sympathy for him.  Were there any good things about him?  Besides, his talent.  
 

And, I didn’t like the Liza actress in that role.  It was like she had a southern accent.  It wasn’t like Liza to me.  The singing was better than the talking,  

At the end, they implied that Halston was envisioning clothes….really?  People think of outfits as they pass away?  Odd.  
 

I have a bottle of Halston fragrance in a drawer!  I have no idea if it’s still good.  
 

Addiction makes some people incredibly unpleasant. It’s too bad he didn’t get the medical care he needed earlier.

[SunnyBeBe]

I realize the drugs impacted his judgment, but it appeared he was a very nasty person before he started the cocaine too.  Did Ryan Murphy detest him for some reason?