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What Iv'e Learnt ; ROBBIE WILLIAMS Robbie Williams is one of the most successful recording artists in the history of the UK. He first rose to fame as a member of boy band Take That before launching a solo career. A semi-autobiographical movie about this life, Better Man, opens in select theatres. Williams, 50, lives in Los Angeles and spoke with Esquire in New York City in November. I did a residency at the Wynn in Vegas, and because North America is not acquainted with what I do pervasively, I had to sell myself to the people who book the acts. I was like: Mate, I’m a swear-y Frank Sinatra with tattoos. I’m in these stadiums doing these massive shows, but people at dinner parties are asking me if I still do music. I feel as if I’m a brand-new artist again, and I’m about to experience my business in a way I didn’t the first time around because of mental illness and drugs and shit. I played the Artful Dodger in a play when I was younger and got a standing ovation every night when I came on. It was intoxicating. I wanted whatever that was. Dad and Mum split up when I was four. Mum kept the records: Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. That was my library. For my ninth or 10th birthday, my sister bought me two records: Pink Floyd The Wall and a collection of electro music. I didn’t get Pink Floyd at all, but this electro stuff was like Oh my God, I want to eat and drink it. So the music I heard growing up was a weird mixture of Glenn Miller and Afrika Bambaataa. My nan taught me what real unconditional love looked like. Without her, I wouldn’t know. I learned how to charm a room from my dad. He worked on holiday camps—the closest thing you’d get in America is the Catskills, but it’s a trailer park. I learned that a life in the entertainment industry was possible. I learned how to work from my mum. Real work looked real depressing, because my mum worked all the hours that God sent her. The way my mum moved up out of her economic background—the wife of cannon fodder—to owning her own shop is equivalent or bigger than what I’ve achieved. You spend the second twenty years of your life sorting out the first twenty years of your life. I left school when I was sixteen with no qualifications, nothing higher than a D. If I had been good at math, my mum would’ve pushed me to be a mathematician. As it happens, I was good at showing off, so my mum pushed me in my showing off capabilities. I’m good at getting eyes on me. If I was born in the creator generation, I’d have been a YouTuber. I didn’t even dream of music. I auditioned for a boy band, Take That, and got in. So this life in music has happened by mistake. There were five boys all vying for position in life and the industry. We all loved each other, didn’t trust each other; were friends, but weren’t friends. And then at home, there was a two-grand contract on my head to kill me, from local people who could do that. It was because of jealousy. Hood shit. Literally a hundred girls would book themselves in a hotel to be with me. This is not normal, so my idea of sex and my sexual relationship with women is warped. Whatever happens when you get the bends is what happens when you become famous. I don’t know how much a pint of milk is. It’s not my fault. Money isn’t the top of the mountain, and the top of the mountain isn’t the top of the mountain. When you get to the top of the mountain in any profession, you have an existential crisis because it didn’t fix you. Fame won’t fix you. Success won’t fix you. Purpose kind of fixes you. Money gave me the ability to sit on my sofa with a cashmere caftan on, growing a beard, looking like a murderer, smoking weed, watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and looking for UFOs in the evening. It made me lazy. But it also gave me enough space for me to realise, man, you need to do something with your life. I was 32. No f***ing way I was getting married; I have, it’s been the making of me. No f***ing way I was having children; I have, it’s been the making of me. What have I learned from marriage? That I can keep my cock in my pants. I thought that was impossible. So far so good. When my first kid, Teddy, arrived, it was terrifying for so many different reasons. I couldn’t look after myself. How on earth was I going to look after a precious soul? There were like 375,000 people at Knebworth, which is like giving birth to 375,000 Teddies. Jesus. Existential crisis. Why are all these people here? What does all of this mean? How am I going to fill this stage? It’s only me. I don’t see what they see in me. I made my legs walk to the stage when my legs didn’t want to walk to the stage. The biggest experience of my life right now is being the captain of the good ship Williams. But I’m not overwhelmed by it now because of experience. This might be incredibly wrong and sick, but there’s something to die for other than my wife and kids, and it’s the job. I don’t know why I find that empowering, but I do. The job has given me a creative output that is probably saving my life and helping my mental illness. I feel as though I’m about to get lucky again, and this time I’m grateful and happy. I’m wide-eyed. I’m new again. What I've Learnt: Robbie Williams - Esquire Singapore

InstagramBetter Man on Instagram: "Robbie always knew how to make...1,281 likes, 181 comments - bettermanmovie on February 27, 2025: "Robbie always knew how to make a statement. Which look gets your vote?".

Want to win a visual effects Oscar? Go ape.CGI primates from “Better Man” and “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” face off in this year’s Oscars race for best visual effects. [img] [img] [img] What if I told you the most interesting Oscars race of the season isn’t the contest for best picture — or any of the other ones plagued by controversy — but a showdown between computer-generated primates? Two of the films nominated for best visual effects star animated simian protagonists: “Better Man,” the Robbie Williams biopic where he looks like a chimpanzee, and “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” the fourth installment in the rebooted series about intelligent apes taking over the world. (“Wicked,” also nominated in the category, features flying monkeys but in supporting roles; the remaining “Dune: Part Two” and “Alien: Romulus” are sadly free of any nonhuman primates.) “Better Man” and “Kingdom” brought these talking animals to life with help from the computer whizzes at Weta FX, a New Zealand-based visual effects (VFX) and animation company co-owned by Peter Jackson of the Lord of the Rings franchise. VFX supervisor Luke Millar, a first-time Oscar nominee, and his team of hundreds made the fictionalized version of Williams, the British pop star who has commented on feeling like a “performing monkey,” appear as a chimp in flamboyant human clothing. Meanwhile, “Kingdom” VFX supervisor Erik Winquist, who was previously nominated for his work on the 2014 film “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” led his cohort in animating an entire civilization of primates — mostly chimps, plus a gorilla or orangutan here and there. There was some overlap between the two processes, including the use of human actors in motion capture suits, but considerable differences as well. Here’s how each team pulled it off. Step 1: Plan out the monkey businessLet’s just get this out of the way: Monkeys are not apes, and apes are not monkeys. They’re different animals, though both count as primates. Though Williams said he feels like a monkey, he appears in “Better Man” as a chimp — which is a great ape, but not a monkey. (Pamela Carter, a chimpanzee forest area manager at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, would argue that he doesn’t much resemble that animal, either: “It was really weird and hard to watch,” she says of the film’s trailer.) But none of this really matters, does it? If you’re watching a movie about a hard-partying rock star chimpanzee, you’ve signed up to suspend disbelief (especially because the film never addresses his unusual appearance). Millar, the VFX supervisor perhaps more attuned to the absurd than the typical person, is rather matter-of-fact about the assignment he received from director Michael Gracey: “I could totally see it working if it was done a certain way,” Millar says of his initial response to the chimp premise. “One of the things I was quite keen to guide and ensure was that Robbie would be ape in representation only, and it wouldn’t turn into a caricature. … It had to be realistic. You had to almost forget that you were looking at a digital character and just be taken along with his story and narrative.” The artists behind “Kingdom” knew there would be an audience for the film, as it followed three successful installments in the rebooted franchise. But because its events take place hundreds of years after Caesar leads his fellow apes in a rebellion against humankind, the VFX team was tasked with visualizing whole new ape societies. Director Wes Ball wanted to highlight cultural development, says VFX supervisor Winquist, so the animators visualized costumes of either natural fibers or harsh metals, depending on the clan. Despite the fact that real great apes are unable to speak — their vocal anatomy isn’t advanced enough to produce the required sounds, according to the expert Carter — the characters in “Kingdom” have much to say. “There’s more dialogue spoken by characters in this movie than the previous trilogy combined,” Winquist says. “One of the biggest things for us is that we needed to look at the way we were approaching facial animation for this.” Would facial animators work from scratch with the actors’ performances as a reference, or would they rely on an algorithm to help speed things up? Step 2: Suit up the human actor[img] Both Williams and the ape protagonists of “Kingdom” were played d by humans in motion capture suits. English actor Jonno Davies provided the physical performance and speaking voice for the pop star character, with Weta using visual effects to make his face and limbs look like a chimp’s. (The real Williams and a singer named Adam Tucker recorded the music.) Davies says he was nervous for the role, having no previous experience in motion capture work. But once he stepped into that “snug, gray pajama suit,” he realized this could be a “brilliant learning tool” for him as an actor. “When we’re performing, we often use our costume — we use our pockets, our shirt collar as things to interact with to help bolster our presence in the scene,” Davies says. “You don’t have that when you do motion capture. Not having that physical attachment to you can be quite exposing. You can feel quite vulnerable. But as soon as you get over that and realize it’s down to you to create that essence, you realize … your playfulness as an actor can really shine through.” Step 3: Roll the cameras[img] In some ways, Millar says, the set of “Better Man” resembled that of a traditional movie production; Davies simply wore a gray motion capture suit instead of fanciful pop star costumes. “I didn’t want to get into a world where we started to use tennis balls on sticks, which I know some people do [to mark a physical space that will be replaced with a different visual in postproduction], or put dots on a chin because that’s where the eye line needs to be,” Millar explains. “We wanted everyone to interact with Jonno [and vice versa] as though this was just a regular film.” Some dots were involved: Motion capture markers, which look like little facial stickers, helped Weta mimic Davies’s expressions when they transferred his performance to the chimp face. The actor wore a helmet with two connected cameras, one sticking out about a foot in front of his face. “Every take with motion capture is usable, whether the camera is on you or not,” Davies says. “It could be a close-up of a scene partner, but all the witness cameras are still capturing your performance. You can provide a real encyclopedia of takes for your director.” The animal cast of “Kingdom” is led by Owen Teague, who also played the young chimp protagonist, Noa, with motion capture markers on his face. For this installment, the actors performed for both facial and “twin cameras,” says Winquist, who explains that capturing footage from multiple angles “gave us [stereoscopic] parallax on the actual performance that allowed us to make a 3D mesh of the actors at 48 frames a second.” The team fed that footage into a “deep learning facial solver,” providing the animators with a consistent baseline. “The algorithm took the moving dots on the actor’s face and was trained to understand what that meant for the mapping of the character,” Winquist says. “It took care of the nuts and bolts … and allowed the facial animators to spend all of their time on clocking the emotional nuance.” Step 4: Get to animating[img] Fair warning: This step can take a very long time to accomplish — in the case of “Better Man,” it was about two years, factoring in additional shooting. The VFX team pulled data from Davies’s performance and translated it onto a digital version of him, Millar says. After comparing this digital rendering with the original footage to make sure Davies’s work was being accurately replicated, they transposed it onto chimp Williams. “It’s not a copy [and] paste,” Millar explains, even though it was “by far the most anthropomorphized character I’ve ever done.” Sometimes, Davies would make a face that chimps can’t because of their protruding muzzles. They would tweak things in those instances, though Millar estimates the character is about “90 percent Jonno.” They kept his eyes and eyebrows similar to a human’s but leaned into the chimp characteristics “around the muzzle and the ears and the forehead.” The “Kingdom” team adopted a similar approach, keeping “all the specificity around the eyes” as they did with Andy Serkis’s performance of Caesar, Winquist says. While they relied on the deep learning algorithm to stick to a tight 58-week postproduction period, the animators took time to manually tweak specific features, whether it was the shape of a jaw or the arch of a brow. [img] These characters look a bit more realistic than Williams in “Better Man.” Carter, the chimp expert, breathes a sigh of relief when talking about “Kingdom” for that reason. Apes “don’t walk upright as often as they show them walking upright in the movies,” she says, “but the body shapes, the hair, they look like what you would expect. They did a decent job with physical characteristics.” This was the goal. Earlier in the rebooted franchise, such as in “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” the chimps were designed to look “straight out of a zoo or a Jane Goodall documentary,” Winquist says. But in Noa’s timeline, which takes place hundreds of years later, the storytellers aimed to highlight the apes’ intellectual development by finding “an interesting place between that pure naturalism and something more stylized, like the 1968 Charlton Heston movie, where you had actors walking fully upright, pontificating.” Realism is ideal, but it isn’t always the goal — or possible, if your character is more human than ape. On “Better Man,” things got, um, hairy when it came to certain costume choices. Williams wore a lot of tight leather pants in his heyday, accentuating aspects of human male anatomy that look different on a chimp. “Essentially, we had to model what can best be described as a cricket box [or jockstrap], like a pair of digital socks,” Millar says. “We had to stick them down his pants so all the tight-fitting costumes would actually sit properly. That’s probably going to be a first and a last, for me.” Step 5: Bask in the glory of your creationIt can be an emotional experience to witness VFX work in its final form. “There’s about 500 names in the credits for us — a lot of people have touched this movie,” Millar says, though his core team was made up of around 50 people. “What was achieved on screen takes my breath away.” Winquist, who says he was “absolutely thrilled” to be nominated for an Oscar, admits that “it’s a big weight of responsibility that I feel, being one of the four people who’s representing the work of over a thousand people who poured immense talent into … everything you see on screen.” “It’s one of those interesting categories,” he says. “Unlike best actor or something — that’s a very singular performance — this is such a collaborative art form, visual effects.” But actors, too, feel differently about their work in these films. Davies says he “lived in this bit of fear for two or three years in between wrapping and seeing it,” as he wasn’t sure whether he “was just going to be a reference point or a foundation for the animators to build upon.” “So to see myself on screen, despite looking like a chimpanzee … it felt very special,” he says. “You look back at social media and see, ‘Why am I crying over monkey Robbie Williams?’ People forget after five minutes that they’re following a chimpanzee. That’s part to [Gracey], part to me and certainly due to Weta.” CGI primates from ‘Better Man’ and ‘Planet of the Apes’ face off at the Oscars - The Washington Post

Better Man’ is better than you’d expectBy Andy Ottone Feb 26, 2025 12:00 am My friends are tired of me talking about the new musical biopic “Better Man.” They no longer want to discuss the film’s portrayal of the life of British pop-star Robbie Williams, or the reasons he decided the film should portray him as a photorealistic animated monkey. But they should care about this movie; I feel everyone should. I’ll be completely honest: I had never heard of Robbie Williams before the first time I saw the movie’s trailer, but I was familiar with his music. I’m sure you are, too, if you’ve ever watched the “Bridget Jones” films, “Cars 2” or “X-Men: First Class” Williams and his former band Take That, with which he still collaborates on occasion, were pretty big in Britain and greater Europe. If you are a fan of “Derry Girls,” recall the episode where the gang tries to find their way to a British pop concert; they were going to see Robbie Williams. Well, his whole band was playing, but he was always the main character. hat’s the narrative “Better Man” is trying to sell you, and one that the screenplay simultaneously upholds and tries to dispel. At the very least, Williams does not view himself as someone aspirational; that’s why he and director Michael Gracey (“The Greatest Showman”) decided to depict the musician as an animal. Williams, as revealed by Gracey, often felt like a caged animal performing for crowds, claiming the pop star called it “playing monkey,” driving the duo to pursue the creative medium to tell his life story. I’ll be frank; I would never have watched the movie if the film didn’t make Williams a monkey. But now, I find that the monkey thing is at best unnecessary, and at worst an active hindrance on the film’s quality. The film is so much more than a monkey singing and dancing. The film is what every good biopic should be: honest, critical and a showcase for the best of his work. In conversation, I once called the film “Rocketman, but everything is turned up 500%,” and I stand by that assessment. But the issue lies in the ape of it all. Robbie Williams’ choice to portray himself as a monkey works thematically, at moments, but throughout the whole film it becomes actively distracting. If the point is to show the lifestyle Williams led was unglamorous, Gracey’s direction and the supporting performances of Raechelle Banno as Nicole Appleton and Frazer Hadfield as childhood best-friend Nate (no last name) demonstrate this enough. I sincerely feel there is nothing in the film that I would think “Oh, this would be cool if a human was doing it.” A human doing heroin in a dingy bathroom just to feel good enough to perform is tragic; a monkey doing the same is insanely disturbing, and sadly kind of hilarious. That is ultimately the crux of my issue with the film. The monkey thing is an interesting angle, and it’s what gave me the push to care enough about the film to watch it. Now that I got past that point, I think the movie — already great on its own — would have been even better if they played it earnestly. The editing, writing, direction and energy Williams brings to the project is already so full of personality and unique style that the film could have stood out on its own. Adding a CGI monkey felt like a step too far. I highly recommend this film. It is a great examination of a real world case of fame’s corruptive power and a victorious comeback from that brink of darkness. I just suggest it with the forewarning that you really have to look past the monkey mask Williams is wearing. ‘Better Man’ is better than you’d expect - The Observer

Nothing urgent , just wondering is there a change to the way we upload posts from Instagram etc & will the links to previous posts update automatically !!

Well I was not expecting that . Dua Lipa's celebrity crush :P 29lQfK18bxU?si=jvPLxo9PWY3uhFPX

Really nice post :) @1893468981622714626

Been watching The Catcher - { Season 2 } on Netflix, nice surprise to hear Angels in Series 1 - Episodes 1 & 6

Lovely to see Batter Man in the lineup but I think Dune 11 might be the winner . Let's hope for a surprise :cool:

Latest episode from ROBBIE WILLIAMS REWIND PODCAST Special – Better Man Crew Interviews – Jenny Griffin You can listen here; https://robbiewilliamsrewind.com/special-be...-jenny-griffin/ @1892679625383215290

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COFFEE TEA & SYMPATHY Roundhouse London OCT 19' _qkc6bNd8RQ?si=-vnbrB3JIO-XJTQa Video thanks to Chris Naworocktsie COFFEE TEA & SYMPATHY Coffee, Tea and Sympathy" by Robbie Williams seems to be a song about a troubled relationship and a struggle with personal identity. The lyrics express a sense of powerlessness, as the narrator finds themselves breaking the girl they're involved with, while feeling half undressed and not being true to themselves. In the verses, there is a clear tension between the narrator's desires and the expectations placed upon them. They reject the idea of being a savior or needing love, indicating a detachment from emotional connection. The line "If I ever did, don't answer kid, I've only lies to sell you" suggests a pattern of dishonesty and a fear of being vulnerable. The chorus reflects the aftermath of the relationship, where the narrator feels a mix of regret, longing, and a fear of facing the consequences of their actions. The walk of shame symbolizes the guilt and shame they carry. The forgetting of the person's name shows the emotional detachment and superficiality of the encounters. The bridge emphasizes the narrator's sensitive nature, highlighting their aversion to being objectified. The use of the metaphor "coffee and tea and sympathy" suggests that all they take from their encounters are shallow comforts, lacking genuine emotional connection. Overall, "Coffee, Tea and Sympathy" explores themes of emotional detachment, internal conflict, and the consequences of superficial relationships. It delves into the complicated dynamics of personal identity and the desire for deeper connections. https://www.songtell.com/robbie-williams/co...ea-and-sympathy

Interesting interview with Jonno & Raechelle. Jonno did such a good job portraying Robbie in the movie , he does not get enough credit for it ... TNM's Clodagh Griffin (@clogrifff) sat down with the man in the CGI suit, Jonno Davies, and Raechelle Banno (Nicole Appleton) to chat about why it makes so much sense, getting sweaty on set and the pressure of playing someone that everyone knows. c3ubXblvV0o?si=auMOqPth3UYnjZpn

From the 1997 Album Life Thru a Lens Robbie Williams | One Of God's Better People | Live in London 1998 Cx5VIsCYeKo?si=zUOom4gyCyDRAu-X Robbie Williams | Life Thru a Lens | One Of God's Better People ZKpYjoU5sG8?si=Z3Z3Q1ByJHf_Rmdf

‘Better Man’ Is A Different Animal of A Robbie Williams Biopic — Review A film centered on UK pop star and ex-Take That member Robbie Williams as a CGI chimp is a breath of fresh air for biopics. By Ralph Regis Instead of being a straightforward musical biopic, Better Man tells the story of English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams as a computer-generated chimpanzee — but there’s a valid reason behind this creative decision. The former Take That member has always felt “less evolved than other people,” a sentiment that ultimately drives director Michael Gracey’s (The Greatest Showman) musical to be unique and creatively engaging. In a sense, this approach allows us to delve deeper into Williams’ struggles, using the medium to better understand the highs and lows he has experienced since childhood. The film portrays Williams, then referred to as Robert, as having major daddy issues despite being taught to sing like Frank Sinatra. Although he finds love and support from his grandmother, the abandonment by his father leaves a lasting impact, shaping his mental health and well-being in the years to come. Every journey has a lightbulb moment where the protagonist aspires to do something significant. Williams dreams of becoming a singer and finds his opportunity when he joins the Manchester-based boy band Take That, which skyrocketed to popularity in the early 1990s. Now referred to as “Robbie,” he is riding high — both literally and figuratively. Better Man is not short on surprises. A visually striking musical number features “Rock DJ,” from William’s third studio album, Sing When You’re Winning. This scene alone proves that Hollywood isn’t allergic to creativity when the right people and vision are at the helm. However, the biopic isn’t afraid to paint Williams as unlikable. In its authentic and honest portrayal, we witness his fall from grace after leaving the pop group. Even when finding love, William is still haunted by the internal struggles that keep him from finding his way as a solo artist post-Take That. In the usual character struggle, his success does not happen overnight. A glimmer of hope emerges with the release of his debut studio album, Life Thru a Lens. The sequence showcasing Williams’ creative breakthrough, as he teams up with English songwriter Guy Chambers, reminds us that something isn’t great at first. n what would be the film’s version of a climactic blockbuster spectacle, Williams performs at the Knebworth Festival in a cinematic presentation of his 2003 performance of “Let Me Entertain You.” And boy, are we entertained. In a dramatic turn of events, Williams jumps off the stage and “fights” his past selves literally in a violent, bloody affair. Sequences like this speak so much about this biopic’s intention to do more of what’s expected. The film amplifies Williams’ downward spiral to a grand cinematic scale, using the medium to its fullest potential. This approach makes the experience more intimate and immersive, allowing us to genuinely care about Williams — both as a pop star and as a person. Outside of the United Kingdom, many people may only recognize a song or two from his catalog. Yet, this biopic compelled me to explore more of his music, inspired by the tracks featured in the film. Unfortunately, Better Man bombed at the box office, grossing close to $20 million against its $110 million budget. These numbers could justify future musical biopics leaning toward safer, more conventional approaches, much like 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody, which grossed nearly a billion dollars despite its modest $50-55 million budget. Viewing the biopic from an outsider’s perspective, someone unfamiliar with Williams and his music, Better Man gave me hope that originality and creativity can still triumph over formulaic storytelling and box office expectations. Ultimately, Better Man deserved to be seen not just by fans of Williams or his music, but by creative individuals seeking a deeper understanding of the world and inspiration to create something meaningful that feeds one’s creative soul. We need films like Better Man to take risks and push artistic boundaries, reminding us that cinema is an ever-changing medium. https://billboardphilippines.com/culture/li...ic-review-2025/