Maps to the Stars

I so love Cronenberg, but add in Julianne Moore and I’m done. Still laughing this morning. Pitch perfect comedy.

 

I enjoyed it. The Player meets the Conjuring.. lol

 

I finally got around to seeing this. Reviews were not all positive so I kept my expectations in check.

But damn if this isn't about the darkest that humor can get. It straddles the lines of drama, comedy, horror, and what have you that it's avant-garde almost.

While I was watching it I was thinking this is not one you need or want to see a second time. And now that I few days have gone by I want to watch it again. All the acting was that good, it can carry a second viewing of some disturbing scenes (I think) You just have to laugh at it. It is one twisted script. I live in LA and have worked in entertainment and even seen the estates of the rich and famous up close. Those people are roasted in a cruel sick way, yet Cronenberg's movie makes it kinda fun. I don't think there is anything else made like this. I don't recall even David Cronenberg being this far out. Lolol

 

Enjoyed it quite a bit. The wife not so much.

 

This is a strange movie.....

 

Not a happy conclusion.

 

A feel good "family" film!

 

Is this a reference to "maps to the stars" from the "Wild Palms" author, or is it his film?

 

Ending gave me a headache.

 

Yes, we're discussing the 2014 film Maps to the Stars, directed by David Cronenberg, from a screenplay written by Bruce Wagner (who wrote "Wild Palms").

 

Fixed.

 

Wild palms... oh wait... I just got the answer to a thread question I asked...!

 

The movie was okay. I prefer the Cronenberg body horror films of the 1970s. I am excited, though, about reading his new novel Consumed.

 

He has stated that this is his last film as director.

 

What?! Why?

 

Good. The lazy bastard. This was a great script by Bruce Wagner. I just watched it last night. Best David Lynch film in a long time, except Cronenberg was too lazy to do the slightest thing visually. I mean, the sloppiest setups. Poor Bruce Wagner he writes the script of a lifetime (it's the perfect Wagnerian screenplay as nobody writes the obsessions of Hollywood better. His dialog for Julienne Moore made a million actresses incarnate) -- as dark as it gets, but kept afloat as a satire of celebrity through Wagner's smart, incisive words -- but Cronenberg sleeps through it as a film director. If Lynch had directed this, it would have taken him to huge boxoffice. Wagner and Lynch should do another of his screenplays. I'm sure he has many around.

 

Lynch could have made this diffused and less focused. I like the direct blunt way this movie tells its story.

It's a rather low budgeted project and there might not have been the cash for visual effects or setups, etc. and any more anything, consider that.

 

I have to second the notion of liking DC's blunt take on the issue. I'm not sure today's audience would benefit from seeing a Lynchian take on the subject matter (although to some extent perhaps Inland Empire is some of that, maybe?) That said Alien and Aliens is essentially the exact same script interpreted by two different directors, so I wouldn't mind a Lynch take. Just wishful thinking though. Dude's too busy at the moment with Agent Cooper.

Do you have a link to where we can read the script? I'd love to read it.

 

Just looked at this thread, The Maps to the Stars also recalled Wild Palms for me. I wish there had been a better soundtrack album for that mini-series ;(

 

The unofficial soundtrack to wild palms is killer.

 

I wish had made a tape when I had that cd along time ago - put the Sakamoto tracks and songs in order of appearance, with the records, include the Supremes and the Rolling Stones, etc.

 

You could cobble something together.

ryuichi sakamoto wild palms theme - Google Search


It's on itunes!

Wild Palms (Original ABC Event Series Soundtrack) by Various Artists on iTunes »

 

That's what I was thinking re-reading this thread. A 'pitch-perfect comedy?" I don't think that's really the way to describe this film at all. There are some funny bits, but I think meant more as a surreal thriller/drama.

 

Dark Comedy is a part of it for sure. The kid child star when he goes total "super-star" and starts in on everyone "I am the franchise" etc. that stuff was funny. And the mom thinks that the recasting of the role means the show is still on for here son after what he did. Too funny!!!

 

Cronenberg thinks of it as comedy. Well, kind of, anyway. Here's what he said in an interview:

"Someone asked me at Cannes, “This film is very funny, have you ever thought of making a comedy?” I said, “I don’t think I’ve made anything but comedies.” All of my films are funny on some level. I don’t think you have to distill it into pure comedy or pure drama. To me that makes no sense. I can’t imagine a life without humor. Especially if you have an existential understanding of life, you must acknowledge the absurdity of it all."

And he elaborated further on the comedy of Maps in another interview:

***

The Dissolve: Here’s a paraphrase from my favorite review of Maps, from Mubi critic Miriam Bale: “Bruce Wagner wrote this film as a broad comedy, but it isn’t directed that way.”

David Cronenberg: It’s almost true. There are elements that are broad comedy, but I can quote [Maps star] Julianne Moore, in fact, who said she thought Bruce’s extreme hyper-emotionality and humor and my cool, neutral observational direction made a really good combination. And I think that’s sort of a more detailed version of what this critic was saying. If you had a director who really went with that other stuff, you would get a very over-the-top, exaggerated, and to me, maybe a false movie instead of what it is—which is still funny. But the humor comes from within the characters, from the observation of the absurdity of the human condition, rather than a sort of self-parodying thing, or something that you could’ve done with it. And I think that’s correct.