“A Star Is Born” Remake w/ Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper To Lead

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by TeacFan, Aug 17, 2016.

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  1. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    The movie was all shot handheld, kind of a "fly on the wall" approach, as if everything was just happening and the camera was accidentally there. It wasn't shot in a traditional "wide shot/establishing -> medium shot -> 2-shot -> closeup" style, like a Hollywood movie. It was done very casually, in a relatively unpolished and real way. I think there are aspects of that that can work, but the editing caused a lot of damage, particularly when they tried to show jumps in time.

    I think the film takes place over a period of about a year or two, and I found it pretty bumpy and weird. I get that these were deliberately stylistic choices, but they bothered me to the point where it took me out of the story. There were two or three "WTF is happening here?" moments that I didn't care for.
     
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  2. jojopuppyfish

    jojopuppyfish Senior Member

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    And seriously, very few singers can compete with this:
     
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  3. jojopuppyfish

    jojopuppyfish Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    BTW Andrew Dice Clay really is a very good actor. Glad to see his career has come back nicely.
     
  4. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    ...and I trust your judgement and opinion more than 100%!
    (I knew it...I just felt it in my gut.)
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2018
  5. jupiter8

    jupiter8 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ, USA
    Saw it with my wife last night and was also underwhelmed. I thought Cooper and Gaga were really good as actors but the script was amateurish and corny. It really felt like Cooper's vanity project that he was able to get made. A lot of the scenes seemed improvised (the one with Gaga in the bathtub especially). The music performances were good. Why was Gaga's character so beholden to her manager? Didn't make any sense. The Diceman was excellent, needed more of his character.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2018
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  6. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    More realistic reviews: less "fanboy". Thank you for your "alternate" opinions. Hopefully you won't be stalked or lose your lives for having expressed a different point of view.
     
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  7. jupiter8

    jupiter8 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ, USA
    I had these same problems- like Vidiot I've worked in the business (mostly as an editor) so maybe these types of things bother us more than the average filmgoer. I stayed with it early on and was forgiving of some of the early clumsy moments but about halfway through I started to realize it wasn't justifying the hype.
     
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  8. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    Again, when films are "hyped" as much as this film was, I always approach with caution.
     
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  9. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    It’s a conceit in the sense of a stylistic device, not as in “conceited.”
     
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  10. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    I understand that use of the word "conceit". I also understand that with the best intentions, it can be a loaded word and there are better ways to say it, when, as an editor, you've just been asked, "Two cameras. Amirite?". But it was a live Q&A, not the end of the world.
     
  11. ZippyPippy

    ZippyPippy Forum Resident

    Read that as though "Trapped with Kevin Bacon" was the movie title. That's a script idea right there...
     
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  12. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    My takeaway was that they declined to dot every I and cross every T, in a plot that pretty much everyone knows. Were I in the business, I may have walked away with a very different reaction. Thx for your response.
     
  13. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    ...as I was trying to say earlier.
     
  14. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    My impression of that take: it all started when she dropped the 'b' word instead of the 'h' word, and they just ran with it. Improv can be not-so-great, but I loved the hell out of that scene. Even moreso the 2nd time. If she did the "If you're not my husband..." line extemporaneously, that's great. Doubly so for Cooper's verbal response.

    But there were a couple of plot-pivotal lines in there, as well as the scene's jarring dramatic conclusion. So they were hanging out in the bathroom at some point to get some serious work done, not workshop.

    She's putting herself in his hands like he demanded... to get what she wants. But she herself does not know whether, with her new hair and crazy outfits, she is faaabulous or LOL ridiculous. Her old friend's reaction is the first affirmation she gets.

    Needs a supporting Oscar nod. Won't get it.:cry:
     
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  15. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    It’s a loaded word only if you take it wrong.
     
  16. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    As a speaker, I've used it in ways both loaded and unloaded. The editor on the panel, I'm sure, had the purest of intentions.
     
  17. Hexwood

    Hexwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Some people are getting a little ahead of themselves in regards to Lady Gaga as an actress (Little Monsters have always been a bit cocky), but she's deserving of the praise for her role in ASIB. It's the sort of performance that's a natural fit for a talented singer like her. She reminds me a little bit of Bette Midler in The Rose. I don't think Midler will ever top that film.
     
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  18. Hexwood

    Hexwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    The only Madonna film I enjoyed was Desperately Seeking Susan. I'm a sucker for comedy films from the 1980s. It didn't hurt that Madonna wasn't the lead actress in it. Her supporting role made it tolerable in a way Who's That Girl wasn't.
     
  19. Monosterio

    Monosterio Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Florida
    Count me as one of the underwhelmed. When movies like these are really well done, I’m typically reduced to a blubbering pool of tears by the end. This one, nothing.
     
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  20. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    I was surprised -- I really thought they would avoid these problems. I was telling another friend of mine in the bidness earlier today that there were parts of the film that were just sloppy and amateurish, which was very weird. And yet... there are also moments that are really emotional and affecting. So it's not entirely bad at all. As I said, the performances were very believable, and the technical stuff (dialogue, sound mix, music, VFX, cinematography, etc.) was world-class. But the story, editing, and pacing were all over the map, just weird and oft-putting at times.

    I had a few moments where I got a little misty-eyed, but not much more than that. The big scene at the award ceremonies was rough, a lotta "oh GOD no" stuff from me.
     
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  21. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    OTOH, "Major embarrassment at the ingenue's big moment in front of the whole industry." goes back to Garland and Mason. (I forget about the Janet Gaynor one. Never saw Streisand's).

    In 2018, I think you gotta go a little bigger than "Drunk at the Awards" and "stage invasion" to elicit the same sense of outrage, embarrassment, and lack of decorum.
     
  22. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    You aren't getting any of the harassment I was getting earlier in the thread. Granted, I haven't seen the film, but I did listen to the soundtrack, which I didn't care for at all. I saw the trailer, which I didn't care for at all.
    And the hype was so strong, I just felt like I could wait to see it on the pay channels 6 months from now. That said, I don't even have the desire to do that.
    Thanks to your wonderful insight!
    FYI...I didn't like the Streisand version, either.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2018
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  23. the pope ondine

    the pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    I thinks its the same as mason, kris makes a drunken ass of himself....yeah probably wouldn't make the same impact now


    NOW you've gone to far!
     
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  24. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    If I could go back in time, I'd stymie the career of Barbara Streisand just to thin out today's used record bins.
     
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  25. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    I loved the trailer and thought it captured a lot of excitement and also how much charisma the two leads had. But this is yet another case where if you've seen the trailer, you just about saw the best stuff from the film.

    The 1976 Streisand version is an absolute train wreck. The director, Frank Pierson, wrote a scathing article titled “My Battles with Barbra and Jon" that's a riot to read, even 40 years later. I think Babs is an incredibly talented woman, but this film is a stinkeroo on ice.
     
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