“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. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    Someone upthread was going there. I didn't quote it out, but wanted to get it off my chest.

    I agree.
     
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  2. Torontotom

    Torontotom Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    I agree with this, especially the last line. I felt like the second half of the film loses a bit of focus and you're right, you can sense there were things cut out. I actually felt Ally starts to retreat to the background in the second half as Jackson hits rock bottom and the focus is more on him. I never really got a sense of how Ally felt about her pop career, except she laid down certain ground rules. I just inferred that she didn't mind being a pop star because she was happy making music, just as she was happy touring with Jackson. I thought Ally never saw it as selling out as Jackson probably did. I thought it was an interesting dynamic that never fully got explored.
     
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  3. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I probably already mentioned this earlier, but I agree the movie de-emphasizes Ally too much after she starts to get famous. We could've learned a bit more about her creative processes and whether they did bother her - ie, the supposed sell-out - or if she thought she still made good music.

    Even with the flaws, "ASIB" remains my favorite of the 8 BP noms - excluding "Roma", which I've not seen.

    That said, I'm pretty sure I'll still like "ASIB" more if/when I see "Roma"! :D
     
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  4. Torontotom

    Torontotom Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    I definitely need to see it again. I did like it though (and obviously I did since I bought two exclusive Blu-rays of it - the Sunrise exclusive which is the same as the Target exclusive and the steelbook). But I saw it during the Toronto International Film Festival, so I was caught up in the excitement of the festival (and of seeing the film) that I want to watch it more objectively.

    I did like Roma a lot.
     
  5. bopdd

    bopdd Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    I saw this movie a few days ago and enjoyed it while I was watching it, but found it to be a missed opportunity in retrospect. I was expecting a prescient exploration of modern fame but found almost nothing of the sort. Where was the bloodthirsty tabloid press? Where were the fan interactions (a theme that was set up in the earliest scenes, only to be dropped soon after)? The movie seemed to drift by like an endless montage, which worked in its favor during the first half, but not the second (in my opinion). And Gaga's ascent from concert star to pop star was so swift and sudden that it barely registered with me as being anything but rushed. What remained was a sort of watered-down love story that didn't emanate with consequences the way it should have, in part because the character's motivations seemed kind of shallow (no pun intended--loved that song, by the way).

    Meanwhile, Bradley Cooper kept emphasizing the power of perspective, but what exactly was his perspective as an artist? He just seemed like a talented dude who wrote decent songs and played a somewhat mean guitar. Along similar lines, he seemed to have no past aside from a few key relationships or talking points, and I don't mean that in some mysterious sense, more that he was kind of underdeveloped. Why not show what he was like in his prime, so that we can better understand why he made certain artistic decisions over other ones? Why keep hammering home the same background details as if that should sufficiently explain everything about him, especially when there was so much potential terrain to mine from?
     
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  6. TonyCzar

    TonyCzar Forum Resident

    Location:
    PhIladelphia, PA
    People racking up YouTube views is the new equivalent of the old "spinning newspaper montage" technique.

    When Jackson and Ally first performed together, news spread through YouTube views. One assumes that fictional fans in ASIB watched the Grammy scandal and spread that bad buzz the same way.

    (Pure speculation on my part, but really, would spinning newspaper headlines even make sense to anybody today?)

    Despite throwing in current cultural references (SNL, YouTube, etc.), the whole subject of timelines and numbers and how they play in Jack's story/history only comes up once as an actual number: when Ally's manager said he saw Jackson in Europe in 1994 (Jackson's first European tour).

    For me, the only dud on the soundtrack is the opening song ("Black Eyes"). I heard the soundtrack before seeing the film, so I had to use my imagination, and my imagination said this: Okay, he's playing a crowd favorite that sounds like something from 1992 that Pearl Jam might have done but he's moved on a bit. So, that was his peak, and he's coasting or on the way down when the film opens. As it turned out, that's not EXACTLY how they played his career arc out in the film, but I thought I did pretty good.

    I think there were a lot of things left for the audience to deduce for themselves, many of them obvious, and even then, the film clocks in at a taxing length. Jack's musical/artistic life, I think, is one of those things one is supposed to piece together from what they put on the screen. Speaking for myself, I didn't necessarily make every connection there.
     
  7. bopdd

    bopdd Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    I wasn't referring to tabloid newspapers, and naturally, I remember the YouTube clip. What I'm saying is that we most definitely live in a culture where media is literally everywhere, and where people like Ariana Grande can barely sit down for a cheeseburger without a slate of fans or TMZ-style journalists piling up at the door. Aside from the aforementioned YouTube clip--which seemed like a bare minimum at best--where was the actual celebrity factor? Where were the omnipresent cell phones, synonymous with Ally's target demographic? Why have her punch one of Jackson Mains' fans in the face if she's never going to have the experience as a star herself? All we get are some early YouTube numbers, a photo shoot, a billboard, an awards show, and a bit on SNL. Her entire ascent seemed to exist in a vacuum, as did the film itself. Her artistry also seemed to be so instantly superficial that any sense of personal sacrifice or inner turmoil went completely out the door.

    Depicting her actual rise to fame with a certain amount of indulgence, pacing, and sacrifice would have been part of the fun (indeed, for the first half it was). The movie is called "A Star is Born," not "A Relationship is Destroyed." I wasn't suggesting that the runtime needed to be longer, but that Cooper and company could've made better use of the time they had. Jack's "artistic life" seemed to be little more than a vague suggestion that he was "authentic." Specificity would have made his actions and words more relevant, in my opinion.
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2019
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  8. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    :eek: I love that song! It's probably my 2nd favorite soundtrack song after "Shallow"...
     
  9. Hexwood

    Hexwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK


    This performance is the side of Lady Gaga that I like. The song has a classic singer-songwriter vibe that sounds like something Elton John and Jackson Browne would have sung in the 1970s. It's proof that in terms of musicianship and vocal talent Lady Gaga is leaps and bounds ahead of other pop stars like Britney, Katy Perry, Madonna and Taylor Swift.

    That Arizona sky
    Burnin' in your eyes
    You look at me and babe, I wanna catch on fire
    It’s buried in my soul
    Like California gold
    You found the light in me that I couldn’t find

    Fantastic lyrics.
     
  10. neo123

    neo123 Senior Member

    Location:
    Northern Kentucky
    Don't know if this has been posted anywhere on the forums, but this is funny. Been out for almost 2 months and I just found out about it:

     
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  11. Spitfire

    Spitfire Senior Member

    Location:
    Pacific Northwest
    Saw this last night. I thought it was just okay. First half of the movie definitely better than the second half. Still wondering how Ally turned into a "pop star" just like that. That didn't ring true to me at all.
     
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  12. Bill

    Bill Senior Member

    Location:
    Eastern Shore
    Agree. The end was ridiculous. I grew impatient that Bradley didn't end it a reel earlier.
     
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  13. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    I finally checked this out as it hit HBO a few nights ago.

    I frankly found this movie pretty bad. I mean eye roll bad in places. I was expecting much better. I can totally see why Bradley Cooper wasn't even nominated for 'Best Director' for this. He did a very choppy (read: bad) job. There were so many problems with this.
     
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  14. Ern

    Ern Senior Member

    Location:
    Portugal
    I'm a 44 year old man, and I tell you, in the last song when the scene cuts to Jackson (Bradley) singing it to Ally (Gaga) on the piano, I cried like a baby!


    Loved the movie!
     
  15. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    I finally got to see this on Sky at the weekend. I mean, I’ve seen worse.. Namely the 1976 version with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson!

    The thing with ASIB is you know exactly what’s going to happen before you even begin watching it... Its not an unfamiliar story. I can see why the film did well.. It passed on 2 and a quarter hours happily enough. I didn’t care for the music much.. Just a load of old shouty nonsense. Then again, aside from Evergreen, the 1976 version wasn’t exactly full of memorable musical moments either! Every number in the 2018 movie sounded like the ‘winning’ song on the X-Factor. The one the victor is forced to sing whether they like it or not.:D

    For a longish movie, A Star Is Born moved very quickly. One glance and Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s characters fell instantly in love. After mumbling one mediocre song on stage with Cooper, Gaga’s ‘Ally’ promptly became a massive star. Cooper’s descent was a bit sudden too. They really jammed it in there at the end.:D Felt a bit sorry for Sam Elliot as the grandfather brother tossing out cliches like there’s no tomorrow and probably wishing he was back on The Ranch.

    My favourite moment came when Ally was awarded a Grammy for Best Oversinging Performance of the Year, only to be upstaged by Cooper’s character Jackson quietly wetting himself by her side. This should happen more often at the Grammys, IMO. It’s such a long night..:D

    Still, I did enjoy the movie, though I wouldn’t want to see it again.
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2019
  16. the pope ondine

    the pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    ill ignore you trashing my beloved Babs flick for some delicious skewering :biglaugh::biglaugh::biglaugh::biglaugh::biglaugh:
     
  17. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    I prefer Babs as a vocalist to Gaga, but the 1976 movie was toe-curling. It was like they were making it up as they went along.:D
     
  18. NickCarraway

    NickCarraway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Gastonia, NC
    Babs invented oversinging. :hide:
     
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  19. the pope ondine

    the pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia

    love it! love the soundtrack (babs songs only, Kris's songs blow on there......even he knew it, had meltdown during recording saying its garbage)




    now you've gone too far :wantsome::wantsome::wantsome::wantsome::cussing::cussing:
     
  20. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    In your heart, you know he's right!
     
  21. the pope ondine

    the pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
  22. the pope ondine

    the pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    [​IMG]
     
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  23. Flying Burrito Girl

    Flying Burrito Girl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fremont, CA
    I didn’t get around to seeing this until recently because I’ve seen every iteration of this story since Connie Bennett and I thought maybe one more was just too much. A couple of notes and apologies if anyone else has already made these observations:

    1. The softening of the character of the male lead and building up of the part at the expense of the woman. Originally the Norman Maine character wasn’t just a drunk on the way down, he was a mean and sometimes dangerous drunk who had few friends on the way down because he didn’t bother to make any on the way up. This reading made it through to the 1976 version. Bradley Cooper minimizes the conflict faced by the wife, who feels she has to choose between her career or her husband. She’s on the verge of giving up her career when her husband takes himself out of the action – committing suicide, but in such a manner that it can plausibly pass as an accident, and thus obligingly getting out of his wife’s way.

    Here, the suicide can also be seen as an act of despair in part because Jackson is watching Ally sell out. Formerly Maine killed himself in such a way as to avoid scandal or nasty gossip at his wife’s expense. Jackson seems to be inviting it.

    2. If Babs had built up her character the way Cooper did and bestowed as many adoring close-ups on herself, the critics would have beaten the tar out of her. Cooper, however, is now a Very Serious Artist, even though his picture is arguably not much of an improvement......
     
  24. Stefanie M Lesser

    Stefanie M Lesser Forum Resident

    Location:
    santa rosa, ca
    That one is awesome...
     
  25. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    :shake::shake::shake:
     
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