A Star is Born (2018 - Bradley Cooper & Lady Gaga) (1 Viewer)

[Tino]

Gotta let this one sit a bit. The more I think on it the more I’m liking it.

 

[Tino]

Sam Elliott has a scene that I hope gets him an Oscar nom. You’ll know it when you see it.

 

[TJPC]

The 1954 version is a musical version of the 1937, with some scenes being word for word (Norman in the sanatorium).

The 1976 Streisand version takes some radical departures and is only generally similar to the first two in theme. I have only seen the trailer for the latest version. From viewing this, it looks as if it is based on the Streisand version.

 

[mattCR]

This was much better than I had expected. Thoroughly enjoyed this. A-

 

[David Weicker]

Apparently Bradley Cooper will be a guest host when TCM shows the ‘54 Garland/Mason/Cukor version Sunday evening (10/7)

 

[Jake Lipson]

Tino's spoiler from post #55 is in the trailer, so anyone who has seen that won't find any new information under those tags.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Apparently Bradley Cooper will be a guest host when TCM shows the ‘54 Garland/Mason/Cukor version Sunday evening (10/7)

This morning I watch a 19 minute interview he did with Filmstruck/Criterion. He talked about the film, the directors he worked with that indirectly influence him as a director which were Eastwood and Russell and his co-stars Stefani, Sam Elliot and Dave Chappelle.

 

[Tino]

This morning I watch a 19 minute interview he did with Filmstruck/Criterion. He talked about the film, the directors he worked with that indirectly influence him as a director which were Eastwood and Russell and his co-stars Stefani, Sam Elliot and Dave Chappelle.

Stefani? You mean Gaga right?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Stefani? You mean Gaga right?

Yup and he used her real first name Stefani not Lady Gaga which tells me that she answers to Stefani.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Yup and he used her real first name Stefani not Lady Gaga which tells me that she answers to Stefani.

Yeah -- there was even some discussion last year about her potentially using her real name on the movie credits.

https://deadline.com/2017/04/lady-g...star-is-born-photo-bradley-cooper-1202070890/

I assume they went with Lady Gaga in order to benefit the film in terms of promotion so that it would be clear to the masses who she is.

 

[Malcolm R]

If she continues to act, she'll probably transitition to her real name. The Rock eventually switched to Dwayne Johnon over time.

If she gets nominated for acting awards, it'll be interesting if they use Gaga or Stefani.

 

[Tino]

. The Rock eventually switched to Dwayne Johnon over time.

I think that had more to do with the WWE owning the name “ The Rock”.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I have a feeling that this might break the streak of small independent movies that didn't have mainstream success winning Best Picture since Return of the King. It checks all of the boxes.

Interestingly enough, it is most faithful to the 1937 original film with Gaynor and March, even though they're musicians instead of actors. All of the major beats are the same, with a great scene between Elliot and Gaga near the end borrowed from the 1954 Cukor version.

Cooper and Gaga are phenomenal. When Jackson and Ally need to keep an entire stadium or an entire music festival in their thrall, they do it with ease. But the quiet moments, when it's just the two of them alone in a room together, with the camera pushed in close, they are no less electric. They own that screen, and they draw the audience into it.

The supporting cast is terrific. There is a moment, about four-fifths of the way through the movie, where the camera lingers on Sam Elliott's face for several seconds. That single shot might earn him an Oscar nomination, and it deserves to. I get the sense that Dave Chapelle's role was cut down significantly in the editing room, but what's left is great. Andrew Dice Clay is almost unrecognizable as Ally's father, but he is pitch perfect in that role. Anthony Ramos (of Hamilton fame) makes the most of every moment of screentime as Ally's friend Ramon.

The songs feel at the level of the venues in which they are being played. All of them -- across several genres and ranging from spare performances sung between two people in a supermarket parking lot to glittery glossy and packaged productions -- speak to these two characters and where they're at or where they've been or where they want to go. Cooper is credible as the veteran of the music industry, Lady Gaga reminds us why her talent would have rocketed her forward regardless of the circumstances in which she broke through.

Every place, and every person in it, achieves verisimilitude. Even though it was big and bold and larger than life in a way that only movies can be, there was never a moment where I was pulled out of the proceedings and reminded that I was watching a movie. A good chunk of the opening act of the film is set in a drag bar, and the movie is acutely attuned to the ecosystem of that world, without lingering in ways that feel voyeuristic. You believe that all of these people know each other, and have histories with each other. Each new environment we're introduced to achieves the same feat.

 

[Tino]

. There is a moment, about four-fifths of the way through the movie, where the camera lingers on Sam Elliott's face for several seconds. That single shot might earn him an Oscar nomination, and it deserves to.

This is the scene I alluded to in my earlier post saying the same thing. I hope he gets that Oscar nom.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I hadn't seen any of the previous versions of this (yet) and decided to go in blind, though I will go back and watch the previous versions now.

I absolutely loved it.

I would be absolutely fine with this winning Best Picture.k

Cooper and Gaga were both magnificent, and Cooper did a great job writing and directing too. I think nominations for them are locked in at this point, and Sam Elliot is very likely too.

Gaga will win, at a minimum, Best Song, and she could very well double win for acting as well.

Per Academy rules, only two songs per film can be nominated in the song category. However, WB has to submit for consideration what they want. I think they would be wise to only submit one, therefore preventing the possibility of splitting the vote. (The only-two-nominations-per-film rule was added after the back-to-back years when Dreamgirls and Enchanted had three nominations each but didn't win.) In this case, I think the one that they should submit is Shallow, which is a real highlight of the film in both the parking lot and the performance sequence.

As a followup to my posts about the soundtrack, I went into Target yesterday afternoon and got it, but we had to find an employee to ask for it. Bizarrely, they didn't have any copies out; they were there, but they were all in the back stockroom. Why they would stock it, but not put it on the shelves where customers can see it, is absolutely baffling to me.

Because the exclusive at Target is a poster and not extra music, I didn't particularly care if I got it -- I wouldn't have if Amazon had stocked the explicit version for release day -- but since I ended up getting it from Target, I took the exclusive one. The poster in the Target exclusive version is printed on the reverse side of the album booklet and folds out. The thing is that if you were to actually hang this, then you wouldn't have artwork to slide into the CD case anymore since it is on the reverse side of that. This to me makes it essentially useless since I want to keep the artwork in the jewel case, though I might have hung it if the poster was on a separate piece of paper.

It seems to me like the soundtrack might have some songs that are extended versus what is in the film or cut from the film, since I don't remember all of these being in there, although everything I remember is on the soundtrck. It makes me really want to see the movie again. Has anyone else gotten the soundtrack? If so, what do you think? Am I nuts?

 

[JimmyO]

All this talk makes me want to see this either tomorrow or Monday.

 

[Chris Will]

I like most of the songs on the OST, except the ones that are more pop like. I’m just not a huge fan of pop music. I absolutely hate the dialogue tracks, I hate dialogue on any OST. I buy them for the music, whether it’s score or songs, not for dialogue. I was hopping I could just delete the dialogue tracks but they all either cross fade into or out of the next/previous track.

As far as the movie goes, I really, really enjoyed it. Gaga totally surprised me with her acting, she was wonderful. Everyone in the movie did a really good job. Cooper’s directing was very solid and what a way to start a directing career. I enjoyed most of the songs, except the pop ones but, even those didn’t drag the movie down. It’s funny how the movie mimics how I feel about Gaga in real life. I think her voice is great and at its best when not doing pop but, that’s her genre and why I’m not a huge fan. Anyway, the movie is fantastic and probably one of the first real BP contenders.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I haven't seen the film yet, but plan to do so on Monday. Cooper stated on Filmstruck that the movie was filmed in 42 days.

 

[Jake Lipson]

If she gets nominated for acting awards, it'll be interesting if they use Gaga or Stefani.

I think they will have to go with Gaga for awards on this because that is how she is named in the credits of the film. I've never heard of someone's name being called at an awards ceremony by another name than they used in the credits of the film (except for the Adele Dazeem incident.)

 

[Malcolm R]

I think they will have to go with Gaga for awards on this because that is how she is named in the credits of the film. I've never heard of someone's name being called at an awards ceremony by another name than they used in the credits of the film (except for the Adele Dazeem incident.)

If they let John Travolta announce the nominees, maybe his pronounciation of "Lady Gaga" will come out as "Stefani Germanotta."