Jump to content

Type keyword(s) to search

A Star is Born (2018)

raven

By raven
in Movies

  • Reply
  • Start Topic

Recommended Posts

Archery

Archery

On 10/25/2018 at 4:53 PM, Enigma X said:

I could be totally off, but I got the impression that the parts Jackson sang was what he added when he arranged it, and Ally sang the chorus and the lyrics she made up in the parking lot. 

I love that Shallow is the bookend to I'll Never Love Again.  Jack takes Ally's fragment and writes a song around it (the first verse is his) and Ally takes the fragment of his love song and turns it into her paean of grief.  

  • Love 4
  • Replies 199
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

Silver Raven
Silver Raven

I think a lot of people decide to criticize anything that's hyped because they want to come across as cooler than the ordinary critic. This movie absolutely blew me away, and Bradley Cooper was j

SuburbanHangSuite
SuburbanHangSuite

Really, really good movie.  It deserves the hype it's getting.  I totally believed their love story and how smitten he was with her.  And how cute was Jack around a bunch of Queens? LOVED the lit

Proclone
Proclone

YMMV, but I thought Ally was trying to play it cool when she met Jack but didn't really succeed.  I also think that was pretty suspicious of him and his motivations until the scene in the parking lot

Blissfool

Blissfool

On 10/25/2018 at 3:53 PM, Enigma X said:

I could be totally off, but I got the impression that the parts Jackson sang was what he added when he arranged it, and Ally sang the chorus and the lyrics she made up in the parking lot. 

That's what I thought.

In the parking lot, she sang him a song she had been working on that she says could work as a chorus, "I'm off the deep end, watch as I dive in...."

He arranged that chorus and the verse she made up in the parking lot and made it into ONE song. 

  • Love 1
Scarlett45

Scarlett45

I saw it in theatres today with my Mom. I had never seen the previous versions so I didn’t know what to expect (I knew it was about a falling star and a rising star falling in love). 

 

I loved it as a cinematic masterpiece. Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga did an excellent job. It was an in-depth and complex display of human intimacy; especially male intimacy- the relationship between he and his brother sticks out to me. I loved it for these reasons. 


I didn’t love it because there was nothing aspirational about it. It was so realistic in that addiction can take away your humanity. 

I thought the best scenario was that she was now free of him and could live her life. The entire time I was screaming in my head “he will bring you down Ally!!!! Don’t marry him.”
It’s not the type of movie I can watch over and over- at least any time soon (my friend had seen in THREE TIMES, this I don’t get). 
But it’s a wonderful piece of cinema.......


And I knew he was going to kill himself when he set the plate down for the dog. (With the steak). I didn’t cry until the dog opened the sliding door and was standing by the garage🥺.

  • Love 3
Blergh

Blergh

Scarlett45,

 

    I thought of all the versions of the story thusfar, Jackson Maine was by far the most likable and interesting male protagonist who truly wanted the best for the female talent even if it meant his own demise. IOW, he wasn't just a speedbump on her road to stardom but someone who truly had quite the tale to tell in his own right that enhanced the story. 

  • Love 6
Scarlett45

Scarlett45

4 minutes ago, Blergh said:

Scarlett45,

 

    I thought of all the versions of the story thusfar, Jackson Maine was by far the most likable and interesting male protagonist who truly wanted the best for the female talent even if it meant his own demise. IOW, he wasn't just a speedbump on her road to stardom but someone who truly had quite the tale to tell in his own right that enhanced the story. 

My Mom said basically the same thing. I told her that in 2018 we would want an emotionally complex man. I do believe he loved her, but he didn’t love himself enough to be husband and partner to anyone. That’s the saddest part. 

  • Love 3
Scarlett45

Scarlett45

On 10/12/2018 at 5:59 PM, Blergh said:

Among other contributing factors to Jackson's self-loathing, self-destructive depression- one cannot overlook the very first one: his mother died giving him life! Note that despite the fact that this was the pecan landowners' daughter's child, there was NO mention of them caring for him or any other memory- just his adult half-brother Bobby (whose own mother may have still been legally wed to their father). Moreover, I seriously doubt their alcoholic father would have been above openly blaming him for the young mother's death (and, perhaps so did the mother's own nuclear family).  Also, the aging alcoholic father did not seem to seek out any new mother figure for Jackson much less new wife (companion?) for himself. Even though there was no indication that Jackson was anything but straight, oddly enough there didn't seem to be any previous wives or even longterm girlfriends so Ally may have been not only his first significant commitment to a woman but perhaps on a subconscious level she may have been a mother substitute (since she WAS a bit younger than him though not as much as his own mother had been compared to his father).  I also thought it a bit sad that not only did Bobby put his life on hold to care for Jackson and their aging father but it doesn't seem as though HE ever married or had children. Just thought I'd put this out.

I understand what you’re saying but I think many of those things could’ve simply been omitted for time purposes (as in what Jackson’s maternal family thought); and many people, especially men without the social pressures women have, have no interest in living a heteronormative lifestyle even if they are heterosexual. If Bradley Copper was playing his age he most certainly could’ve had grown nieces and nephews, his brother was 20yrs his senior.

I fully believe that being raised by an elderly alcholic parent, with your much older brother trying to do his best but wanting to live his own life and not having any ability to over ride the father until he was dead could have an impact on Jackson, Jackson acknowledged as much- but I don’t think the lack of a spouse or kid means that much. But this I am someone who’s unpartnered and childfree. 

  • Love 1
Blergh

Blergh

Scarlett,

 

 I have to say I'm impressed that you did your homework re finding my earlier post on the subject. I have to say that ALL I said about Jackson's maternal family, his father's and half-brother's marital history after the tragedy of his own mother dying giving him life were hypotheses of how I thought things MIGHT have been for these folks since the movie didn't spell out these things. Still, it would have been a bit surprising that there wouldn't have been some women out there either from the maternal blood family or  others seeking to form an 'instant family' via Jackson's [quasi?] widowed father or grown half-brother who wouldn't have attempted to at least throw their hats in the ring to   care for the infant Jackson even if they would have had no real desire for the other Maine men. Just speculation.

  • Love 1
Scarlett45

Scarlett45

14 hours ago, Blergh said:

Scarlett,

 

 I have to say I'm impressed that you did your homework re finding my earlier post on the subject. I have to say that ALL I said about Jackson's maternal family, his father's and half-brother's marital history after the tragedy of his own mother dying giving him life were hypotheses of how I thought things MIGHT have been for these folks since the movie didn't spell out these things. Still, it would have been a bit surprising that there wouldn't have been some women out there either from the maternal blood family or  others seeking to form an 'instant family' via Jackson's [quasi?] widowed father or grown half-brother who wouldn't have attempted to at least throw their hats in the ring to   care for the infant Jackson even if they would have had no real desire for the other Maine men. Just speculation.

Yeah no I’m not saying you’re wrong, that’s all very possible and wouldn’t be socially “a-typical”. 

Shannon L.

Shannon L.

(edited)
4 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I  am honestly hoping Lady Gaga wins all the award.....for no other reason then it will piss people off.

 

 

Heh.  That's how I'm starting to feel about Bohemian Rhapsody :)

Seriously, I knew she was polarizing, but I had no idea to what extent until the night of the Golden Globes.  I like her, too, but, while I think that ASIB is excellent as a whole, I don't think her performance was quite worthy of a win. I'm kind of shocked to hear that she was considered a front runner.  However, if she does win, I'll be just fine with it. 

Edited by Shannon L.
  • Love 3
Enigma X

Enigma X

(edited)

I think Lady Gaga's performance was fine but am more shocked that Cooper did not win for acting and/or directing. I really thought it was beyond good. Was it the best? Well, I have not seen the other movies. So, I will not say he was robbed.

 

I am a huge Queen fan and can't be mad at any accolades going in that direction either.

Edited by Enigma X
  • Love 3
thuganomics85

thuganomics85

(edited)

Whelp, it managed to win Best Song at the Oscars at least, but other than that, it went home empty-handed. Despite likely going to be known as the former frontrunner that crashed and burned, I still love this film and I can not wait to see what Bradley Cooper does next as a writer and director (and, of course, an actor!)

And I know I'll still be playing that soundtrack for quite some time.

Edited by thuganomics85
  • Love 2
Simon Boccanegra

Simon Boccanegra

(edited)
7 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

I can not wait to see what Bradley Cooper does next as a writer and director (and, of course, an actor!)

More music, it would seem.  

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dueling-bernstein-biopics-how-bradley-cooper-took-baton-jake-gyllenhaal-1112599

I'm a little annoyed on Jake G.'s behalf. That really puts his project at a disadvantage, and he appears to have been first to the idea. But...eh. Cooper had the heavy hitters Spielberg and Scorsese in his corner, so I guess it was inevitable. 

Weird how these things come in pairs sometimes. I remember when there were the dueling Capote biopics within a year of each other. Infamous came and went almost unnoticed, despite a cast of Toby Jones, Sandra Bullock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sigourney Weaver, Isabella Rossellini, Jeff Daniels, and Daniel Craig, because the Philip Seymour Hoffman/Catherine Keener one had received all the attention. And maybe it wasn't a good movie; I haven't seen it.  

Edited by Simon Boccanegra
Dejana

Dejana

(edited)
22 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Whelp, it managed to win Best Song at the Oscars at least, but other than that, it went home empty-handed. Despite likely going to be known as the former frontrunner that crashed and burned, I still love this film and I can not wait to see what Bradley Cooper does next as a writer and director (and, of course, an actor!)

And I know I'll still be playing that soundtrack for quite some time.

The history of A Star Is Born at the Oscars is not great, so maybe it never should have been considered such a front-runner to begin with.

"Shallow" at the Oscars:

Edited by Dejana
  • Love 1
adhoc

adhoc

I'd rate this a B-.   Never had any interest in the previous versions because I knew it didn't have a happy ending. But so many people liked it, I thought I'd try it. First 45 or so minutes were really good; the rest kind of plodded along.

From my POV, a lot of issues brought up and then not followed up on sufficiently. For 2.25 hours, I thought we should have had more insight into what drove the characters. I felt kind of cheated. 

Other stuff:

  • Gaga's acting was competent, given the fairly superficial dialog she had to work with.
  • BC--I had a hard time getting past his greasy looking, too long hair. On the plus side, he has nice chest hair. I approve.
  • Did not like when BC sobbed almost uncontrollably without shedding a tear.  
  • I really liked the final song (I'll Never Love Again) a lot. Now *that's* Oscar worthy, IMO. It reminds me of some other song, but I cannot figure out which one.  
  • Love 3
Sakura12

Sakura12

(edited)
10 hours ago, adhoc said:

I'd rate this a B-.   Never had any interest in the previous versions because I knew it didn't have a happy ending. But so many people liked it, I thought I'd try it. First 45 or so minutes were really good; the rest kind of plodded along.

I agree. I liked the first half, then it started to drag. I also feel like I didn't really get to know Jackson and Ally and they had 2.5 hours to get me to know them. 

My complaint is I could barely understand Bradley Coopers growling mumbling. I felt like I was losing my hearing along with him. Weirdly enough I could understand Sam Elliot. So maybe Cooper need to work on his growly mumble acting. Gaga did an okay job basically playing a version of her own life so I don't know how much acting it took. But is she turning into a passable actress. 

The songs were probably the best part of the movie. But that's because they spent most of the focus on them. 

Edited by Sakura12
  • Love 2
teddysmom

teddysmom

(edited)

I had a hard time hearing him too. 

My sister won't watch it because "I don't want to be sad", but I told her it's worth it.  In an alternate universe, Ally would have realized that Jackson may be out of rehab, but he was still struggling with what happened at the Grammys and that he might have ruined everything for her, and maybe stayed home with him more, or made him come out with her, to rehearsals, shows, etc. "I'm not going anywhere til you get up and come with me."

Also, in today's world, she would have made a public statement about supporting him, that he was suffering a lot and was in rehab trying to get better. No one would blame her for his problems, true fans would support them both.  We don't trash people because of an addiction. 

But then we wouldn't have a movie. 

Look at what Robert Downey Jr went thru with his addiction, now he's a mega star.  Everyone has accepted him and we've moved on. 

I agree that Jackson really did love her, and he knew she was getting bad advice about her career.  He knew she was more than a pop star.  He was much more complex, with more back story and reasons for his addictions. 

I am beyond amazed that she wrote almost every song for the soundtrack, knew what needed to be said at each point of the movie and could write such great music for it.  I've always enjoyed her music but she has a die hard fan now. 

I've always liked BCoop and rooted for his career. 

Edited by teddysmom
  • Love 2
truthaboutluv

truthaboutluv

On 2/26/2019 at 11:36 PM, adhoc said:

I'd rate this a B-.   Never had any interest in the previous versions because I knew it didn't have a happy ending. But so many people liked it, I thought I'd try it. First 45 or so minutes were really good; the rest kind of plodded along.

From my POV, a lot of issues brought up and then not followed up on sufficiently. For 2.25 hours, I thought we should have had more insight into what drove the characters. I felt kind of cheated. 

I almost feel like there's no need for me to type anything else because this summed up my feelings perfectly. But I'll still give my thoughts, lol. 

When I first saw the film, I thought it was okay. I didn't absolutely love it but it was cool for what it was. But people were so intense in the fawning over it that I really started feeling like I missed something and that I just didn't get its brilliance. So I watched it again and left even more confused at the hype. 

I'll put it this way, an hour into the movie during my first viewing, I checked my watch to gauge how much longer it was going to be. That's not a good sign. There were so many things that didn't work or flow the way I felt like it should have. I liked that you mentioned wanting more insight into the characters because a big issue for me for the film was the writing. 

A lot of the scenes felt disjointed in a way that felt like pages of dialogue was missing. I know there was all this talk about Bradley wanting them to come across as real people having real conversations and I guess in real life conversations can be awkward and weird at times. But sorry this just didn't work for me and I'm baffled that the film got an Adapted Screenplay Oscar nomination.

And listen, I thought Lady Gaga acquitted herself well enough but I have no clue why she won all those industry awards for that performance and why so many thought she deserved to even win the Oscar. I mean at the end of the day it is all subjective but um, yeah.... 

Bradley was amazing which isn't surprising because I think Bradley Cooper is a very good actor. But I'm totally with those who could barely make out what he was saying half of the time on my first viewing of the film. My sister also insists that he just jacked Kris Kristofferson's performance in the 1970's version of the film.  Now I never saw that version so I can't speak to that. 

I do think his performance was great but again, these things at the end of the day are really subjective so when fans of the film scream how robbed he was of Best Actor, I'm like, "yeah I disagree..." Any one of those actors could have won and a case made for it in my opinion. 

For me, ASIB was good for what it was. Did I have any desire to watch it again, no. Oh and let me add that dickish though Jackson may have been when he essentially called Ally's music shit, I can't say I disagreed with him.

This is where the film sort of lost me. I get what they were going for considering the current time period and I guess who Gaga herself is as a performer but it was a bit of whiplash seeing Ally go from this country rock vibe with Jackson to whatever that mess she was singing was. Also, it made it really hard for me to suspend disbelief that that mess won her a Grammy. Seriously? Couldn't they have just used one of Gaga's old songs? 

  • Love 2
Dejana

Dejana

(edited)

Everything New (and Redone) in the Star Is Born Re-Release (Vulture)

Apparently, there are also alternate takes used with certain songs, and "Always Remember Us This Way" has a version with different lines? I didn't notice this when I saw it. Mostly, I went in expecting additional dialogue and performances here and there. It was hard to tell sometimes what was new, but the bit where

Spoiler

Jack and Ally (in the black halter/leopard pants outfit) climb out of one of the bunks on the tour bus looking very disheveled

was definitely not in the original cut. It eventually leads to a new (to the movie) song performance, so I guess the director thought it was an essential thing to revisit in showcasing the love of the characters.

Anyway, if you really want to see the movie again or haven't seen it before and are interested, I would recommend the extended version.

Edited by Dejana
Steph619

Steph619

(edited)

I went to watch “A Star is Born” today and this is my third time watching the film in theaters. I love this film because of the music and the love story between Ally and Jackson. Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga did such a great job in those roles.

My favorite additional scene that I wish they had kept in the original cut was:

Spoiler

Ally singing “Is That Alright?” to Jackson at the party they had after getting married. It was so sweet and I loved when she said “I hope it’s ok that I love you forever.” It was such a beautiful scene.

Edited by Steph619
  • Love 3
Lonesome Rhodes

Lonesome Rhodes

Having no clue the man was in the film, I was annoyed as can be that Bradley Cooper affected Sam Elliott's voice.  Then, Sam appeared in frame.  I got a good chuckle out of that.

I loved the dutiful daughter Ally who took great care of her dad and his buddies.  I really liked the overall dynamic between her and her dad throughout the film.  He was old school and he was not a mom.  She was a major dreamer and she was respectful of the patriarchy which raised and LOVED her as they could.

Goodness, but BC was not fair!  How is it possible for someone to be THAT hot?!  

The music was, at best pedestrian, imo.  The lyrics were at least interesting.  

I thought using the dog to signify tragedy was an awesome touch.  Yet, the evil manager was correct.  It was only a matter of time. 

  • Love 1
topanga

topanga

On 3/1/2019 at 11:53 AM, Shannon L. said:

I must be the only one who liked the 2nd half of the movie better than the first half.  I mean, I liked the whole movie, but it took me a while to get used to the "real people/real conversations" style of acting and dialog.

I had a hard time buying that Jackson would instantly fall head over heels for Lady Gaga just because she sang a sexy French song and lay down on the bar in front of him. Or that she would immediately have feelings for him beyond fangirl admiration. I almost never believe instant attraction stories unless the actors have amazing chemistry that challenges my cynicism. The only example that comes to mind is when Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney were locked in the trunk together in "Out of Sight." And in that case, they actually had a prolonged conversation that sparked their attraction to one another. Their drop-dead gorgeous looks didn't hurt, either.

That being said, I thought Bradley Cooper was amazing and certainly deserved his Oscar nomination. I didn't see the other performances and can't comment on whether he was robbed. 

  • Useful 1
  • Love 4
Dejana

Dejana

(edited)

The movie just debuted on HBO yesterday!

I'm catching a few things in the rewatch that I didn't notice before, like Jack mouthing the words as Ally records "Look What I Found". During the visit to Memphis, Ally is having breakfast with Dave Chappelle's family and tells his wife, "I don't know where my mother is," but it's in the background as Jack and Noodles talk in the kitchen. It would have been nice to learn a little bit more about Ally's life onscreen. From real-life Q&As, I know her last name is Campana but I don't think it's said once onscreen, though as a star, she is only known by her first name, unlike some of the other versions of the character. As mononyms go, I think  "Ally" seems kind of indistinct compared to, say, Cher/Madonna/Beyoncé/Rihanna, I'm not sure it would actually take off.

Whenever characters spontaneously wed in movies/TV, I always wonder about the legalities and sure enough, in Shelby County, Tennessee you can only get a marriage license on weekdays, and the wedding definitely happens on a Saturday. If they go to some courthouse the next Monday or stop in Vegas on the way home to LA, no problem and for me, it's not a flaw for a narrative film to skip over boring things like paperwork.  I really missed the extended wedding reception scene that was from the Encore version, which I think I prefer.

I think Jack, given his heavy substance abuse and age, would have run into, ahem, *performance issues* with Ally at least once, but I suppose that was the one bit of vanity that the director/co-writer allowed himself the character.

Rez is still detestable; I watched the 1937 version earlier this year and Vicki's manager served the same function while not coming off like such a mustache twirler. I did really like the "No drink? No socks." exchange, though.  

Edited by Dejana
  • Love 2
rmontro

rmontro

For whatever reason (probably curiosity), I've seen all four versions of this movie.  I think the best is the Judy Garland/James Mason version - it has a lot to offer on a lot of different levels.  I think this is my second favorite though.  

I like how they put the suicidal death back in, so he wouldn't get in the way of her success (the '76 version appeared to make it an accident, or at best was very ambivalent about it).  Speaking of Streisand, it makes me wonder if they picked Gaga partly because she had a large nose.  I got a little tired of everyone telling her she was pretty while she insisted she wasn't though.  Gaga's face is very interesting.

Another interesting bit was how her character's star only had one name, "Ally".  In the other versions, the female lead actually changes her last name to her husband's upon his death.  Here she doesn't have to change it, she just has to add it.

It seemed to me like Bradley Cooper was making his voice intentionally deep at times to match Sam Elliott's.  Which would make sense, since they were brothers.

  • Love 4
RealHousewife

RealHousewife

I haven’t seen a movie in theaters I loved as much since this one. The story, acting of and chemistry between Gaga and Bradley, the beautiful music, just love. It’s unfair how talented both of them are. I tried watching other versions because some said they were better, and they didn’t pull me in the same. It could be my generation, the music, I don’t know. But this is an all-time favorite movie of mine. No it’s not a feel-good film, but it is a beautiful work of art. 

  • Love 2
topanga

topanga

On 5/29/2020 at 5:09 PM, RealHousewife said:

I haven’t seen a movie in theaters I loved as much since this one. The story, acting of and chemistry between Gaga and Bradley, the beautiful music, just love. It’s unfair how talented both of them are. I tried watching other versions because some said they were better, and they didn’t pull me in the same. It could be my generation, the music, I don’t know. But this is an all-time favorite movie of mine. No it’s not a feel-good film, but it is a beautiful work of art. 

I also saw this in the theater , and I think that's one of the main reasons I enjoyed it as much as I did. The music sounded great, but I could also hear the dialogue. 

I still don't totally buy that they fell for each other as quickly as they did, but once they were together, I believed their relationship entirely--the highs, the lows, and the very, very lows.

  • Love 2
RealHousewife

RealHousewife

2 minutes ago, topanga said:

I also saw this in the theater , and I think that's one of the main reasons I enjoyed it as much as I did. The music sounded great, but I could also hear the dialogue. 

I still don't totally buy that they fell for each other as quickly as they did, but once they were together, I believed their relationship entirely--the highs, the lows, and the very, very lows.

As much as I love the movie, I totally get this critique. I don't care how amazing someone is, it takes time to develop such strong feelings. 

  • Love 2
truthaboutluv

truthaboutluv

(edited)
1 hour ago, topanga said:

I still don't totally buy that they fell for each other as quickly as they did,

And I think that's one of the main things that stopped me from loving the film as much as others did. Because the love story was so essential to the overall film but I didn't really buy it. It all seemed so sudden. Also, while Gaga acquitted herself well, for me, she still wasn't good enough to truly sell me on it.

And so I bought everything Bradley was giving onscreen. But her, not so much. I did love most of the music, especially Jackson's music.  I liked the bluesy/country/rock vibe of it. Gaga's character's music though became way too "songs that Lady Gaga rejected" to me, once the character went solo. 

Edited by truthaboutluv
  • Love 3

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...