A Star Is Born Reviews
A Star Is Born review
Posted : 2 years, 1 month ago on 13 March 2022 05:05This is not the only, or first, 'A Star is Born' film. There is one from 1937 with Mitzi Gaynor and Fredric March, my personal favourite. There is one from 1954, the most famous, which is overlong but does contain Judy Garland's best ever performance and terrific songs (especially the heart-wrenching "The Man That Got Away"), love James Mason in it too. There is the 1976 film with Barbra Streisand, personally don't care for it but Streisand sings beautifully and "Evergreen" is to die for.
As far as the versions of 'A Star is Born' goes, this one from 2018 compares extremely favourably. Not quite as good as the 1937 film, but on the same level as 1954 and better than 1976. May not love it as much as others, but the appeal is justified and the acclaim is deserved from my personal perspective. In terms of films from 2018, 'A Star is Born' is among the better ones.
It's not perfect. A few story elements are a touch rushed and lack credibility, like Ally getting stage spotlight in such a short space of time, and occasionally it's a little on-the-nose like the making Ally glitzier advice from Rez.
The final act also could have been tightened, slightly too padded and dragged out.
What 'A Star is Born' does so well is taking a familiar story and making it still fresh and relatable. It's always entertaining and glamorous yet the love story is every bit as important, and even more so, and is both charming and emotionally impactful. Everything about 'A Star is Born' is slick, endlessly entertaining and with lots of heart and surprising poignancy, also had the experience of not a dry eye being in the auditorium with tears silently rolling with me.
Visually, it's very eye catching and sumptuously made, beautifully shot with lots of glitzy glamour and style. Loved the songs, none are quite on the same level as "The Man That Got Away" and "Evergreen" but they are extremely well written, easy to remember, have a wide range of emotions, are very well sung and staged, are integrated beautifully integrated into the story, some moving the story forward or telling it through the song rather than being a grinding things to a halt distraction. "I'll Never Love Again" and "Shallow" stand out.
Dialogue has wit and heart and the story shines particularly in the first third. Cannot say anything bad about the performances, with Lady Gaga providing a contender for the most surprising performances of the year in a quite outstanding acting debut (her singing is also absolutely great of course), a star is born indeed. Bradley Cooper gives one of his best performances as a charismatic and charming yet conflicted leading man, do not associate him with musicals and worried as to whether he would fit but it fits him like a glove. He too directs for the first time, and it is hard to believe that a directing job this slick and audacious was only his debut, really do disagree about his contributions being a vanity project with so much effort being put into everything. There is fine support from particularly Sam Elliott and the chemistry between the two leads is wholly believable.
Altogether, very, very good and often splendid. 8/10 Bethany Cox
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A good movie
Posted : 4 years, 3 months ago on 7 January 2020 11:14To be honest, when I heard they were coming up with a 4th version of this story, I canāt say I was really excited by this idea. However, since it had been very well received, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I was still not blown away by the story. Indeed, it was still rather generic and, above all, they could have removed the āevilā producer who was just lame and unnecessary. Still, I have to admit that I still did enjoy the damned thing, in fact, I liked it even more than the classic version starring Judy Garland. Indeed, what made this movie really worked were the really strong performances from both Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga who had some great chemistry together. Concerning Bradley Cooper, I wasnāt really surprised as the guy has slowly became one of the most interesting actors at work nowadays, something I didnāt expect following his breakthrough with āThe Hangoverā. Above all, I was quite impressed by Lady Gaga. Of course, you might argue that to play a singer was not such a huge stretch for her but many singers tried something similar before and failed miserably (Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey,ā¦). Eventually, I thought she was terribly convincing as Ally who was in fact nothing like Lady Gaga herself and, as I mentioned before, her chemistry with Bradley Cooper was really neat. Finally, I really loved many of the songs played during this movie which was a rare thing for me. While watching this flick, I couldnāt help thinking that it was a pity that Lady Gaga had spent much of her career with some rather annoying pop songs when she is in fact a really strong singer. Anyway, to conclude, even I still think it was nothing original, I have to admit that it was actually a really decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Ā
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A poignant and deeply resonant remake
Posted : 4 years, 9 months ago on 4 July 2019 03:478.9/10
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A Star Is Born review
Posted : 5 years, 3 months ago on 20 January 2019 03:410 comments, Reply to this entry
A Star Is Born
Posted : 5 years, 4 months ago on 3 December 2018 03:28Color me surprised at this fourth (fifth if you count 1932ās What Price Hollwood?) dip into the well has produced such an enjoyable version. Of course, itās immediate predecessor was the propertyās nadir, Barbra Streisandās onerous 1976 version, so nearly anything wouldāve registered as an improvement. But 2018ās version of A Star Is Born isnāt just an improvement, itās a well-made romantic melodrama thatās second only to Judy Garlandās immortal 1954 version.
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Everyone knows the barebones of this story: fading star, either a movie star or a singer, meets undiscovered girl talent, either aspiring actress or singer, and champions her career. They fall in love, and she remains loyal to him as his self-destruction threatens to destroy her nascent career in addition to his crumbling one. The final moments, if done right, are tearjerkers of the highest order as the fading star commits suicide and the ingƩnue pays tribute as a moment of personal and artistic triumph overcoming her sorrow. Roll the end credits.
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This version of A Star Is Born proves how much wiggle room there can be between those signposts. Much like the 1976 version, our doomed romantic pair are musicians. Heās a country/blues rocker, and sheās a budding pop star in the making. It makes sense to keep this story change from the prior film as the mystique of movie stars crumbled with the passing of the studio era. Thereās no longer a large publicity department churning out fictional backstories on its stable of stars, remaking them into totems and cinematic idols, but the music industry still allows for pop stars to create artificial personas to hide behind.
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Speaking of, one of the genius moves this film makes was to cast Lady Gaga as the aspiring pop starlet. Gagaās exactly the kind of persona-heavy pop star Iām talking about. Who is the real person behind the construct, and does it matter? Well, A Star Is Born has moments of doubt or criticism that feel lifted from her time spent slumming away in dive bars finessing her kooky outfits and shiny dance-pop. Whether or not theyāre directly lifted is immaterial, they feel real and Gaga plays them with an honesty and naked emotional candor thatās quite refreshing.
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Itās not just that Gagaās appearance lends the film a kind of honesty that the presence of an actress who can sing wouldnāt, but that weāre familiar enough with her as a construct that itās revelatory to watch the real human being underneath it all. Gagaās performance is candid, truthful, and completely free of artifice. Thereās honest to god quaking, aching vulnerability thatās endearing. You root for her to succeed, youāre invested in her triumphs, and you understand why she sticks it out with this man thatās a liability to her professional and personal life at numerous points.
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Yet A Star Is Born 2018 differs from its predecessors in a highly noticeable way. Janet Gaynor and Judy Garlandās versions gave the two roles near equal footing even if the female lead got just a touch more sympathy and screen time, and the Streisand version orbited around its star to the occasional detriment of everything else. This version stacks the audience sympathy, understanding, and development in favor of Bradley Cooperās doomed rock star with Gaga routinely playing second fiddle. This A Star Is Born is more of his story then it is hers or theirs.
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Maybe the fact that Cooper co-wrote, directed, and starred in it has something to do with that, or maybe itās that thereās such a strong focus on the trauma, addiction, recovery, and mental illness of his rock star that Gagaās rapid ascent up the career ladder couldnāt help but fade away. Cooperās performance is an absolute marvel. The choice to end the film with Gaga singing the love song he wrote for her only for it to dissolve to a happy time of them goofing around the piano and figuring it out is a smart one. It ends the film on a note of creative expression and romance and differentiates it from the weepy downbeats that end the prior films. I wouldnāt call it a happy ending, but itās a more emotionally complex one than the others.
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Itās Sam Elliottās last minute speech, the one about how there only being a few notes between an octave and itās how you play them that matters, that summarizes the film, and works as an argument for it. If we can sit through endless remakes of other properties, Robin Hood and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword as very recent examples, then surely we can afford space for another spin on this story. Like any other long running and heavily adapted property, some versions are better than others, so props to Cooper for making what is easily the second best. Itās a well-worn story told with grit, humor, romance, music, and tremendous empathy. Iām shocked at its greatness just as much as you are. Ā Ā
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