A Meltdown is Born: Why ASIB will flop...critically

[ReidOne 12,427]

Here's the problem with ASIB... it's an Oscar classic. And Bradley Cooper himself is an Oscar favorite. So the whole project reeeeeeeeeeks of Oscar desperation. 

It's not a good look for Gags.

I thought she was above chasing trophies? 

[Werk 13,166]

I agree like tbh I get this feeling they're will be huge negativity once the film gets released.

[FATCAT 58,764]

I'm worried, but at the same time, I'm not.

We won't know until we know.

[Buddy 5,686]

It probably will,  but bitch, Barbara Streisand flopped too, and she's still Barbara Streisand

[Versace 7,810]

9 hours ago, Totodile said:

She knows her place so she probably refused the part out of pure fear.

 

 

In her head: Omg the Queen, I have to stay calm and collected among her presence, I do not wanna be punished, not hearing LG5 may hinder my artistic performances for the future.

[Levine 22,032]

Welp, you just SNATCHED me and I think you'll be right (don't forget to bookmark this thread).

Gaga is my concern tho and I don't think she'll be fine. I mean, I really think that if she delivers a GREAT era with LG5 (like commercial success, she all over the places again, gigantic views on her videos ecc ecc) the critics will kiss her ass; if LG5 is a flop they'll destroy her. 

 

[prince 4,688]

Let's not forget Gaga will be stepping in the shoes of Judy Garland as well 

[SlaeUrAnus 15,519]

12 hours ago, giskardsb said:

you guys work way too hard at deciding that stuff will be bad before it actually happens.  

 

This is not an opinion with made up facts, @PunkTheFunk done his research and I applaud him for this well executed thread.

[ZiggyZiggs 29,973]

The 1976 Barbra Streisand ASIB received  mostly -ve reviews but that didn't stop it from winning an Oscar and numerous GG'S . So I'm not too nervous about Bradley's version  

[freebit 6,117]

OMG, I knew the name Jon Peters sounded familiar. I looked him up and he's the same guy Kevin Smith talked about in that Q&A:

 Luckily he's not writing it or Gaga would likely somehow be fighting a giant spider at the end. 

Anyway, incendiary title at first glance, but well-made points.  

I read that the original was written by Dorothy Parker...that's a lot to live up to. Though, to Will Fetters' credit, most of those screenplays are adaptations of disposable Nicolas Sparks novels, so that endeavor was probably like trying to make gold out of ****. That said, I'm skeptical. 

12 hours ago, djBuffoon said:

However, people like Akiva Goldsman and James Gunn are two examples of screenwriters who wrote some of the most disastrous scripts in recent memory, but went on to deliver critically and commercial successful films.

^This gives me a bit of hope. 

Anyway, they'll have to find a way to breathe new life into this story, and not make it weirdly archaic and out-of-step with the times like Barbra's was (Per Ebert's review of the Babs version, she starts out doing some sort of old fashioned lounge act with two African-American women, and they call themselves The Oreos. )

Luckily, Gaga isn't afraid of being portrayed as unglamorous, so she'd probably be totally up for something dark and gritty, and hopefully the material will be there, and if not, maybe the tone of the music will be (for some reason my mind keeps going to Lana's creepily disturbing Put Me in a Movie, specifically the lyric "You know I can't make it on my own"). She's likely willing to go to darkly sexual places where the previous incarnations of her character weren't able to go. That shift in tone would at least differentiate it from the other versions. 

I also feel like Gaga's own IRL come-up would probably make a compelling screenplay. Gaga has probably seen a lot of crazy things during her time in the business, so hopefully Bradley & the writers will be taking notes. 

As for Bradley, does anyone else kind of wish there was someone else in the leading man role? I find him to be so middle-of-the-road. Though I feel like Bradley would be able to play a real unlikeable asshole if he wanted to (like a Dr. Puke type). 

[Gala 478]

 

[VforVendetta 2,024]

I have a simiar feeling...

[Kino Robi 2]

GUYS CAN U TELL ME WHO IS THIS WOMAN? I KEEP SEEING HER ON THREADS HERE AT GGD? WHO IS SHE?https://lh5.ggpht.com/-HdW0BLPu810/UWsuDqazZlI/AAAAAAAAA-8/CaMPM9a2m_g/s200/gretchenft.gif

 

[PunkTheFunk 123,221]

1 hour ago, Kino Robi said:

GUYS CAN U TELL ME WHO IS THIS WOMAN? I KEEP SEEING HER ON THREADS HERE AT GGD? WHO IS SHE?https://lh5.ggpht.com/-HdW0BLPu810/UWsuDqazZlI/AAAAAAAAA-8/CaMPM9a2m_g/s200/gretchenft.gif

 

Gretchen (a Brazilian singer who rose to fame in the 1970s)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretchen_(singer)

[PunkTheFunk 123,221]

5 hours ago, freebit said:

OMG, I knew the name Jon Peters sounded familiar. I looked him up and he's the same guy Kevin Smith talked about in that Q&A:

 Luckily he's not writing it or Gaga would likely somehow be fighting a giant spider at the end. 

Anyway, incendiary title at first glance, but well-made points.  

I read that the original was written by Dorothy Parker...that's a lot to live up to. Though, to Will Fetters' credit, most of those screenplays are adaptations of disposable Nicolas Sparks novels, so that endeavor was probably like trying to make gold out of ****. That said, I'm skeptical. 

^This gives me a bit of hope. 

Anyway, they'll have to find a way to breathe new life into this story, and not make it weirdly archaic and out-of-step with the times like Barbra's was (Per Ebert's review of the Babs version, she starts out doing some sort of old fashioned lounge act with two African-American women, and they call themselves The Oreos. )

Luckily, Gaga isn't afraid of being portrayed as unglamorous, so she'd probably be totally up for something dark and gritty, and hopefully the material will be there, and if not, maybe the tone of the music will be (for some reason my mind keeps going to Lana's creepily disturbing Put Me in a Movie, specifically the lyric "You know I can't make it on my own"). She's likely willing to go to darkly sexual places where the previous incarnations of her character weren't able to go. That shift in tone would at least differentiate it from the other versions. 

I also feel like Gaga's own IRL come-up would probably make a compelling screenplay. Gaga has probably seen a lot of crazy things during her time in the business, so hopefully Bradley & the writers will be taking notes. 

As for Bradley, does anyone else kind of wish there was someone else in the leading man role? I find him to be so middle-of-the-road. Though I feel like Bradley would be able to play a real unlikeable asshole if he wanted to (like a Dr. Puke type). 

You bring up some great points

You're right about Will Fetters -- he's been stuck writing screenplays for Nicholas Sparks adaptations, so maybe he hasn't had his chance to truly shine yet? 

Like you I'm still very skeptical. His first film "Remember Me" was an original screenplay and critics pointed out his script as a low point, which worries me. 

Spoiler

(from Wiki)

The film currently holds a "Rotten" rating of 27% based on 108 reviews on the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The site's consensus states, "Its leads are likeable, but Remember Me suffers from an overly maudlin script and a borderline offensive final twist."

Andrea Gronvall gave a similar assessment in The Chicago Reader, writing "Allen Coulter directed this morose and sluggish drama, which gets more mileage from Pattinson's anguished profile than from Will Fetters's thunderously overwritten screenplay."

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a D+, calling it a "shameless contraption of ridiculously sad things befalling attractive people." Schwarzbaum was also critical of Pattinson's acting and the script.

Praying that his collab with Bradley Cooper stops ASIB from turning into a sappy Sparks-esque romantic drama 

As much as I want this version to go places the previous three versions hadn't gone, I have a feeling it will play it safe. Bradley Cooper doesn't strike me as a risk-taker for some reason.

Damn. I wish Gaga was in better hands  But then again, she's a first-time leading actress (for movies at least). I would imagine the more experienced directors/writers might not be willing to take the risk.

My dream adaptation would have, I don't know, Tom Hooper as director (he did The King's Speech, Les Mis, and The Danish Girl) and Ralph Fiennes or Clive Owen as the lead (who could both pull off the gorgeous-but-unlikeable-asshole role).