ASIB Reviews | RT: 90% | MC: 88

[Katharine Hepburn 4,607]

throwback to when we had these sorts of headlines:

 

The recovery  The acclaim 

[hpmcmill 1,999]

10 minutes ago, Madam Margolyes said:

A positive review from Deadline, counts for RT 

https://deadline.com/video/a-star-is-born-review-bradley-cooper-lady-gaga-movie-video/

So goooooood!

[Bolkins 4,125]

1 hour ago, Mulholland said:

Though it has a lot working for it (hype, Queen fans, people being familiar already with the songs, Rami Malek, etc.) it also has a LOT working against it (troubled production, Bryan Singer involvement, the film apparently ignoring gay stuff and AIDS stuff), so... it could go either way.

The film sounded way more interesting when Sasha Baron Cohen was involved. He wanted a warts and all stroy of Freddie’s life, including his sexuality and his hedonistic lifestyle. Brian May apparently shut down the idea and Cohen left because he didn’t want to make a watered down account of Freddie’s life. The film that we have now is the watered down, glossy version that Queen preferred. Anyone who wants to see that film will know about Freddie’s life and probably wouldn’t of minded seeing the grittier parts, it hardly would of been a shock. It’s a shame that the story was manipulated and I hope the fact key parts are missing will work against its favour.

[dollardays 3,866]

A new review by Kelley Dong for Mubi.com, contains some spoilers

It's really well written

https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/toronto-correspondences-4-the-disarming-beauty-of-a-star-is-born

Spoiler

The best secrets encountered in the cinema are those which are so subliminal that sometimes one does not immediately realize the preciousness of what has been given, nor recognize that any gift was offered at all— but still I leave the theatre totally changed. The meanings of these surreptitious moments can be tricky to articulate without airy hyperbole—we call this "hype." I risk this all to tell you about A Star is Born, an uneven work of startling sincerity and disarming beauty. 

The third remake of William A. Wellman's 1937 film, Bradley Cooper stars in his directorial debut as Jackson Maine, a rockstar hanging to life by a thread and simultaneously led closer to rock bottom by alcoholism and drug addiction. One rough night in drunken stupor, Jackson stumbles into a gay bar and watches as Ally (Lady Gaga) performs an exuberant cover of Édith Piaf's "La vie en rose." Her heavily-made up face, veiled in red spotlight, distorts her unwanted features and overshadows a modest life as a server. Dusk approaches as the pair leaves together, ending up in a secluded parking lot where the masks finally come off to reveal the truth that they—singer-songwriters of preternatural talent, capable of conjuring hit records from thin air—are perfect for each other.

Their fates are thus locked together and sealed: Jackson—Jack to Ally—invites his new girlfriend on tour, introducing Ally to nationwide attention and the opportunity to become a star of her own. Like its predecessors, the structure of A Star is Born is that of two timelines moving in opposite directions, a literal crossfade: As Ally's blossoming career fades in, Jack's career fades out into oblivion. But Cooper reconfigures the gears of this familiar machine to function as a far more speculative wonder, to question something above money, drugs, sex, and fame itself. Can pure genius survive without compromise or surrender to others? Can two geniuses, masters at the same craft, be together without the presence of competition?

Alongside screenplay co-writer Eric Roth (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Will Fetters (Remember Me), Cooper filters the philosophical ponderings swirling around Jack and Ally's lives through the elusive, contingent prism of gender. However, it is not Ally—whose blushing and gaping at celebrity life first suggests a two-dimensional trajectory—who must reckon with herself as a woman, but Jack who continually tries and fails to uncover an identity beyond the role that he plays as a man. His onstage tough guy persona—with a hat too big and a beard that hides his round rosy cheeks—only disappears with Ally, who challenges him with her blatant disregard for such standards. Only in the company of each other, away from the clutches of the hierarchical world where only one can win, can Jack and Ally be with each other as equals. In their bathtub, Ally applies mascara and lipstick to Jack's face—a process to which she is accustomed, of putting on the appearance of womanhood. He beams at her and they embrace, briefly joined in spirit, their bodily difference erased by the soapy water. Never fazed by the myth of her inferiority, Ally takes bigger strides towards realizing her dream of stardom as Jack—unable to retrieve confidence outside of his botched attempt to be a cowboy, and constantly fearful of losing his natural, magic touch—shrinks more each day as Ally's face appears on television screens, billboards and JumboTrons, looming over him.

Because Bradley Cooper seems to see the bond between Jack and Ally as a sacred one, little attention is given to the details of their surroundings. Conversations seep from one space into another in a knot of J-cuts, with a swaying camera that swirls past all else that is not love. Hands touching and eyes meeting are filmed in slowed motion, but Ally's skyrocketing into fame is made up of far swifter sequences: Near instantly, a viral YouTube video of Jack and Ally's duet becomes a record deal, a dance-pop single about tight jeans becomes a top-charting album, and a Best New Artist Grammy award becomes a world tour. Concerts begin and end within seconds, with songs frequently cut by editor Jay Cassidy in favor of the two cuddling back home on the couch, in bed, or at the piano, singing together. Throughout his downward spiral, Jack's suffering is linked to a dead father and mother of whom we know close to nothing, and an incurable case of tinnitus—an unnecessarily wretched origin story to an already-pitiable fellow. But all there is to really believe is that Jack may never feel at home, not with Ally nor in his own skin. And despite a constant reassurance woven into the script that addictions and depressive symptoms are not Jack's fault, it is the mold of the franchise that generally dictates that guilt and shame pave the path to self-destruction. So it is in its final seconds that A Star is Born reverts to that jarring and brutal tradition, involving the total end of one star and the divine birth of another.

It initially appears that in this iteration, Ally is superior—the subversive, feminist feature the festival has been seeking out, perhaps? But this is not the case. Cooper paints a wide mural of vulnerable, private intimacies—tearful apologies, petty misunderstandings, smearing cake into each other's faces—between the couple, suggesting that balance between the two was always within reach by way of trust and respect, alongside an unlearning of the world. Addition and subtraction, once again. And still there is so much more hidden in A Star is Born, regarding binaries of success and failure, art and capitalism, and the self-correction that occurs within and throughout this elusive series of remakes.

Has any film at the festival so far mystified you like this, Danny? One that you keep thinking about, or find pleasing to simply parse through?

best,

Kelley

 

 

[Scathach 6,674]

46 minutes ago, Kara Brasil said:

When will the good sis Angela Cheng submit her review?

Can someone explain 

[Othon 33,458]

1 minute ago, dollardays said:

A new review by Kelley Dong for Mubi.com, contains some spoilers

It's really well written

https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/toronto-correspondences-4-the-disarming-beauty-of-a-star-is-born

  Hide contents

The best secrets encountered in the cinema are those which are so subliminal that sometimes one does not immediately realize the preciousness of what has been given, nor recognize that any gift was offered at all— but still I leave the theatre totally changed. The meanings of these surreptitious moments can be tricky to articulate without airy hyperbole—we call this "hype." I risk this all to tell you about A Star is Born, an uneven work of startling sincerity and disarming beauty. 

The third remake of William A. Wellman's 1937 film, Bradley Cooper stars in his directorial debut as Jackson Maine, a rockstar hanging to life by a thread and simultaneously led closer to rock bottom by alcoholism and drug addiction. One rough night in drunken stupor, Jackson stumbles into a gay bar and watches as Ally (Lady Gaga) performs an exuberant cover of Édith Piaf's "La vie en rose." Her heavily-made up face, veiled in red spotlight, distorts her unwanted features and overshadows a modest life as a server. Dusk approaches as the pair leaves together, ending up in a secluded parking lot where the masks finally come off to reveal the truth that they—singer-songwriters of preternatural talent, capable of conjuring hit records from thin air—are perfect for each other.

Their fates are thus locked together and sealed: Jackson—Jack to Ally—invites his new girlfriend on tour, introducing Ally to nationwide attention and the opportunity to become a star of her own. Like its predecessors, the structure of A Star is Born is that of two timelines moving in opposite directions, a literal crossfade: As Ally's blossoming career fades in, Jack's career fades out into oblivion. But Cooper reconfigures the gears of this familiar machine to function as a far more speculative wonder, to question something above money, drugs, sex, and fame itself. Can pure genius survive without compromise or surrender to others? Can two geniuses, masters at the same craft, be together without the presence of competition?

Alongside screenplay co-writer Eric Roth (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Will Fetters (Remember Me), Cooper filters the philosophical ponderings swirling around Jack and Ally's lives through the elusive, contingent prism of gender. However, it is not Ally—whose blushing and gaping at celebrity life first suggests a two-dimensional trajectory—who must reckon with herself as a woman, but Jack who continually tries and fails to uncover an identity beyond the role that he plays as a man. His onstage tough guy persona—with a hat too big and a beard that hides his round rosy cheeks—only disappears with Ally, who challenges him with her blatant disregard for such standards. Only in the company of each other, away from the clutches of the hierarchical world where only one can win, can Jack and Ally be with each other as equals. In their bathtub, Ally applies mascara and lipstick to Jack's face—a process to which she is accustomed, of putting on the appearance of womanhood. He beams at her and they embrace, briefly joined in spirit, their bodily difference erased by the soapy water. Never fazed by the myth of her inferiority, Ally takes bigger strides towards realizing her dream of stardom as Jack—unable to retrieve confidence outside of his botched attempt to be a cowboy, and constantly fearful of losing his natural, magic touch—shrinks more each day as Ally's face appears on television screens, billboards and JumboTrons, looming over him.

Because Bradley Cooper seems to see the bond between Jack and Ally as a sacred one, little attention is given to the details of their surroundings. Conversations seep from one space into another in a knot of J-cuts, with a swaying camera that swirls past all else that is not love. Hands touching and eyes meeting are filmed in slowed motion, but Ally's skyrocketing into fame is made up of far swifter sequences: Near instantly, a viral YouTube video of Jack and Ally's duet becomes a record deal, a dance-pop single about tight jeans becomes a top-charting album, and a Best New Artist Grammy award becomes a world tour. Concerts begin and end within seconds, with songs frequently cut by editor Jay Cassidy in favor of the two cuddling back home on the couch, in bed, or at the piano, singing together. Throughout his downward spiral, Jack's suffering is linked to a dead father and mother of whom we know close to nothing, and an incurable case of tinnitus—an unnecessarily wretched origin story to an already-pitiable fellow. But all there is to really believe is that Jack may never feel at home, not with Ally nor in his own skin. And despite a constant reassurance woven into the script that addictions and depressive symptoms are not Jack's fault, it is the mold of the franchise that generally dictates that guilt and shame pave the path to self-destruction. So it is in its final seconds that A Star is Born reverts to that jarring and brutal tradition, involving the total end of one star and the divine birth of another.

It initially appears that in this iteration, Ally is superior—the subversive, feminist feature the festival has been seeking out, perhaps? But this is not the case. Cooper paints a wide mural of vulnerable, private intimacies—tearful apologies, petty misunderstandings, smearing cake into each other's faces—between the couple, suggesting that balance between the two was always within reach by way of trust and respect, alongside an unlearning of the world. Addition and subtraction, once again. And still there is so much more hidden in A Star is Born, regarding binaries of success and failure, art and capitalism, and the self-correction that occurs within and throughout this elusive series of remakes.

Has any film at the festival so far mystified you like this, Danny? One that you keep thinking about, or find pleasing to simply parse through?

best,

Kelley

 

 

Seeing this from an outlet like Mubi is really lovely. It's become a little less exclusive over the past couple of years, but it's still a site for those that truly love film, and those that write for it are usually very particular with what they chose to laud. Even if this doesn't count for any of the review aggregate sites, it's still wonderful to see something like this written about a movie Gaga's starring in.  

[Mulholland 1,052]

15 minutes ago, WohnJayne said:

The film sounded way more interesting when Sasha Baron Cohen was involved. He wanted a warts and all stroy of Freddie’s life, including his sexuality and his hedonistic lifestyle. Brian May apparently shut down the idea and Cohen left because he didn’t want to make a watered down account of Freddie’s life. The film that we have now is the watered down, glossy version that Queen preferred. Anyone who wants to see that film will know about Freddie’s life and probably wouldn’t of minded seeing the grittier parts, it hardly would of been a shock. It’s a shame that the story was manipulated and I hope the fact key parts are missing will work against its favour.

Yep! Regardless of anything else, it is almost definitely shaping up to be a hagiography. Which might play well for audiences who don’t care and just want a glossy happy story, but my feeling is it won’t be a big hit with critics and the more discerning. 

[Doncho 27,241]

59 minutes ago, anthonyv said:

Barbra Streisand 1968  - 1974

Diana Ross 1972

Bette Midler 1979  - 1991

Cher 1988

All BIG names. WOW if it really happens... 

This just shows that a nomination is alredy a win for Gaga and for us

[Othon 33,458]

25 minutes ago, Scathach said:

Can someone explain 

Angela Cheng was a troll account (that we've long suspected was run by Perez Hilton ) that published articles about how Gaga's career was falling apart back around the time ARTPOP was about to be released. She wrote for The Examiner, which was a site that let users publish articles but had the veneer a respectable, reputable outfit, so what she published was actually talked about in high-profile pop culture sites and news outlets. She started the rumor that ARTPOP's release lost Interscope somewhere around $25 million and forced them to fire dozens of people, and that lie actually made its way into some of ARTPOP's reviews at the time. Gaga even had to respond to it and confirm that it wasn't true.

We later found out that "Angela Cheng" never existed. She claimed to have attended some university that stated that no one by that name had ever attended their school. It was a complete disaster.

Here's her iconic face:

And here are a couple of articles about the whole controversy: 

https://www.bustle.com/articles/19897-who-is-angela-cheng-the-mysterious-pop-culture-blogger-is-infuriating-hollywood

https://www.buzzfeed.com/mylestanzer/lady-gagas-biggest-haters-wont-reveal-who-they-are-or-go-awa

 

Sabrina O'Connor, who was mentioned above, was one of these troll accounts too, likely run by the same person.

[Naufri 7,424]

Angela Cheng is absolutely iconic

[HitTheBoat 4,077]

http://insessionfilm.com/featured-tiff-2018-daily-dispatch-day-3/

He gave it a B, counts for RT

[Chuckles 2,549]

24 minutes ago, OG Gaga Stan said:

Angela Cheng was a troll account (that we've long suspected was run by Perez Hilton ) that published articles about how Gaga's career was falling apart back around the time ARTPOP was about to be released. She wrote for The Examiner, which was a site that let users publish articles but had the veneer a respectable, reputable outfit, so what she published was actually talked about in high-profile pop culture sites and news outlets. She started the rumor that ARTPOP's release lost Interscope somewhere around $25 million and forced them to fire dozens of people, and that lie actually made its way into some of ARTPOP's reviews at the time. Gaga even had to respond to it and confirm that it wasn't true.

We later found out that "Angela Cheng" never existed. She claimed to have attended some university that stated that no one by that name had ever attended their school. It was a complete disaster.

Here's her iconic face:

And here are a couple of articles about the whole controversy: 

https://www.bustle.com/articles/19897-who-is-angela-cheng-the-mysterious-pop-culture-blogger-is-infuriating-hollywood

https://www.buzzfeed.com/mylestanzer/lady-gagas-biggest-haters-wont-reveal-who-they-are-or-go-awa

 

Sabrina O'Connor, who was mentioned above, was one of these troll accounts too, likely run by the same person.

What a nice trip down memory lane! Thanks @OG Gaga Stan

[monsterdino 31,997]

to be added on RT:

Rolling Stone - Positive

Vogue - Positive

Mashable - Positive

Mubi - Positive

Deadline - Positive

Buzfeed - Positive

Dork Shelf - Positive

Solzy at the Movies - Positive

The Globe and Mail - 4/4

The Young Folks - 8/10

InSession Film - B

 

to be added on MC:

Chicago Tribune - Positive 

Vulture - Positive

LA Times - Positive

Rolling Stone - Positive

RogerEbert - 3.5/4

[monsterdino 31,997]

if those 11 reviews would be added on RT rn the score would jump to 95%

[Ctouf 2,022]

2 minutes ago, monsterdino said:

if those 11 reviews would be added on RT rn the score would jump to 95%

What about Metacritic? Could you tell? And no bad review to be seen, then?