The Wrap - ASIB 9/10 "Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga Reinvigorate a Classic"

[MonsterOfficial 11,079]

Venice 2018: First-time director and first-time leading lady breathe new life into a Hollywood mainstay

Over the years, “A Star Is Born” has been a Hollywood story (the 1937 version starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March), a Hollywood musical (1954, Judy Garland and James Mason), and a rock musical (1976, Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson). This new version hews closest to the plot of the most recent remake, but there are bits of the others scattered in as well. (When Ally talks about being rejected because of her nose, that’s not just a Streisand shout-out; Garland’s character is told by the studio makeup men that “[her] nose is all wrong.”)

Cooper and Lady Gaga are dynamite together; this is a story that lives and dies by the central relationship and the instant chemistry that must blossom between them, and these two have it in spades. The musical numbers take immediately catchy songs and present them in an electrifying way; I rate Garland’s performance of “The Man That Got Away” as one of the all-time great musical performances on celluloid, so I mean it as high praise when I say that while none of the numbers in this version surpasses that moment, some of them come shockingly close.

The film’s rightful concentration on its central couple, by necessity, takes focus away from its ensemble; if the trailer has you thinking Dave Chappelle plays a major character, expect otherwise. Still, Elliott carves out several powerful scenes, and casting directors Lindsay Graham and Mary Vernieu populate the screen with an interesting mix of scene-stealers like Greg Grunberg and Andrew Dice Clay, to say nothing of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” dropout Willam Belli, who has a great time flirting with Cooper in the drag-bar sequence.

I do wish the film’s final moments packed the gut-punch for which Cooper is so clearly aiming; the response from other audience members at the Venice press screening suggests I might be in the minority in thinking so. But in any event, “A Star Is Born” never shies away from big emotions or stirring romance, mixing old-Hollywood sweep with modern-day sophistication. Between Bradley Cooper (as a filmmaker) and Lady Gaga (as a big-screen lead), the title applies to both of them.

 

READ MORE https://www.thewrap.com/a-star-is-born-film-review-bradley-cooper-lady-gaga-2018/

[GaGaAst 12,958]

With all these praise coming up, I can't wait to see the movie. October 5 please come soon

[Starbucks 4,204]

I knew I'm choosing the right woman 

So proud of her 

[Psychic Guru 1,573]

So happy for Bradley and Gaga  

[hpmcmill 1,923]

SO PROUD!!!

[lavenderblondee 3,695]

WHAT happens in the end  I really cannot wait to see this movie. I’m not going in with huge expectations so I’m not disappointed but I do have high hopes regardless. 

[TheSlash 14,539]

I couldn't be more proud of the woman I stan . Why does it have to be Oct 4 and not Sept 4 ?