A Star is Born by SHINYGOODGUY

CINEMA

A Star is Born

POSTED BY: SHINYGOODGUY
UPDATED: Monday, October 29, 2018 04:15
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Monday, October 29, 2018 4:15 AM

I know that we usually write and review movies with a sci-fi or fantasy slant on this board, but I thought that I would include A Star is Born because we also review and exchange ideas about well written good movies.

A Star is Born is one of those cases. A well written good movie; with Bradley Cooper starring and directing. It's also his directorial debut, and he knocks it out of the park. I normally don't go in for remakes, unless of course it totally reinvents the original and has a flavor all it's own. ASIB is that movie.

I saw, what I thought was, the original 1954 version with Judy Garland and James Mason, although I was a bit young at the time, I did manage to understand and love that version (I had a crush on Judy Garland, who didn't).
But a Google search revealed to me the original was released in 1937. In total 3 remakes exist: the aforementioned 1954 version, a 1976 version with Barbara
Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, and the latest version with Lady Gaga and Cooper.

I have to say, I didn't go into the film with any high expectations and that helped me to enjoy the movie because I had no preconceived notions. The story unfolds rather than dictates. Cooper kept it simple, choosing a easy-going
laid back style, much like his character, and you felt as though he was putting his arm around your shoulders and inviting you to sit a spell as he spun his yarn. It felt like hand-held photography and not film, like eavesdropping on an intimate conversation between lovers with a pop/country
concert thrown in for good measure. He depicted the rise of an unknown talent
and the fall of a popular favorite consumed by alcohol and drug abuse.

It never felt rushed or hurried, but it wasn't slow-paced either. I got the impression that Cooper carefully crafted this movie, built it from the foundation on up to the roof. Carefully placing each brick by first showing
it to you as he described exactly where he was about to put it. It was that good. You felt the joy of discovery and of love, the pain and anguish of being unable to save the life of another headed for trouble, and the ultimate sorrow
of losing a lost soul.

Yes, this was Cooper's first movie directing, but it felt as though he's been
doing it for years. In the end, this movie is about feel. He takes you on a journey and draws up on the screen the lives of two people and how they lived in a world of entertainment, the not-so-glossy side. Cooper, Gaga and Sam Elliot are wonderful in it. Each shined and gave nuanced performances. You may hear Oscar buzz, certainly for a director's nod, perhaps a starring and co-starring nod. For me, it is the best picture of the year, or, at the very least, should be. It is that good.

5 out of 5 Stars

SGG

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