Can two famous people playing famous people make it work?
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2018/11/05/qt3-movie-podcast-a-star-is-born/
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2018/11/05/qt3-movie-podcast-a-star-is-born/
I had never heard of Bradley Cooper before this, so the answer is probably “no”.
C’mon, how is that possible? You might know him as Rocket Raccoon. Or “the good-looking one” from the Hangover movies? Or “one of the guys in the A-Team” from The A-Team?
-Tom
First thing I do when I see a Hangover movie on TV is change the channel. Though I now recall that he played <3 Zoë Saldana’s <3 husband in some other movie.
Here’s a picture of him holding a gun:
-Tom
Oh wow I did not recognize him at first! He must have let his beard grow. And how did they make him look so small?
Forced perspective.
As an owner of THREE Douglas Sirk movies I think I qualify as a melodrama EX-Pert.
@tomchick: “They’re transvestites…”
C’mon old man, they’re called drag queens.
I strongly disagree with your disagreement of my assessment of B-Coop’s alcoholic sweatiness. I’ll give you him being in great shape, but makeup-wise he looks appropriately beleaguered.
@ChristienMurawski, were you trying to remember the name of the movie Almost Heroes, with Matthew Perry and Bokeem Woodbine? If so, I’m very happy. That movie was a staple of middle school for me. “There’s an old saying: White water in the morning.”
I watched Begin Again in anticipation of this podcast. It was cute, I enjoyed seeing Ruffalo and Steinfeld and the others, but it was a bit too light and Dingus-y for me. I much prefer A Star Is Born. The quality of the music doesn’t even compare. As much as I find Knightley likable, I didn’t buy her as a songwriter.
@marquac, Andrew Dice Clay, who I didn’t recognize because I only know the name, was fantastic! Ok? Get outta here.
@Kelly_Wand I really liked the music in this. I wouldn’t necessarily like it outside this context, but it worked so much more for me than, say, LALALALALALand. What a dull slog. Ugh.
I gotta lotta bones to pick listening to you lot. Is it going to be more infuriating when this is in my top 5 than when Anomalisa held that distinction?
-Chris Webb
Oh, I love how much you loved this movie, Webb! That says to me that you’re not as flinty and cynical as you think. In fact, you’re probably a softie who enjoys the occasional romantic comedy from time to time.
I guess he’s too handsome to really wear the ravages of severe alcoholism. It’s gotta be tough for the typical Hollywood A-lister to look like a lifelong drunk! But honestly, I don’t mind. A big part of the appeal of this kind of movie is watching two attractive people. They don’t all have to be Toni Collette in Glassland:
Now that’s a movie with a seriously unflinching presentation of a hardcore drunk. And she even does it with an Irish accent. Take that, Streep!
I was taking issue with Dingus calling them gays. Wearing women’s clothes doesn’t necessarily indicate a predilection for the same sex!
-Tom
I love that I loved this movie too. I felt like I was doomed to only appreciate Solondz movies after I didn’t get on the La La train. It’s nice to like a classic Hollywood movie every now and again. It reminded me of seeing Titanic over and over again in fourth grade.
I don’t think it’s a secret at this point, even to myself, that I like romcoms more than the average Qt3er. Some of us have to tilt the scales away from Star Wars and whatever boring fantasy stuff you lot like.
I knew that’s what you were on about, but I was actually referencing a line in the movie, not simply “calling them gays.” I need to make that clear.
Ally says, “I get to be one of the gay girls.”
I do understand the distinction.
I think I somehow mixed three different movies into a weird stew, and while Almost Heroes is one of them (thank you, Christopher Guest), I was also somehow throwing The Whole Nine Yards and The Big Hit in there as well. So, on balance, you’ll probably end up hating me.
However, Kanye is probably going to be pleased with me, so I’ve got that going for me. Which is nice.
I wish we’d gotten into this more, because in my in-the-dark-theater notes I wrote, “Drama v Melodrama…HMMM.”
I tend to think of melodrama in a pejorative sense, so I was curious when Tom said something along the lines of being fine with it. I wanted to explore that a bit, but as always the discussion got away from me.
-xtien
“You’re not gonna get back what you lost.”
Thank god that’s over.
It’s hard to remember what exactly I said as opposed to what I wrote in prep, having only slept for a few hours. I haven’t listened to the show so who knows what I got in. But I liked the way Bradley Cooper’s face looked. He looked a bit weathered. Like Tom Cruise in Knight and Day, sort of. Did I say that? At any rate, I just got tired of the greasy hair and thought it was too much shorthand for “doesn’t take care of himself” when he was a star who probably had plenty of people to groom him.
Keep picking. I’m enjoying this. And I’m happy we went to see it. In no small part thanks to you. We knew you were nuts about it, and so we nudged a certain someone who bitched and moaned about it in that direction. Seriously, for the first part of the movie I was thinking it was going to wind up in my top 5 too.
Ugh. The Cyndi Lauper was fine. The oral sex…not so much.
-xtien
“I’m gonna sing it either way, so…”
What is, “80’s night with your mom?”
I’ll take, “‘Your Momma …’ for 1000, Alex.”
Looking forward to hearing you guys chat about this. My GF wants to see it so badly but I’ve been successfully giving the Heisman to it so far. I’m letting you guys do my homework so I can complain to her all the bad stuff I’ve heard about it.
Did you ever see American Hustle? He’s in that too. it’s an interesting movie.
Speaking of which (as I bring up on the podcast)…
-xtien
Under the heading of I do the research so that you don’t have to, there are at least three films named A Star is Porn.
I’m still saving you a seat.
Ah, right. Now I feel like a dummy. I think I’m still smarting from the drubbing we got from one of our listeners when we did a 3x3 about transgender characters.
I think of melodrama as movies that primarily play to emotions. As a guy who’s really into opera, I have no problem with that. Basically, if a movie is prodding you with “isn’t it sad that [insert plot point here]?”, it’s melodrama. Beaches: isn’t it sad that Barbara Hershey has cancer? 21 Grams: isn’t it sad that Sean Penn can’t get a heart transplant? A Star Is Born: isn’t it sad that Bradley Cooper peed his pants at the Grammys? Titanic: isn’t it sad that Rose misses Leo because he drowned in the icy waters of the Atlantic?
It’s not over until the Academy has picked its nominations!
Standing behind it with your arms wrapped around it and sharply pulling inward and up?
-Tom
I thought that’s when you end a career with a compound fracture…
Oh that’s right! Oof. You were right to call me out since I was, once again, making a dopey obscure reference without considering it. I got my dander up a bit but you were right to make the distinction.
Oh. I didn’t think about it in those terms. That makes more sense to me now. I tend to think of it as an SAT analogy, like drama : melodrama :: famous : infamous. But that’s just weird personal baggage I guess.
-xtien