Sean Penn has decided to write an op-ed [via Deadline] defending his friend Bradley Cooper amidst his Best Director snub at the Oscars. Penn acknowledges that “A Star is Born” is most likely toast as far as winning Best Picture but that the film itself will stand the test of time and age like fine wine, at least when compare to some of the other nominees that “pander to the politics of the day,” according to the actor.
Read moreOscar Watch: “A Star Is Born” is still the front-runner
With every movie now screened, we can safely assess that Bradley Cooper‘s “A Star is Born” is officially in the driver’s seat when it comes to winning the Oscar for best picture.
Read moreDenis Villeneuve says ‘A Star Is Born’ is “the birth of a great director”
Director Denis Villeneuve fell in love with Bradley Cooper’s “A Star Is Born.” At least that's what he exclaimed as part of Variety’s Directors on Directors series, in which Villeneuve even penned an ode to the film:
Read moreAFI Awards: Top 10 Films of 2018 include “Black Panther," “A Star is Born" and “Mary Poppins"
The American Film Institute’s annual list of the the top 10 movies of the year sets the stage for the major Oscar contenders to come. However, do keep in mind that because of its foreign-language status, Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” could only nab a Special Award from the AFI film jury. The list celebrates the best of American cinema.
“BlacKkKlansman”
“Black Panther”
“Eighth Grade”
“If Beale Street Could Talk”
“The Favourite”
“First Reformed”
“Green Book”
“Mary Poppins Returns”
“A Quiet Place”
“A Star Is Born”
Bradley Cooper wanted Jack White to play the lead in ‘A Star Is Born'
Bradley Cooper revealed in an interview with Variety that he didn't plan on playing the lead role in "A Star is Born" and that he was eyeing an actual musician: “I saw this other person that I wanted to do this, who is an actual musician,” he said before adding: “But [the studio] wouldn’t make the movie with him.”
Read moreDP Matthew Libatique is safe for Oscar contention; he only clobbered a Polish medical worker and a couple of cops
Reports are claiming that DP extraordinaire Matty Libatique had an altercation last night in Poland. The "Star is Born" cinematographer seems to have an alcohol problem, but I won't fault him for that, it's a fairly pronounced issue, not just in the industry but universally as well. There isn't really a way to step in and save a person that is an alcoholic, only they can change their own habits. I stopped drinking more than three years ago.
Read moreBest Picture: It's 'Star is Born' vs 'Green Book'
With the AFI screening of Mimi Leder's underwhelming RBG biopic "On the Basis of Sex" upon us, we don't have that many players left to screen as far as this year's Oscar race goes. All that's left is the Dick Cheney biopic "Vice," Clint Eastwood's "The Mule," and Josie Rourke's "Mary Queen of Scots" starring Saoirse Ronan, the latter of which is said to be a non-starter.
Read more'Star is Born' is our Best Picture front-runner, but watch out for 'Green Book'
Before I tackle the Best Picture Oscar race, here are a few important takeaways when it comes to this weekend's box-office totals:
The slasher genre has most definitely been reignited with "Halloween." David Gordon Green's sequel to the 1978 classic topped the box-office yet again, in its second week of action, with a strong $32M weekend. That puts its 2-week total at a whopping $132M. Watch out for a major bump this week as it seems to be the only Halloween-centered movie currently in theaters and many will want a fright night at the cinema on the 31st.
Read moreLady Gaga & Bradley Cooper's 'A Star Is Born' Soundtrack Debuts at No. 1
One of the positives of "A Star is Born" is, no doubt, the top-notch soundtrack and the fact that songs with actual instrumentation (good ol' bass, drum, piano and guitar) are back at the top of the Billboard charts since God knows how long.
It is no surprise then that Gaga-mania mixed with word of mouth for the film has made the film's soundtrack sell more than 231,000 copies in the week ending Oct. 11, according to Nielsen Music -- according to Billboard that's "the biggest week for a soundtrack in more than three-and-a-half years. Of Star’s overall starting sum, 162,000 were in album sales."
'A Star Is Born' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Submitted as Dramas NOT Musicals for Golden Globes Consideration
Warner Bros.’ "A Star is Born" is, by all accounts, a musically-driven film that, truth be told, belongs in the "musical" category at the Golden Globes. Ditto 20th Century Fox’s by-the-books "Bohemian Rhapsody," which features an incredible performance from Rami Malek, the latter recounts the ups and downs of the band Queen.
So what's the deal with both films being submitted as dramas for the 2019 Golden Globe awards? Calculated strategy, of course. Especially when it comes to 'Star,' the Bradley Cooper-directed film is going to be a major player at the Globes and Oscars, Warner doesn't want it to be seen as a 'light' musically-driven picture, they want it to be seen as a meaty statement, which, of course, it isn't. It's a remake of a remake of a remake, which, by all accounts, pulls the same strings as its predecessors. Think of it as an updated, modern-day version of the 1974 Kris Kristofferson/Barbara Streisand version, which also takes place in the country music world. Cooper's version is slightly better, but not by all that much.
Anne Thompson broke this story yesterday and it's gotten pundits scratching their heads. But I don't really think there's much to be confused about here -- being relegated to the 'musical' category is a downgrade in terms of how your film may be perceived at the Oscars. There's a lot of fluff in that category, no need to be part of that crowd, especially when 'Star' has a shot at winning the Drama category.
Despite Bad Reviews 'Venom' Has Bite At Box-Office, $80M Opening Weekend; 'A Star Is Born' Opens With Impressive $41M
"Despite a rocky road to release the strange off-brand start to the Sony Marvel Spider-man Without Spider-Man Cinematic Universe know as Venom opened to an incredible $80M at #1. That smashes the previous October opening record holder Gravity which set the bar at $55.7M in 2013. It's weird to think a superhero/villain film could ever be considered an underdog story (especially this year) but Venom might have been it. Fans of the film were first put on edge when Sony finally decided that the film would get a PG-13 rating which angered star of the film Tom Hardy who's been vocal about the cuts from the R-rated version. Then there was the awful critics reviews who trashed the film as one of the worst of the year. So while the film opened to $10M on Thursday there was nothing there that guaranteed an ending like this with a potential massive drop-off by Sunday. But the monster just kept growing and now it's become yet another huge success for the superhero genre."
1. Venom — Sony — $80,030,000
2. A Star is Born —Warner Bros. — $41,250,000
3. Smallfoot —Warner Bros.— $14,900,000
4. Night School — Uni. — $12,275,000
5. The House With A Clock In Its Walls — Uni. — $7,295,000
6. A Simple Favor — Lionsgate — $3,435,000
7. The Nun— Warner Bros. — $2,610,000
8. Hell Fest — LGF — $2,075,000 ($8,864,476)
9. Crazy Rich Asians — WB — $2,060,000
10. The Predator — Fox — $900,000
[Source]
The New Yorker's Anthony Lane agrees with me about 'A Star is Born': "Ideally, Cooper’s film would end after the first hour."
A review of Bradley Cooper‘s "A Star Is Born," by New Yorker critic Anthony Lane, all but repeats my take on Cooper's overpraised film. I've seen this situation many times before, where a film is all but overpraised during the festival circuit by beer-goggled critics and audiences just following the hype, but once the dust settles, it turns out the film was just okay.
In his review, Lane states that “ideally, Cooper’s film would end after the first hour,” or “after the first night that Jackson Maine (Cooper) and Ally (Lady Gaga) spend together. They don’t have sex; they just hang out. She gets into a fight, and he buys frozen peas to soothe her swollen hand. He listens to her sing in a parking lot, then drops her off at home, where she lives with her father (Andrew Dice Clay).
Read moreThe hype surrounding "A Star is Born" will be detrimental to its Oscar chances
"A Star is Born" should not be perceived, just yet, as the Best Picture front-runner. HE's Jeffrey Wells is correct in perceiving that Kris Tapley oversold the situation when he said the Bradley Cooper-directed film had "the muscle to win all five major Academy Awards (picture, director, actor, actress, and screenplay). Tapley went on to say in his write-up that "it’s that kind of accomplishment.” Good God. An "accomplishment?" A remake of a remake of a remake which includes fairly similar narrative drumbeats the other three versions had. I will admit it, Cooper's film is the most technically accomplished version. However, still, "A Star is Born" is not an accomplishment by any stretch of the imagination. Give me a break.
Read more‘A Star is Born’ Starts Off Great But … [TIFF Review]
"A Star is Born" is a remake of a remake of a remake. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I will give some credit to actor-director Bradley Cooper for making something that feels brazenly fresh out of this tired old story, for which the 1953 classic Judy Garland version still stands as king of them all.
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