A STAR IS BORN (2018)
There are now 4 Hollywood official vers ions this story and 2 Bollywood non official ones. The original 1937 film, after the 1954 musical, the 1976 musical, and the 2013 Bollywood film, Aashiqui 2. It was remade, albeit unofficially, in Hindi as Aashiqui 2 (2013) T-series movie which in turn was remade in Telugu as Nee Jathaga Nenundali (2014).
Original 1937 1h51
1937 Oscars
• Best Writing (Original Story) WON
- Outstanding Production: Selznick International Pictures; the first color film to be nominated for best picture. NOM
- Best Director: William Wellman NOMINATED
- Best Actor: Fredric March NOMINATED
- Best Actress: Janet Gaynor NOMINATED
- Best Assistant Director: Eric Stacey NOMINATED
- Best Writing (Screenplay): Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell, Robert Carson NOMINATED
.Norman comes and does a scene during the Oscars where Vicki is celebrated with a statuette? Does not piss himself but slaps her.
.“His work is starting to interfere with his drinking.”
.“Do you mind if I just take, one more look?”
.Norman is whistling at people, just like dogs. Which is something that drives me nuts, just like, in our Isolani episode Kate talked about being talked about while being in the room, right so I’ve been so unknown to my dad for years that he would bot hesitate to ask for a translation mid conversation to my mum, like “Any idea what he just talked about?”
.Esther Blodgett -> Vicki Lester, chosen by someone else.
.“You are about to see the Preview of a picture that has not been finally edited. Your opinion will be appreciated. Please mail comment cards.” Did you know that some panels are opened to the public. Like there is one for theatre in London which will pay for all your theatre tickets for a year as long as you go see at least 100 plays to be reviewed in a calendar year. Watching herself in the test screening, she is disappearing in her cinema chair.
.Half way through is the preview where panel and press loves her.
.Boxing match wedding proposal.
.Surprise wedding!!!
.He kills himself John Malkovich’s Javert style.
.Libby making nasty jokes after Norman’s death.
.Starts and ends with screenplay page.
1954:
Premiere:
182 minutes
General Release:
154 minutes
Restored Version:
176 minutes
"It was Jack Warner’s all-or-nothing gamble on the comeback of Judy Garland. echnical delays – caused by the new CinemaScope process – Garland’s emotional ups and downs, and Cukor’s perfectionism stretched the shooting schedule from three months to nearly seven, and the budget ballooned to an astronomical (for 1954) $5 million."
1954 Oscars Nominated
Best Actor James Mason
Best Actress Judy Garland
Best Original Score Ray Heindorf
Best Original Song ("The Man that Got Away") Harold Arlen
Best Production Design
Best Costume Design
1954 BAFTA Nominated
Best Foreign Actress Judy Garland
1954 Golden Globes WON
Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Judy Garland
Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical James Mason
http://www.thejudyroom.com/asib/restoration.html
.Movie star, blossoming musical artist.
.Singer needed last minute and she was doing a screen test at the time -> 1st film and the preview.
.Quite accurate remake from original, now with songs.
.Just like in the original, a bunch of guys are discussing if it’s her nose or mouth which is not working, in 1937 it was to change her face so she would not looked surprised all the time.
.Shakespearean lines in there from Norman Maine which actually foreshadows a scene that is way too long, the preview.
.Vicki Lester name surprise
.The preview night is way too long, it’s a 15 min movie within the movie.
.70 sec intermission in the middle and Norman was not in the film himself but in the film showing just before.
.“Will you marry me, no thank you”; on the speaker after Esther’s concert gig while relistening to audio, “suppose I quit drinking and become dependable on all occasions”
“We are going to get married, both of us, to each other; he is trying to decide if it’s good for the studio.”
.Libby makes some phone calls to order the biggest celeb wedding of the year and the newt scene is them marrying in a prison kinda thing, mayor’s office or something. Prerogatives of office, kissing the bride on the cheeks.
.Fancy home cinema projector guests watching while Oliver left to see boxing match on TV. He is announced that Oliver Niles Studio wants to pay his contract off because is a too big of a risk.
7 min sequence where Esther reenacts the movie she just filmed for Norman’s private enjoyment in their house. Wilhelm cry!
.Sign right there Mr Lester! Realization he’s become nothing.
.Academy Awards Banquet disruption, accidental slap.
.Norman wants worst performance award
.Post Oscars film-within-the-film, 4 min musical section.
.Esther tells Oliver is in sanatorium, Esther wonders why and asks Oliver why he destroys himself like this.
.Almost all beats are there, Norman is judged for drunk driving charge, Esther intervenes and she becomes responsible for him; husband in custody of wife in house next to the beach.
.Norman overhears Esther telling Olivier she wants to quit here career to stay with Norman because he believed in her and her career goes second and maybe they can act again in Europe after he is better. Oliver tells her that he is a lost cause but eventually condones her choice. “Bye Vicki Lester, good-luck Ms Norman Maine.”
.Norman tells her he will change his ways, go for a swim every morning, that singing int he house daily should be good, goes for a swim to the beach while his wife sings in the house, and voluntarily drowns himself.
.“Hello everybody, this is Mr Norman Maine.”
1976 2h20
1976 Oscars WON
Best Original Song ("Evergreen") Streisand & Paul Williams
1976 Oscars NOMINATED
Best Cinematography (Robert Surtees),
Best Sound (Robert Knudson, Dan Wallin, Robert Glass and Tom Overton) and
Original Song Score (Roger Kellaway).
1976 GOLDEN GLOBE WON
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy,
Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Streisand)
Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy(Kristofferson)
Best Original Score (Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher) and
Best Original Song, (Streisand and Williams for "Evergreen").
.“I want to marry you!” Esther is making the wedding move, in John’s car and he tries to convince her it’s not a good idea because he drinks too much and burns his money. “I want you.”
.John’s facial features are the same that Bradley Cooper.
.Wedding in front of a fountain outside. Informal banter instead of ceremonial vows of the first two movies. Like, obey your husband, really?
.Ranch property to be built. Whole building the house together sequences.
.Celebrating real things a bit more, away from the world in the desert house
.Disjointed movie.
.“I was just talking another look.”
.About Freeway, a band recording a new album in Gary Busey’s studio when John arrives after a while, supposed to tour with John, “Well I guess you haven’t heard they’re the hottest thing since Tabasco.” .Same scene I learnt the word ‘lollygaggin’ (which for word nerds means, spend time aimlessly; idle.) he does coke at that time
.Peanut butter & Jelly and unfiltered honey
.Grammy Awards, John crashing the party. John wants worst performance award, profanity.
.Press going to far, insulting John, punches the guy.
name is just ESTHER
“I want a valium. Hey your mic is on.” tech
.(Brian Wexler, oldest friend of John) Esther tells him that John is writing new songs that he should listen to and maybe produce.
.John say to Brian he wants to start his own label with his own songs.
.Young Quentin, reporter who trespasses in their property, topless in the pool and would do anything for an exclusive interview… with Esther.
.30 min before the end, totally surreal scene when Esther discovers the journalist and John in bed securing the interview. “She wants an interview with you.” “Yeah, I’ll get my tape recorder, this means so much to me. It’s terrific.”
.John touching Esther’s nose during her sleep.
.DOGS around the house in the desert
.John dies the James Dean way, except that he was purposefully driving like a madman and rolled over at 160 mph on a tiny road, nor even a road, a path made of soil. And Esther comes on the site of the crash and kisses him on the forehead and stuff.
.Honestly, his suicide does not make much sense in this specific movie.
.Esther talking to herself while listening to the k7 tape with John singing.
.John’s hommage concert to finish, with lighters in the audience, Esther sings that song ‘One More Look At You’.
.Full final song, energetic as crazy.
.Musical concepts by Barbara Streisand
.Ms Streisand’s clothes from… her closet.
Aashiqui 2 (2013)
.I think I’ll move to India. The actress playing the aspiring singer is just mesmerizing in this one.
“Another look at you.” “Listen.” “What?” “Nothing?” “Just like that.” 4 times total
.An eerie feeling of Les Misérables in this one, the lead guy actually buys the girl off from a bar owner.
.Embracing the fluff, the glamour, entirely.
.Half of the lines are in Hindi and half in English, I’m confused, is that normal?
.Intensity turned to 12.
.Indirect exposition, overhearing two dudes at the bar bad mouthing Rahul and Aarohi.
.!Interval at 1h!
.Drunk ledge of window
.The sex scene is a mix between The Room and the other A Star Is Born ones.
.Live-in relation without marriage, mum worries about what people will say.
.No awards party crashing but a studio informal party later on.
I did notice some weird lip-syncing that took me out of the experience so I went on the web.
Quora
Why are there so many Indians actors doing lip syncing in Bollywood movies? If they can't sing, why do they even bother? Shouldn't we pay attention to the real singer too?
It is called Playback singing.
When the Indian film industry started about more than 100 years ago, the practice was that the actors sing the songs themselves. This always required dual recording as the sound captured inside the set was not of very good quality. In simple words, the songs were "dubbed" too.
From 1950-51, this practice reduced and by 1953 the singing part was entirely playback, where a better singer sings and records the songs in a recording studio and later the song is used in the movies where the actors lip-sync. Not all actors can be good singers, and not all singers can be good actors.
Acting in Indian movies focussed mainly on the acting part, and everything else was secondary, although presently the actors should also dance and do stunts well and must have a toned physique, etc.
The playback singers in India enjoy similar fame as the actors. Their live performances are almost always sold out and they get good royalty for their songs. The senior playback singers are respected more than the actors actually. This wiki article has the list : Playback singer.
Even in Hollywood, Bill Lee was the singing voicing for Christopher Plummer character in The Sound of Music.
The point of a song sequence shouldn’t be “realism”, it should be evoking an emotion, creating a moment of pure beauty. To that end, we are given the most powerful singing voice possible working in tandem with the actor capable of providing the most evocative face and gestures, and a set design, costume, and camera work all structured to incite emotions and joy in the audience.
Everything else is secondary to this moment of art. The actor’s popularity, the singer’s fame, everything. Start with the goal of creating the perfect moment onscreen, and then assume everything else follows it.
When an industry gets too focused on “respect” and “realism” and “artistic integrity”, the these moments lose something. For instance, the American film Les Miserables decided that all the actors should sing their own songs. Which lead to one of the main characters, played by Russell Crowe who is an excellent actor and was well cast in the role, doing his own singing and almost ruining the film. If they had simply told him that, for the over all good of the film, his songs would be dubbed, it would have been a far superior film.
.“My vocal chords are fried.”
.The food takeaway delivery guy wants an autograph… of her. In the first two versions, it’s a postman who used the last name of the wife for the guy. Always a key moment.
.Always a movie star element expect in version, 2018
.Studio party crashing, no peeing, no slapping but weird movement that made the girl fall.
.He asks her for help and they both go to the country house by a lake and mountain.
.There is a whole class thing about here not being married. This guy has no will, every time someone says something nasty he stops his sobering resolutions and drinks.
.Arrested for drunk stuff and Aarohi gets him out.
.Rahul overhears stuff just like Norman in the 1954 version.
.Final lie, he’s going to put his life back in order, go to the gym, diet.
.One final gimmick line. That’s 4 times total
.Jumping off bridge. Aarohi arrives on the scene.
.She does treat him of coward to his picture, like Barbs to the k7 player.
.The friend clearly explains it at the end, Rahul’s life ended when he hurt her physically at the studio party, when she came at the police station… he was in her way and removed himself from the equation so she could blossom.
.Huge outside stadium for the hommage concert.
.Autograph on beach when she signs her first name followed by Rahul’s full name.
.Ends with her remembering when they were both in the middle of the road, but now on the beach.
2018 2h14
2019 Oscars NOMINATED / PENDING
Best Picture A Star Is Born
Best Actor Bradley Cooper
Best Actress Lady Gaga
Best Supporting Actor Sam Elliott
Best Adapted Screenplay Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters
Best Cinematography Matthew Libatique
Best Sound Mixing Tom Ozanich,Dean A. Zupancic,Jason Ruder & Steve A. Morrow
Best Original Song Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt for "Shallow"
2019 BAFTA WON
1Best Film Music Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Lukas Nelson
2019 BAFTA NOMINATED
Best Film A Star Is Born
Best Direction Bradley Cooper
Best Actor in a Leading Role Bradley Cooper
Best Actress in a Leading Role Lady Gaga
Best Adapted Screenplay Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters
Best Sound Steve A. Morrow, Alan Robert Murray, Jason Ruder,
Tom Ozanich, Dean A. Zupancic
2019 GOLDEN GLOBES WON
Best Original Song Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and
Andrew Wyatt for "Shallow"
2019 GOLDEN GLOBES NOMINATED
Best Motion Picture – Drama A Star Is Born
Best Director Bradley Cooper
Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Bradley Cooper
Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Lady Gaga
Best Original Song Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and
Andrew Wyatt for "Shallow"
.Live Nation Productions, Live Nation Entertainment Ticket sales Ticket resale Ticket exchange Concert production Marketing Advertising Artist management
.Long take out of restaurant to dark alley with singing
.eyes lashes original film drawing
in 1976, eyelash during bath scene scene middle of movie
Lifted from 1976, Recording studio bit is in the 1976 version too, Abby/ Esther prefers to have the piano in. Naked Bath scene (in the 1976) and sex scene.
.Going deaf because of tinnitus,
.Charlie the dog!!
.“I’m sorry!”
.Greg Grunberg driver
.Lots of long takes
.Not entirely sure why they still have sex scenes
.Removed the dancers!!
.Dave Chapelle
.Proposal and wedding on same day, like original.
.SNL without Trump derangement syndrome, quite impressive I’ll tell you that
.Sam Elliott manager/brother
.Different person when he drinks, like Oscar in Colossal.
.“Incredible collection of vinyls you have there.”
.Ally Nominated 3 Grammys
.Pissing himslef, we’ve got plenty of history of drunk people coming to announce awards in France, do you have some? Depardieu, Sophie Marceau…
.dad was a drunk, Jack tries suicide
.That other guy who told Jack what Ally would not tell him, directly responsible for Jack’s death.
.“I just wanted to have another look at you!”
.Huge steak goodbye present to Charlie.
.The way the suicide scene is filmed is very powerful and smart. You’ve got the Room on one side, and you’ve got this on the other
.12 notes between 2 octaves
.Last song, poised, centered, intentful.
.Looking at the camera last thing
.Hair done by Stefani’s sister
All films, we gradually get closer and closer and closer to the character as all the films are coming. Original 4/3 but plenty of master shots, 1934 CinemaScope so Widescreen even more wide shots, 1976, plenty of close-up; 2018, tracking shots, extreme close-ups.
Bradley Cooper, directorial, kudos
Sam Eliott
/ Live Nation Productions
Dave Chapelle
Drena de Niro??
Saw the suicide coming
Less technical than Bo Rap, entirely Hollywoodized story.
Greg Grunberg
SNL not shitting on trump.
all live singing
Garbled voice, Bradley Cooper, sometime Sam Dliott too
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/10/a-star-is-born-original-lady-gaga-bradley-cooper-easter-eggs
https://www.elitedaily.com/p/does-bradley-cooper-sing-in-real-life-his-a-star-is-born-role-has-fans-asking-12132958
People TV intw:
They were stealing real stage time to perform /film.
The host pointed out something that I couldn’t verbalise but felt a lot, the first 20 minutes, they gradually fall for each other without saying it.
1976 version, Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, with Gary Busey.
Robert Englund
The Oreos
https://deadline.com/2019/02/a-star-is-born-eric-roth-bradley-cooper-oscars-interview-1202555552/
Oscars Cinematography & Editing announced to be given during the commercials of the TV program.
“Cinematography and Editing are at the very heart of our craft. They are not inherited from a theatrical tradition or a literary tradition: they are cinema itself.” G del Toro
“In the history of CINEMA, masterpieces have exist
ed without sound, without color, without a story, without actors and without music. No one single film has ever existed without CINEMAtography and without editing.” Alfonson Cuaron
