1079. A Star is Born

A Star is Born
Directed by Bradley Cooper
2018

I decided to get another film under the buzzer for musical month, which was a rather shorter affair then I intended (I can hear your sigh of relief from here, thanks). Anyway, our previous movie needed CGI elephants and lions to wow us during its musical numbers. All this movie has is Lady Gaga, and, unsurprisingly, it is much, much better.

Jack Maine is a famous singer who is privately, and then not so privately, suffering from addiction. He catches a performance by waitress/singer/songwriter Ally, and falls for her hard. As her star rises, Jack self-destructs.

This is the second Star is Born on the List and it's actually justifiable to include both, given the magnitude of the talents contained in each of the inclusions. That being said, watching Bradley Cooper pretend to stagger around wasted isn't quite the profound experience that Cooper might think it is. Well, let that beautiful bastard think what he pleases. Watching Lady Gaga perform "Always Remember Us This Way" was worth having to endure the tired storyline.

Without Gaga's talent to support this movie, its Oscar bait-iness would be completely unbearable. As is, Gaga saves the day.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper sang their songs live.

Beyonce was originally going to play Ally. If we had to endure Bradley telling an unconvinced Beyonce she was beautiful, I would have needed to delete this blog.

1078. The Greatest Showman

The Greatest Showman
Directed by Michael Gracey
2017

The moment you have all been waiting for, where I announce the theme for November! It's musical month! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to write much. I had to get another surgery, and while that sometimes means binging on so many movies that my readers start to get concerned, this time I couldn't bring myself to watch The Greatest Showman, which was the next film lined up. I mean, it's difficult enough battling nausea after surgery without having to watch Hugh Jackman tap dance. But I managed to get this watched under the buzzer. Stay tuned for one more musical post before December hits.

P.T. Barnum dreams big, along with his childhood sweetheart, played by Michelle Williams. Does Michelle Williams ever have a role other than Long-Suffering Wife? In any case, P.T. starts to collect and celebrate misfits. He also recruits a playwright Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron) who falls for one of the trapeze artists.

I can forgive a musical anything, even glitter washing history, if the songs are good. These songs are just okay, with a couple in the pretty good category. "Rewrite the Stars" and "A Million Dreams" at least had interesting choreography; I had my eyes peeled for any flashes of originality, since this was pretty derivative. I couldn't help but compare "The Other Side," a duet by Barnum and Carlyle where Barnum convinces Carlyle to join him, with "Well, Did You Evah?" from High Society. Try as they might (and they tried so hard Jackman was practically panting in every scene) they just couldn't imbue the number with the same magic that Crosby and Sinatra had.

It's much more interesting when biopics dive into the grittier aspects of their subjects, but the filmmakers were determined to behave as though Barnum was Lady Gaga, instead of a seedy slave owner who tortured animals. I guess that's fine; I don't need realism in my musicals. But I was pretty over its cloying message right from the beginning; This is Me sounds like a Katy Perry song.

I've babbled enough. Should be watched in conjunction with the other List movie, Freaks.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Jenny Lind was written with Anne Hathaway in mind.

In reality only Tom Thumb and P.T. Barnum met Queen Victoria.