A Star Is Born is a romantic musical drama produced and directed by Bradley Cooper (in his directorial debut) and written by Cooper, Eric Roth and Will Fetters. This film is a remake of the 1937 film of the same name. It marks the third American remake of the original 1937 film (which starred Janet Gaynor and Fredric March), after the 1954 musical (starring Judy Garland and James Mason) and the 1976 rock musical (with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson).
Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) performs at sold out concerts but has a serious drinking problem, which he hides from the public (“Black Eyes”). Jackson’s main support and manager is his older brother Bobby Maine (Sam Elliott) who is always there for him. One night, after preforming a show, Jackson has his driver drop him off at a bar so that he can continue to drink. There he witnesses Ally (Lady Gaga), a singer/songwriter perform (“La Vie en rose”). Ally also works as a waitress with her friend Ramon (Anthony Ramos), while moonlighting as a singer at a drag bar. Amazed by her talent, they have a drink together and Ally reveals that she has never pursued a professional career due to being told that she has a big nose, something Jackson admits that he finds attractive and they share songs together.
He drops her off at her home where she lives with her widower father Lorenzo (Andrew Dice Clay) who runs a driving service with his friends. Jackson asks Ally to come to his show that night, but she refuses even when her father insists that she go. She eventually changes her mind and takes Ramon with her where Jackson asks Ally to sing on stage with him. After some hesitation, she relents and is praised on social media (“Shallow”). Jackson has Ally perform at several concerts with him and they slowly begin to form a relationship (“Maybe It’s Time”).
A Star is Born is an intense love story of two singers of which one of them is an alcoholic. I cannot say enough about the performances of Lady Gaga, Andrew Dice Clay, Bradley Cooper and Sam Elliott. I was memorized by Clay’s performance as Ally’s father. It was the first time I’ve seen him in a serious role. Bradley Cooper was more than convincing as a hopeless, love sick, drunk. I was also surprised at his singing abilities. Lady Gaga was her usual kick ass singer self. It was worth seeing the movie just to hear her sing. A Star is Born was totally believable and very entertaining. I loved this movie and shout out kudos to Bradley Cooper, what a debut. The story gets very deep and shows the ups and downs of an alcoholic as he tries to change his life around. A Star is Born is well worth your time and money to see it. Check it out!
[A Star is Born is Oscar nominated for BEST: Picture, Actress, Actor, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Original Song and Best Sound Mixing]
Since this is a documentary, I don’t really think it needs rating. However, I have to present this as an alleged account of sexual assaults as presented by the makers/writers of this film. The Hunting Ground tells the blatant truth about RAPE on campus and how it’s ignored. An edited version of The Hunting Ground aired on CNN, November 22, 2015 before it was released in December. This film starts out showing the excitement of several young girls and their families when they found out they were accepted in various colleges, which included the likes of Harvard, Berkley, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Amherst College, and Notre Dame. It didn’t take more than a couple of weeks before many of these girls lives were changed forever. Apparently, rape is a huge problem for colleges today and ignoring complaints is the way it’s dealt with. The film implies that many college officials were more concerned with minimizing rape statistics for their universities than with the welfare of the students, thus the message told over and over is that the college has to be protected, not the student. Other students, college administrators and city officials are accused of contributing more problems for students who try to aggressively pursue their claims. “The Hunting Ground also includes testimony from male victims of sexual assault. Producer Amy Ziering stated the filmmakers “felt it was important to show men and women. For men it’s often harder to speak up because there is a social stigma associated with rape. Many male victims were feeling ashamed.”
Machete Kills is getting a lot of buzz. This is a movie you have to go in knowing it’s just for entertainment. It’s extremely violent and full of sexy innuendos. This movie has so much blood shed that it’s hard to keep up with the countless bodies left all over the place. Imagine Charlie Sheen as president of the US and Cuba Gooding, Jr. as a sort of Change Shifter to the likes of Walton Goggins, Lady Gaga and Antonio Banderas. I couldn’t believe the amount of stars that graced this dark, comical, crazy, twisted kill ride. Danny Trejo plays a legendary killer who seems invincible. Michelle Rodriguez plays Machete’s sort of side kick. Jessica Alba opens up this movie along side Machete doing what they do best, killing people. Sofía Vergara plays the host of a house of ill repute. You will see everything from gun shooting boobs to gun shooting vaginas. Amber Heard plays Miss San Antonio among other things. Finally, Mel Gibson plays the ultimate villain in this very funny, violent, crazy movie. I loved it. I was thoroughly entertained. Just imagine what you know of these stars and the roles they played. That’s funny in itself. There are many more stars and many more to come as the sequel is in the works. We get a little sneak preview into “Machete in Space” which is the next in line to dazzle us into laughter and stupidness. Enjoy!
CAROL's WORLDS 