A Star Is Born (2018)

Bradley Cooper can direct in this movie easily accessible to the masses! After multiple collaborations with actor's director David O. Russell, Cooper has learned the art of direction. The movie serves as an acting showcase for himself and Lady Gaga, who proved she can act. Part of the point of the movie is that Cooper's character, the fading Jackson Maine, hogs her spotlight out of jealousy, but at times the same goes for Cooper the actor (at the direction of Cooper the director?). Both performances are Oscar-level. Maine's voice is so deep (he emulates co-star Sam Elliot unironically, who is also very good), Cooper must have been in so much pain straining himself. When Lady Gaga gets to shine, the movie really shines. She is a star in every sense of the word. And her distinctive voice is powerful as ever. Dave Chappelle makes a curious appearance. I like Chappelle but his character sort of comes out of nowhere almost inexplicably. Is he just some friend that happens to live in Memphis? And I happen to quite like Anthony Ramos of Hamilton fame.

Lady Gaga can act, but can Bradley Cooper sing? He's actually pretty decent. He can act drunk and he can act drunkenly sing in tune AND he can act soberly sing out of tune. That's range. The original music sticks with you. Lady Gaga has been experimenting with different genres lately, and she makes it all work. Her new song Shallow is sure to win the Oscar. And of course Lady Gaga starts out singing in a drag bar. The cinematography is striking. I wonder how much Bradley Cooper had to do with the look of the movie. And the screenplay is strong. The first act of the script is actually perfect. It perfectly balances comedy, romance and drama. The initial courtship between Ally and Jackson is convincing and engaging. And the musical makes powerful use of silence.

Lastly, I want to ask what Cooper is trying to say? This is obviously a remake done no less than 3 times before. In 2018, why do we need more of this? What is the commentary on our times? Easy message number 1 is the music producer/manager is unequivocally bad. The music industry does things to you making it difficult to retain your unique authenticity. But more interestingly what about gender? Does she need him, or he-her? What is he saying about masculinity? About successful women? What are we to make of Ally's final sacrifice, the lie she tells for Jackson's sake? And what about Jackson's ultimate sacrifice, an act of love? I don't have all the answers, but he raises some interesting questions for our contemporary society.

The Good Dinosaur (2015)

This is a solid family film, but as far as Pixar films go, this movie pales in comparison to Inside Out earlier this year.  The reason is that the movie lacks heart.  Pixar is known for drawing out emotions from its viewers but The Good Dinosaur was a little tame. The story is kind of typical for the genre and a little simple and shallow for Pixar's standards. It seems to hearken back to other classic animated films.  It is very much like Lion King, in which the father dinosaur dies tragically early on (very typical Disney).  Then there are three pterodactyls that try to make a meal of Arlo, like the hyenas from Lion King.

The premise of the film is interesting. What if the dinosaurs never went extinct? Then they would have evolved... to learn to domesticate agriculture and livestock, like humans did.  There is some charm and some genuine laughs. The movie is visually stunning, animating different species of dinosaurs in a friendly way that looks a lot better than The Land Before Time.  Those lightning bugs and the actual lightning and thunder that storm up trouble for the protagonist.  The animation is actually quite different. The computer images are not evocative of the same visuals we're used to from Pixar, but this was the kind of animation that this movie needed.