LogFAQs > #933665983

LurkerFAQs, Active DB, DB1, DB2, DB3, DB4, DB5, Database 6 ( 01.01.2020-07.18.2020 ), DB7, DB8, DB9, DB10, DB11, DB12, Clear

Topic List	Page List: 1
Topic	~ The Gauntlet Crew Ranks Movie Musicals, Part 2: The Golden Age ~
Vengeful_KBM 01/29/20 8:43:53 PM #174:	11. A Star is Born (1954) KBM: 10 Scarlet: 10 Inviso: 13 JONA: 13 Genny: 18 Johnbobb: 18 Karo: 20 KBM - *Why I Chose It:* The second version of A Star Is Born, and the first one to be a musical, the 1954 adaptation was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Moss Hart and directed by eventual Oscar-winner George Cukor (who won for 1964's My Fair Lady). Judy Garland infamously lost the Best Actress Oscar to Grace Kelly for The Country Girl, still considered one of the most shocking and controversial upsets in Academy Awards history. Original songs were written by Howard Arlen (of The Wizard of Oz) and Ira Gershwin (brother and lyricist to George Gershwin). *My Thoughts:* Judy absolutely should have won the Oscar. Despite its considerable length, in my view the 1954 take on A Star Is Born is one of the best '50s movie musicals out there. Judy Garland gives the best lead performance in any adaptation of this story, as well as one of her own very best performances ever. Her chemistry with James Mason isn't quite as electric as, say, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, but it's made up for by the lovingly-filmed musical numbers and the expertly handled script, which still carries a lot of dramatic gravitas and a healthy cynicism regarding the fickle nature of show business, even despite the film's age. Like most movies from the era, it certainly does drag at times (though I, for one, was thoroughly entertained by the nearly-20-minute Born in a Trunk montage) but there's no denying the emotional impact of the ending, as well as the lavish production design throughout. I will say that the lost scenes in the restoration that use still production photographs and long establishing shots over the movie's audio are entirely unnecessary and the movie was probably better off without them, despite my general opposition to cutting down films against the director's wishes. Favorite Song: The Man That Got Away Scarlet - The reason A Star Is Born works is the innate charisma of the frog-faced Judy Garland. Her voice enraptures and her presence carries this film to the highest of medium-well that seems to define this list. Best Song: The Man That Got Away Inviso - This movie is SO. LONG. I cant remember, but There cant have been many other films weve watched for this list that were so long that they required an intermission in the middle. And length isnt indicative of a lack of quality. There are some really good, long movies. The problem is that SO much of this film felt padded out unnecessarily. I get that the plot revolves around Judy Garland rising to stardom, and that means highlighting some of the choices in her life that made up her acting career. But there are so many musical numbers that just feel completely superfluous, and they stretch out the run time. Theres a tight, well-crafted story in this film, about the rise of one star while another falls. It just gets bogged down by the absurd runtime. Honestly, this films biggest failing is the fact that its a musical, because those musical numbers are the cause of padding that ultimately harms to films plot. Its still decent, and at least I like the charactersbut it couldve been much better. JONA - The first movie of the series that ends with the phenomenal Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star. This movie is all about showing off Judy Garland and her talents. Of course, shes fantastic here and of the three versions of the movie, this is the one that has the best feeling of a star being born. Also, I loved the look of Garlands stage numbers. Theres great chemistry between the main couple and all the emotional moments hit. Its definitely too long though. Favorite Song: The Man That Got Away Genny - I never saw the original so forgive me if I think this iteration of A Star is Born did something less unique than I presume, but the change of the leading man from rock singer to actor was intriguing. Judy Garland did a great job here, her Esther playing off her counterpart very well in a way that made me pity the both of them. Johnbobb - So my main takeaway here is that Judy Garland just kills it. Her performance, her songs, her one blatantly racist number. Wait, scratch that last one. She alone make the film worthwhile; even if it's a little overlong, Garland never really stops being a pleasure to watch. Once that's passed, however, there's not quite as much leftover as I might hope for. Norman isn't a particularly compelling foil, and the rest of the characters are entirely forgettable. Ultimately I'm let without a whole lot more to say about it. Favorite song: The Man That Got Away Karo - A big name actor sees a girl singing at a nightclub and decides to use his influence to attempt to make her into a movie star. He succeeds at this endeavor, which is pretty much the only thing of note to happen in the movie until the very end. Unfortunately, most of the songs were rather forgettable. Not to throw any shade at Judy Garland but none of her performances here really sent me over the rainbow as it were. If the most memorable musical thing about a film is Garland's racist portrayal of a chinaman via a lampshade, that is not particularly good. The powerful ending makes the movie worthwhile, but having to slog through nearly three hours of story that proceeds at the pace of molasses to get to that point is not something I'd ever want to do again. Score: 55/100 Best Song: 'Lose That Long Face' <cite>Vengeful_KBM posted [p:933665983] in ~ The Gaun... [t:78327237]...</cite> <quote>11. A Star is Born (1954) KBM: 10 Scarlet: 10 Inviso: 13 JONA: 13 Genny: 18 Johnbobb: 18 Karo: 20 KBM - Why I Chose It: The second version of A Star Is Born, and the first one to be a musical, the 1954 adaptation was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Moss Hart and directed by eventual Oscar-winner George Cukor (who won for 1964's My Fair Lady). Judy Garland infamously lost the Best Actress Oscar to Grace Kelly for The Country Girl, still considered one of the most shocking and controversial upsets in Academy Awards history. Original songs were written by Howard Arlen (of The Wizard of Oz) and Ira Gershwin (brother and lyricist to George Gershwin). My Thoughts: Judy absolutely should have won the Oscar. Despite its considerable length, in my view the 1954 take on A Star Is Born is one of the best '50s movie musicals out there. Judy Garland gives the best lead performance in any adaptation of this story, as well as one of her own very best performances ever. Her chemistry with James Mason isn't quite as electric as, say, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, but it's made up for by the lovingly-filmed musical numbers and the expertly handled script, which still carries a lot of dramatic gravitas and a healthy cynicism regarding the fickle nature of show business, even despite the film's age. Like most movies from the era, it certainly does drag at times (though I, for one, was thoroughly entertained by the nearly-20-minute Born in a Trunk montage) but there's no denying the emotional impact of the ending, as well as the lavish production design throughout. I will say that the lost scenes in the restoration that use still production photographs and long establishing shots over the movie's audio are entirely unnecessary and the movie was probably better off without them, despite my general opposition to cutting down films against the director's wishes. Favorite Song: The Man That Got Away Scarlet - The reason A Star Is Born works is the innate charisma of the frog-faced Judy Garland. Her voice enraptures and her presence carries this film to the highest of medium-well that seems to define this list. Best Song: The Man That Got Away Inviso - This movie is SO. LONG. I cant remember, but There cant have been many other films weve watched for this list that were so long that they required an intermission in the middle. And length isnt indicative of a lack of quality. There are some really good, long movies. The problem is that SO much of this film felt padded out unnecessarily. I get that the plot revolves around Judy Garland rising to stardom, and that means highlighting some of the choices in her life that made up her acting career. But there are so many musical numbers that just feel completely superfluous, and they stretch out the run time. Theres a tight, well-crafted story in this film, about the rise of one star while another falls. It just gets bogged down by the absurd runtime. Honestly, this films biggest failing is the fact that its a musical, because those musical numbers are the cause of padding that ultimately harms to films plot. Its still decent, and at least I like the charactersbut it couldve been much better. JONA - The first movie of the series that ends with the phenomenal Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star. This movie is all about showing off Judy Garland and her talents. Of course, shes fantastic here and of the three versions of the movie, this is the one that has the best feeling of a star being born. Also, I loved the look of Garlands stage numbers. Theres great chemistry between the main couple and all the emotional moments hit. Its definitely too long though. Favorite Song: The Man That Got Away Genny - I never saw the original so forgive me if I think this iteration of A Star is Born did something less unique than I presume, but the change of the leading man from rock singer to actor was intriguing. Judy Garland did a great job here, her Esther playing off her counterpart very well in a way that made me pity the both of them. Johnbobb - So my main takeaway here is that Judy Garland just kills it. Her performance, her songs, her one blatantly racist number. Wait, scratch that last one. She alone make the film worthwhile; even if it's a little overlong, Garland never really stops being a pleasure to watch. Once that's passed, however, there's not quite as much leftover as I might hope for. Norman isn't a particularly compelling foil, and the rest of the characters are entirely forgettable. Ultimately I'm let without a whole lot more to say about it. Favorite song: The Man That Got Away Karo - A big name actor sees a girl singing at a nightclub and decides to use his influence to attempt to make her into a movie star. He succeeds at this endeavor, which is pretty much the only thing of note to happen in the movie until the very end. Unfortunately, most of the songs were rather forgettable. Not to throw any shade at Judy Garland but none of her performances here really sent me over the rainbow as it were. If the most memorable musical thing about a film is Garland's racist portrayal of a chinaman via a lampshade, that is not particularly good. The powerful ending makes the movie worthwhile, but having to slog through nearly three hours of story that proceeds at the pace of molasses to get to that point is not something I'd ever want to do again. Score: 55/100 Best Song: 'Lose That Long Face' </quote> ... Copied to Clipboard!
Topic List	Page List: 1