Here are some more photos of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga promoting A Star Is Born at the Venice Film Festival last week. Get comfortable with seeing Gaga and B-Coop look awkward as they hold hands, because we’ll be seeing a lot of them in the months to come. The reviews out of Venice are really good, and of course everyone is already saying that Venice is just the first step in a massive Oscar campaign. Just how massive? Variety did a piece on how this year’s field is relatively weak, so much so that if A Star Is Born plays its cards right, the film could easily end up with like nine Oscar nominations (I’m editing this story):
Bradley Cooper both puts a fresh spin on a decades-old movie staple and transcends its very place in cinema history by fixing the story, turning a classic role, finally, into a tragic figure you actually care about. For that and many more reasons (like a field that isn’t as competitive as usual), the lead actor Oscar race might be over and done with. Cooper is that good as the kind-hearted but haunted Jackson Maine, and the screenplay — from Cooper, Will Fetters, and Oscar winner Eric Roth — finely tunes his story.
Lady Gaga…is, of course, sensational in her first starring role — an absolute natural. And when her version of the discovered talent, here called Ally, first steps onto a stage early in the film to perform one of her own songs for the first time — already a highlight from its positioning in the trailer alone — I’ve rarely seen so arresting a moment in cinema.
Cooper’s crew, across the board, nailed this project. Cinematographer Matthew Libatique’s work, particularly in capturing the intimacy of performance numbers, is such a remove from the kind of high-gloss work you might expect from a studio production such as this. Jay Cassidy’s editing moves the story more swiftly… High marks, too, go to the sound mix and editing of the aural elements, courtesy of Oscar-winning talents like Michael Minkler and Alan Robert Murray (Cooper tapping pal Clint Eastwood’s regular).
Including best picture and director, where are we now? Nine nominations? Let’s push a little more… The costume design deserves a mention for Ally’s metamorphosis in the film to a full-blown pop sensation. Sam Elliott’s supporting performance as Jackson’s much older brother (it’s explained), meanwhile, was a big source of the emotion for me, particularly in one moment that so tenderly captured the stifled affection between the two men. Those are on the table as well. And we haven’t even talked about the songs. Expect the enforced maximum of two nominations, assuming Warner Bros. decides to promote as many; often studios will opt to consolidate their campaign power behind just one track for films like this that have an array of possibilities.
So. Yes. “A Star Is Born” (2018) is an across-the-board Oscar contender. More than that, and assuming this is even still possible in the modern era, it has the muscle to achieve what only three films in movie history ever have: Win all five major Academy Awards (picture, director, actor, actress, and screenplay). It’s that kind of accomplishment, and even more, it makes you realize what this well-worn, Oscar-winning material was capable of all along.
[From Variety]
Variety also points out that Bradley Cooper has songwriting credits on a few of the songs, and at least one of those could end up with a nomination, which means that he could end up with five Oscar nominations in total – director, actor, songwriter, screenplay, producer. Are you already over this conversation? Because I am. Maybe that’s because I’ve never been a huge believer in Bradley Cooper as an actor – I’m willing to give this film a chance, of course, but I’m actually expecting Bradley to be a bit self-indulgent as a director, considering he was “directing himself” in a role that aims to be Oscar-bait. I generally find him to be the worst part of every one of his films, so we’ll see.
Also: in Vulture’s recap of what went down at the Venice Film Festival, they had a little sidenote which was basically “there’s a rumor going around the festival that Gaga and Bradley barely even speak to each other,” as in they’re just doing performative lovey-dovey crap on the red carpet and they really can’t stand each other. That sidenote was edited out of Vulture’s piece hours later. Interesting, right? Something to keep our eye on in the months to come.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
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