Film Preview: A Star Is Born (2018)

Page Revisions:

(Jun. 10, 2018) Original
(September 30, 2018) New Posters (#4-#5)
(October 7, 2018) Added Image Gallery

Release Date:

October 5, 2018

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A musician helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.”

Poster Rating: C / C (2) / C (2)

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Review: (#1) Black-and-white with a golden lettering scheme. It’s clear they are going for a theme, just not a very good looking one. (#2-#3) These character posters pull the color theme of the first poster and run with it. They are interesting only in who they depict, not necessarily their design.

(#3-#4) These two additional posters aren’t terribly dissimilar from the past efforts and therefore don’t do anything to make any in the set more appealing.

Trailer Rating: C+

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Review: Looking a bit like The Weary Kind rather than another version of the films A Star Is Born, the trailer doesn’t entirely whet the appetite, but it doesn’t push the audience away either.

Oscar Prospects:

All three prior incarnations of the film have been Oscar nominees. In 1937, Janet Gaynor and Fredric March were Oscar nominees along with Best Picture and four other nominations. It won the Oscar for Best Original Story and the film’s cinematographer won an special award for his color photography. In 1955, James Mason and Judy Garland were the nominees along with four other citations, but that film didn’t earn a Best Picture nomination. It went home empty-handed. In 1976, neither of the leads, Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand, pulled off nominations and the film only earned four, winning for Best Original Song for the legendary “Evergreen.” We are now 42 years removed from the last incarnation and we have Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga in the leads. Cooper is a prior Oscar nominee, as is Lady Gaga, albeit only for songwriting. This is also Cooper’s directorial debut. Early word has been positive, suggesting it could be an Oscar contender, but it’s hard to see too many places where it could contend. Original Song for sure. Cooper is the next most likely competitor and Lady Gaga is a darkhorse contender. Beyond that, I don’t suspect much will become of the film in terms of Oscar glory.