# A Star is Born - the Seen It thread \[Open Spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 8, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676 "2018-10-08T23:02:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676/21 "2018-10-10T14:00:16Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > I love Elliott as a rule, but I’m not sure he wins for this. It’s a really small part and he didn’t have to do much beside being Same Elliott. Hey, c’mon, he did cry! So it was more than just deliver lines in a gravelly voice. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676/22 "2018-10-10T18:28:06Z")
I like it a lot, although I agree with the general consensus that the first half or so (they meet, she goes up on stage to sing) was better than the second half (she gets famous, he slides into alcoholism). The highlight was their early chemistry together, and her transition from shyness to giddiness during her first brushes with fame. I did think the “now she’s a packaged pop princess” stuff was too rushed. How was she such a skilled dancer that she was able to do the kind of pop choreography that was suddenly thrust upon her? Who decided that she should suddenly wear such ridiculous colorful outfits? Seems like there should have been a few additional scenes discussing that side of things that got cut for time. But, overall, quite a good movie, and I wouldn’t be surprised at oscar noms. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676/23 "2018-10-10T19:49:25Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Judi Dench won an Oscar for less than 10 minutes as Queen Elizabeth I in _Shakespeare in Love_. I think we can all agree that was a weird year. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2018, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676/24 "2018-10-10T20:19:23Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I did think the “now she’s a packaged pop princess” stuff was too rushed. How was she such a skilled dancer that she was able to do the kind of pop choreography that was suddenly thrust upon her? Who decided that she should suddenly wear such ridiculous colorful outfits? Seems like there should have been a few additional scenes discussing that side of things that got cut for time. This is my main criticism as well. The entire “unauthentic” subplot was poorly developed. They spent a lot of time building tension around it, but there wasn’t much payoff. Jackson was being a drunk asshole, but he wasn’t wrong. Supposedly the payoff is her going back to her natural hair color for the memorial performance, but when I walked out of the theater I was convinced it was still red and the outfit she wore looked more pop princess than singer songwriter. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676/25 "2018-10-11T13:31:32Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Judi Dench won an Oscar for less than 10 minutes as Queen Elizabeth I in _Shakespeare in Love_. Of course this is the outlier; no one else has gotten an Oscar being on screen that little. A few nominations have run a bit shorter (Viola Davis in Doubt was only on screen for six minutes.) Something I kind of just thought of, another point in my argument that Cooper just directed this brilliantly; when he and Lady Gaga are performing on stage together, the camera is never from an audience perspective, ever. I am quite sure I have never seen a movie that does that. All camera work is done from the perspective of being on stage with the performers; they are always always shot from the side or from behind, either looking into stage right/left or at the audience. On the few occasions they are shot from in front, the camera is literally a few feet from them, as if you are standing on the stage looking at them from arm’s length away. The effect is remarkably intimate; the audience is not watching a performance, but is inside the performance, amongst the jumble of wires and instruments and monitors and lights. Later in the film, when you are watching Ally’s pop performances - like at SNL - or watching the Grammys scenes, the cameras moves back into the audience; now you are no longer a part of it, but are forced to watch the performance as an outsider. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676/26 "2018-10-11T14:32:35Z")
Not to take anything away from the directing but that might not have totally been purposeful. Cooper was on the Tonight Show and said those concert shots were done during an actual concert and was a bit of a rush because they did it between sets of the openers and the main act, iirc. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676/27 "2018-10-11T14:35:41Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > She attended the Tisch School of the Arts She also trained as an actor but turned to music when she couldn’t land any roles. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676/28 "2018-10-13T05:39:03Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > I think we can all agree that was a weird year. > [@RickJay](#): > > Of course this is the outlier; no one else has gotten an Oscar being on screen that little. A few nominations have run a bit shorter (Viola Davis in Doubt was only on screen for six minutes.) Piffle. The precedent is there, weird year or not. Charlie the dog. That dog is Cooper’s dog in real life. And his name really is Charlie. The dog is getting a lot of buzz. One article suggested the movie should have been called _A Boy Is Good_. What with music videos, it should not be surprising that a singer can also be a good actress. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2018, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676/29 "2018-10-13T06:01:10Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > This is my main criticism as well. The entire “unauthentic” subplot was poorly developed. They spent a lot of time building tension around it, but there wasn’t much payoff. Wellllllll, as much as they hinted at this, I don’t think Cooper could have gone too hard into it without it seeming like a personal criticism of Gaga herself. And that wasn’t going to happen! ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676/30 "2018-10-15T04:03:34Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Wellllllll, as much as they hinted at this, I don’t think Cooper could have gone too hard into it without it seeming like a personal criticism of Gaga herself. And that wasn’t going to happen! That’s a good point. Wonder how much that mattered. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676/31 "2018-10-15T04:32:37Z")
The shortest times on screen that won Oscars are Judi Dench with a Best Supporting Actress in 1998 for less than 8 minutes of screen time in _Shakespeare In Love_ and Beatrice Straight with a Best Supporting Actress for _Network_ in 1976 for about 10 minutes of screen time. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676/32 "2018-10-15T05:21:44Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > The shortest times on screen that won Oscars are Judi Dench with a Best Supporting Actress in 1998 for less than 8 minutes of screen time in _Shakespeare In Love_ and Beatrice Straight with a Best Supporting Actress for _Network_ in 1976 for about 10 minutes of screen time. How long was Elliott on screen? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676/33 "2018-10-15T08:15:52Z")
I don’t know how long he was on screen and I can’t figure out how to find out, unless someone here volunteers to see the movie again and time it themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676/34 "2018-10-15T08:16:55Z")
Incidentally, I thought the movie was about twenty minutes too long. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-star-is-born-the-seen-it-thread-open-spoilers/822676.md?page=1)