House of Gucci
***

Lady Gaga demonstrated that in addition to her well-known singing talent, she had great acting chops. She played the girlfriend, then wife, and a lot more of one of the Gucci heirs magnificently portrayed by Adam Driver. This is a biographical crime drama. The film is directed by Ridley Scott and is based on the 2001 book by Sara Gay Forden titled “House of Gucci: A Sensational Story Of Murder, Madness, Glamor, And Greed,” which tells it all. At times, you may lose a beat of the story line or the role of a specific character, but the overall cinematic experience is quite engrossing. The supporting cast is great and features Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, and Al Pacino.

We found it interesting to learn that Lady Gaga took into account how her longtime friend Tony Bennett felt about Italians being represented in films in terms of crime and that she aspired to “make a real person out of her character and not a caricature.” To achieve this she studied the voice and vocal cadence as well as the attitude of the real person she was portraying and tried to be “authentic from the perspective of a woman, not an Italian American woman.” She studied for 18 months speaking in accent for nine months of this period. She also ad libbed many of her lines including the film’s iconic quote “father, son, and House of Gucci”, which went viral after the release of the film. (The above information is from Wikipedia).

****

A Star Is Born-rm

Bradley Cooper demonstrates his acting, performing, writing and directing talent as he co-stars with Lady Gaga in the 2018 version of A Star Is Born. The storyline will be no surprise to today’s moviegoers. Cooper plays Jackson Maine, a famous musician who performs before thousands at open-air concerts. He stumbles across Ally (Lady Gaga) an unknown singer who he sees on stage at a small club. He comes to recognize her musical talent and also falls in love with her. We are able to appreciate the chemistry between them and also watch Ally blossom forth with all her musical talent.

The music scenes are terrific as they are performed in outdoor concert venues and, of course, Lady Gaga puts her magnificent singing talent into her character. Cooper, not known as a musician, has studied hard and gives his character very believable skills as a singer and guitar player. There was a great deal of depth to these two performances, as well as, from the supporting roles provided by Sam Elliott, Andrew Dice Clay, Dave Chappelle, Anthony Ramos, Shangela Laquifa Wadley and several others.

This is the fourth cinematic version of A Star Is Born. While the story is similar in all of them, there are different points of emphasis particularly in the characters played by Janet Gaynor (1937), Judy Garland (1954) and Barbra Streisand (1976). There is an excellent YouTube video (click on previous three words) comparing them.

The fate of Cooper’s character is particularly relevant in the 2018 contemporary scene in regard to alcoholism and opioid use. This problem is spiraling out of control today with a terrifying mortality rate particularly in young and middle-aged people. The emotional depiction of this problem in this film makes it especially pertinet for today’s movie audiences. (2018).