Babylon

JP Liz V1

From Damien Chazelle, Babylon is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.

The rest of the cast includes Tobey Maguire, Olivia Wilde, Samara Weaving, Jean Smart, Li Jun Li, Jovan Adepo, Katherine Waterston, Flea, Lukas Haas, Rory Scovel, P.J. Byrne, Spike Jonze, Chloe Fineman, Jeff Garlin, and Max Minghella.

Babylon is set for an 20th January 2023 UK and Irish cinema release (6th January 2023 in the U.S)

https://youtu.be/LwIZTjMSjyI

An Ode to Baz Luhrmann 😄

Agent Coulson

Tobey Maguire seems to be slowly coming off the unoffical blacklist by the looks of it with Spiderman and now this.

JP Liz V1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119632257#Comment_119632257

Was he blacklisted for poker?

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119632303#Comment_119632303

Possibly, but also being too much of an ásshole IIRC? Hollywood can put up with that kind of thing as long as you're certified to put bums on seats.

As to the movie? Looks "maximalist", going by the trailer anyway. Not entirely sure I could stomach a whole movie operating at that registers, but I'd welcome the challenge.

JP Liz V1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119646939#Comment_119646939

I never heard anything about Tobey being difficult to work with, is he still best mates with Leo?

JP Liz V1

https://youtu.be/7tfzoGaaf3o

23rd December now US release

santana75

Saw this last night and its gonna take some time for it to percolate I reckon. Its Damein Chazelle channeling Paul Thomas anderson channeling Robert altman. Margot Robbie is very good(as she always is). Brad pitt is also good, but some of the scenes just go on way too long. The movie as a whole did not need to be over 3 hours, the job could've been done an dusted in two. I loved whiplash and La la land is one of my favorites films but this..........I'm just not so sure it worked.

steve_r

Watched this last night. I was wary of it, the long runtime and the fact that it's a Hollywood movie making a movie about Hollywood put me off.

However, I actually felt the runtime was kind of justified and it didn't seem to have a lull for me in the way that some shorter films have. It's clearly a long film because there's a lot he wanted to show and say, rather than a long film because it wasn't edited properly.

It starts with a lot of momentum, and it does a decent job of maintaining that throughout the film. Margot Robbie, I thought was good, Diego Calva I thought was excellent. For Brad Pitt, well I felt like I was just watching Brad Pitt. I did find his arc interesting, but I think a different actor might have made more out of it. Whilst Robbie and Pitt are the box office stars, Calva is really the heart of the film and his journey from start to finish was really something to watch.

Before watching the film, I was conscious of its journey from being a critic's favourite (I read an article a few months ago tipping it for an Oscar) to really dropping down the ranks, and it looks like it's been a box-office bomb. I found myself wondering how time will treat this film, will the consensus remain or in time will people appreciate this more?

It's a far from perfect film, and can be very indulgent at times (one montage used at a key point I felt was very self-congratulatory). It's the second big "movies about movies" film of the year and I do think that genre is a particularly well-worn one, and doesn't resonate outside of the industry (we do get the classic 'looks at the screen in awe shot'. However, in this case, he is telling less a story about Hollywood, and more a story about the people caught up in it, which I personally found much more enjoyable.

It's a wildly ambitious film, and not everything works. I can certainly see the issues people have with it. However, in a film landscape dominated by reboots, franchise films, tame biopics, rehashed topics, it's great to see someone taking a real risk.

4Ad

Didn't think I'd like it but I did..Margot Robbie is brilliant in it...

Dav010

That is one strange film, fantastic in places, dumb ass stupid in others.

DownByTheGarden

Margo Robbie was excellent in this but thats really all the movie had going for it as far as i could see.

What a mess. Didnt enjoy it at all. The first 20 minutes were quite good but after that it was a total car crash. Some may say its meant to be a car crash I suppose. but its sh1t car crash :)