Cindy Prascik's Reviews of Venom and A Star is Born

  

Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for the "strange bedfellows" double-bill of Venom and A Star is Born.

 

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

 

First on the docket: Venom.

 

A down-on-his-luck video-journalist unwittingly merges with an alien life form, turning his world upside down.

 

Venom is a disaster. It's a big miss from Marvel, a company noted for not missing even when all it has to offer is Ant-Man. If not for the supreme good fortune of having Tom Hardy in the lead, the movie would be utterly unwatchable. Thankfully, Hardy seems to be having a blast, which makes at least his performance good fun. The rest is, unfortunately, so stupid as to be no fun at all. With its horrific-looking aliens and an overload of carnage, the movie's PG13 rating feels disingenuous; maybe if they'd tossed in an extra F-word and gone full R the finished product wouldn't seem so lame. A told-to-death backstory, underwhelming effects, and idiotic humor ruin any chance of caring about the characters or what is happening to them. If the Captain Marvel trailer made me think a time is coming when comic-book movies will no longer be must-see for me, then Venom certainly drove home the point. In the immortal words of Nathan from The Full Monty, "That were crap."

Venom clocks in at 112 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for language."

 

Venom ranks among the worst movies I've seen in 2018. 

 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Venom gets two.

 

Next up, the third big-screen rendering of A Star is Born.

 

A superstar musician takes on a talented protege, and romance ensues.

 

Dear reader(s): A Star is Born forces me to offer warring disclaimers. If I'm predisposed to view romantic films with disdain, I'm (at least) equally inclined to love any movie about music or musicians. It is to this film's credit that it's so good I don't think either had much influence on my opinion of the whole.

 

There are a great many positives here, so we'll start with the most obvious: the performances of the film's leads, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. I dig Bradley Cooper. Since The A-Team came out in 2010, my ringtone has been Steely Dan's Reelin' in the Years, so when the phone rings I can hope it's Bradley Cooper. (Spoiler alert: It's never Bradley Cooper.) I will watch Cooper in anything, and I think he elevates any project lucky enough to have him. At this point, it should be no surprise to anyone that he is amazing, though at times I still worry he's so ridiculously good-looking as to be sold short. Here he's no less than Oscar worthy, and (now that Gary Oldman has his!), I genuinely hope that this is Cooper's year. In his debut behind the camera, his top-notch direction may garner him additional hardware. Gaga is also terrific. She's served well by her own experiences, and I won't be at all surprised if she, too, bathes in awards love this winter. The picture's original songs are solid, though I much preferred the guitar-driven numbers performed by Cooper's band to Gaga's epic ballads. If you're still having a hard time getting over all the accolades heaped on LaLa Land's lackluster songs and middling vocals, this movie should be the cure for what ails you. The film runs a bit long, and the story is sort-of hokey at times--as love stories are--but it's well told enough and the characters so engaging that it's a petty quibble. I don't think it's spoilery to warn that A Star is Born is a tearjerker--the woman behind me was sobbing so hard I thought we were going to have to call the EMTs--so bring the Kleenex.

 

A Star is Born runs 135 minutes and is rated R for "language throughout, some sexuality/nudity, and substance abuse."

 

A Star is Born offers a new take on a timeless tale, showcasing some truly extraordinary performances and firing perhaps the first real shots of this awards season.

 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, A Star is Born gets eight.

 

Fangirl points: Look, there's really no need for me to say any more about Bradley Cooper, but...did I mention Bradley Cooper with long hair and a guitar? *sigh*

 

Until next time...