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Topic: A Star Is Born (2018)

Harold Hallikainen
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 906
From: Denver, CO, USA
Registered: Aug 2009

posted 09-30-2018 10:54 AM

I hear this is the fourth version of this film. Excellent performances by everyone. I had never seen Stefani Germanotta act, and she did great! It's definitely not a feel food movie, but is very well done. It points out the extreme difficulty in dealing with alcohol and drug addiction. It SEEMS that people would see that this stuff leads their lives in the wrong direction, but apparently it cannot be helped. It points out a societal issue that could use more attention.

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Jonathan Goeldner
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1360
From: Washington, District of Columbia
Registered: Jun 2008

posted 10-04-2018 10:39 PM

I saw this the other night in Dolby Cinema (AMC Tysons) and the cinematography for a digitally captured movie, the image had tremendous texture and color saturation that looked very filmic.

The Dolby Atmos audio was a mixed bag, as I have had many prior issues with this auditorium and it's setup. The rock concert scenes had great oomph and immersion, but all the dialogue scenes had this terrible reverb/echo thing going on. If it's not directional dialogue, it's supposed to be sourced from the center channel, as a result it was highly distracting and really made those scenes stand out as being badly mixed, when in fact the processor is somehow causing the flaw.

Technical notes aside; Cooper, Lady Gaga and Sam Elliott were in top form in their performances and while I was familiar with the prior movie versions, the ending still packed an emotional effect on me.

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Sam Graham
AKA: "The Evil Sam Graham". Wackiness ensues.

Posts: 1431
From: Waukee, IA
Registered: Dec 2004

posted 10-05-2018 06:18 PM

CINEMA: AMCarmike 13, Champaign, IL
AUDITORIUM: 1
PRESENTATION: Carmike FauxlonialVision with standard rockerback seats, stadium seating, Mystery Meat Digital, and OH MY GOD PROPERLY SET SCREEN MASKING
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: Loud climate control (a Carmike trademark), faux sconce columns reflective to the point of distraction
RATING: Three stars (out of four)

I arrive to buy a ticket, as this is an old school operation with no assigned seating and you can just buy a ticket and sit wherever you want without worrying about advance reserved seating. Plus, almost nobody goes here during the day. There's two other people in the front...the ticket/snack bar seller, and an elderly woman.

"So how much is it to go to an early show?"

He mumbles an answer.

"And how much is the evening show?"

He mumbles an answer.

"What about for seniors?"

He explains this in mumbling detail. He then brings up Tuesday discounts and explains that in great detail, right down to the popcorn and drink special.

"And how much would a popcorn and drink be regularly?"

"About $13.50."

"HOLY JESUS!"

This goes on for nearly ten minutes while I stand there wasting away. She leaves with a gift card. I approach him probably looking annoyed. He gives me his best "Fuck you I don't care" look.

ROCKETMAN: A TRUE FANTASY - Sorry...what?

THE PLOT: A drunk picks up a singer at a drag show. Wackiness ensues.

Ally ("Esther" in the first three movies) meets Jackson Maine ("Norman Maine" in the first two movies, "John Norman Howard' in the third). They fall in love, he showcases her in his show where the crowd goes wild for her (because an established act throwing new material, let alone an unknown talent, into their show at the sacrifice of time for classics ALWAYS works). She gets a manager and becomes a success in her own right while his career falls with his substance abuse and health issues.

The story sticks to the tried-and-true format here. If you've seen the earlier versions, nothing here will surprise you. Why it works is the spartan way it's largely told. Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga's chemistry is so good it tells part of the story without a word being spoken.

I almost went two and one half stars because it feels overly long and seems to bog down at times. But the ending brought it back for me.

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Harold Hallikainen
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 906
From: Denver, CO, USA
Registered: Aug 2009

posted 10-05-2018 06:37 PM

On the popcorn price, I've been explaining to people that you're not just paying for the popcorn, you're paying to clean up all the spilled popcorn.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-06-2018 10:56 PM

I always tell people the popcorn machine costs about $12,000 (which a new one would) and that shuts them up because they've all got a $49 Walmart popper at home.

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Jonathan Goeldner
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1360
From: Washington, District of Columbia
Registered: Jun 2008

posted 10-09-2018 01:59 PM

quote: Sam Graham
I arrive to buy a ticket, as this is an old school operation with no assigned seating and you can just buy a ticket and sit wherever you want without worrying about advance reserved seating. Plus, almost nobody goes here during the day. There's two other people in the front...the ticket/snack bar seller, and an elderly woman.

"So how much is it to go to an early show?"

He mumbles an answer.

"And how much is the evening show?"

He mumbles an answer.

"What about for seniors?"

He explains this in mumbling detail. He then brings up Tuesday discounts and explains that in great detail, right down to the popcorn and drink special.

"And how much would a popcorn and drink be regularly?"

"About $13.50."

"HOLY JESUS!"

This goes on for nearly ten minutes while I stand there wasting away. She leaves with a gift card. I approach him probably looking annoyed. He gives me his best "Fuck you I don't care" look.

funny, if I was the next customer I would have muttered something under my breath that only the concession person would have heard and appreciated.

$13.50 for both popcorn ... and a drink !! - that's a bargain.

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Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 11-01-2018 03:22 AM

My god, what a LOUD MOVIE!

[Eek!]

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-01-2018 02:48 PM

Do you run at the reference setting?

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Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 11-01-2018 03:11 PM

I'm not completely sure what the "reference setting" would be in regard to the size of my room and the power of the amplifiers. The number I've heard is 7, but if I played anything at 7 I would blow the roof off of the building. How do you establish the reference setting? Cut the power output of the amplifiers back so you get a certain db of sound when it's at 7? If so, that has never been done here. The volume was just set to "reasonable" when this sound system was installed and that's where it stays, with occasional tune-ups when the tech is here.

I play trailers at 4.5 and features at 5.2, but those seem like meaningless numbers without further context. Putting my sound system into a larger room or smaller room would give different results at those levels.

The dialog and other elements of A Star is Born is pretty much at normal levels, but that initial concert right at the start of the movie is amazingly loud. It's because the high volume level is so sustained; many movies might have a really loud part that lasts for several seconds (explosion, entry of whatever, etc.) and then that event is over. This movie has a song right at the start that lasts for however-many minutes at a really high volume.

Neither Bradley Cooper or Lady Gaga can sing worth a hoot, in my opinion. The story is good and the acting is good but the best thing I can say about this music is that at least it isn't rap.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-01-2018 03:39 PM

This might need its own thread, but...I guess it depends on what your definition of "loud" is. There is a certain measured volume level that is heard when your system is calibrated to the reference level, and technicians usually set it up to where that level is heard when the system is set to "7." From there it's up to the individual operator (and audience) to determine whether "7" is too loud or not.

On our system, my personal feeling is that 7 is too loud, so we usually run movies at somewhere between 4.5 and 5.5, depending on how the dialogue sounds. We run all trailers at 3.6 so there's a nice contrast between the trailers and feature.

It is possible to listen to a movie at 7 on our system. I just personally think it's unnecessarily loud at that level. It isn't unpleasant for me, but it definitely would be for some folks. As it is, we have a nice loud sound that our audience is used to, and we almost never get "too loud" or "too soft" complaints. More often, I hear from kids, "Wow, that was LOUD!" and they have big smiles on their faces.

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Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 11-01-2018 03:52 PM

I was picking up a package at the post office this afternoon and the fellow who works there (and is a fairly regular customer here) asked if I had seen A Star is Born yet. I said yes, and pretty much what I just stated here. The story is good but the music will blast you right out of your seat.

"Well," he said, "if that's the case I'm definitely coming to see it this weekend. I was thinking to wait for that one on video but now I'll have to come to see it at your place."

So maybe it's actually a selling point. [Confused]

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 11-01-2018 09:41 PM

The short answer to reference level is...if a signal (pink noise) is played at -20dBFS from any one stage channel, it should measure 85dBc AFTER the system is tuned to ISO2960 (aka, da "X" curve). A mono surround channel should also measure 85dBc after tuning, each half of a stereo-surround (5.1) should measure 82dBc after tuning and each quadrant of a 7.1 surround system should measure 82dBc after tuning (which means your cinema processor has to do some level adjustments when going between 5.1 and 7.1 to satisfy all of those conditions.

For cinema processors with a percentage scale (0-10 or 0-100), the reference level should be at 7.0 (70%) and those with a dB scale, it should be at 0dB.

If your system is set up properly at these levels, then your theatre should be playing back at the exact same level (though likely not the same timbre, since your theatre isn't a dubbing stage) as the film was actually mixed.

If "A Star is Born" is played back at the right level...the concert scenes should seem VERY LOUD...just like at a concert. However, the normal dialog/indoor scenes shouldn't seem loud at all...in fact, if you turn it down for the music, it will seem quiet on the non-concert stuff.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-02-2018 08:53 PM

We're showing this right now. Working on my apology for the language when the senior citizens start griping about it.

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Frank Cox
Film God

Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 11-03-2018 12:31 AM

All of the seniors came out after tonight's show saying how wonderful it was. And nobody said anything about the volume of the concert scenes.

(Nobody complained about the language, either.)

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Sascha F. Roll
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 140
From: Berlin, Berlin / Germany
Registered: Sep 2015

posted 11-03-2018 12:55 PM

Watched it myself in a room I (re-)built and tuned , Fader on 7.0.
Concert scenes were loud but not excessive and still sounded clear. Dialogue was perfect. Overall a very good mix (heard the 7.1).

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