I’m one of the twelve people who disliked Hereditary (though I found Midsommar hilarious), so I’m not sure where I’ll land with Beau. Three hours in Aster’s head sounds like an exhausting experience.
I adored both Hereditary and Midsommar and I'm super wary about Beau is Afraid. It doesn't help that a lot of the reviews I'm reading confirm the concerns I had seeing the trailer (dream logic, feels like sitting in someone else's therapy session). I'm seeing it on Saturday, and my friends and I are already describing this as "boosting Aster's opening weekend numbers to get his next film funded".
I was mixed on Hereditary, but loved Midsommar wholeheartedly, especially in its extended cut. I’m miffed at A24 for not making that generally available.
Once I got the long, pointless joke he was making during the play performance about Beau not realizing how children are conceived I felt like Wee-Bey realizing he shot a cop. And later on, dad.
I got a heavy Schynecdoche, New York vibe from the trailer. That movie also becomes intentionally wearisome, but it only lasts about two hours and saves a lot of emotional pay dirt for the end of the movie. Curious how close in spirit or experience you found these movies to be.
There's a lot of Kaufman DNA in the film (down to an Extremely Specific Pop Culture Reference) that I will not spoil). Also: Later Fellini, Lynch, and Roy Andersson.
I wonder if we're gonna start seeing it much harder to get these massive sprawling passion projects funded. Regardless of how you feel about Babylon, it clearly set a lot of studio money on fire. (I know plenty here loved it- I found it almost unwatchable). I would love for this to make a lot of money so Aster's next films get funded easily, but the reviews are making this sound like a really hard sell. Especially now that Netflix + HBO no longer have limitless checkbooks.
I would say that the generally positive notices and buzz around Beau, most of which mention A24 and the extremely well-spent 35 million dollar budget, mark it as a winner for the studio already. It would be a miracle for it to make its money back theatrically, but it doesn’t sound like anyone involved ever expected it to. I think it’s more of an advertisement for the studio and for a popular, profitable, name brand filmmaker they want to be in business with long term.
Babylon, however, yikes. It was a much bigger bet that people hated to the point of distraction, and I think it will have a dampening effect on Chazelle’s career. Whatever he makes next, whenever he makes it, is going to be conceived, produced, and received through the lens of Babylon, which is going to make it all very difficult. Too bad, because I think he’s very talented, and I thought that while Babylon was ridiculous and kind of empty, its technique was so honed that it kept racking up points even when I caught myself rooting against it.
I'm normally the one ranting against movies being too long, but in this case the length lended itself well to the episodic, picaresque, Odyssey-like structure. It was almost like a six-part TV series, but it works better to watch it in one go.
In my 2/3 full screening in Los Angeles, I think I gave permission to the other people in the theater to laugh. I was the only one who DID laugh at all for about the first 15 minutes, and I was absolutely screeching: it is VERY funny in a "Blue Velvet"/"After Hours" way. Only then did the (some) of the rest of the audience realize, "Oh, this is supposed to be a comedy! A totally f*cked up comedy!" However, I would say the majority of the audience did NOT laugh once (which was also my experience with the theatrical releases of the two above-mentioned films). The movie does wear out its welcome, however. I think there is a successful movie in here that could clock in at two hours (I could have lost the entire forest interlude), but even I felt completely at sea and eventually sunk by the end of three hours. Has anyone checked in on Ari Aster's mom lately??
I have a conspiracy theory and that’s Evil Dead Rise was a compromise to hire Cronin to remake The Hole in the Ground but then retitle it something to grab SEO as an HBOMAX exclusive. And once it was EDR it got the references and quotes to use.
Finally got around to seeing Beau Is Afraid, and for awhile I was thinking the most salient line in this review was "it's sometimes hard not to wish it would end." That midsection with Nathan Lane and Amy Ryan--two performers I love--was absolutely deadly, obvious, heavy-handed and it just wouldn't end. But the interlude in the forest, the mechanics of the stage performance, and everything that followed was oddly enchanting, or maybe I was just worn down by that point. In any event, the catering truck at the funeral made me cackle, and the shot of the open casket made me laugh so loud I actually startled myself.
Definitely needs to be seen on the big screen, partly to appreciate the incredibly detailed production design, but mostly because that's the only way it can truly win a viewer over to its peculiar wavelength.
I just saw Beau is Afraid, and I came away with the impression that I should not have saw it in the theater. Aster's films brim with detail, he's of the post "True Detective" generation where it's expected that the viewer scrutinizes every frame for clues. In his previous features these brief details enriched the experience, but in Beau they felt more substantial to understanding the plot while being more fleeting. This is a viewing experience that demands a pause button, a high definition screen, and captions. Live viewing in a theater was a struggle. The information-laden visuals that disappeared from view in a blink; straining to hear important exposition buried in the mix; or squinting at background details (the whole defense lawyer sequence).
Loved Beau is Afraid but I think I'm just on that wavelength. Still haven't seen Midsommer and only like Hereditary. I definitely think weary-ing is what Aster was going for but man that 3rd act reveal/silliness just sends me, and there is enough visual chaos to never leave me bored. I'd take a million of these films over just about anything happening in mainstream movies right now.
It's a solid cast, I think, but nothing particularly transcendent.
I’m one of the twelve people who disliked Hereditary (though I found Midsommar hilarious), so I’m not sure where I’ll land with Beau. Three hours in Aster’s head sounds like an exhausting experience.
Seriously. "Beau is similarly blurry. An explosion of ideas strung together by dream logic then slowed to half speed" is a huge red flag for me
I adored both Hereditary and Midsommar and I'm super wary about Beau is Afraid. It doesn't help that a lot of the reviews I'm reading confirm the concerns I had seeing the trailer (dream logic, feels like sitting in someone else's therapy session). I'm seeing it on Saturday, and my friends and I are already describing this as "boosting Aster's opening weekend numbers to get his next film funded".
A worthwhile thing to do sometimes! I wouldn’t do it for Aster, but I’d certainly do it for Robert Eggers, for example.
The Lighthouse bought that man a lifetime pass.
I was mixed on Hereditary, but loved Midsommar wholeheartedly, especially in its extended cut. I’m miffed at A24 for not making that generally available.
Once I got the long, pointless joke he was making during the play performance about Beau not realizing how children are conceived I felt like Wee-Bey realizing he shot a cop. And later on, dad.
I got a heavy Schynecdoche, New York vibe from the trailer. That movie also becomes intentionally wearisome, but it only lasts about two hours and saves a lot of emotional pay dirt for the end of the movie. Curious how close in spirit or experience you found these movies to be.
There's a lot of Kaufman DNA in the film (down to an Extremely Specific Pop Culture Reference) that I will not spoil). Also: Later Fellini, Lynch, and Roy Andersson.
That reply makes me want to see it more than any review has.
I wonder if we're gonna start seeing it much harder to get these massive sprawling passion projects funded. Regardless of how you feel about Babylon, it clearly set a lot of studio money on fire. (I know plenty here loved it- I found it almost unwatchable). I would love for this to make a lot of money so Aster's next films get funded easily, but the reviews are making this sound like a really hard sell. Especially now that Netflix + HBO no longer have limitless checkbooks.
I would say that the generally positive notices and buzz around Beau, most of which mention A24 and the extremely well-spent 35 million dollar budget, mark it as a winner for the studio already. It would be a miracle for it to make its money back theatrically, but it doesn’t sound like anyone involved ever expected it to. I think it’s more of an advertisement for the studio and for a popular, profitable, name brand filmmaker they want to be in business with long term.
Babylon, however, yikes. It was a much bigger bet that people hated to the point of distraction, and I think it will have a dampening effect on Chazelle’s career. Whatever he makes next, whenever he makes it, is going to be conceived, produced, and received through the lens of Babylon, which is going to make it all very difficult. Too bad, because I think he’s very talented, and I thought that while Babylon was ridiculous and kind of empty, its technique was so honed that it kept racking up points even when I caught myself rooting against it.
Keith- do you think you would have enjoyed/liked Beau more if it were 30 min shorter?
See, I don’t know. I think sinking into its quagmire is inherent to the film.
Agreed. The longer the film goes on and the more impossible Beau’s quest seems, the more I got invested in it.
I'm normally the one ranting against movies being too long, but in this case the length lended itself well to the episodic, picaresque, Odyssey-like structure. It was almost like a six-part TV series, but it works better to watch it in one go.
Orson Welles clapping GIF for "As Beau's travails deepen..."
OMG, was that on purpose? Nice.
In my 2/3 full screening in Los Angeles, I think I gave permission to the other people in the theater to laugh. I was the only one who DID laugh at all for about the first 15 minutes, and I was absolutely screeching: it is VERY funny in a "Blue Velvet"/"After Hours" way. Only then did the (some) of the rest of the audience realize, "Oh, this is supposed to be a comedy! A totally f*cked up comedy!" However, I would say the majority of the audience did NOT laugh once (which was also my experience with the theatrical releases of the two above-mentioned films). The movie does wear out its welcome, however. I think there is a successful movie in here that could clock in at two hours (I could have lost the entire forest interlude), but even I felt completely at sea and eventually sunk by the end of three hours. Has anyone checked in on Ari Aster's mom lately??
Looking forward to seeing Beau on Saturday! Even most of the mixed/negative reviews make it sound interesting.
The dad in the suburban house that Beau stays at was played by Nathan Lane, not Richard Kind. Richard Kind played the lawyer at the end of the movie.
I have a conspiracy theory and that’s Evil Dead Rise was a compromise to hire Cronin to remake The Hole in the Ground but then retitle it something to grab SEO as an HBOMAX exclusive. And once it was EDR it got the references and quotes to use.
I'm into it.
Finally got around to seeing Beau Is Afraid, and for awhile I was thinking the most salient line in this review was "it's sometimes hard not to wish it would end." That midsection with Nathan Lane and Amy Ryan--two performers I love--was absolutely deadly, obvious, heavy-handed and it just wouldn't end. But the interlude in the forest, the mechanics of the stage performance, and everything that followed was oddly enchanting, or maybe I was just worn down by that point. In any event, the catering truck at the funeral made me cackle, and the shot of the open casket made me laugh so loud I actually startled myself.
Definitely needs to be seen on the big screen, partly to appreciate the incredibly detailed production design, but mostly because that's the only way it can truly win a viewer over to its peculiar wavelength.
I just saw Beau is Afraid, and I came away with the impression that I should not have saw it in the theater. Aster's films brim with detail, he's of the post "True Detective" generation where it's expected that the viewer scrutinizes every frame for clues. In his previous features these brief details enriched the experience, but in Beau they felt more substantial to understanding the plot while being more fleeting. This is a viewing experience that demands a pause button, a high definition screen, and captions. Live viewing in a theater was a struggle. The information-laden visuals that disappeared from view in a blink; straining to hear important exposition buried in the mix; or squinting at background details (the whole defense lawyer sequence).
Loved Beau is Afraid but I think I'm just on that wavelength. Still haven't seen Midsommer and only like Hereditary. I definitely think weary-ing is what Aster was going for but man that 3rd act reveal/silliness just sends me, and there is enough visual chaos to never leave me bored. I'd take a million of these films over just about anything happening in mainstream movies right now.