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The Rewatchables ·

A Star Is Born

year 2018decade 10sdirector Bradley Coopergenre Musicalgenre Romancegenre Drama
host Bill Simmonshost Amanda Dobbinshost Sean Fennessey format New Release Exception
All 16 categories

Most Rewatchable Scene · 26:58

The live performance of “Shallow”

Bill Simmons: The panel calls the live “Shallow” performance the clear winner and one of the century’s best seven-minute sequences.

Bill Simmons: The drag-bar introduction works through Bradley Cooper watching Lady Gaga and then singing “Maybe It’s Time.”

The film

A Star Is Born (2018)

Directed by Bradley Cooper · Musical

136 minutes

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Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Bradley Cooper Jackson "Jack" Maine
Lady Gaga Ally Maine
Dave Chappelle George "Noodles" Stone
Sam Elliott Bobby Maine
Rafi Gavron Rez Gavron
Drena De Niro Paulette Stone

Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

54:43

Casting What-Ifs

Earlier versions involved Clint Eastwood, Beyoncé, Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Ray Lio...

Earlier versions involved Clint Eastwood, Beyoncé, Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Ray Liotta, and several alternate Ally-father choices.

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:54:43Read transcript
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59:18

Half-Assed Internet Research

Los Angeles performance locations, Jackson’s house, Cooper’s makeup and voice work, Gaga’s screen makeup, live singin...

Los Angeles performance locations, Jackson’s house, Cooper’s makeup and voice work, Gaga’s screen makeup, live singing, songwriting, sound, improvisation, and visual foreshadowing

In the discussion (16)
Approx. transcript time · 00:59:18Read transcript
  • The opening concert footage was shot at Coachella. — Bill Simmons
  • The drag bar is identified as the Virgil and the cop bar as the Short Stop. — Sean Fennessey
  • The supermarket was a Super A in Glassell Park and Gaga’s big debut was filmed at the Greek Theatre. — Bill Simmons
  • Jackson’s Calabasas-area house had sold for about two million dollars after filming.
  • Cooper reportedly used a daily spray tan and menthol to create Jackson’s red, bloodshot appearance. — Bill Simmons
  • The panel disputes the publicity claim that Gaga wore only lip balm and moisturizer, distinguishing “no-makeup makeup.”
  • Jason Isbell wrote “Maybe It’s Time.” — Bill Simmons
  • Cooper trained for a year to lower his speaking voice by an octave. — Bill Simmons
  • The “ugly” line was ad-libbed and Gaga’s shocked reaction was reportedly genuine.
  • Lukas Nelson wrote several songs and Cooper’s own dog Charlie played Jackson’s dog. — Amanda Dobbins
  • Gaga reportedly persuaded Cooper to record the music live rather than lip-sync. — Bill Simmons
  • Sound editing and mixing make unfamiliar live performances feel populated and immediate. — Sean Fennessey
  • Gaga performed the final song soon after learning that a friend had died. — Bill Simmons
  • Much of the drag-bar material was improvised. — Bill Simmons
  • A billboard with four nooses beside Jackson is presented as early death foreshadowing. — Bill Simmons
  • Blue and red lighting join Jackson Maine and Lady Gaga visually and recur in the police lights after his death. — Sean Fennessey
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1:13:44

Picking Nits

The opening geography, Jackson’s contemporary arena-level fame, the instant “Shallow” arrangement, unaccounted-for ni...

The opening geography, Jackson’s contemporary arena-level fame, the instant “Shallow” arrangement, unaccounted-for night hours, and the effort to make Sam Elliott a plausible brother

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:44Read transcript
  • The drive from the opening venue to East Hollywood and then Jackson’s house produces unresolved geography.
  • The panel questions whether a Jackson Maine-style country-rock star could still sell out venues at that scale.
  • “Shallow” appears fully arranged even though the parking-lot conversation contains separate fragments and no rehearsal. — Bill Simmons
  • The dark parking lot and daylight drop-off leave several unexplained hours. — Amanda Dobbins
  • One theory says the couple finished writing the song during those hours; another adds sex, which the panel disputes.
  • The movie’s otherwise grounded intimacy makes the instant musical arrangement feel especially artificial.
  • Repeated family exposition strains to make Sam Elliott and Bradley Cooper plausible brothers. — Sean Fennessey
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1:22:11

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Cooper’s Eddie Vedder influence; Jackson’s real-world musical analogue; public reaction to the Grammys incident; the ...

Cooper’s Eddie Vedder influence; Jackson’s real-world musical analogue; public reaction to the Grammys incident; the absence of celebrity-gossip texture

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:22:11Read transcript
  • The panel asks why Cooper never openly admits the scale of his Eddie Vedder imitation. — Bill Simmons
  • Jackson is compared to an imagined solo-career Eddie Vedder after leaving Pearl Jam. — Bill Simmons
  • The Grammys accident is imagined as a huge breaking-news and social-media event. — Amanda Dobbins
  • The response cycle would move through mockery, addiction ethics, responsibility, sexism, backlash, treatment coverage, and counter-backlash. — Amanda Dobbins
  • The movie largely avoids magazine covers, gossip sites, and blind-item culture to remain less tied to one era. — Bill Simmons
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