Who Let Him Make This Movie? 

Those are fair criticisms though. There has to be substance and not just style.

Because Hail Caesar and Singing in the rain exists. Its like a marriage of both. I like it. Its not a masterpiece though. But he swung for the fences.

💯

Those were the same reviews on don't worry darling (besides the performance from Harry). Yet it was still a bad movie. Style doesn't make a movie perfect, it's flaws can really hurt the movie like it did with this one

It’s the same with way of water to be honest

Did you hear that on the panel? “Always” is funny…

@@territorialtea747 Well, I should've specified that from the moment the movie finished, that was my stance on what it was going for.

@@territorialtea747 😂

I think you hit the nail on the head and that’s why I loved it. It’s everything.

Indeed!!

God point. "Is it worth it" is defiantly a big theme in the movie.

because everybody isnt you and you are not everybody. what i dont get is how you people run away from individualism so much. "i think like this and cant get why others dont cause everyone is the same robot in the matrix" sigh humans

@@serenityq26 Such is art and humanities...

Nailed it..

No one looks to 'the big screen' for hope. That is pretentious garbage, and filmmakers overinflating their value to society. In fact, Hollywood causes far more harm via pushing of mass degeneracy. Wow, such hope

Well said, and on your first point I definitely agree. Thank you for watching!

This wasn’t a bad film though. Not as good as Whiplash and La La Land but still good

@@dahcoconut926 No, it really isn't - there just seemed something 'off' about the script (?), the ending (?), possibly some moral lesson that just escaped me (or, was too obvious?), or maybe, I simply wanted even more of a Kenneth-Anger-Hollywood-Babylon thing - but, it was still far more interesting than much of what I see on offer. There are just those directors, actors, cinematographers, whose work you approach, feeling fairly assured of seeing something worth your time. :)

@@dahcoconut926 I couldnt sit thruh la la land turned me off about 20 mins in unrelatable characters and boring improv music numbers but I loved every minute of Whiplash though. I think of the director as a one time wunderkid

"Who banked rolled this?" Exactly my thoughts while watching this... WTF was he thinking? This movie should have been about Robbie's character and the female director. Their sequences together are true cinematic GOLD! THATS the movie....but its BURIED in nonsense. Its a Tarantinoesque MESS.

Definitely agree! It's one of the top 3 cinematic experiences of the year for me. Flaws and all, it's a much more exciting movie than the perfectly crafted but predictable Top Gun Maverick, for example.

Same here! I love it so so much

same!

I agree. A wonderful expérience, a beautiful depiction of the era, great acting, great editing, great music..

I actually loved it - I don’t understand the hate.. best film I’ve seen recently

Well freaking said 👏

Your right man we only see the beginning and ending we never see the middle

This reminds me of something Tyler Durden said in Fight Club, and it feels present in this movie: self improvement is masturbation. Now self destruction...

@@user-rt7vo5fr8e Kindly note that your use of "your" should be "you're" as in "you are".

Kindly note that your two possessive uses of "it's" should be "its".

Scorsese feels the same way.

awful, horrible marketing campaign.

​@@bztrd80 it had a great campaign in the beginning, and then it's like they gave up. Never saw the trailer pop up again after Christmas.

@@wisco9er536 well, marketing budgets aren’t a joke. Was either not enough, either somebody put a big chunk of that in his own pocket. Once upon a time in Hollywood had an insane amount of marketing, They played all the cards possible and usually Tarantino himself is also very involved in all the aspects.

Fight Club bombed, too. :D Saw it at the cinema, at instantly loved it.

Bruh I got so bummed out when she did that

I think that’s kind of the point. She knew she was never going to change so there wasn’t really any need for her to have any character development. She’s been the same since we first met her.

Meh, that shot is a corny, incredibly on-the-nose metaphor about some stars shining bright for a moment and then “going dark” just as fast as they appeared. It’s not bad, it’s just nowhere near as original or praiseworthy as you’re hyping it up to be.

@@t.k.1319 I actually didn’t read it that way on my first viewing. I felt the metaphor was more so what Elinor was describing in her monologue to Jack; there are people who trap themselves in the spotlight of the burning house and people who find a way to survive in the dark. Unlike jack in the end who couldn’t bear to live in that darkness, Elinor came to peace with herself. Even though she died, her stepping into the dark was her accepting that her time in the spotlight was over so she could end her story authentically.

@@t.k.1319 we got the edgy different kid over here

A top tier movie. Misunderstood, as for now. But hey, can't blame blind people for not understanding it, movies require vision ! I'm still amazed by the experience i had yesterday !

@@mellifluente It's awful, but beautiful movie. Not something in between, but everything at once. Its a masterpiece, but it's a trash. It's a metaphor without meaning. I love it, but I hate it. And so do you, don't you?

@@faseplay. there is, for sure, a dichotomy between glory and despair, brightness and repulse, but that dichotomy itself is a loving one regarding cinema. a metaphor with a lot of meaning, but about something meaningless, us humans....

@@faseplay. and also, i wouldn't say that i hate that feeling. quite the oppostie : things that are everything all at once tend to fascinate me, cause they're closest to the reality we live in ! Nothing is black or white, everything is black and white and red and pink etc !

I feel the same. Most underrated film I've seen. Absolutely amazing. Quite possibly one of the best films I've seen.

Could you expand on this a little more? I’m very open minded to plotless, provocative movies but really hated this one. I’m thinking of films like Holy Mountain and Gummo, which I consider to be important films, but I cannot credit this film similarly. I think the main dagger in my throat was the rapid editing and constant tracking shots, which would have worked well if there was a plot. Scorsese has a similar montage structure but he counter balances it with narration and slower paced moments so that I can process the plot of the movie. If Babylon had just chilled a little bit with with more static shots to breath in the scenery I probably would have liked it. The humor felt autistic. No character build up to achieve comedic delivery. Like the pointless snake scene for instance. It almost seemed like the script was written by AI after processing Kenneth angers book. Perhaps this was Chazzeles attempt to make a three hour drum solo but with visuals. Or maybe the point was to make you feel like you are in bad drugs like a Kenneth anger short film, however extended as a 3 hour DW Griffith disaster. I also don’t think big named actors like Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt were experimental minded enough to deliver an avant garde experience. They acted like they would in a rom com. Anyways, this is quite the opposite of my favorite movie. I also watched it hung over Christmas Day, so I should re watch it. But the whole thing gave me a massive panic attack. We all walked out about 2 hours in with the same attitude feeling tortured. Only other movie that made me feel that way was probably Pink Flamingo, but even that I was able to watch all the way through.

@@jazzmidiclub1269 I completely disagree with all of this honestly. I was actually worried it wouldn’t have a coherent plot but it actually had a plot I really enjoyed. Sure, the editing is crazy but calling this movie plotless makes no sense. It is told in a chronological order and talks about how Nelly becomes famous and all that comes from that newfound game, how Manny goes from a lower-class worker to the executive of a movie studio and how that subsequently makes him have to do things he doesn’t morally agree with. How Sidney is just a player at a party but gets to taste the fame due to his great playing, but compounded with the race issues at the time. How Jack Conrad falls from grace due to sound coming into cinema and him not being able to actually act. To be honest, this had a really straightforward plot that shows all of our characters grow into higher positions but discusses the negative side of working in Hollywood at that time. How people believe it’s such a beautiful thing but it was actually a really horrible time. There were comedic moments but this movie didn’t really feel like it was trying to be a comedy, rather show how all of the characters were broken in some way or the other, even though it seemed like they didn’t care at the start. They are stuck in a horrible system. I just loved that they didn’t glamorize Hollywood while still showing a love for the craft of movies themselves, despite the industry being horrible. In regards to the snake scene, I didn’t really see it as comedic despite it being shot that way. We had an entire buildup of her growing more upset with her fame and people talking shit about her, but the party scene is her last straw once her own dad talks shit about her. She wants him to own up to that story because she knows it’s a lie. Once he passed out and his story is confirmed false, she tries to do it herself to kind of prove a point and put her foot down. She’s extremely reckless and gambles with her life at a moment’s notice. There were so many moments where little things that were said or shown about her come back into play. Also there were a few scenes that were shot chaotically and fast paced, but there were actually tons of scenes that delivered levity and narrative. I honestly don’t see how someone thinks the movie is plotless. And I certainly disagree that the acting wasn’t good enough as Margot Robbie blew me away here. It’s not a masterpiece and it has flaws but to me, it was a beautifully haunting and tragic story about a different kind of lifetime that people lived, and getting to be part of that crazy lifestyle was insane. Again, I just really like how we found out how all the characters were broken in different ways. This is just my opinions and perspective on it, but you did ask me to elaborate. The final sequence of the progression of movies at the end really emphasized all the sacrifice that it took to get movies where they are today. Not to mention the score, which IS a masterpiece.

@@nileshollowthorn thought this was perfectly worded my dude. Have been out of the theater for the last 2 hours and I can’t stop thinking about this. Especially someone like me who plans to be in this industry soon. The romanticism within Hollywood is due to the camera that presses play. But this is such a groundbreaking perspective on everything that goes down once it’s off. I’m in disbelief honestly. Chazelle has never missed for me and I hope he never does

@@nileshollowthorn thanks for that. I’m going to re watch it. I think I went in thinking I wouldn’t like it because of the trailer. And I can admit some of my gripes were nit picky to begin with, which probably distorted my ability to process the plot. I sort of knew all of those story lines were happening, but never felt absorbed. Probably the reason I had a panic attack when watching it was that it felt kinda claustrophobic. It never felt characters left that location. Reminded me of walking through a very crowded fair. That’s not to say that a crowded fair means a bad film, necessarily. In fact, many of my dreams take place in gigantic areas with a lot of sprawling people. So I’m not sure what my biggest turn off was. I recently watched the whale and I liked that a lot, but others say it made them feel claustrophobic- which I didn’t feel. I think the older I get the more I appreciate a story and an actors ability to show me the inside of that character. I just never felt an honest feeling from any character in that movie. I know I’ve been impressed by Margot Robbie before, but there’s something about her cartoon 30s accent that really turns me off. I couldnt watch Harley Quinn for that same reason. I might also have an older movie bias. I prefer the simplicity of 70s/90s thrillers, with less emphasis on the editing/multicam and more emphasis on acting, story and dialogue. I’ve noticed with many modern oscar bait films, especially the ones packed with big name actors- that I have a hard time following the story. The trailer Amsterdam appears to be this way. Knives Out. Judas and the black Messiah, don’t look up, Chicago 7: those were all movies that most people loved but I couldn’t understand structurally. I’m still figuring out what they all had in common, if any. For me to not follow dialogue typically means I couldn’t care about the characters

It’s absolute chaos in a beautiful and horrifying way. It’s movie magic to the extreme.

Shut up bot..

For sure, i felt as if this movie will be the future and will be appreciated in the future…. Someone has to switch it up and he did.

@@thanosmaster-abel559 Another bot trying to hype trash film. Be gone paid for bot

Not really, people won't remember this movie the same way no one remembers La La whatever that movie was

Amen!

This movie didn’t care at all about anyone but the main men. They didn’t care at all to give anyone else actual characters or storylines. They were just interested in patting themselves on the back

I felt like Sidney was a token black jazz musician who exists solely because La la land was criticized for the lack of one.

But the movie was about those who will ride & die for Cinema, Palmer & Fay were self sufficient and left when the ride got rough.

@@gabriellaberman Just like Hollywood in general then huh. Ever think that might be a metaphor...

I feel like The Irishman is another example of such a movie

Shawshank Redemption comes to mind as a heavily criticised contemporary work, but a legendary masterpiece that would define our culture in the present

Lol what Wolf of Wall Street was immediately loved right after its release. Has great critic ratings. Babylon and American Psycho though, yes. 100%

​@Stono the problem with The Irishman was that it was released to a bunch of Netflix fans. The types of people who scroll through their amazing catalog and say "ughh there's nothing to watch"

@@wisco9er536 Scorsese struggled with funding for his movies after Wolf of Wall Street. After years of trying hard, he finally got Netflix to invest. I think he didn't have much of a choice. The dude is retired now

That was a golden age? LOL.

But its also condemning hollywood excess right? So maybe its good if the industry moves away from ghe old wats

And I appreciate you watching and sharing your take, Michael!

I cried when it was over, too-but not until I got to the rest room urinal!

The film makes a big deal out of sound coming to movies. From the documentaries of the "silent era" I've watched, synchronized sound (for sound effects) was around well before 1927 and the Jazz Singer(which wasn't even a full talkie film) and no one talked about silent films then, just movies. The first "talkies" wheren't that great cause the sound equipment was poor and heavy. Older films could use moving cameras more freely. Sadly many of the silent era films are lost now so we rarely can experience them now.

The only time I felt that was when Margot Robbie walked off into the darkness.

Honestly for the movie is a one time watch. The experience is great but I would not watch it a second time

@@Supremelord-hq9og totally respect your opinion. I liked the ending better upon a second viewing. The first time it took me by surprise (and took me out of the movie), the second time I just appreciated the artistry of it all; an epic "meta" montage.

Agree would have been a great mini series I would have liked to have known the characters more especially Nellie and Manny

I feel like the acts transitioned well, but I’d say the beginning and ending were far better than the middle act which dragged on a bit

I love how they used Tobey Maguire! I felt that he was misused as an actor in the past. They put way too much emphasis on needing him to act big, so when he does, it takes me out of the movies he is in. Not this movie, though. The role feels like it’s made for Tobey Maguire, he’s basically the combination of a spoiled rich kid and a psychopath.

The movie "was" amazing or it "is" amazing? Kindly note that one comes across as a stronger and more credible writer by composing in the present tense than in the past tense.

@@Russell-rc6qq Get out, RuSsEl.

Thank you Ryan! Appreciate your support as always!

This movie is 100% worth the watch I adored every second

go watch it, worth the 3 hours

Hope you enjoy it! 👍

@@RenegadeFilm86 Thanks for the video dude. Keep up the good work.

@@imextremlyhandsome Thank you for watching! More videos coming soon!

Brad Pitt isn't in his prime anymore. No one's going to blame him. He has been talking about retirement for a while but continuing to work as long they hire him. Margot Robbie is still in her prime so naturally shr would be focus if movie bombs.

@@gabbar51ngh It's been pretty much the Brad Pitt show throughout every red carpet worldwide leading to the premier & even in the advertisement. But the minute it bombs, he runs & somehow stays away from the headlines. They definitely used her as the scapegoat & placed almost complete blame on her.

While I 100% agree with you that there is a sexist bias in the media, and that Women are far more likely to be blamed for a movie's failure than Men, there is some missing context to your example: Margot Robbie was Forbes' highest-paid actress in the world in 2019. Since then, her last 4 live-action movies *in a row* have failed to turn a profit, even including Worldwide Box Office (after budget, theater splits and marketing costs): Birds of Prey, The Suicide Squad, Amsterdam and now Babylon. 4 losses in a row with her as the lead actress. Meanwhile, in 2022 alone, Brad Pitt has been in 2 movies that both made $100 Million each domesticatally, and also each at least broke even or made it into profitability after final Worldwide Box Office. So to mention Brad Pitt compared to Margot Robbie's current Hollywood slump is a bit like comparing Apples-to-Oranges. Sexism is real, and must not be tolerated, but there's a bit more to back up those headlines, at least in this situation. She will probably have a huge hit with Barbie this year, so she will bounce back.

@@jaygarcia8508 Every movie teaser, trailer and snippet or advertisement put Margot Robbie first not him. I very much doubt doing promotion of his movie equates to "Brad Pitt show". He's an older established star so naturally he would have a presence even if he doesn't have the same pull in audience. It's the media and public themselves claiming her movies are flopping. The studios are still giving her work. So I don't really buy the "scapegoat" claim. It's not like she's out of work or she's officially being labelled as that by any major studio. Pitt has given his due to Hollywood. He can make straight duds and no one would Question him. It's less to do with male vs female and more to do with the fact Margot is having flops in her prime.

@@gabbar51ngh why? Tom cruise is still considered at his prime Brad Pitt should too if he’s starting in such a big movie.

That why so many artist strive to be the best of the best.

That's why preservation is very key

@@Rlrlrl1962 no, that's why you shouldn't dedicate your whole existence to one thing

@@MadameCorgi different people want different things, if you just want to live a normal mediocre life that up to you. Many creative artists could never want that so they strive to be the best because sadly a lot times art is only recognized as art when admired by many

I appreciate you taking the time to watch the video, Rachel! More videos to come!

Agreed. Im a huge film buff and I tend to hate movies like this, LaLaLand, Singin in the Rain etc. Theres just something so self-congratulatory about them and with what we know about hollywood's seedy underbelly, it rings especially hollow.

Agreed, a limited series would definitely reshape the film’s central message of happiness through movies.

I’m glad you enjoyed it!

I loved it too.

🤣🤣🤣

Good point!

It had the sense of a roman orgy. The pure debauchery was heavily implied. To Me it reminded me of an eyes wide shut party. Sorta like how the knife is never shown Slicing flesh in psycho.

I like the Jackson Pollack analogy. Nice.

Hated the score! And I rarely complain about a score- the "love theme' was insipid. One thing I don't blame on the director.

Except fear and loathing had narration and brief moments of normal clarity. Fear and Loathing had a basic plot. This would be the equivalent of fear and loathings caraousel scenes, without hallucinations, for three hours.

@@jazzmidiclub1269 Where's the Ape man?!

Man, I’m so glad to call a movie with a low RT score amazing.

@Mackie Lunkey nowadays if the critic score is low, usually means it's good, and if the scores great, it's horrible..

He didn’t know how to end it. It should have ended with the speech pitts character got by the gossip columnists and chekovs gun ending. It said everything the 1953 flashforward. It would have been a wonderful bookend to the convo they had in the first scene about movie making being the most magical calling anybody could pursue.

But that was the an accurate recreation of the first time the song Singing In the Rain was filmed (the Babylon character plot points not withstanding). Sound (and color) being used so awkwardly so early and then so brilliantly in a movie a couple decades later making fun of that same awkwardness...plus Don Lockwood's (and Lena Lamonts) careers Very loosely following people Manny worked with. A film like that bringing Manny to laughter and tears (and having escaped Babylon to obscurity, but safety for himself and his character). Seems a perfect bookend for director that likes musicals.

Appreciate that, Rahul! Expect more in the near future!

Thank you for watching!

That's my feeling on his work as well. Whiplash is perfect, La La Land is well crafted with a couple of excellent sequences, First Man is a bog standard biopic with a couple of great scenes. His stuff seems to get less interesting as it goes on.

Yes, whiplash was amazing and I think you are spot on about working with a smaller crew. Babylon made me feel like I was on salvia for three hours. I am typically a huge fan of avant garde cinema but this film felt like an overly funded student movie. I’m not sure you will like Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt in this. I think they were terribly casted. It feels like they walked into it like you would a Christopher Guest movie. I know they were doing and saying stuff but for some reason I am remembering them as like drunk tap dancers or something. It felt like there was no foreground and everything is in the background, but shot like everything is in the foreground. This whole movie just felt like it was made by AI

This is exactly how I feel about Chazelle as a filmmaker. Whiplash was truly excellent. La La Land was okay and First Man was kind of a bland biopic. I'm not sure if I have much interest in seeing Babylon since it looks like a another tribute to old Hollywood type of film but I may watch it eventually.

Thank you for watching and for the kind words, Rick! Means a lot! Hope you’ll stick around for future videos!

Yeah, no. More like "Heaven's Gate" (though this film is not as good as that one).

@@xpindy That's just like your opinion man.

...nobody will remember this POS in a year's time, my friend. It was total garbage.

But why would you think about calling people phillistines anyway? The movie is a chaotic deconstruction of Hollywood sure but it's not intelligent to stoop down that low.

@@gimmeyourrights8292 Did you not read the words "This movie brings out the worst kind of critic in me" that come immediately prior to "I have to force myself not to call people philistines?" Like, it's right there. I genuinely do not understand the point of this reply.

@@randomcookieboy That's the part was that you wouldn't have to force yourself to call people that if you didn't think it in the first place.

agreed.

No reason why they shouldn't. --Slumdog Millionaire, which has a kid covered in human poop, won the Best Picture Oscar.