A Star Is Born: Special Encore Edition

Ready for an Encore?

A Star Is Born Encore arrived June 4. It will be on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital. The Blu-Ray and DVD will also have the theatrical version.

ENCORE

A Star is Born Encore offers almost 12 extra minutes to the movie. 

Do the 12 minutes change anything drastic? 
My take - No. 

Most of the additions go towards longer performances and some never-before-seen footage.

- The opening song 'Black Eyes' is longer and so is the song 'Alibi.'
- When Ally sings 'Shallow' for the first time in a parking lot, it lasts a few more seconds. 
- The wedding sequence includes the song, "Is That Alright,' which was only featured on the soundtrack. There was no performance in the theatrical version.  
- Other never-seen song snippets. (These are all within a minute length.) - Jack and Ally writing a new song called 'Clover.' Jackson in the studio singing 'Too Far Gone' and Jackson and Ally have a jam session for 'Midnight Special.'

There are also a few extended and never-before-heard dialogue.
 - Jackson's and Noodles (Dave Chappelle) first conversation has a few extra words. 
- There is a brief zipline scene with Jackson and Ally.
- During the Roy Orbison Tribute, it shows Jackson and the singer, Marlon Williams, having more of a conversation. 

TAKE

Would I buy it? Yes. If I had never seen the movie. 

A Star is Born is still my contender for the best movie that I have watched in 2019. I still like the music, too.

But casual viewers may not even notice the difference with the Encore version. (I actually had to search the Internet for some of the scene additions.) 

For my viewing experience though, the extra music is cool. I didn't really feel like I missed out on the extended dialogue scenes. 

The hardcore fans, who want a little bit more of Jackson and Ally, may find the 12 minutes to be exciting and worthwhile.

The Special Features only have Musical Moments.

Below is my February Movie Take, when I saw the film for the initial Blu-Ray and DVD release.

STAR

A Star Is Born is essentially the fourth time this story is being told. There is the 1976 version with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. The 1954 movie with Judy Garland and James Mason. And the original goes back to a 1937 film with stars Janet Gaynor and Fredric March - but it had nothing to do with music. Gaynor played an actress with a big dream.

All have the same title - A Star Is Born.    

Bradley Cooper decided he wanted to take on the task of this new version. He went all in, too. He earned his acting, directing, writing and producing credits.

He cast Lady Gaga, in her first leading role. She played the struggling singer, Ally, whose star may be on the rise. There is also Andrew Dice Clay, Dave Chappelle and Sam Elliott to round out the cast. Rami Gavron and Anthony Ramos also have roles.

Cooper and Gaga wrote original songs for the movie. This also includes a handful of artists, like Lukas Nelson (Willie Nelson’s son), Jason Isbell and Mark Ronson.

All songs were recorded live during filming, too. No lip-syncing, nothing recorded beforehand.   

Most critics and audiences seem to agree that the movie was worth a look. It has a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It made over $209 million in North America and $421 million worldwide.

A Star Is Born brought the acclaim and countless award nominations. Won Best Original Song - Shallow - at the Golden Globes. (The official music video has nearly 300 million views on YouTube. Plus countless covers which most recently includes Kelly Clarkson.)

The movie won three acting awards at the National Board of Review. This is for Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga and Sam Elliott. It also won two Grammys including Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.  

The movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards. This includes Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing and Best Original Song.

The movie only took home a single Oscar. But it was for the one that a lot people figured would be the obvious category win - Best Original Song for Shallow. The award went to Gaga and co-writers Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt and Anthony Rossomando.

So, yes, Lady Gaga is now an Oscar winner. Gaga's performance of the song with Cooper at the Oscars managed to be one of the more talked-about moments of the night.

TAKE

Would I buy this film? Yes.

It’s so well-done, it may just be one of the best movies I’ve watched in 2019.

But it’s safe to say it’s not a family-friendly movie with an R rating. There’s plenty of language through 136 minutes, and the story is not always an easy watch. There are issues like love, heartbreak, substance abuse/addiction and mental health/illness to deal with.

I can’t say I was ever really a Lady Gaga fan. I don’t mind some of her songs, but I never got excited to listen to them.

But I think A Star Is Born made me appreciate her musical talents a little bit more. There is no doubt, the Lady can sing.   

There is a scene in a parking lot with Cooper. She sings a small part of Shallow with no music. She sounds impressive.

It a little bit surprising how good Cooper is as the musician, Jackson Maine. A man whose music career isn’t exactly going smoothly. Rocket Raccoon is pretty cool from Guardians of the Galaxy, but I think this is Cooper's best work since American Sniper. (2014.)    

For original music, they really aren’t bad songs. You may even want to listen to some of them a second time. (I have already.)

Will the movie be for everybody? Probably not. But you may just find something to like. I think the award nominations feel earned and deserved.

SPECIAL FEATURES OVERVIEW

Jam Sessions and Rarities

- Baby What You Want Me To Do

- Midnight Special

- Is That Alright

It hits a little bit below 10 minutes. ‘Baby What You Want Me To Do’ and ‘Midnight Special,’ you get a behind-the-scenes look of singing. It's blended in with footage that appears to be cut from the movie. ‘Is That Alright’ is a music-video which may be wedding song material for some people.

The Road to Stardom: Making A Star is Born

Roughly 30 minutes. The first 5 minutes is standard behind-the-scenes stuff. But things get more interesting as Bradley and Lady Gaga discuss musical ideas with Lukas Nelson and Mark Ronson. Acting with Sam Elliott, Andrew Dice Clay and Anthony Ramos. Cooper also tells of his directing choices and how that went.    

Music Videos and Musical Moments

There are the music videos for Shallow, Always Remember Us This Way and Look What I Found, I’ll Never Love Again. You can also pick specific music moments from the movie to watch again.

Warner Brothers Home Entertainment

Isn't It Romantic: A PG-13 World

What if you woke up in a world of a romantic comedy?

Isn’t It Romantic arrived on May 21. It’s on the Blu-Ray Combo Pack and DVD. The Digital format appeared early on April 30.

ROMANCE

Isn’t It Romantic grossed over $48 million in North America. There are no worldwide numbers. The film ended up internationally on Netflix.

It did manage a 69% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Which is still enough to land a ‘Fresh,’ if it counts for anything.

From New Line Cinema - Rebel Wilson leads the cast with Liam Hemsworth, Adam Devine and Priyanka Chopra. Todd Strauss-Schulson is behind the camera. The story and screenplay are by Erin Cardillo.

TAKE

Would I buy this film? Yes. I would give it a try, eventually.

If you ever sat through a romantic comedy or looking for a date movie. Isn’t It Romantic could be worth the look.  

It’s a breezy 88 minutes - with credits. The movie definitely doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Wilson is Natalie. Hemsworth is Blake, a handsome client; Devine as her co-worker and best friend, Josh; and Chopra as Isabella, a model and a yoga ambassador.

Natalie is a New York City architect. She is a cynic to love, but after an encounter with a mugger, she hits her head. She wakes up in a world that is more of a nightmare.

A Romantic Comedy.  

Before Natalie crosses paths with her mugger. She, of course, rattles of all those romantic comedy tropes, which makes those films so horrible to her. So, the movie eventually pokes fun and plays up the tropes while embracing them, too.

The magical kiss in the rain. Love scenes cutting to the next morning. The fashion montage. The stereotypical gay friend who supports the leading lady, no matter the time of day. The musical number where everyone in the room somehow knows the same choreography.

And, I found it to be silly, funny and a little heartwarming. It wasn’t Oscar entertainment overall, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.     

I had no idea how Natalie would make her escape from the Romantic Comedy World, which kept my curiosity as well.

The cast all seemed to have good chemistry. And they were willing to embrace those romantic comedy tropes. I think Liam Hemsworth was the biggest surprise. He was funny and I’ve mostly seen him in action/drama movies.   

It may be a romantic comedy. But it's kind of nice to see a romantic comedy with a twist, every now and then.     

SPECIAL FEATURES OVERVIEW

The special features are very slim.

I Wanna Dance! (4 minutes, 35 seconds)

There is more than one dance sequence in the movie. One specific song of I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston. The director and cast talk about it.

Deleted Scenes (6 minutes, 45 seconds.)

- Deleted scenes. More for curiosity than anything. Nothing totally surprising on what was cut.

Warner Brothers Home Entertainment

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part

Throwback thought. Can you believe it is already five years since ‘Everything is Awesome’ first got stuck in your head?

The LEGO Movie: The Second Part arrives on May 7. It’s on everything from the 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack, the Blu-Ray Combo Pack, DVD Special Edition. The Digital format appeared early on March 19.

SURPRISE

The success of The LEGO Movie surprised many. It landed in the Top 5 of the most popular movies of 2014.

This led to two spin-offs - The LEGO Batman Movie and The LEGO Ninjago Movie.

Now, The LEGO Movie: The Second Part. It has pretty much of the cast and crew of the original returning with some newbies.

Chris Pratt as Emmet; Elizabeth Banks as Lucy/Wyldstyle; Will Arnett as LEGO Batman; Alison Brie as Unikitty; Nick Offerman as MetalBeard; and Charlie Day as Benny. They are joined by Stephanie Beatriz and Tiffany Haddish as new characters Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi and General Mayhem. And Maya Rudolph as Mom.      

The Second Part ended up with an impressive 87% on the Rotten Tomatoes with a $190 million worldwide gross. The sequel or the spin-offs have never been able to reach the box office mark set by the original movie. ($469 million worldwide.)

The director was Mike Mitchell, taking over from, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Lord and Miller are still producers and they wrote the screenplay. Trisha Gum was the animation director.

TAKE

Would I buy this film? No.

But if you’ve enjoyed - or watched - any of the LEGO movies, it is worthwhile for the look. At 107 minutes (if you count some lengthy credits.) It’s not a long investment.

Certainly, there will be kids or even young-at-heart, who won’t mind watching.

Was I entertained with The Second Part? Yes.

Yet, I’ve watched it once now. It feels like that’s enough.

It’s been interesting at some of the changes behind-the-scenes since 2014. Lord and Miller are now Oscar-winners. They were producers of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. And not one viewer saw Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy or Jurassic World when The LEGO Movie came out.

(Pratt even voices a new character, Rex Dangervest, who kind of pokes fun at some of these changes for him.)

 If you are reading this, you should know The LEGO Movie twist. I won't go into much detail of it.

The animated world of LEGO is not as it appears. They don’t try to hide it in The Second Part. either. We see flashes of this throughout the movie, but we don’t get a fuller look until closer to the end.        

The world of Bricksburg has changed to Apocalypseburg. Everything isn’t as awesome anymore. There are invaders from outer space. Wreaking everything faster then it can be rebuilt. It takes the gang on a more cosmic adventure.

The animation remains wild and fun to look at. The silliness and craziness dynamics of LEGO remains. (Don’t think too hard about the story logic.) There is humour. The voice work is still spot on. There are new songs too, but nothing that felt as catchy as ‘Everything is Awesome.’   

By the end, there is still some good dose heart to with this LEGO gang.    

My LEGO Ranking

The LEGO Movie

The LEGO Batman Movie

The LEGO Movie: The Second Part

The LEGO Ninjago Movie

SPECIAL FEATURES OVERVIEW

There is an 'Everything is Awesome Sing-along' version of the film.

- Commentary

It depends on your interest. It’s not for every viewer.

- They Come in Pieces: Assembling The LEGO Movie 2 (8 minutes, 49 seconds.)

- I kind of appreciate that the filmmakers had no intention of rushing the sequel - if it was to happen at all. While most of the cast tell their thoughts of the movie.

My interesting pick for the special features.

- Emmet’s Holiday Party: A LEGO Movie Short (2 minutes, 17 seconds.)

- If you are feeling festive for Christmas time. Emmet tries to brighten some spirits. I believe this was online, too.

LEGO Sets in Action - (2 minutes, 17 seconds)

- There is no talking. Just Lego animation of scenes from the movie.

LEGO Designers (3 minutes, 30 seconds)

- Designers take a closer look at some of the sets available to play with from the movie.

- Promotional Materials

The usual - Turn Off Cellphone items. For home viewing, even though they are not very long, are kind of meh. I've seen the movie, why watch how it was promoted?

- Outtakes and Deleted Scenes (12 minutes, 21 seconds.)

I didn’t see this as outtakes. I also saw outtakes as bloopers. But the deleted scenes included some that did not have completed animation. 

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment