Nightmare Alley reviews

[Sabin]

Gorgeous film. Almost distractingly gorgeous. I lost track of how many scenes begin with a character slowly sauntering into a wide shot of a new astonishing location, but every time I said "Whoa!" I haven't seen the 1947 original but I'm interested in doing so now to see what was altered. This film doesn't work for me but it has so many tantalizing elements that I was always interested in what it was trying to do.

First and foremost, Bradley Cooper is a big black hole. He's far too old (he's spoken to by everyone as if he's a twenty-something!) and convinces not a lick as this desperate, survival-mode grifter. There's a desperate cipher quality missing. He's just far too affable a presence. He gets better once the film leaps two years into the future but my friend and I kept guessing which actor we would've rather seen play the role and we came up with ten in a very short amount of time. Second, Guillermo Del Toro isn't the right choice to direct. He's too much of a softy and never quite taps into the story's spiraling, fatalistic, cynical energy, opting instead to luxuriate from scene to scene. And two-and-a-half hours, it feels more like a coffee table book than a movie replete with constant cameos. But there's something just innately gripping about this world and character journey that kept me involved. I wish Del Toro had found a better, more efficient script.

A noble effort but it's a bit undone by a few central choices. I heard someone say it if you're going to give me a movie where a character is so clearly riding a greased pole to hell, then you have to make it interesting along the way because we know where we're going. The sets are interesting. The rest of the movie isn't.

[Mister Tee]

I thought it was based on the drinking song from Romberg's 1924 operetta, The Student Prince.

I was in the right ballpark. It's based on The Estudiantina Waltz, or Band of Students Waltz, an 1883 musical arrangement by Émile Waldteufel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estudiantina

https://www.bing.com/search?q=rhiengold ... A1&PC=U531

Many thanks. I don't feel uneducated for not being familiar with it.

[Big Magilla]

I thought it was based on the drinking song from Romberg's 1924 operetta, The Student Prince.

I was in the right ballpark. It's based on The Estudiantina Waltz, or Band of Students Waltz, an 1883 musical arrangement by Émile Waldteufel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estudiantina

https://www.bing.com/search?q=rhiengold ... A1&PC=U531

[Mister Tee]

Additional thoughts:

I understand the movie's second half -- the city portion -- was shot first, before the pandemic halted production, with the remainder -- the carnival scenes -- tackled many months later, when shooting was allowed to be resumed. I can't help wondering if this fact contributes to the (to me) very different energy levels between the two parts of the movie.

In the scene where Cooper and Mara dance on the carousel, the music playing is quite familiar to me, but for an odd reason: it was an oft-played TV/radio jingle for Rheingold, a local beer of my youth. ("My beer is Rheingold, the dry beer, Ask for Rheingold whenever you buy beer.") I confess I never knew it was a pre-existing piece of music. I scanned the music attributions in the closing credits, but couldn't for sure figure which it was -- the most likely seemed to be some Strauss piece, which has "Danube" in the title but is not, of course, The Blue Danube. Could anyone with deeper musical knowledge than I enlighten me as to the name of the piece?

Speaking of the closing credits, these had to be among the longest I've ever experienced in a non-sci-fi movie. My lady friend ran out to use the bathroom, and, rather than waiting for me outside, stuck her head back in -- it had been so long, she assumed I ran out on her. I was going to say the film didn't really need 30 minutes more than the 1947 version to tell the story, but a good 10 of those minutes were the credits.

[Mister Tee]

When I wrote about The Shape of Water, I noted that the film had grabbed me from its opening moments, and cast a spell that carried me all the way along. Nightmare Alley didn't do that: it took me quite a ways to connect up to it; in fact, I can't say I really felt in rhythm with it until we left the carnival for the big city.

This isn't to understate the virtues of the film's first hour or so: there were interesting narrative seeds planted, the carnival (especially the fun house) was impeccably designed, the feel of the Depression era was palpable, and David Strathairn, for one, did some exquisite acting. But I really didn't feel wired into the film, and I'm sorry to say, the primary reason is I didn't feel like Bradley Cooper had much of a line on his character. Ever since Silver Linings Playbook, I've marveled at how much better an actor Cooper turned out to be than I'd have guessed from his Hangover roots; this is the first time I've questioned that verdict. He just seemed a blank to me for a long stretch of time -- like he hadn't figured out who this guy was prior to his encounter with the sheriff. That scene (which feels improvised, though I know it isn't, since it's very close to the Tyrone Power version) really brought the film to life, and I guess you could argue the character of Stan is meant to be something of a cipher until that moment; that he was adrift until suddenly discovering his true calling. But Stan is completely the movie's center from the start -- there's barely a moment when he's not in the frame -- and nearly an hour is a long way to go with a character as blank as that.

The movie picks up substantially in the second half -- the plotting gets more interesting, Cate Blanchett zings the movie alive every moment she's on-screen, and even the sets (especially Blanchett's office and Jenkins' garden) feel more vivid in this section. The story has its trashy side ("I'm bad, you're bad, we deserve each other" will never be something I can take seriously), but there's a lurid fascination to the downward spiral, and the final scene packs a punch. (When Tim Blake Nelson said "temporary", there was an audible gasp from my (small) audience.) It was interesting how the Depression seemed to disappear for most of this second hour: as if the film only existed at the extremes -- the dirt-poor of carny life, the extreme wealth of the city dwellers. I'm not sure if DelToro was aiming for that contrast, but it was pretty strong.

I'd DVR-d the 1947 film a while back when TCM aired it -- thought I"d watch sometime after seeing this version. I ended up looking at it the same night. The comparisons were interesting. This new version is clearly darker, and I presume more faithful to the novel...but the Goulding version, despite some softer touches (including a feint at a semi-happy ending), was far more daring for its time than this one. I was surprised at how many elements were indeed the same -- everything from Molly's "indecently exposed" costume (almost identical) to Cooper's final line of dialogue. DelToro is undoubtedly a better director than Edmund Goulding ever was -- visually, there's no comparison, and even a weaker DelToro is 9 times out of 10 preferable -- but the fact is, Goulding's film was one of the standout films of a pretty great cinema year, while DelToro's version is a mild disappointment in a subpar year. So...split decision goes to Goulding.

None of which is to discourage people from watching this new version; I just have to say it didn't meet my fondest hopes.

[Big Magilla]

The take home tests here are a little different. I went to the pharmacy and grabbed a pack of five. We've got the swabs and solution together. After doing the swab you mix it in the solution, wait a couple minutes, then put it on the reader. The result shows up like it would on a pregnancy test. If you test positive you should schedule a COVID test with a clinic or pharmacy just in case of false positives

We have those, too, but they're not free. The new ones authorized by the state this last Friday, are.

[mlrg]

The take home tests here are a little different. I went to the pharmacy and grabbed a pack of five. We've got the swabs and solution together. After doing the swab you mix it in the solution, wait a couple minutes, then put it on the reader. The result shows up like it would on a pregnancy test. If you test positive you should schedule a COVID test with a clinic or pharmacy just in case of false positives

I must have used more than 10 self tests in the last couple of weeks. It works like a pregnancy test exactly like you mention. Not counting this tests, on Friday my country broke the record of tests on a single day: 217.000 approximately. That’s 2,3% of the population of the whole country. Positives are around 2%, most of them without symptoms. The strategy to keep things running is massive testing. Everyone is allowed to use 4 tests (pcr) per month financed by the healthcare system. 90% of the population is vaccinated (98% if you only count eligible people), of which 20% already boosted. 20% of infections are from omicron variant. It’s expected to reach 80% in two weeks. The number of people in hospitals is 5X less than a year ago. Same correlation in the number of daily deaths.

Everything is 100% open and at full capacity.

Apparently Omicron is a super spreader variant with much less lethality, which means that it will probably became endemic causing the end of the pandemic.

[Okri]

The take home tests here are a little different. I went to the pharmacy and grabbed a pack of five. We've got the swabs and solution together. After doing the swab you mix it in the solution, wait a couple minutes, then put it on the reader. The result shows up like it would on a pregnancy test. If you test positive you should schedule a COVID test with a clinic or pharmacy just in case of false positives

[Big Magilla]

In New Jersey now you can order an at-home test which is express mailed to you. You then zoom into a site where a state medical representative watches you take the test, put the swab in the envelope, and seal it. You then drop it off in a UPS pickup box. They do the test as soon as they get it and express mail the results to you.

Not something I would want to do, but it's less of a hassle than going to a clinic or pharmacy and having to take the test at a drive-through window while sitting in your car.

[Okri]

Yeah.

Truthfully, the moviegoing experience since COVID has been weird. Most of the time, there are fewer than 10 people and this was no different - I'm almost going now because I'm worried the whole shebang will be permanently shut down (and/or only Disney/multiverse will be allowed, which is the same thing). I'll probably skip out of theatres again (I doubt we're going to close anything down, to be honest) as yeah, the numbers are worse. That said, the numbers in Canada have been consistently lower (proportionately, not just absolutely) than in the USA and we've got the free take-home testing here which I'm partaking in. Not boosted yet - but I just became eligible and scheduled my appointment.

[Mister Tee]

1. Holy art direction, Batman! Handsome is right. It seems conceived as a series of just stunning places. The carnival alone would be worthy of respect (the hell tour), but then you just get these superb scenescapes. I wanted to touch the screen.

2. Cooper and del Toro both seem like odd fits for the material, but I kinda liked that. I'm not the biggest del Toro fan so this doesn't mean much but it's easily my favourite of his films I've seen. I don't disagree with Sabin's critic friend that he's maybe a little too in love with the carnival world, but the visual wonder combined with his focus on the mechanics of the world worked for me. Cooper as a smooth talker isn't much of a stretch, admittedly, but he doesn't read deeply noirish.

3. The post carnival world, though, is a step up. The performances seem stronger (Blanchett and Jenkins both shine), the imagery pops more (her office, the gardens)... it's just splendidly realized.

You braved a movie theatre? Haven't you heard Omicron is just waiting to pounce on you?

Seriously, here in NY, it's like March 2020 redux -- Radio City cancelled the Christmas show, SNL sent their whole cast and crew home, the Nets can't field a full team. They've got me scared to leave my apartment. (And I'm supposed to travel to Connecticut on Thursday.)

It's just the worst time for these Christmas movies (Spider Man excepted) to be trying to draw grown-up audiences. I want to see most of these things, Nightmare Alley included, but I'm afraid they're going to flop out of theatres before I get the chance.

[Okri]

1. Holy art direction, Batman! Handsome is right. It seems conceived as a series of just stunning places. The carnival alone would be worthy of respect (the hell tour), but then you just get these superb scenescapes. I wanted to touch the screen.

2. Cooper and del Toro both seem like odd fits for the material, but I kinda liked that. I'm not the biggest del Toro fan so this doesn't mean much but it's easily my favourite of his films I've seen. I don't disagree with Sabin's critic friend that he's maybe a little too in love with the carnival world, but the visual wonder combined with his focus on the mechanics of the world worked for me. Cooper as a smooth talker isn't much of a stretch, admittedly, but he doesn't read deeply noirish.

3. The post carnival world, though, is a step up. The performances seem stronger (Blanchett and Jenkins both shine), the imagery pops more (her office, the gardens)... it's just splendidly realized.

[Big Magilla]

Raves from "that Variety guy" Clayton Davis for Cooper, del Toro, Blanchett, Dafoe, and Jenkins with nice words for Mara (being promoted in the wrong category), Colette, and Strathairn.

A slam dunk for Best Production Design with the potential of the year's most nominations or none other than production design, depending on how impressed, or conversely, turned off, voters are on the visuals of the biting of chicken heads, gunshots to the eye and missing noses.

https://variety.com/2021/awards/awards/ ... 235123856/

[flipp525]

I watched the 1947 very recently and it’s pretty fantastic. Tyrone Power is perfect at Stanton and Joan Blondell is really beguiling in the Toni Collette role. But Helen Walker, who plays the Cate Blanchett role as Dr. Lilith Ritter, is very impressive and was best in show for me.

The actress playing Rooney Mara’s role was the weakest of the lot.

The ending is changed in the 1947 version from the novel in order to give it a glimmer of hope (SPOILER - Stan encounters Molly as part of the carnival he joins as the “geek”).

Interesting of note: Gresham coined the term “geek” in his novel.

[Big Magilla]

Interestingly, Blanchett is being singled out more than Mara as Cooper's equal, although it's Mara Del Toro is pushing with her elevation to lead actress while Blanchett is relegated to support.

Colette, Jenkins, and Dafoe are also getting good notices.

Not sure it's accurate to say that the 1947 version flopped because audiences wouldn't accept Tyrone Power in the role. More like Daryl Zanuck wanted it to flop so Power would go back to playing heroes for his legions of female fans.

Major Fox films, of which this one was supposed to be one, traditionally opened at the Roxy or Rivoli, two huge showcases. They dumped this one into the Mayfair where their lesser releases opened, following Kiss of Death. The Roxy had Forever Amber, while the Rivoli had Paramount's Unconquered.